jshaw's Starting Strength log

[mstatefan91]

Why in the world are you logging in kg's? lol

Glad you're still getting after it. I know you've had some set backs and I admire your perseverance.

[jshaw5]

Why in the world are you logging in kg's? lol

Glad you're still getting after it. I know you've had some set backs and I admire your perseverance.

LOL years ago when started doing some powerlifting meets, I had made the decision that since meets are done in kg's, I would transition my training over to kg's. I then picked up a set of York kg plates. However, at the time I was living in a small condo without enough room to set up a home gym, so I was still lifting at the gym where they only had lb plates. We finally bought a house with room to set up a home gym, so now I'm finally using my stuff.

Now I'm not sure what I want to do. I do think having kg weights is cool and the metric system just makes more sense, but kg's will take some time getting used to and it's much more difficult to find kg plates (I only have 120 kg / ~265 lbs) of plates right now.

[mstatefan91]

LOL years ago when started doing some powerlifting meets, I had made the decision that since meets are done in kg's, I would transition my training over to kg's. I then picked up a set of York kg plates. However, at the time I was living in a small condo without enough room to set up a home gym, so I was still lifting at the gym where they only had lb plates. We finally bought a house with room to set up a home gym, so now I'm finally using my stuff.

Now I'm not sure what I want to do. I do think having kg weights is cool and the metric system just makes more sense, but kg's will take some time getting used to and it's much more difficult to find kg plates (I only have 120 kg / ~265 lbs) of plates right now.

Will ultimately make it easier for you at a meet. I have to do the whole conversion thing and pick something close enough.. lol

[jshaw5]

Tuesday January 15, 2019

BW - 242.0 lbs

Warmup
Airdyne - 4 min
McGill Curl Up - 10 reps x 10 seconds
Bird Dogs - 10 reps
Band Pull Aparts - 10 reps
Band Dislocates - 5 reps
Banded TKE's - 20 reps each leg
Banded Good Morning - 12 reps

Hatfield Squats
30 kg x 10 reps
50 kg x 10 reps
70 kg (154 lbs) x 10 reps
80 kg (176 lbs) x 10 reps
90 kg (198 lbs) x 10 reps
I alternate between these and regular SSB squats. I had been squatting with no shoes, but decided to throw on my Adipowers today, which felt a ton better.

Bench (Feet Up)
20 kg x 10 reps
40 kg x 5 reps
60 kg x 5 reps
75 kg x 5 reps
90 kg (198 lbs) x 5 reps x 2
90 kg (198 lbs) x 10 reps
I was going to do ascending sets, but I forgot to add weight after the first set lol. Instead I banged out an AMRAP on the last set, though technically not an AMRAP because I had another rep or two in the tank.

Band Pull Aparts
Mini Band x 10 reps x 3
Between bench warmups. I had been doing face pulls with a band, but the mofo snapped and blasted me in the face lol. For now I'm doing these between bench warmups until I get a cable setup.

Ring Rows
BW x 8 reps x 3
Between bench work sets. Going to work on these and negatives for a bit before I start doing full pullups again.

Curls
22 kg x 12 reps x 3

Slingshot Close Grip Bench
80 kg (176 lbs) x 10 reps x 3

So everything to do with lifting is still very inconsistent. I typically get in 1-2 workouts per week. Even when I record a set or two, most time I never get around to logging it here or putting it on instagram. I've made a little progress on getting my gym to a more complete state, but I still have a way to go. I made DIY fat pads for both my benches, that was my most pressing need since the pads on both benches were way too narrow. I have a gun rack for my bars that's been setting in the box for a month. I got mono hooks with the intention of using them for bench, but they stick out so far that if I keep them mounted on one side of the rack, I can't squat inside the rack on the other side. I think I'm going to set up the mono hooks outside of the rack and get some spotter arms for benching there. I'm also looking for like a lat pulldown with a low pulley so I can do pulldowns, rows, face pulls, pushdowns, etc. I'll post more pics when it's closer to completion.

[xRequiem]

I see you're still grinding away.

How 'ya been?

[mstatefan91]

How do you like your sling shot? I'm contemplating buying one

[jshaw5]

I see you're still grinding away.

How 'ya been?

Just barely lol.

I'm fat, weak, and my back is stupid, but other than that life is good. We just bought a house a few months ago, twins just turned three, and the older one turns eight in a few weeks. How's everything going for you? How's the family? Are you still lifting?

