Depth looks right on the cusp imo. If the call on the field is that depth is good I certainly wouldn't reverse it after looking at the replay.

weeeeeeeeeeeeee

edit: ty

Looks pretty good man. Depth is borderline on some reps I think, but easier to judge on sideways view. Same with knees forward, but I think they look good. Grip is fine.

You don't need to go below parallel, but make sure to go actual parallel. I.e. crease in pants = parallel with top of knee.

thanks guys...


UPDATE MON. 3.8.10

Squats:
2 x 5 x 45
5 x 65
3 x 100
2 x 135
3 x 5 x 165 (+5lbs)

Bench:
2 x 5 x 45
4 x 80
2 x 110
2 x 5 x 135 (+5 lbs)
1 x 3 x 135 (fail)

DL:
2 x 5 x 45
5 x 95
3 x 115
2 x 135
5 x 180 (no increase)


Squats felt very good today, if the next 5lb increase is this easy I'm going to increase by 10 after that.

Bench first set was perfect, 2nd set I got a slight cramp in my left leg by the hip - I struggled with the last rep but got it up. On the 3rd set I doubt I would have gotten the 5th up but for sure I could have got the 4th up if it wasn't for this cramp kicking back in full blown - so bad I had to kick my leg up mid bench to alleviate it. It wasn't any lasting pain just a bad cramp, probably from lack of flexibility I'm guessing... thoughts? Should I increase next bench workout again or just try 135lbs again?

Did same DL weight as last time because they didnt' feel great last time. This time they felt better, but I'm sure I'm still doing stuff wrong.
Also I bruised my right knee and my right shin, I'm sure both are from the downward motion not the lift. Is this normal or does it mean im doing something wrong?



DEADLIFT VIDEO

Just drop that shi.t srsly gonna end up doing it when it get heavier anyway, just putting your back at risk. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

maybe try to keep your grip on the bar so you dont have to reset after every rep

back looked good, chest looked good, u can throw more weight on there imo

Squat looks pretty good, IMO.

I didn't think we were supposed to drop the DL...

ty guys

more input on DLs plz

I'm far from a DL expert but looks like your butt comes up faster than shoulders do. i was under the impression that they are supposed to come up at the same time. hopefully someone can clarify

Thur. 3.11.10

SQUATS:
2 x 5 x 45
5 x 65
3 x 105
2 x 135
3 x 5 x 175 (+10lbs)

Press:
3 x 5 x 45
3 x 65
2 x 5 x 85 (+5lbs)
1 x 4 x 85 (failed)

Chins:
8 x (-32lbs)
3 x (-32lbs)
3 x (-32lbs)


Such an annoying gym day. Guy in the gym wearing aviator glasses kinda tilted me. I went off to find 2.5lb weights but there is somehow only TWO in the entire gym now (used to be plenty). ONE lonely one was in a bench station, I asked the kids if they needed it and they said yes, I said you know you only have one of them? and they said we only need one.... lmao. When I come back from my search looking for 2.5s I return to a half empty bar and some kid throwing my gym pass off of the bar (I put it on there to let ppl know its taken, impossible to use the thing without moving the pass first). I also had 80 guys asking how long til I finish because they wanted to do curls and whatnot in it.

Squats went fine. Since I couldn't grab 2.5s I had to make a 10lb increase which went better than expected so yay for that. First time squatting over bodyweight!

Presses were OK, I think I rushed them because of the ppl waiting for me, but I failed right after my 4th rep in the last set, more because my balance was lost than my arms. I think I'm still going to repeat 85lbs for this tho next time.

IDK why I went from 8 reps to 3 reps in the chins but w/e.

No vids this time.

I hate my gym. will switch when I move to my new house.

lol @ ******s at gym. I'm exploring other options as well...so ****ing annoying

I forgot the warm-up numbers but they are just std so...

Squats:
2 x 5 x 180 (+5lbs)
1 x 4 x 180 (fail 5th)

Bench
3 x 5 x 135

DL:
nope


Squats felt really heavy today, which felt good, but I just couldn't get up the last rep of the 3rd set. got half way up and just couldn't go anymore.

bench was great i ask a kid for a spot and tell him don't touch the bar unless i drop it BACK down and hes like yeah cool and then touches the bar on every ****ing rep even when im saying "it's ok i got it". I finally just decide **** it no spotter because everyone sucks and I'm sure I won't die if I can't push 135 back up... so I do it and it felt great!

back was feeling funny when I did my first few reps of just the bar with DLs so I decided **** it I'm not doing them... I've also been kind of dealing with personal issues lately so I wasn't in a great mood and just didn't feel like pressing on.


I stopped GOMAD this month and haven't been eating as much, this is also partially because of my personal problems (sandy vagina imo) and also not wanting to have a big gut anymore. I'm down to 163.5lbs. At least I'm still stronger than last time.

another side note, my friggin arms are getting pretty beefy. the girls are impressed.

Mon. 3.15.10

Squat:
2 x 5 x 45
5 x 75
3 x 115
2 x 150
1 x 5 x 185 (+5lbs)
1 x 4 x 185 (fail)
1 x 5 x 185 (success!)

