Hello H+F,

For a much too long time I've been lurking this forum, following many logs & the lc thread. Recently I have finally started lifting.

Stats
1,94m (6'4.5")
84kg (185lbs)
23y/o, soon to be 24

Goals for this log
As you might deduct from my stats I have pretty much no muscle, skinny overall but beer belly that is not very pretty. My primary goal at this moment is to gain muscle. Preferably with not too much fat added, but I am quite tall so I can definitely carry some extra weight.

Programme
I have chosen to start with Starting Strength, maybe until December. I think it will fit my goal of adding muscle. It is simple and the linear progression should be motivating.

Nutrition
I don't feel like calorie counting. For now I will more or less follow my usual diet with added protein (shakes & meal with 500gr chicken breast after workouts). With this diet I will be getting something like 160-200gr of protein on workout days, probably slightly less 100-160gr on non-workout days, really depends. Will be tracking my weight weekly or so, and might adjust diet if I don't like the results (not putting on weight, or too much).
Past month I have been consuming a lot of alcohol, pretty much every day. Almost all workouts up to now have been hungover, but this will probably be a bit less in August.

Future
In the future I would like to add in some sort of cardio. Maybe after putting on muscle (which will probably bring a long some more bodyfat) I will cut, or add cardio, or both. Maybe I want to do some locotarding, EPOC, hypertrophy etc to have abs and that stuff, but for now no need.
Oh and OLY lifts would be pretty cool. But let's just start with the basics.


Workouts up to today (all weights will be kg, and I am assuming bars at my gym are 20kg, might have to check one day):

Workout on the 19th I felt something wrong with my right shoulder, so I cut it short. I'm very afraid of shoulder or wrist injury, because I also play the violin.
I hope to acquire Supple Leopard + some sort of foam roller + ball soon. Oh and I think I need chalk. I think my shoulder mobility really sucks, because it sort of hurts and gets sore (my shoulder) bringing my elbows under the bar with backsquat and I can't really get it very low on my back because of this also.
For some reason I'm an idiot with choosing OHP weights.

I have pretty much no idea what I'm doing on bench and maybe squat, and I find deadlift technique to be very difficult. Still busy with reading the SS book and watching those Rippetoe vids. Next post is today's workout + vids.

Would love to hear your advice, H+F.

Last workout squat felt very heavy, so decided to take a step back on the weights: would rather progress slow, but with good form. Also some guy who I had noticed doing OLY lifts (I think clean&jerk, I was rather impressed) came over to me when I was doing my (super ugly) deadlifts. He commented on my form, helped me out a bit (he knew about SS and Rippetoe) and I took up his advice to not go over my head with weights and just work on form.

Okay so today I had another (hungover) workout.

25-07-2013
Weight: 84,9kg (I weigh post-workout at the gym. I think this will fluctuate a lot because of how much water I will or will not drink during workout. Something like a week ago it suddenly was 86,5kg)

Squat:
3x5x65


I sometimes have problems, especially on first rep, to get proper depth. What do you guys think are my issues? I know there are more, but don't know exactly what and how to fix. Should I film from different angle?

Bench:
3x5x45


Not really sure of the trajectory of bar. Should it come more forward (nipple) on the way down?

Deadlift:
2x6x40
3,5x80



I find it very difficult to move hips&shoulder at the same time, almost always it is hips first, but I don't think it should go this way. Next time maybe I should do even more light weight (and speed?) to get good form grooved in before heavier weights.

Again, would love to hear your opinions.

Went to England for the weekend, celebrating my Granny's 90th birthday: lots of food (cake) and booze. Skipped yesterday's workout in favor of drink with a girl, shame on me.

Today I chose to do the same weights as last time, still working on my form.

30-07-2013
Weight: 86,0kg

Squat:
3x5x65kg


Bench press:
3x5x45kg


Deadlift:
Bunch of 40's and then 6x70kg

Sit back more in your squats, and ditch the shoes (barefoot is better than those, chuck taylors work well for a cheap option). Try not to have your elbows so high.

Google and watch "So You Think You Can Bench" youtube series - it is a much better and safer way to bench than the way rip instructs.

DL comments in the form check thread.

Thank you! Will be looking for shoes asap. Was planning to get proper weightlifting shoes in a bit, but will make sure to get them sooner rather than later.
re: elbows, I think this is because my shoulders are very immobile. Am currently looking at the shoulder exercises that have been posted in the LC thread today. Hopefully that will solve that problem.

Going to watch the SYTYCB vids as well.

Do yourself a favor and cut first. Also count dem calories bruh.

Don't bend your wrists on the squats. Believe me you'll thank me later when weight gets higher.

So I watched SYTYCB. It seems to me they use very small ROM. What is the reasoning behind this?

It puts your shoulders in a better position, it makes it more of a full body lift (leg drive becomes important), it allows you to get tighter which reduces the risk of injury. All of it makes benching heavy weights safer and more efficient.

Why though?
Cutting without LBM isn't going to give me any appreciable results. I'm not fat. I'm not planning to get fat.

Another day, another hangover. Woops.