How do you like your sling shot? I'm contemplating buying one

I really like it. I really like when I'm finished with my main bench work, I can toss the slingshot on and do some close grip without having to drop the weight way down. Plus it's always fun throwing it on to bench some weights you normally wouldn't touch lol.

[jshaw5]

Tuesday January 22, 2019

BW - 242.0 lbs

Warmup
Airdyne - 4 min
McGill Curl Up - 10 reps x 10 seconds
Bird Dogs - 10 reps
Band Pull Aparts - 10 reps
Band Dislocates - 5 reps
Banded TKE's - 20 reps each leg
Banded Good Morning - 12 reps

Programming? Update
This will be the end of the whatever I feel like doing that day workouts. I haven't quite decided the rate of progression, but it will follow a familiar layout of 2x/week alternating between 4x7 and 5x5 with linear progression. Still deciding on accessory lifts, which is limited while I'm looking for some kind of cable machine.

SSB Squats
30 kg x 10 reps
50 kg x 7 reps
70 kg (154 lbs) x 7 reps x 4
Right knee was feeling a little weird, so I didn't go as heavy as I planned. Probably a better idea to start lighter as I try to get more consistent with progression.

Bench (Feet Up)
20 kg x 10 reps
40 kg x 5 reps
60 kg x 5 reps
75 kg x (165 lbs) x 7 reps x 4
Again decided to start off the new progression on the lighter side. These were pretty easy.

Band Pull Aparts
Mini Band x 10 reps x 3
Between bench warmups.

Ring Rows
BW x 8 reps x 3
Between bench work sets.

Curls
22 kg x 12 reps x 3

Pushups
BW x 10 reps x 3
I've always sucked at these, but now more than usual lol.

[mstatefan91]

So are you lifting just twice a week or performing each lift twice a week?

[jshaw5]

So are you lifting just twice a week or performing each lift twice a week?

Lifting twice per week, hitting squats and bench both times.

[jshaw5]

Friday January 22, 2019

BW - 242.0 lbs

Warmup
Airdyne - 4 min
McGill Curl Up - 10 reps x 10 seconds
Bird Dogs - 10 reps
Band Pull Aparts - 10 reps
Band Dislocates - 5 reps
Banded TKE's - 20 reps each leg
Banded Good Morning - 12 reps

SSB Squats
30 kg x 5 reps
50 kg x 5 reps
70 kg x 5 reps
80 kg (176 lbs) x 5 reps x 5
These felt really good.

Bench (Feet Up)
20 kg x 10 reps
40 kg x 5 reps
60 kg x 5 reps
72.5 kg x 5 reps x 4
82.5 kg (182 lbs) x 5 reps x 3
82.5 kg (182 lbs) x 10 reps
I was short on time, so I combined the last two sets into one. Probably had at least another rep or two in the tank.

Band Pull Aparts
Mini Band x 10 reps x 3
Between bench warmups.

Ring Rows
BW x 8 reps x 3
Between bench work sets.

Woke up late today so I had to abbreviate the session a bit. I did still get up and lift for the 2nd time this week, which is more than I can say for the past couple weeks, so we're moving in the right direction lol.

[jshaw5]

Monday January 28, 2019

BW - 242.0 lbs

Warmup
Airdyne - 4 min
McGill Curl Up - 10 reps x 10 seconds
Bird Dogs - 10 reps
Band Pull Aparts - 10 reps
Band Dislocates - 5 reps
Banded TKE's - 20 reps each leg
Banded Good Morning - 12 reps

SSB Squats
30 kg x 7 reps
50 kg x 7 reps
70 kg x 7 reps
80 kg (176 lbs) x 7 reps x 4
Depth could be a little better, but these are feeling really good.

Bench (Feet Up)
20 kg x 10 reps
40 kg x 5 reps
60 kg x 5 reps
75 kg x 5 reps x 4
85 kg (187 lbs) x 5 reps x 5
I did 5's again today to get it lined up so I'm doing 5's on bench when I do 7's on squats and 7's on bench when I do 5's on squats to even out the timing. These felt ok, but not as good as they did on Friday.

Band Pull Aparts
Mini Band x 10 reps x 3
Between bench warmups.

Ring Rows
BW x 8 reps x 3
Between bench work sets.

Curls
22 kg x 15 reps x 3

Pushups
BW x 10 reps x 3



Also, forgot to post my bench video from Friday.