Press:
nope

Chins:
1 x 7 x (-30lbs)
1 x 4 x (-30lbs)
1 x 3 x (-30lbs)


Squats felt REAL heavy. I failed the 5th rep in the 2nd set because I just lost focus, I felt a small slip in my grip (nothing really) and it just put the idea in my head of "what if my grip fails" and then I couldn't get up. felt really good to get up in the 3rd set tho. had a couple waiting for the squat rack who were impressed that I was squatting 185lbs

I didn't do presses because I gave up the squat rack to that couple because I thought the other rack thing was open but turns out it was taken and there was a 3 person wait for it so I just decided to skip them.

I've lost something like 5-7lbs in the last week or two. I'm not eating a lot, barely any milk at all, and I'm not sleeping great. Just been too down/stressed to eat most of the time.

Why are you cutting? Pics?

I'm not really intentionally cutting, at least not as much as I am. I wanted to lower my intake a bit because my gut was getting too big but now I'm eating very minimally because I've been stressed out / feeling down lately. I just ate half a pizza and a 1/4 gallon of milk tho.

missed one update where I failed 190lb squats on 2nd and 3rd sets.
failed 2nd set doing 140lb bench and almost killed myself because of no spotter and trying to land the bar on the bottom hooks instead of just letting it go back on my chest and rolling it down to my legs.
didn't do deadlifsts again.


Today I went back to 185lb squat, finished the first set, failed the 3rd rep in the 2nd set, dropped to 180lbs and failed the 2nd rep.
dropped presses to 80lbs and did that but felt weak.
3 sets of chinups with 24lbs assistance 6, 5, 4 reps.

the squat weight felt super heavy, and it actually made my lower back uncomfortable in the spine (not muscles) and my knees too. on the 3rd set my left knee started buckling which stopped me from doing any more.

I'm sure it's a combination of eating a lot less, not sleeping as good, and being down/stressed out (which also leads to my complete lack of focus while lifting the weights).

I'm trying to figure out if I'm going to keep pounding the food and sticking with SS a big longer or just switching to some other routine where I won't gain as much fat (at the expense of not getting as strong/big as fast)

any advice appreciated.

If your not serious enough about giving SS 100% what makes you think changing the program will help? SS works, learn that you have to eat. You dont have to pig out or eat massive surplus so you gain tons of fat. You just need enough so you dont negate the work you do in the gym. Finish SS, imo.

Get fatter for a while and live with it, then cut. More effective.

Based on my own experience following SS does require a pretty big surplus at the end of the novice phase unless you want to experience a ton of stalls, resets and so on. I know I'd rather get done with the mass gaining/strength gains phase fast then move away from that.

missed my first workout ever

I think I'm going to take the next two days off like I was supposed to and then get back on the same schedule (thur, sat, mon). I'm going to try to start eating good again and drinking 1/4 or 1/2 gallon a day. i'll prob reset all my weights 5-10lbs below what my previous completed #s were.

thurs 3.26.10

squats:
(std warmups)
3 x 5 x 180

bench:
(std warmups)
3 x 5 x 135

DL:
(std wrmps)
5 x 175


bench and DLs felt easy, squat was heavy but i could tell I wasn't going to fail any reps.

overall good gym day, felt good and **** was free when I needed it to be. Also got hit on and got a number from a v cute girl at the gym.

I'm eating as I'm typing this so I'm making progress!

haven't worked out in a week about I think I'm going to the gym in the next hour to start it all up again. I've got my motivation back.

QUICK! someone help me figure out how much weight I should try to do, please!
Just go back to last weights done or do I start up again like I was starting from day 1?

1 week = same weights as last time you lifted

Had a good workout Thursday

Squats:
2 x 5 x 45
5 x 75
3 x 115
2 x 150
3 x 5 x 185

Presses:
3 x 5 x 45
2 x 65
3 x 5 x 75

Chins:
2 x 4 x bodyweight
1 x 3 x bodyweight
and then 2 negatives



...


Skipped the workout yesterday (Sat) because I felt I might have a cold coming on and I didn't want to make it worse.
Sure enough today I wake up w the sore throat

Is there any new drugs for the common cold yet? Or just NyQuil/DayQuil it up for the next few days

Just eat good & sleep good

Hey man, how much u weighing/feeling now ooc? I am about the same build as u when u first started, and now that i'm moving close to campus (i.e. close to a gym) and its summer time, i'm really motivated to start SS... Just wanna hear some feedback i guess

Starting SS was one of the most awesome things for me. I only stuck with it strictly for about 6 weeks before I started falling off (going to get back on right after this cold is over) but the results are great.

I went from 150lbs~ up to 172 so fast. After the slacking I'm down to 165ish right now but it's pretty good I lost some fat and definitely look a lot better than 150.
Not only does it feel good to be stronger but hearing all the compliments was great, I didn't really tell anyone I was working out they just noticed and would tell me how good I was looking. Definitely got a lot of attention from the girls too.
I feel so much better physically and mentally because of it. It's awesome. Just gogogogo.

I was going to stop SS right about now and go into a bodybuilder routine but after thinking it through more I'm gonna try to keep up with the program at least another month or two before doing that - the progress you see is just amazing.