T Nation

After 1 year...

Beginners
#1

I started training in September of last year (2010)

I set some goals for myself (they have all fell short unfortunately, but I did make a lot of progress)

Background info: No sports or training background at all. I was a fatass as a teenager (180) and by the time college started I became a dieting idiot (barely ate anything to lose the weight) went down to 140 (skin n bones)

I’ve learned a lot about nutrition in the past couple of years and decided to take things to the next level and began training and eating properly.

When I started I was weak as hell (using just the empty barbell for many movements and 10 lb DB’s)

Anyways, heres where I’m at now (these are all 5RM).

Bench: 195 (wanted to hit 2 plates)

Squat: 265 (wanted 3!)

Deadlift: 285 (same)

Strict standing Overhead Press - 135

Barbell curl - 115

Pullups - 30 reps BW, I can do weighted with 25 lbs for 5

Weighted dips - 45 lbs

Anyway I started this post because I was upset with not hitting my goals but looking at it now in hindsight I’m not totally disappointed because I still made a lot of progress.

Cheers,
WM

#2

Good for you for setting goals. I think this is great for one year’s progress considering you started with an empty bar, and I’m sure you’ve learned a ton.

Whats your weight at right now? Age?

#3

great progress bro, i dont know how you could have wanted more than that, anything over 100 pounds in a years is amazing, keep up the good work

#4

nice lifting man! lets see if you can double those lifts next year :slight_smile:

#5

Not bad at all. Progress is progress. Good luck on the next phase.

#6

That really is good progress for only one year training ever. Keep at it, you’ll be a beast before you know it.

#7

[quote]Murph14 wrote:
Good for you for setting goals. I think this is great for one year’s progress considering you started with an empty bar, and I’m sure you’ve learned a ton.

Whats your weight at right now? Age?
[/quote]

Just weighed myself (before bed) at 210. I’m 25 years old.

I’m not sure how much of my gains were strength and and how much was just getting used to the movements and being more neurally efficient, but if you guys thinks I didn’t do so bad maybe I your right?

I train without belts/straps/wraps/suits if it matters.

Thank you all for your feedback! I’ll keep you guys updated for next month!!

#8

Brother, just stick with this game and you will be rewarded in time many, many ways. We all know the allure of the big numbers, but more important is the road that you take to get there.

Honestly, you will never be satisfied with your progress or how fast you are gaining… Thats just the nature of us.

If you have committed to it for a year chances are you are going to keep going, and I hope you do. It is one of the most important things in my life and many others for good reason. You will be very happy with where you will end up in 5 - 10 years, believe me.

#9

Hey there!

from someone who has only just started: If I can match those numbers by this time next year, I’ll be damned happy!

Just remember to be nice to the new-newbies in the gym. When we see you throwing the big plates around, we look at our 10-pounders and cry a little inside.

#10

[quote]Lonnie123 wrote:
Honestly, you will never be satisfied with your progress or how fast you are gaining… Thats just the nature of us.

If you have committed to it for a year chances are you are going to keep going, and I hope you do. It is one of the most important things in my life and many others for good reason. You will be very happy with where you will end up in 5 - 10 years, believe me.[/quote]

So true, so true. I’ve put in a lot of time in the gym these past couple years and only now do I feel like I have accomplished something. Looking back, the journey was cool and I learned a lot, but the cardio sucked ass and I wish I could fast forward through that shit and get on with the rest of my day.

#11

I struggle with this. I find myself looking around the gym and observing what exercises everyone else is performing, how much weight, how many reps, etc. The reality is that there will always be someone doing more weights, more reps, whatever, in any particular exercise. We all have different goals, nutrition, training history, technique, genetics, morphology, levers, neuro capacity, ability to recover, quality of sleep and muscle attachments – therefore it is fruitless to compare in this way.

The only comparison that makes sense is a comparison to your past self. Compare today’s self to last week’s, last month’s, and last year’s.

It looks to me like the OP has a favorable comparison to him/her-self.

[quote]Lonnie123 wrote:

Honestly, you will never be satisfied with your progress or how fast you are gaining… Thats just the nature of us.

[/quote]

#12

for someone who couldn’t even lift the bar, it’s a HUGE progress, stick to it and you will reap the rewards.