I'm been meaning to get back in shape for a while, and did some light running when it wasn't all snowy and nasty out, but haven't touched any weights in a long time. I've done all the SS lifts before back in high school when I played football, but that's it, and definitely didn't take lifting as seriously as I should have, but that's upstate NY football for you, it isn't Texas. Currently am 25 years old, 5'10, 235 pounds, so I definitely have some work to do.

Anyways, there was a story in the paper about discount gyms a day or two ago, so I went and signed up earlier this afternoon at a place with 10 buck a month memberships, and got started on day one. Don't own the book yet, so I'm just going off of the SS wiki, but I figured to get started than sit around and wait. So, here's day one:

Squat: started with the bar like it said, and continued adding weight until I felt as though my form/speed was slipping. Didn't really want to push it, so I stopped at 3x115, which seemed a bit low to me, but based on what I'd read I figured it would be better to start too low rather than too high. At any rate, I can definitely feel it in my legs, so it couldn't have been too low.

Bench: Like the squat, started with the bar and kept adding 10 pounds a side. I got up to 125, but felt as though I was struggling on the final rep or two a bit, so I took it down to 115 and did 2 more sets of 5, which I did pretty smoothly. I remember always struggling on the bench press back when I lifted in high school, so I was quite surprised to be benching as much as I was squatting, but 115 felt pretty easy, much easier than I was expecting.

Deadlift: I messed this up because I started right at 135 instead of stacking some plates and warming up with a lower weight. My form on this was definitely all over the place from rep to rep, so after doing 5x135, I just called it a day and didn't bother to try adding any more weight to it. Probably should shoot some video the next time it's deadlift day and post it, since I clearly have forgotten everything I once knew about deadlifting.

So, all told, a decent first day. My legs feel like jello on stairs, my chest feels fine, and hopefully I make good progress over the coming weeks and months. For now my plan is just to stick to SS for a little while and get stronger, then reevaluate a few months from now.

Hey Dudd, I'm curious about what your goals are in more detail. You said you want to get back in shape and also get stronger, does that mean you want to bulk or cut?

Good luck man.

Ideally I'd like to lose some weight, as obviously 235 is too much for my height and obvious lack of muscle mass. But I don't really want to drop weight while still being weak, so I obviously want to add some strength. So that's why right now when I'm weak I'm just going to do the SS program and try and get stronger, and then when I have a base built up hopefully in the next few months and know more of what I'm doing, then maybe focus more on cardio/diet to go along with lifting. Maybe I'm off base and I can do it all from day one, but for now I'm just trying to keep it simple.

starting low is fine. preferred, even.

I would just eat at maintenance for the time being with plenty of protein. You'll have a decent body recomposition if you just stay where you're at while getting stronger and you can reassess later.

hello dudd

welcome

Just because Thremp got banned, ldo

So, rest day one, quite sore in my quads. Anything to do tomorrow except try and loosen them up on a bike before lifting again?

SE circlejerk itt

Foam rolling?

http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_...r_for_10_bucks

Also, one more thing, if I didn't feel very comfortable with my deadlift form during my first workout, should I deadlift again tomorrow focusing on getting the form right, or still move onto power cleans?

I like your starting weights other than deadlift which is relatively lower than your squat. I'd do 155 next time. Next work out follow the program and do power cleans if possible but if you're a novice you'll probably **** it all up and feel weird and look up and see a bunch of 50 year old guys in short shorts and 200 lb women walking on treadmills looking at you and think "ok, time to do some rows".

Rip advises novices to deadlift every workout for the first two weeks, then start alternating with power cleans. The programming section of SS is a bit outdated ... refer to Practical Programming.

Well, too late for that, I did power cleans already. Started off with the bar stacked on some weights and did a few sets with that, then added on 10 pounds until it started to feel more difficult. Ended up stopping with 85 pounds total, actually felt like I was doing a fairly decent job. Didn't bring my phone, so no video. Added 10 pounds to the squat and 5 pounds to the bench as well, no problems there. The foam roller was a godsend, instantly removed around 80% of the soreness after rolling the quads around on it for around half a minute, so there was very very little soreness.

Yes, the foam roller is a magical device. And the power cleans are not that big of a deal. Keep doing them if you like them.

Today's workout:

Squat: 3x5x135
Bench: 3x5x125
Deadlift:1x5x155

Deadlift felt a lot better than on the first day, I watched a few videos before going today and I think they helped get the form better.

So, got the book today in the mail, and apparently I was under the mistake impression that I was supposed to benching every day. Good to have that cleared up. So, tomorrow I learn the press.

Today's workout:

Squat: 3x5x145
Press: 3x5x75
Clean: 5x3x90

What/how much are you eating?


Just curious

I'm eating like I normally am. I've been around 235 for a while, give or take a few pounds, so probably not at a meaningful caloric imbalance either way.

Squat: 3x5x155
Bench: 3x5x130
Deadlift: 1x5x175

Still making easy gains, no problems on any rep. Bruised my left shin a bit on the deadlift, but I guess that's going to happen.

Squat: 3x5x165
Press: 3x5x80
Powerclean: 5x3x100

Squat: 3x5x175
Bench: 3x5x135
Deadlift: 1x5x195

Squat: 3x5x185
Press: 3x5x85
Powerclean: 1x3x105, 4x3x95

Went down a little bit in the powerclean instead of up, after my first work set one of the other guys lifting in the gym came over and told me I was swinging it up a bit crooked and that I should take it down a little bit in weight, so I did. My squat is feeling really good, my bar speed seems to actually be getting a little bit better as I add weight and get more comfortable with the low bar form. My cameraphone keeps freezing up on me so no videos, but I'll try and borrow a camera over the weekend so you all can comment on my form.

slow and steady is definitely the way to go with PCs. I think most on SS, myself included, progress too quickly. A glenn pendlay approach (slow progress, no moving up until you hit a lot of reps with great form) probably yields better long term results than a Rip approach (keep moving up as long as it's not egregious). there's merit to the latter, but for most I think the former is correct.

Squat: 3x5x195
Bench: 3x5x140
Dead: 1x5x215

Horrible angle videos uploading as I type!