[jshaw5]

Friday February 1, 2019

BW - 239.0 lbs

Warmup
Airdyne - 4 min
McGill Curl Up - 10 reps x 10 seconds
Bird Dogs - 10 reps
Band Pull Aparts - 10 reps
Band Dislocates - 5 reps
Banded TKE's - 20 reps each leg
Banded Good Morning - 12 reps

SSB Squats
30 kg x 5 reps
50 kg x 5 reps
70 kg x 5 reps
90 kg (198 lbs) x 5 reps x 5
These are started to feel somewhat heavy, though still not enough to rate RPE.

Bench (Feet Up)
20 kg x 10 reps
40 kg x 5 reps
60 kg x 5 reps
72.5 kg x 5 reps
82.5 kg (182 lbs) x 7 reps x 4
These were ok.

Band Pull Aparts
Mini Band x 12 reps x 3
Between bench warmups.

Ring Rows
BW x 10 reps x 3
Between bench work sets.

Curls
27 kg x 12 reps x 3

Pushups
BW x 12 reps x 3

[jshaw5]

Wednesday February 6, 2019

BW - 237.8 lbs

Warmup
Airdyne - 4 min
McGill Curl Up - 10 reps x 10 seconds
Bird Dogs - 10 reps
Band Pull Aparts - 10 reps
Band Dislocates - 5 reps
Banded TKE's - 20 reps each leg
Banded Good Morning - 12 reps

SSB Squats
30 kg x 7 reps
50 kg x 7 reps
70 kg x 7 reps
87.5 kg (193 lbs) x 7 reps x 4
These felt really good.

Bench (Feet Up)
20 kg x 10 reps
40 kg x 5 reps
60 kg x 5 reps
80 kg x 5 reps
90 kg (198 lbs) x 5 reps x 5
First four sets felt ok. Last set I put my feet on the floor, which felt pretty solid despite my bench being a bit taller than I'd like.

Face Pulls
60 lbs x 12 reps x 3

Ring Rows
BW x 12 reps x 3
Between bench work sets.

[jshaw5]

Monday February 11, 2019

BW - 239.0 lbs

Warmup
Airdyne - 4 min
McGill Curl Up - 10 reps x 10 seconds
Bird Dogs - 10 reps
Band Pull Aparts - 10 reps
Band Dislocates - 5 reps
Banded TKE's - 20 reps each leg
Banded Good Morning - 12 reps

SSB Squats
30 kg x 5 reps
50 kg x 5 reps
70 kg x 5 reps
85 kg x 5 reps
97.5 kg (215 lbs) x 5 reps x 5
These felt really good.

Bench (Feet Up)
20 kg x 10 reps
40 kg x 7 reps
60 kg x 7 reps
75 kg x 7 reps
87.5 kg (193 lbs) x 7 reps x 4
Put my feet on the floor for the last set again.

Face Pulls
60 lbs x 12 reps x 3

Lat Pulldowns
120 lbs x 12 reps x 4

Ring Rows
BW x 12 reps x 3

Cable Flys
120 lbs x 12 reps x 3

Leg Extensions
120 lbs x 12 reps x 3

So I've been mixing in some more accessories. I picked up a Bowflex a couple weeks ago. I know the Bowflex gets a lot of hate on this board, but it was free so I figured why the hell not. I quickly saw why it gets so much hate lol. The thing provides no resistance at the top, it doesn't move smoothly at all, and it runs out of range of motion pretty quickly. But it's better than nothing and will tide me over until I can find a decent cable machine.

[jshaw5]

Friday February 15, 2019

BW - 238.4 lbs

Warmup
Airdyne - 4 min
McGill Curl Up - 10 reps x 10 seconds
Bird Dogs - 10 reps
Band Pull Aparts - 10 reps
Band Dislocates - 5 reps
Banded TKE's - 20 reps each leg
Banded Good Morning - 12 reps

SSB Squats
30 kg x 7 reps
50 kg x 7 reps
70 kg x 7 reps
92.5 kg (204 lbs) x 7 reps x 4
These continue to feel pretty good.

Bench (Feet Up)
20 kg x 10 reps
40 kg x 5 reps
60 kg x 5 reps
80 kg x 5 reps
92.5 kg (204 lbs) x 5 reps x 5
These felt pretty solid.

Face Pulls
70 lbs x 12 reps x 3

Ring Rows
BW x 8 reps x 3
I had been doing incline ring rows, which have the feet lower than the shoulders, making it easier. I brought my feet up to more in line with the shoulders.

