Since I have just completed my first year of training, I would like to make a little "Thank you H&F" post.

12 months ago I was a skinny-fat World of Warcraft player. Fast forward to today, I am a skinny-fat World of Warcraft player that can squat 2.4x bodyweight!

H&F is definitely responsible for this transformation though, let me explain what I was doing before I stumbled upon the FAQs.

Before I found out about SS, I had only been in the gym a handful of times, and my "workouts" were basically a combination of picking machines at random (always had to get that standing calf raise in) and flailing around with light dumbbells. I had absolutely no concept of progression, how to achieve my goals, or what was effective. I had no idea what a good diet consisted of, and was eating woefully inadequate amounts of protein. I had free access to my university gym and dining hall for 4 years, and I thoroughly squandered the opportunity.

After college, I did very little exercise for a long time. Finally I had enough of just sitting around and started doing some research. I googled around and found some descriptions of "full body" dumbbell workouts. I was under the impression that low weight and high reps was what you needed to do to tone your muscles, so I went to Wal-Mart and purchased two 10lb dumbbells and an elliptical.

I wrote up a program for myself that I could do in the living room. Printed out the schedule and posted it on the wall. It is still hanging on my wall and I laugh with embarrassment every time I look at it now…



Now, after you stop laughing, you have to realize that all those lifts were to be done with two 10lb dumbbells and for one set each. I love the sit-ups 5 days in a row, cus you gotta get that six-pack bro. Half Squats was not a typo, I can only assume I was worried about hurting my knees by going too deep.

I don’t think I even made it through a whole week of this “program” when I stumbled upon the H&F FAQs. This line was good enough to convert me: “If you're new to resistance training, Starting Strength is THE program you should be on.” I picked up the SS book from a friend, read it cover to cover a few times, read the wiki, and hit the gym on Jan 19th 2010. First time I ever went to the gym with a plan developed beforehand, first time ever doing squats, deadlifts, overhead press or power cleans. I had the usual form problems at first, and since I always go to the gym alone there was a lot of trial and error. Getting videos of my form and posting them here was extremely helpful.

I didn’t mean for this post to come off as an Oscar’s acceptance speech. The point I am trying to get across here is that even the most helpless noobs can get on the right track with some good guidance and encouragement. Looking forward to training towards an elite squat in 2011.

Special thanks go to: Milesdyson & Soulman

Please dont remind me of these dark days....

Personal favorite...

Wow, serious lol at that program. Amazing.

I remember you saying you were in it for aesthetic reasons mostly at first, have your views changed? Thoughts on competing?

Nice story. rofl at workout program...at least you didn't waste too much time with it. I did p90x for 5 months! sigh

Def agree this forum is very useful for beginners. Make a log, post vids, listen to you guys and it makes **** a lot easier.

I don't think my goals have changed much, it's just that I realized that there is not much difference in training for strength and training for looks at this level.

Well yeah. Except you could probably throw in more high-rep work and get more hypertrophy out of it. Hard to bro it up with a busted shoulder though.

Bodyweight: 172.2

lol cutting.

Got an appointment at the Sports Medicine doc on Monday. Hope he tells me something good, so I can get back to getting strong in a few weeks.

Went to the doc today, got an X-ray and an ultra sound of my shoulder. Have a pocket of fluid in the area where the tendon from the long head of the bicep comes near the supraspinatus. Its hard to tell exactly what went wrong during the bench set where I injured it, but it's nice to know there is no calcification, muscle tears or anything else weird going on. I did not expect it to be anything serious. Doc prescribed physical therapy, and I can get it covered by my insurance, so I will be going to see a PT soon. Doc figures I will be able to do most of the rehab at home and I can probably do a lot of the stuff that doesn't directly affect my shoulder. Going to ask the PT about low bar squatting specifically. Doc said that due to the naturally low blood flow to this area, recovery can take up to 6 months, with PT. So that sucks, but whatever.

Hey HalfSlant,

Enjoyed reading your log, thanks for taking the time to document your (impressive!) progress.

