A Novice's Journey

[NoGainNoPainBro]

A novice on his way to getting stronger! Lets jump right into it:

Monday:
Squats: 5x3
Bench: 5x3
Deadlift: 5x1

Wednesday:
Squats: 5x3
Press: 5x3
Row: 5x3

Friday:
Squats: 5x3
Bench: 5x3
Deadlift: 5x1

Deadlift and row alternate from workout to workout, so the following week I would deadlift only on wednesday! Weight increases every workout.
After every workout I also do some isolation type exercises for fun, usually calf raises and biceps curls, but I won't bore you with that

Some information about me:
23 years old, 1,70m short, developer, training since 3 months. Tried a couple of times in the past, but never sticked to it longer than a few months, so staying motivated is the most important thing right now (luckily, at the moment I am very motivated). I'm vegetarian, drinking lots of milk. Just started today at a powerlifting/weightlifting club, because I figured it's a better training environment than the commercial gym where I've been before.

Current stats:
Squat: 90kg (198lbs) x 5 x3
Deadlift: 120kg (265lbs) x 5 x1
Bench: 60kg (132lbs) x 5 x3
Press: 38.5kg (85lbs) x 5 x 3

Started with:
Squat: 55kg (121lbs) x 5 x 3
Deadlift: 65kg (143lbs) x 5 x 1
Bench: 42kg (93lbs) x 5 x 3
Press: 32.5kg (72lbs) x 5 x 3

[NoGainNoPainBro]

Monday, 04/23/18

Squats: 198lbs x 5 x 3
Bench: 134lbs x 5 x 3
Row: 121lbs x 5 x 3
Calf Raises
Concentration Curls

For squats I did the same weight again as last time, since last time the depth was questionable. This time depth was good. Also it was the first time I did low bar squats again instead of high bar, since 1-2 weeks ago I slightly hurt my shoulder from the low bar position. I warmed up better and kept more tension in the upper back, and it was pain free!

[NoGainNoPainBro]

Wednesday, 04/25/18

Squats: 201lbs x 5 x 3
Press: 88lbs x 5 x 3
Deadlift: 270lbs x 5 x 1
Pec Flies
Concentration Curls

Low bar squats were painfull in the shoulder again Something is definetely wrong with my setup, also the bar sits lower once I finished my set.

[NoGainNoPainBro]

Friday, 04/27/18

Squats: 204lbs x 5 x 3
Bench: 138lbs x 5/5/4
Row: 127lbs x 5 x 3
Pec Flies
Curls


Monday, 04/30/18

Squats: 206lbs x 5 x 3
Bench: 138lbs x 5 x 3
Deadlift: 276lbs x 5 x 1
Dumbel Bench Press
Calf Raises
Curls

[NoGainNoPainBro]

Wednesday, 05/02/18

Squats: 209lbs x 5 x 3
Press: 90lbs x 5 x 3
Row: 132lbs x 5 x 3
Dumbel Bench Press
Calf Raises
Curls

Still get this annoying shoulder pain from the low bar squat position. Wide grip, narrow grip, moving the bar a little bit higher or lower, everything hurts, even though I spend a lot of time on warming up my shoulders.

[NoGainNoPainBro]

Friday, 05/04/18

Squats: 212lbs x 5 x 3
Bench: 140lbs x 5 x 3
Deadlift: 281lbs x 4
Jumped Chin Ups: 5/4/3
Calf Raises
Dumbel Bench Press

Squats are getting really hard to complete, and my deadlift strength is also limited by my legs. I'm gonna change things up a bit, wednesdays from now on light squats, and deadlifts only on wednesdays as first exercise.

[JiP]

I think the pain from low bar squats should go in time. Just keep trying to find the least uncomfortable position and keep warming up a lot. There's a lot of aches and pains in lifting that do get better over time.

[NoGainNoPainBro]

I think the pain from low bar squats should go in time. Just keep trying to find the least uncomfortable position and keep warming up a lot. There's a lot of aches and pains in lifting that do get better over time.

It's just really annoying because it sometimes also hurts outside of the gym, for example when opening doors or playing table tennis. What really helped last training was bending the wrists a little bit, however that was quite stressfull on the wrists, probably not much better in the long run.

[JiP]

It's just really annoying because it sometimes also hurts outside of the gym, for example when opening doors or playing table tennis. What really helped last training was bending the wrists a little bit, however that was quite stressfull on the wrists, probably not much better in the long run.

That sounds a bit like tendinitis. Not that I'm a doctor, but I had something similar when I put my grip too close. I would try widening your grip just a finger's width. Also a bit of ice may help.

[NoGainNoPainBro]

That sounds a bit like tendinitis. Not that I'm a doctor, but I had something similar when I put my grip too close. I would try widening your grip just a finger's width. Also a bit of ice may help.

