Early 30's, 5'9".
Started SS in 2010, got a few months of training and saw some enjoyable gains (squat 85 >> 280lb~). Then got lazy and let it slip away.
Have started/stopped a few times since then but never for more than a month or so. Let myself get horribly out of shape and somewhat fat (~160 in 2010 when lifting, now ~190lbs and weak)
I've now been back at it for a few weeks.
Doing every-other-day (no 2-day break at EOW). Will keep that up until I started feeling it.
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Last 2 sessions:
Bench 125 x 5,5,9
Squat 190 x 5,5,9
Chins 1, 1, 1
Squat 205 x 5,5,5
OHP 100 x 5,5,5
DL 175 x 8
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Squat - feels good. still making small tweaks (esp since getting the AdiPowers)
Bench - good as far as I can tell.
OHP - must improve hip incorporation and need to keep back tight. just watched a Rip vid on this so excited to try it again.
DL - felt way too light, but I also need to study form to better understand what looks good. My gym finally got circular plates, so these are less of a PITA than I remember (for now )
Chins - I'm fat and weak now so can only bang out 1x. Going to replace these with Rows and just grease the groove chins throughout the days.
I'll likely be posting videos of some lifts to hopefully get feedback from you guys.
Food - Since I'm fat I'm just not going to pay attention to food intake much until it feels like an issue. I want to get strong and look good (in that order) so I think I shouldn't worry about cutting fat to look good again yet, but I also don't feel like I need to TRY to eat when I'm already overweight as long as the weights are going up.
Goals - These are obviously going to shift a lot. But for now...
Squat/Dead 3 plates.
Bench 2 plates.
OHP 160lbs
Bench: 135 x 5, 5, 7 Squat: 215 x 5, 5, 7 Rows: 115 x 5, 5, 5
Need to remember to deep breathe and tighten up on more lifts.
Squat felt easy to get up but heavy on my body.
Bench I kept elbows tucked. Have recently narrowed the grip and it feels way stronger this way.
Squat 225 x 6,5,5
Back in the 2plate club baby! Press 105 x 5,5,5
Felt horrible. Trying to add some hip drive and it just made me waste a ton of energy + I think I'm letting the bar swing in front on the way up and back once it's on top. Would love a form check: https://youtu.be/UeHewQRpWKg Deadlift 190 x 5
Felt way too easy again, but form seems meh at best. Check: https://youtu.be/7UGLMNSPy3M
Good luck!
You're close to where I am right now. I am a little taller, a little heavier and also almost ten years older than you, but my lifts are close to where yours are right now. It will be fun to read your log.
Thanks, GermanGuy! I'll be following your log too.
I tweaked a back muscle a week ago. It doesn't hurt when I'm not lifting, but those last squats I did we're brutal not because they were heavy but because I literally couldn't get a deep breath in while I was under the bar. I'm going to go ahead and take today off (for a normal 48hr break) to let it heal more. Works out better because the gym will be closed for Thanksgiving anyway.
Squat 240 x 5,5,5 OHP 107.5 x 5,5,5 Deadlift 215 x 5
Squat - back less tweaked. Only hurts when I take a deep breath into chest while under the bar. Which is good because it made me realize I'm breathing into my chest not my gut.... Form looks fine on video but felt bad.
OHP - I'm wasting so much energy trying to do the hip rebound thing. Wasting energy because I'm pausing while trying to do it right. Still got the reps up and didn't feel heavy. But form was pffft on last rep.
Woke up the last 2 days with a sore feeling in my throat. But half-way through today I'm starting to feel run down and hot. Hopefully just a small cold, but I'm going to skip today and probably a few days this week.
So IDK what happened. I was sure that I was getting a cold, even when I woke up today, but this afternoon just cleared up and feeling fine since. Good thing because I was dying to get in the gym.
11/26/2017
Bench 142.5 x 5,5,5 Squat 245 x 5, 6, 5 Chins BW x 1,1,1,1,1
Bench - honestly too light. I just didn't have a spotter so decided to micro-load 2.5lb.
Squat - felt easier than last few times. But I took some videos from the front and I think I'm having an issue where my left leg is caving/moving around more than my right. I don't really know what's going on. Maybe my right leg is out too far? It looks like my right toes are at least pointed out more than my right.
If any of you knowledgeable guys (*cough* Cha *cough*) see anything major please let me know.
Set 2:
Set 3: I tried to very slightly narrow stance and keep toes more mirrored. Not sure I succeeded
Looks like there's some lower back movement at the bottom . . . maybe try to clean that up a bit? Also, it looks like you're doing the circa 2016 Monte special - initiating the movement with your ass before your knees break, which I suspect may be putting your lumbar in a non-optimal position (it's hard to tell from the video, but I think it's starting out extended and moving towards flexed at the bottom).
Montecore,
Thanks so much for pointing it out. I noticed that. Wasn't sure what was wrong, and looking at my old squat videos (circa 2010-11) I did not have this issue back then at the same weights.
After some research, it turns out that I completely forgot about putting the lower-back in extension for the lift (to be fair it's been 7 years since I read the book and a few years since I've lifted at all).
Watched this video, and will re-read the Squat chapter of the new edition of SS. Did some bodyweight squats and looks better. Excited to get back in the gym tomorrow and test it out!
squat asymmetry: My right foot turns out a bit more than my left foot too. I dont know if its something going on in your hip, ankle or something else. Its probably not a huge deal, but might be worth trying to figure out if you have adhesions.
Narrower stance squats looks like you have a little less of a knee issue. With the wider stance, you tend to let the knees come in a little bit as you hit the hole. Get your posterior chain stronger and keep it tighter.
DLs look good. Minor improvement could be focusing on getting your chest up on the setup right before you start to pull. Also, what Monte said, put some weight on the bar.
I'm definitely having an issue turning my left foot out enough (it looks fine to me in person but obv not on video). I also seem to have an issue getting under the bar centered, and hip shift to the left side. I'd figure my (I'm guessing 'mild') scoliosis also plays some part in all this.
Bench 147.5 x 5,5,5 Squat 265 x 5,5,5 (this is a logged PR, although I know I got some sets higher than this years ago). Deadlift 245 x 5,5,5
Squat
Dead
I tried to deadlift in the belt. I think I couldn't set mysetup up correctly and thus pulled with a much less straight back than normal. I may have closed my stance a bit also. Will try next set this week without a belt and see what happens. May be time to switch to 5lb increases as well.
My gut has gotten awfully close to Dr. Feigenbaum's dreaded 40".
I've never even had thoughts of anything related to diet in my life. But now I'm trying to read up on what I can. I feel clueless so I think it's going to be days before I get my bearings but for now I'm trying to just stay under 2700call
[Update: 12/7/2017] OHP 115 x 5,5,5 Squat 270 x 6,5,5 (PR)
OHP - went for a 5lb jump because I was feeling good. I'm having an issue being strict on not having a lever arm. I also am doing this hybrid of 2.0 and 1.0 because I just get out of gas doing 2.0 the whole time.
Squat - accidentally did 6 reps first set. The entire workout felt so heavy. Definitely had some knees sliding forward at the bottom but not sure how bad it is.
Also, I have mild scoliosis and my body position isn't perfectly straight (left foot wants to be 0.5-1inch behind right, left foot usually not pointed out enough, trunk points slightly to the left of hips, and hips seem to shift left at the bottom). I'm working on all of this but it's taking some toll on mental energy and also energy in trying to set up myself at the beginning of the set.