After six years off, a return to strength training. Watch me suffer and get strong!

[Spartanbaziotis]

You can also flip that around and say that I'm overeager and caught up on trying to get my old lifts back and could therefore be trying to do too much too soon :-)

Yeah, knock it off 'cause you make me look bad! lol

[dk240t]

Just remember, it is far easier to not get stuck than to get unstuck.

[jayshort21]

Good job on your quick progress. I've been SS too for 45 days or so. Those are some big jumps, but like you said, you had some insane progress last time..

What is the Captain of Crush that you are talking about?

[nyrippetoe]

Good job on your quick progress. I've been SS too for 45 days or so. Those are some big jumps, but like you said, you had some insane progress last time..

What is the Captain of Crush that you are talking about?

Captains of Crush grippers are the gold standard of grip strength. If you are interested in trying them out I would get the trainer and the #1 and work with those. Unless you have monster grip strength there is a very good chance that you won't be closing the #1 out of the box.

http://www.ironmind.com/ironmind/ope...nsofcrush.html

[nyrippetoe]

Workout B

Weight: 202 pounds

Having broken 200 pounds, I'm happy to report that I'm up ~7 pounds since starting 19 days ago. Good stuff. Way to go, body!

In light of my successful-but-stupid overreaching last workout I only bumped up squats my by five pounds today. The weight was challenging but also felt manageable. Military presses continue to be difficult but doable, and my rows feel great - hard but I can maintain good form throughout.

More great news on the grip front. My Captains of Crush #2 close a few days ago wasn't a fluke. I completed two more clean right-hand closes of the #2 today and came close to two no-reset reps of the #1 in my left hand.

Squat (+5 lb)

230x5
230x5
230x5

Military Press (+5 lb)

115x5
115x5
115x5

Pendlay Rows (+5 lb)

115x5
115x5
115x5

Chin Ups - I only had ~2 minutes to rest before my second set because I found out the hard way that the gym closes at 6pm on Sundays. Balls.

1x8
1x5

Chugging along....

[jayshort21]

Captains of Crush grippers are the gold standard of grip strength. If you are interested in trying them out I would get the trainer and the #1 and work with those. Unless you have monster grip strength there is a very good chance that you won't be closing the #1 out of the box.

Thanks for the link and good job on the quick progress.

[xRequiem]

subbed

your progress from your first SS run is unreal. hope you get tehre and beyond!

[nyrippetoe]

Workout A

Weight: 203.8 pounds

Holy crap, my bodyweight is going up fast. If the mirror is any indication it's a pretty lean gain, too. My girlfriend commented yesterday that my lower abdominals have gone a bit crazy (grown much more solid) in the last week. Good stuff.

I wasn't feeling amped up for today's workout but I nevertheless threw on a deadlifting t-shirt and hung out in the power rack for a while. My squats are starting to feel heavy but I have more room in my bench and deadlift.

I'm still having an issue where my first work set on squats is significantly harder than the next two. I'm following Rippetoe's warmup recommendations so I'm kind of flummoxed. Any ideas?

Squat (+10 lb) - See above. Am I not warming up enough? Is my body just being weird?

240x5
240x5
240x5

Bench Press (+10 lb) - Felt good. Full pause at the bottom of each rep.

170x5
170x5
170x5

Deadlift (+20 lb) - Belt made a huge difference here. I definitely have room to grow in my pulls. I'm pretty sure that I could deadlift 300 (for one rep) without too much of a problem.

250x5

Dips w/ 15 lb (+5 lb)

1x8
1x8

Grip Work

Some more #2 closes in my right hand, some more #1 closes in my left. Closing the #2 takes a lot of effort and concentration but it's definitely starting to get easier. I purchased the #2.5 and I am light years away from closing the thing.

Good workout. An overview of my progress over twenty-five days and ten workouts follows. When I was starting out I obviously took it very light, but I'm nonetheless proud of where things have gone.

Progress Overview

Squat: 115 --> 240. Up 125 pounds.

Bench Press: 95 --> 170. Up 75 pounds.

Deadlift: 120 --> 250. Up 130 pounds.

[randomalias]

Awesome progress! Those big jumps on a 3x5 program are impressive.