Yeah that might be possible. I tried all kind of grip widths but it doesn't really make the pain better.

Today was actually pretty much painless. I allowed the wrists to bent a little bit, and didn't lift my elbows as high as I usually do. It's a little bit harder to find a spot where the bar is still stable, but today worked fine! Will try to continue like this. Maybe I was just too focused on sticking to the Starting Strength technique.

[NoGainNoPainBro]

Monday, 05/07/18

Squats: 215lbs x 5 x 3
Bench Press: 144lbs x 4 x 3
Power Cleans: 55lbs x 5 x 2, 66lbs x 5 x 3
Jumped Chin Ups: 10/6/5
Calf Raises
Dumbel Press

Tried power cleans for the first time! Not that easy, I have to learn to use my legs and not my arms :P

For the bench I could only do 4 reps each set. It worries me a little bit that I fail quite often in the bench, I hope my noob gains are not over yet.

[NoGainNoPainBro]

Wednesday, 05/09/18

Deadlift: 281lbs x 5
Press: 94lbs x 5 x 3
Squat (light): 149lbs x 5 x 3
Lat Pulldown
Calf Raises
Triceps Extensions

I expected the deadlift to feel easy when I don't have heavy squats before. However, I barely made it and the form for the last 2 reps was awekward. Gonna do a slight backoff for deadlifts.

[MatTheCur]

My $0.02 on the wrist thing ... look into getting wrist WRAPS. The pain might just be that your wrists aren't strong enough yet, and need extra support... Remember, we're in powerlifting, so our ish is gonna hurt a lot.

Also, in. I enjoy being around for people's journeys.

[NoGainNoPainBro]

My $0.02 on the wrist thing ... look into getting wrist WRAPS. The pain might just be that your wrists aren't strong enough yet, and need extra support... Remember, we're in powerlifting, so our ish is gonna hurt a lot.

Also, in. I enjoy being around for people's journeys.

It didn't actually hurt and was certainly much better than the shoulder pain, it just felt like in the long run it might be bad for the wrists. Using wraps for that is actually a good idea, didn't consider that. Thanks!

[NoGainNoPainBro]

Friday, 05/11/2018

Squats: 217 x 5 x 3
Bench: 129 x 5 x 3 (back off)
Row: 138 x 5 x 3
Calf Raises
Triceps Extensions
Curls

For bench I did a slight back off, since I failed twice in short time (I will do the same for deadlifts). It was good anyway to fix my technique a little, I noticed I did a weird triceps extension kind of bench press. My elbows moved away from the shoulders, while the bar itself stayed over the shoulder.

Also I wanted to ask if my squat depth is deep enough? It feels very deep, but when I look at the videos I am not so sure anymore..

[MatTheCur]

Friday, 05/11/2018

Squats: 217 x 5 x 3
Bench: 129 x 5 x 3 (back off)
Row: 138 x 5 x 3
Calf Raises
Triceps Extensions
Curls

For bench I did a slight back off, since I failed twice in short time (I will do the same for deadlifts). It was good anyway to fix my technique a little, I noticed I did a weird triceps extension kind of bench press. My elbows moved away from the shoulders, while the bar itself stayed over the shoulder.

Also I wanted to ask if my squat depth is deep enough? It feels very deep, but when I look at the videos I am not so sure anymore..

Your hip joint is lower than your knees ... so you're good

[NoGainNoPainBro]

Your hip joint is lower than your knees ... so you're good

Thanks I didn't really know what is below parallel.

[NoGainNoPainBro]

Monday, 05/14/2018

Squats: 220 x 5 x 3
Bench: 132 x 5 x 3
Power Cleans: 40 x 3 x2
Chin Ups: 3/2/1
Calf Raises
Triceps Extensions

Today I squatted 100kg for the first time! Before I started the program I believed that would take years.

Power Cleans however didn't go well. My technique is not that good, and every time I am not explosive enough and don't get the bar high enough, catching it causes pain in the shoulder again (all other exercises have been pain free). I won't do them anymore. Actually it's a pitty, since my explosiveness really sucks.

[NoGainNoPainBro]

Wednesday, 05/16/2018

Squats (light): 154 x 5 x 3
Press: 96 x 5 x 3
Deadlift: 243 x 5 x 3 (deload)
Lat Pulldown
Calf Raises
Triceps Extension

I find the light squat day very usefull to improve my technique. Today I fixed my bar path, before I was always leaning too much forward, the bar wasn't over midfood anymore.

[NoGainNoPainBro]

The luck is not with me. I rolled my ankle pretty badly and have to walk on crutches for a few days now. Luckily it's not broken! I will try to hit the gym next week anyway and do some lighter upper body exercises to not stop training. I remember 2-3 years ago something similar happened and I didn't return to training afterwards, so I guess it's important to make sure the same thing doesn't happen this time.