Curls
27 kg x 12 reps x 2

[jshaw5]

Thursday February 21, 2019

BW - 238.4 lbs

Warmup
Airdyne - 4 min
McGill Curl Up - 10 reps x 10 seconds
Bird Dogs - 10 reps
Band Pull Aparts - 10 reps
Band Dislocates - 5 reps
Banded TKE's - 20 reps each leg
Banded Good Morning - 12 reps

SSB Squats
30 kg x 5 reps
50 kg x 5 reps
70 kg x 5 reps
85 kg x 5 reps
100 kg (220 lbs) x 5 reps x 5

Bench (Feet Up)
20 kg x 10 reps
40 kg x 7 reps
60 kg x 7 reps
75 kg x 7 reps
87.5 kg (193 lbs) x 7 reps x 4

Face Pulls
70 lbs x 12 reps x 3

Ring Rows
BW x 8 reps x 3

Quick session this morning. Really struggling with sleep lately, having trouble getting up early enough.

[mstatefan91]

I wish today was Friday

[jshaw5]

I wish today was Friday

Haha same here. Obviously I need to lift more since the previous post that I copied was last Friday lol.

[KenshinH]

What's up J? Good to see you're still logging.

I restarted on here after over a year gone lol

[jshaw5]

What's up J? Good to see you're still logging.

I restarted on here after over a year gone lol

Hey man, how's it going? I'm still logging, but I'm struggling with consistency and with keeping my back from repeatedly being stupid lol.

[jshaw5]

Tuesday February 26, 2019

BW - 237.2 lbs

Warmup
Airdyne - 4 min
McGill Curl Up - 10 reps x 10 seconds
Bird Dogs - 10 reps
Band Pull Aparts - 10 reps
Band Dislocates - 5 reps
Banded TKE's - 20 reps each leg
Banded Good Morning - 12 reps

SSB Squats
30 kg x 5 reps
50 kg x 5 reps
70 kg x 5 reps
82.5 kg x 5 reps
95 kg (209 lbs) x 7 reps x 4
These felt solid, but they're starting to feel heavy. I've been squatting with naked knees, but my knee was feeling a bit off, so I decided to throw on my rehband's, which fit relatively loose.

Bench (Feet Up)
20 kg x 10 reps
40 kg x 5 reps
60 kg x 5 reps
77.5 kg x 5 reps
93.75 kg (207 lbs) x 5 reps x 5 @8.5
These are getting pretty heavy. My wrist was acting up a bit, so I threw on some light wrist wraps for the last set. I haven't been putting my feet on the floor for any sets lately, but I might start doing it some soon.

Face Pulls
80 lbs x 12 reps x 3

Ring Rows
BW x 8 reps x 3

Single Leg RDL
10 kg x 8 reps x 3

Kneeling Ab Wheel
BW x 5 reps x 3

Curls
30kg x 10 reps x 3

Cable Flyes
80 lbs (per side) x 12 reps x 3

Leg Extensions
160 lbs x 12 reps x 3

Finally got up early enough to get in a full session.

[KenshinH]

Hey man, how's it going? I'm still logging, but I'm struggling with consistency and with keeping my back from repeatedly being stupid lol.

I'm doing well.

Still working out, as you surmised, but just picked up logging again.

My problem is not with consistency but rather with progress. Which gets harder and harder as I get older lol

[jshaw5]

So I finally got around to organizing my home gym a bit more. The rack is a sumo rack made by Crepinsek (it's an absolute tank). The mono hooks and j-cups are made by Titan. I have a flat bench and an FID, both made by Tuff Stuff, just covered both with DIY fat pads. For bars I have an EliteFTS Yoke bar, a York B&R bar, and a cheap curl bar. For weights I just have 120kg of vintage York plates with spinlock collars. I picked up a bowflex (for free) so I can do some cable accessories. Picked up an airdyne for some cardio (that I usually skip lol). A bunch of miscellaneous stuff include vintage York stands, bands, landmine, ab wheel, sling shots, gymnastic rings, paralettes, foam rollers, etc.

It's still a work in progress. I definitely need to pick up more weight, I'd like to pick up another Olympic bar plus a swiss bar, trap bar, etc. The bowflex is better than nothing, but I'm not a huge fan, so I'll eventually replace it with some kind of cable stack machine.

[jshaw5]

Gym pics continued...

[KenshinH]

^^^ Nice home gym J!

Looks like you (almost) have everything you need.

[jshaw5]

^^^ Nice home gym J!