1-8-2013
Weight: 86,5 kg
Squats:
3x5x67,5


That is butt wink, right? Don't know why this is happening now, maybe forcing too much depth, or it is because I was focusing on 'sitting back' and weight on heels.

Press:
3x5x30

Finally managed to find a weight where I could actually finish the 3 sets. It was very difficult though, but also because I used very little rest between sets because someone else wanted to use the rack. Probably shouldn't let myself get influenced by this.
On the third set I tweaked something in my upper back/lower neck? It feels stiff and hurts when I bend my neck, turning my head down.

Deadlift:
1x5x80

Moved up in weights. Not happy with form.

In other news:
- ordered Adidas Power Perfect II weightlifting shoes
- have started doing RKC planks and these shoulder exercises daily.
- bought material to make my own pvc/foamroller. Going to construct this right now as per this site: http://homemadestrength.blogspot.nl/...h-moms_24.html
- goingto watch the calories a bit more, all this alcohol is not helping

Pretty much all your form questions can be answered by reading the book.

As for the wrists:

Ok you convinced me, starting cut as of today. Out of money and sort of lovesick which makes it eaaasy. (boohoo me)

Not gonna count calories though, that is way too much work

This weekend I went to a 17 hr long techno party. Ate almost nothing, and wasn't feeling up for a workout on Sunday, so I went this morning.

05-08-2013
Weight:85,6kg

Squat:
3x5x70kg

Meh

Bench press:
3x5x47,5kg


Setup seems much better, thanks to the SYTYCB. Do you guys agree?

Deadlift:
1x5x85kg

Meh

Lol cutting is easy

07-08-2013
Weight: 84,0kg

Squats:
3x5x70

This was pretty hard, probably because I have been eating ~1/3th of what I normally eat since Saturday.

OHP:
3x5x30

Was easy, because I rested properly between sets (~2/2,5 mins)

Deadlifts:
1x5x85

Getting the hang of this. Not every rep was good form yet, but I think I know what to pay attention to to fix this.

Will post vids tonight.

In other news:
The shoes I ordered turn out to be delayed for 6 weeks, so I will be looking for an alternative soon.

Feck went out drinking, ate a bit too much, nothing terrible though.
Oh well tomorrow should be ~1k deficit, unless I go drinking again

Cut going excellent, squat terrible.

09-08-2013
Weight:83,3kg lol

Squat:
2x5x70kg

Previous workout I realised I have a problem with knee cave and still seeing buttwink when I watch back vid after sets. Last rep of 2nd set I actually felt something in my left knee (which caves), so decided to quit. I guess I will have to do some sort of reset, especially now that I'm on a cut it isn't responsible to continue squatting 'heavy' with these problems. Cha has scared me with his warnings about disc injuries and torn ACLs (?).
I was thinking to do 2x5 and then AMRAP starting with 50kg, on the condition that I keep my knees out and back tight on all reps. Does that sound like a good idea to you?

Bench press:
3x5x50kg

Feels quite solid, will add 2.5kg next workout. Actually made use of leg drive this time, which really helped.

Deadlift:
1x5x90kg

Was alright.

Will try to post vids later

12-08-2013
Weight:83,7kg

Squat:
3x5x50kg

A lot of buttwink, have to find out how to fix this.

Press:
3x5x32,5kg

Deadlift:
1x5x95kg

Cut:
Aiming for 1700kcal days when lifting, 1200kcal on rest days. Cut will last until 1 Sept. but there will be ~6 days of excessive drinking before then.

How did the cut go?

Quite easy, at the moment sort of debating what to do. Currently at 81kg and I think from now on sort of maintenance and try to get the lifts up.
Have been logging, but not posting, might post all work outs some time. Cliffs: lifts stall, weight dropped.

The trouble is, I will be drinking about 5 times/week next two months, so it is pretty hard to get proper calorie/protein ratio.

It's been a while. Have been continuing with SS, but have very few opportunities to actually make it to the gym each week. Sometimes I (often the weekends) will have a chance to make it to the gym two days in a row, and I would like to make use of those occasions, because some weeks I can only make it to the gym 1/week.

What would be a good way to split up the (SS) exercises when I want to workout two days in a row? What type of accessory lifts should I include on such occasions?

10-11-2013
Weight: 83.3kg
Squat: 3x5x77,5kg
Bench: 3x5x54kg
Deadlift: 5x90kg
Chinup: 10, 10, 6x '-30'

Really need to make some form vids again, because I think I'm not reaching depth on squats :O

By the way I ended my cut at ~80kg and now doing some sort of slow bulk, still not counting calories though. Weight has been about 81kg last two weeks, today was just some variance I think

12-11-2013
Weight: 84.3kg
Squat: 3x5x80kg
Press: 4x40kg 4,3x37,5kg fail
Chinup: 8,6,3x-20 fail

lol slow bulk, 3kg in 2 weeks
press sucks ass

Took it a little bit easy today, legs still a bit sore.

14-11-2013
Weight: 82,6
Squat: 5, 5, 7 x 70
Bench: 3x5x55
Chins: 10, 9 x -25