I have just started on a SS program myself, I have two quick questions if you don't mind. What was your diet like and how has it changed over the last year? Also, what if anything did you do on the off days during SS? I am aware I probably need to start eating more in order to make strength gains, but I am kind of concerned that I will balloon into a fatty with all the eating, and losing body fat was one of my primary motivations for starting the program in the first place.

Thanks again, and good luck with the shoulder recovery.

axioma when you are training hard you'll be surprised just how much food you can pound down without gaining substantial fat

Speak for yourself

Thanks for reading...

I started SS by eating a lot. I was basically eating more than I ever had before, cramming in food before and after workouts. Over all I felt great, and work outs were going well. I gained 10lbs in about 5 months (which is actually not that much compared to some people on SS).

After the 5 months were up, I decided I wanted to cut some fat. I did not really know what I was doing when it came to dieting & training at the same time, but I cut ~15 lbs and added 20lbs to my squat 5RM in about 2 months. I suspect I was still in the "newbie gains" phase of training, and I could have either done a better cut or gained more strength in this period of time. It was a learning experience though, interesting to see how low calories affects progress in the gym.

After the summer was over, I started unrestricted eating again. I basically just auto-regulated my intake. By this I mean I didn't try to cram extra food in, or consciously try to eat less. I just focused on eating meals composed of meats & veggies. I gained ~5 lbs over the next 5 months. I suspect some, if not most of this, was muscle, as I do not really see a big difference in my body composition.

I think this last method worked the best for me, but I have the advantage of never being largely overweight or underweight. If I were you, I would not worry about "getting too fat", because it is such a gradual process. As long as you keep track of how you look (take pictures), then it can't really sneak up on you. You won't wake up one morning as a fat slob. If you are getting too fat, then you can just very slightly lower your calorie intake.

Currently I am trying to cut down to ~160, going well so far, as I am approaching it with more knowledge and a much better plan.

As for off-day training, I never did much. I have a doorway pull-up bar at home, that I would mess around on. I bought a jump rope that I used a handful of times to warm-up with. I would walk the dog for a mile or two on occasion, but never did anything but very low impact stuff like that.

February 24, 2011

First time setting foot in the gym in over 5 weeks. Went with my GF to her gym, I'm trying to get her to start an SS type routine. I have been doing RC movements with tiny 3lb DBs for the past week, after seeing the PT.

Squat
Me:
2x10x45
1x5x115
2x5x135
1x5x185
Her:
3x5x25 (goblet)
3x5x45 (high bar)

Me: Felt ok. Was wearing chucks. W/e.
Her: Lack of shoulder mobility really hindered progress here. Low-Bar was basically out of the question. High bar felt good, but we will need to work on form.


Press
Me:
1x10x45
3x5x25s (DB)
Her:
1x5x10s (DB)
3x5x15s (DB)

Her gym did not have the same fixed weight barbells that mine have, but dumbbells were ok. I think BB would be a bit easier for her if I could get one less than 45lbs.

Deadlift
Me:
1x5x65
1x5x135
1x5x225
Her:
1x5x65
1x5x135
1x3x155

Her: Form was picture perfect for 135. Lost some back extension on the 155. We will use 135 as work set next time, and probably progress at 5lbs/wo.

February 26, 2011

Bodyweight: 167.4

Squat
Me:
1x10x45
1x5x135
1x5x185
3x5x225
Her:
1x10x45
3x5x45
2x5x55

Bench
Her:
5x5x45

Just working on form.

Deadlift
Me:
1x5x95
1x5x135
1x3x225
1x5x275
Her:
1x5x95
1x5x135

I suck at dl, no news there though.

Thanks for the reply HS, missed it first time round.

Yeah, I think I was obsessing a bit too much on the details of this at first. Now just gonna focus on getting a ton of protein / not worry about putting on an extra couple of pounds that I can just easily drop later on when I want to.

I'm getting a pull-up bar for the house, and going to try and do some light stuff on off days just so I'm not sitting around all day. Thanks again for the advice.