Looks like you (almost) have everything you need.

Thanks man. The only thing I really need is more weight. But there are quite a few things I want haha.

[mstatefan91]

I am pretty jealous of your setup.. All you need is about 150 kg more or so in weights

[jshaw5]

Saturday March 2, 2019

BW - 237.4 lbs

Warmup
Airdyne - 4 min
McGill Curl Up - 10 reps x 10 seconds
Bird Dogs - 10 reps
Band Pull Aparts - 10 reps
Band Dislocates - 5 reps
Banded TKE's - 20 reps each leg
Banded Good Morning - 12 reps

SSB Squats
30 kg x 5 reps
50 kg x 5 reps
70 kg x 5 reps
90 kg x 5 reps
105 kg (231 lbs) x 5 reps x 5
These felt really good, even threw in a pause on the last rep last set.

Bench (Feet Up)
20 kg x 10 reps
40 kg x 7 reps
60 kg x 7 reps
75 kg x 7 reps
90 kg (198 lbs) x 7 reps x 4
Put my feet down for the last set.

Face Pulls
80 lbs x 12 reps x 3

Ring Rows
BW x 8 reps x 3

Paused Slingshot Bench
120 kg (265 lbs) x 3 reps
125 kg (276 lbs) x 3 reps
130 kg (287 lbs) x 3 reps
Bench was feeling good and it's been a while since I've done anything really heavy, so I decided to throw on the slingshot and see what happens. Considering I haven't done anything heavy or paused anything in a while, and I've barely benched with my feet on the floor, I was pretty happy with how this went. In the past, my 3RM with the blue slingshot has been approximately my 1RM raw, so that probably puts me around 285-290.

Lat Pulldown
160 lbs x 12 reps x 3

Single Leg RDL
12.5 kg x 8 reps x 3

Leg Extensions
160 lbs x 15 reps x 3

Curls
30kg x 12 reps x 3

Cable Flyes
80 lbs (per side) x 12 reps x 3

Airdyne HIIT
3 minutes moderate pace warmup
10 seconds max effort, 20 seconds moderate pace x 4 cycles
2 minutes moderate pace cooldown
Even for just 40 seconds total, I was so gassed, I'm really out of shape lol. I'll probably switch to some steady state, do longer "rides" at a moderate pace to build up my endurance, then slowly work in some intervals.

[jshaw5]

Wednesday March 6, 2019

BW - 238.4 lbs

Warmup
Airdyne - 4 min
McGill Curl Up - 10 reps x 10 seconds
Bird Dogs - 10 reps
Band Pull Aparts - 10 reps
Band Dislocates - 5 reps
Banded TKE's - 20 reps each leg
Banded Good Morning - 12 reps

SSB Squats
30 kg x 7 reps
50 kg x 7 reps
70 kg x 7 reps
85 kg x 7 reps
100 kg (220 lbs) x 7 reps x 4
I need to try to start rating RPE on these. They're getting tough, but I'm sure I could still hit at least 3-4 more reps if I really pushed it.

Bench (Feet Up)
20 kg x 10 reps
40 kg x 5 reps
60 kg x 5 reps
80 kg x 5 reps
96.25 kg (212 lbs) x 5 reps x 5
I've gone back and forth about putting my feet on the floor, but I think I'm just going to keep progressing like this until it gets too hard, then I'll switch. Or I might change my mind next workout lol.

Face Pulls
90 lbs x 12 reps x 3

Ring Rows
BW x 10 reps x 4

Single Leg RDL
12.5 kg x 8 reps x 3

Leg Extensions
180 lbs x 10 reps x 3

Curls
30kg x 10 reps x 3

Cable Flyes
90 lbs (per side) x 10 reps x 3

Airdyne
10 minutes moderate pace
I probably won't go much (if any) longer than 10 minutes, probably just work on increasing my pace. I still need to see if I can get the screen on this thing working so I can actually have something to track besides just overall time.

Programming
I'm still doing both squats and bench twice/week, alternating between 85% of TM for 5x5 and 80% of TM for 7x4. Squats I bump up the TM 2 kg each workout and round to the nearest 2.5 kg. Bench TM is bumped 1 kg each workout and I round to the nearest 1.25 kg. I'm going to stick with the current layout for a bit longer, but eventually I might split the squat and bench out into upper and lower days and bump it up to 3-4 days/week. I might also add sets of triples into the rotation with the 5's and 7's and stick with the same TM for cycles.