So, I am 30 yo this year, nearly 31, from France. Basically been lifting on and off without clear routine or goal or whatever for years. Was a very skinny guy, became an average guy, looking soft. No discipline whatsoever so I decided to take a change.
Stats at the beginning (metric system)
Weight 74 kgs (for 1m75)
Maxes : (don’t laugh, I am angry about them)
Squat : 70 kg
BP : 60 kgs
DL : around 100 kgs (horrible technique)
I will begin with STARTING STRENGTH, because it fits my very busy schedule, I liked the book. After that I will probably go to 5/3/1 because Jim is an inspiration. I read a lot and have a lot of knowledge about training but I am a knowledge warrior and wanna be a Real one. Goal is to get stronger first. Aesthetics are a bonus.
I don’t do the Power Clean because I work out at a shitty french gym with no coach allowing that. So I do Pendlay Row
12/10/2016 - started as below (had benched on monday in a stupid split)
Squat : 3x5x55kg - was quite easy
Press : 3x5x25kg - was quite easy also
Row : 3x5x40kg - was also easy
Done in 25 minutes, at 8 in the morning. Good.
Looking forward to next session. I have trouble getting my nutrition right. Working a lot, had to kick a “I drink wine every evening” habit, and my woman doing a severe diet is not helping a lot.
No bullshit approach.
Supps : whey, caff pills in the morning if coffee too hard to stomach. Some Z12 to help sleep but I tend to steer clear of phenibut. L-Theanine sometimes during the day and a multivit.
Squat : 3x5x60 kg
Press : 3x5x27,5 kg
Row : 3x5x42,5 kg
Had a big weekend with family, work to do, housing work, birthday, pizza, and some alcohol. Was expecting to have a rough session but somehow it felt very good. Squat felt very good and natural.
I however start to feel some kind of pain in the neck, upper traps. Maybe pinched a nerve or slept in a bad posture yesterday…
I wouldn’t worry. Probably just your traps on that side not used to working. Work on pulling your scapulae back and down for almost all lifts. That tends to be a big help.
I had a short night, probably got 6:30 / 7:00 sleep. Felt a bit tired and weak at the morning, woke up later than usual, so it was quite a rush to get to the gym and then work.
Training :
Squat : Starting Strength warm up ; 3x5x62,5
BP : warm up; 3x5x52,5
Deadlift : small warm up (some RDL with bar only + one set at 60 kg), and 1x5x75
Well this time it FELT like a real training. I was very drained after squat and BP. Deadlift was difficult, my hand were slippery.
I must say I ate poorly the day before, had less than 2000 kcal I think, was in hurry all day, maybe that affected everything.
Went today because yesterday I was feeling very tired and sick in the morning
BP : 3x5x55 kgs
Squat-Smith : 3x5x68,5
DL : 1x5x80
Well, I arrived at the gym and the only squat rack was taken by a smartass doing half-squat and would not move or talk.
So I started with bench, which went good. 55 is probably not a lot but feels like a small achievement for me.
I had to squat because I did not want to lose the momentum of my training, so I decided to use Smith machine. Well that sucks, the move sucks, but I did it. It was a nice effort.
I was drained for DL.
Had to wait a bit, did some warmup set RDL then DL at 60. DLing 80 felt ultra hard. I suck at deadlift. I like the lift, I like doing it at 60kgs it feels good, but anything above is very hardcore. I will have to fix that, I clearly “feel” that I do it very inefficiently, especially the initial pull to lift the bar from the ground, if that makes sense.
Hey, but I did the 80x5. And even 2 or 3 reps in another set to try to figure out technique. Small victory, but still a victory.
Deadlifts just feel unpleasant. They’re an amazing lift, locking them out is satisfying, but between getting the damn thing moving and locking it out is a whole bowlful of suck.
I had to finish with squat because the rack was busy. Not optimal as my lower back was a bit tired by the row.
But it was nice. Squat was probably a PR for me, and I am happy with that.
I need to figure my peri workout nutrition. I train at 8 o clock in the morning, wake up at 6:30. I trained fasted today… And had some carbs + prot after. If I eat too much breakfast I feel bad, and if I eat too low, I feel some discomfort.
Now I have vacation and will be abroad monday, so next session will be Tuesday or Wednesday.
@MarkKO : yep, deadlifts are uncomfortable… The first part of the move feels so bad. My grip is bad too, hopefully I Got some liquid chalk which makes things better… But pulling that damn thing off the ground is a mission in itself.
After a 4 days break, I restarted training today. I felt not very good at waking up, was coughing a bit, and having some stomach issues. But I decided to train anyway. I took a coffee and some biscuits.
Bench was the hardest. After the squats I was very tired, and bench did not feel great…
DL was surprisingly not so hard. The last rep was hard but mostly because of “cardio” (DL makes me sweat a lot and raise heartrate a lot !). I think I got a better form after working on it.
Face Pulls : 3x15 because shoulder felt a bit weird.
I have so much respect now for people squatting huge numbers. This feels increasinbly difficult for me and I am at 75 kgs squat (bodyweight), but it’s quite amazing to notice the adaptation !
I had to start with Bench, because squat rack was busy. I had sleep only 4 hours (awful night), and yesterday was out in the cold at soccer stadium, had a blast but did not eat or barely eat at dinner.
I failed my 60 kgs BP. It was also a psychological barrier. But, I also have a small “pain” in left shoulder / pectoral junction. This is barely noticeable most times but I felt it when I was under the bar. Could not complete the first rep correctly.
I am also incredibly self-conscious when benching. This is an issue. Always fearing to hurt that shoulder (regular pain that comes and go).
So, with a big meal the day before, this went very well. Squat at a current max was not so hard. I decided to Press instead of Bench cause I still have this little “pinching” feeling when benching, so I followed Rippetoe advice to Press instead. It went quite well and I am quite happy with my Press progress.
Row felt weird. It always feels weird, I don’t really like that exercise.