[dk240t]

What is your warm-up routine for squats - reps/sets? Could add more warm-up and see how it feels...

Sometimes I still feel like the first set is the hardest. Or at least, harder than the 2nd set. And the first rep is often harder than reps 2 and 3, sometimes 4. Just I think it is part of how the body reacts to heavy weights, perhaps...

[tmd17]

Brb saving this thread in case somebody doesnt believe in muscle memory

[nyrippetoe]

Awesome progress! Those big jumps on a 3x5 program are impressive.

Thanks, bro!

What is your warm-up routine for squats - reps/sets? Could add more warm-up and see how it feels...

Sometimes I still feel like the first set is the hardest. Or at least, harder than the 2nd set. And the first rep is often harder than reps 2 and 3, sometimes 4. Just I think it is part of how the body reacts to heavy weights, perhaps...

It's good to hear that I'm not alone. My squat warmup for 240 was:

45x5
45x5
95x5
140x3
190x2

Brb saving this thread in case somebody doesnt believe in muscle memory

Thanks! So far that muscle memory stuff has been doing a decent job. Let's see how long I can keep it going :-)

[nyrippetoe]

In other news, I have one hell of a cold. Sticking around my bed today...

[pyaarawala]

Lifts are getting strong, FAST! Nice job! And feel better soon dude. And about taking all the 45s, it's the same in my gym but I always just steal 45s from the leg press and no one complains, lol. In fact, in my gym people are obsessed with 25 lb plates instead of 45. So when people "squat/bench heavy" they rack up the bar with tons of 25s instead of 45s. A cheap and sad way to make you look like you're lifting a lot of weight.

[dk240t]

I don't know. Nothing sounds out of the ordinary with the warm-ups.

I usually do a first set with the bar of more than 5, like 8 or 10, and then I do a set of 5 and the rest of the warm-ups. That first set of 8 or 10 at 45 really helps get the blood flowing and get everything warmed up...but I played around with lots of things.

[nyrippetoe]

Workout B

Weight: 200.2 pounds

While the worst of my annoying cold is behind be, I am still recovering and wasn't sure about going to the gym today. Once I decided to go I wasn't sure about what weight to use. I was either going to stick with the weight from my previous workout or go lighter to just keep my body active.

Then I decided to just give things a shot and move up in weight. A good idea! My first sets are still tougher than the second, but it's good to know that I'm not the only one experiencing that. Thanks for the input, Forum People.

Squat (+10 lb) - These are getting HARD!

250x5
250x5
250x5

Military Press (+5 lb) - I know that I'm going to stall on these soon, but I'll keep giving it my best

120x5
120x5
[Due to time constraints I threw in 1x8 chin ups here]
120x5

Pendlay Row (+5 lb) - Still have a bit more to go, but starting to feel heavier

120x5
120x5
[1x8 chin ups]
120x5

I'm happy with this one.

[nyrippetoe]

Workout A

Weight: 202.2 pounds

No pain no gain, right? Well, these squats continue to be hard as hell but I'm giving them a run for their money. My final rep was tough as balls but I finished everything cleanly.

I'm involved in some other intense physical activities that have meant that I need an extra day or two for recovery, but so far that hasn't impacted my linear progress. I rather like it, actually, and I think that those extra days along with my other sports are helping to propel me along. Chalk up another successful workout today.

Squat (+10 lb)

260x5
260x5
260x5

Bench Press (+10 lb)

180x5
180x5
180x5

Deadlift (+20 lb)

270x5

Dips (+10 lb)

Bodyweight +25 pounds;

1x8
1x8

[HoneyBadger300]

Just saw your sig in randomalias' thread. Subbed.

[nyrippetoe]

Just saw your sig in randomalias' thread. Subbed.

Thanks, bro!

[Diesel.Weasel]

Welcome back, Jay.

Oh, and I eat vegetarian now so fuel will be even more important for me to watch.

Say it ain't so....

[jayshort21]

Hope you are keeping up with your workouts!

[nyrippetoe]

Blah. Still feeling under the weather. More resting time in bed doing nothing but crossword puzzles, reading, and watching movies with the lady.