[NoGainNoPainBro]

It bugs me that there is not even any reason for rolling my angle, I was just walking and didn't place my feet right

[NoGainNoPainBro]

The injury turned out to be worse than I first thought. I can finally walk again most of the times, just sometimes the foots starts cramping. However, during the day at work the foot always swells quite a bit, can't really lift my foot up there.

Also had a fever, so last week there was no training. Went again today for the first time:

Wednesday, 05/30/2018
Squats: 176 x 5 x 3 (ultra wide stance)
Bench: 121 x 5 x 3
Lat Pulldown
Triceps Extensions

Had to workout without shoes, because that's more comfortable with the foot. The squats were super wide (feet almost touching the power cage), because like this the ankles almost don't move at all. Felt really weird, especially because afterwards my right leg was super exhausted, the left one was just fine But at least it didn't hurt.

Bench suffered because I couldn't use leg drive, deadlifts were not possible.

[NoGainNoPainBro]

Today I trained like a bro: Only upper body and lots of sets and exercises:

Friday, 1/6/2018
Bench: 138 x 5 x 3
Incline Bench
Seated OHP
Lat Pull Down
Dumbel Row
Pec Flies
Triceps Extension
Biceps Curls

Again with no shoes. The ankle itself is actually fine again (besides very poor mobility), but the foot is very sensitive and hurts quite a bit. Gonna take it easy on lower body, probably do those lighter squats with very wide stance every second workout.

[NoGainNoPainBro]

The ankle is much better Also could finally do squats with a normal stance again, even though with less weight of course. Still without shoes, and still bro-style training.

Monday, 06/04/2018
Squats: 176 x 5 x 3
Bench: 140 x 5/4/5
Incline Bench
Seated OHP
Lat Pull Down
Dumbel Row
Pec Flies
Skull Crushers
Biceps Curls

I need to concentrate more on keeping tension when benching. Failed in the 2nd set, but managed the third using the cue to press myself into the bench. In general my bench progress is not really moving forward. I will see if I can progress using this cue.

[MatTheCur]

If you're doing bench properly, then you're pushing your legs so that your shoulder are pressing into the bench. Forcing your head down works too.

Where are you from?

[NoGainNoPainBro]

If you're doing bench properly, then you're pushing your legs so that your shoulder are pressing into the bench. Forcing your head down works too.

Where are you from?

Thanks! Never paid attention the the head yet. I'm using leg drive, but something with my bench is off. I don't think my novice progression in benching should be over already, since my bench is so much weaker than my squat, where I'm progressing fine.
Maybe the easiest way is to upload a video next time.

I'm German but living in Sweden.

[NoGainNoPainBro]

6/6/18
Squat: 187 x 5 x 3
Press: 77 x 5, 83 x 5, 88 x5
Deadlift: 243 x 5
Incline Bench
Lat Pulldown
Dumbel Row
Pec Flies
Triceps Extension
Hammer Curls

First time I did Deadlifts and OHP again, so now all major lifts are in the game again! Just need to get back to my old strength level.

Question: Is it okay to do that much accesory work afterwards? Regarding to Starting Strength and most sources on the internet, that is a complete no-go. But the training 2 days later I always feel fine, and I thought it might be a good way to fix my lacking upper body strength.

[NoGainNoPainBro]

Friday, 6/9/18
Squat: 198 x 5 x 3
Bench: 140 x 4, 132 x 5 x 2
Deadlift: 254 x 5

My shoulders got fried from the squats again Couldn't properly bench because of it.

Deadlifts I did for the first time in a long time without straps, but with a thin bar and hook grip. Before I used straps I couldn't even hold the bar with hook grip, but I need to strengthen it anyway.

[NoGainNoPainBro]

Hi all! I was on vacation, didn't train last week.

Monday, 6.18.18

Squat
204 x 5 x 3

Bench (Deload)
110 x 5 x 3

Deadlift
259 x 5

Chin Ups (band assissted)
x 5/5/3


Deadlift finally without straps and a normal bar, used hook grip.

Also since I'm not really progressing in the bench anymore, I decided to go a little bit more aggressive. I ordered a scale to keep track of my weight, and roughly count calories. For now I'm aiming for 4000 kcal to get that bench up and to be able to do bigger increases in the other excercises. My body fat is already pretty high, but I decided that for now progress is more important to me to stay motivated. Let's see if it helps

[NoGainNoPainBro]

Wednesday, 6.20.18

Squat
209 x 5 x 3

Bench (Deload)
116 x 5 x 3

Pendlay Row
110 x 5 x 3


Squats beat up my shoulder very badly again I don't know why it happens some trainings, and others it's completely fine.

My bench form felt much better! Got some advise from the forum here, and concentrated on using leg drive already before unracking.