Itching for the gym...

[SlimZippy]

I just started SS last week. Man you've got some impressively quick gains. I can't wait to get a few weeks under my belt to see how this routine works out. Subscribed.

[nyrippetoe]

I just started SS last week. Man you've got some impressively quick gains. I can't wait to get a few weeks under my belt to see how this routine works out. Subscribed.

Thanks, man!

[nyrippetoe]

Workout B

Weight: 202 pounds

I have been sick for the past few days and was still feeling a bit under the weather this morning, but DieselWeasel got on my ass about going to the gym regardless so I dragged my ass out of bed, dropped a couple of Advil and took the scooter over to the Y. Thanks, DW - the encouragement really helped. I even met yet another guy who was doing some actual lifting! (I counted a squat set of 280x26 to parallel, not belted.)

More improvement all around:

Squat (+10 lb) - the last set of these was really damn hard

270x5
270x5
270x5

Military Press (+5 lb) - I took a longer than usual rest before my final set, which really helped

125x5
125x5
125x5

Pendlay Row (+5 lb) - I should add 10 pounds to this next time...

125x5
125x5
125x5

Chin Ups - Snuck one set in after my presses and another set after my rows

1x8
1x8

Grip

Nothing too formal here today. A few #2 closes in my right hand and a few #1 closes in my left.

[nyrippetoe]

Workout A

Weight: 201.6 pounds

After being under the weather for way too long I went back to the gym two days ago and had a solid workout. One that left my upper hamstrings ridiculously sore! Yesterday and today my legs felt as though my muscle had been replaced with lead weights. Not fun.

But I toughed things out and went to the gym today. At first I thought that I would keep things light, but as usual I decided to push it and my workout turned out just fine. Hard, but just fine.

Squat (+10 lb) - First set was hard, and during my second set I almost failed on the final rep. Third set was a bit better, possibly because I was frustrated by a guy doing four-inch squats with 405 pounds on the smith machine.

280x5
280x5
280x5

Bench Press (+10 lb) - I've finally reached a weight that challenges me. Cool. All of my reps are with a full pause.

190x5
190x5
190x5

Deadlift (+20 lb) - Tough, but good! I need to bring some chalk next time around.

290x5

Dips (+5 lb)

1x8, bodyweight + 30 pounds
1x8, bodyweight + 30 pounds

[dk240t]

Yeah, when you miss some days and then get back in the gym, you'll be sore. But getting back in another time after that helps get rid of the soreness. That's what I do...just keep going back and you limit the soreness, on this type of program with heavy compounds for sets of 5.

[Diesel.Weasel]

Workout B

Weight: 202 pounds

I have been sick for the past few days and was still feeling a bit under the weather this morning, but DieselWeasel got on my ass about going to the gym regardless so I dragged my ass out of bed, dropped a couple of Advil and took the scooter over to the Y. Thanks, DW - the encouragement really helped. I even met yet another guy who was doing some actual lifting! (I counted a squat set of 280x26 to parallel, not belted.)

More improvement all around:

Squat (+10 lb) - the last set of these was really damn hard

270x5
270x5
270x5

Military Press (+5 lb) - I took a longer than usual rest before my final set, which really helped

125x5
125x5
125x5

Pendlay Row (+5 lb) - I should add 10 pounds to this next time...

125x5
125x5
125x5

Chin Ups - Snuck one set in after my presses and another set after my rows

1x8
1x8

Grip

Nothing too formal here today. A few #2 closes in my right hand and a few #1 closes in my left.

Yeah, sometimes you just gotta go lift, even when you feel a little sh!tty. Keep going! Oh, and good luck at that powerlifting meet. Hopefully you get back to your previous strength levels (and maybe more) before you're on the platform.

[nyrippetoe]

Yeah, sometimes you just gotta go lift, even when you feel a little sh!tty. Keep going! Oh, and good luck at that powerlifting meet. Hopefully you get back to your previous strength levels (and maybe more) before you're on the platform.

Thanks, man! Looking realistically at my intended progression I doubt that I'll be there by comp day but I'll hopefully be much stronger than I am now!

[xRequiem]

Just think, in a couple weeks you'll be out lifting me!