I am starting this log as a 28 year old 250lb 6’-3" male. My resistance training began earlier this year after hitting 260lbs for the first time in my life. I had just purchased my first few 2XL shirts and it began to sink in that it was time for change.
My lifestyle change began in February by easing into the gym with some machines and cardio. During that time, I stumbled across Alan’s youtube channel, and by extension Starting Strength and BBM. On March 10th I began my SSLP.
Last Saturday I finished up my LP with the following completed 5RM’s:
Notes: Squats felt good, but I was slightly falling forward on my last rep and had to push into my toes.
I loved how the CGB worked my arms.
My Rack pull setup was a little wonky. I train at a commercial gym, and the matrix half rack spotter arms only go down to my knees. I ended up standing on 3 stacked bumper plates to make up the height difference. Consider using the bumpers as blocks next time instead. My grip was fried on the last set of rack pulls. The pulls felt like an 8, but my grip felt like a 9+. Straps could be useful for the last set?
I have seen that video before and get what you’re saying. I messed around with hook grip early on just to try it, but never gave it serious consideration as my alternating grip has done me well up until that set. It was the last few reps that got me yesterday…maybe I’m just used to fives. I’ll give the hook grip another shot next week if my grip feels taxed again.
Notes: I went into this training session feeling pretty fatigued. I contribute this mainly to crappy sleep on Mon and Tue in combination a calorie deficit. Anyways, I took some pre-workout and headed to the gym.
I a felt a lot better once I started squatting, and the caffeine had kicked in. This was my first time paused squatting. I found that I really enjoyed it. I was more comfortable sitting in the hole than anticipated, and it seemed to give me more time reflect on my mechanics.
Presses went well overall. It felt great to press sub max weight for the first time since the middle of my LP. Those last few weeks were grinders every time. I used this opportunity to try different breathing techniques. Breathing at the top vs. holding it for the set. A hybrid seemed to be the most comfortable…hold for a few reps, then breath.
Barbell rows were another first for me. I started with an empty bar and slowly worked my way up. Unsure of the weight, I probably did too many warm up sets trying to find an weight that felt like a working set. This added a extra fatigue, and I should be able to add a bit more weight next time.
Lat Pull Downs - 70X7 EMOM
Front Planks - 30s hold/ 30s rest X7
Elliptical - 25 min
Notes: Not much to say here other than I got than I had my best night sleep in a while following this work out. Used my Planet Fitness membership for the first time in months. They have better cardio equipment than my standard gym.
Notes: Need to focus harder on gripping the bar on the deadlift.
Last set on bench was at @9-9.5. I guess I had only been doing touch and go during my LP.
Squats felt good, but I kept losing track of the reps. I probably probably did extra on the first two sets. The last set I just focused on “going slow” rather than counting 1-2-3 on the way up and down. This seemed to help with keeping track.
Notes - Body Weight stayed the same over the weekend I contribute this to a few drinks on Friday and Sunday that pushed me over my deficit.
Squats felt good per usual. I did feel the increased volume in my quads towards the last few reps. Adjusted for the last set.
I undershot on the bench RPE a bit.
I was fairly tired by the time I got to rack pulls. The increased volume is something I will need to get used to.
I crafted a different setup for these this week. Last week was pretty wonky. I was standing on 3 stacked bumpers to meet mid shin in the rack. This time I used two stacked bumpers on each side as blocks instead. The setup was not perfect, but felt safer.
I felt my back round pretty bad on the 265# set. This lead to using my belt for the 280# set which felt a lot better. I dropped the weight on the next set and got some quality belt-less reps. I’m going to do these with at the lower weight and good belt-less form moving forward. I think I got in my had that these should be a higher weight with the reduced ROM, but never took the use of a belt into account.
Notes: I definitely felt the increased volume on this one. Last week I did this training session in reverse due to equipment availability in the gym…a rack was available, but a platform was not. I was exhausted by the time I got to tempo squats on Friday. Anyways, I sucked it up, dropped the weight, and finished off the session. This took me ~2 Hours.
Notes: Traveling for business today, so this was bright and early 5AM training session. Man, the gym is really a different place at that time. So many body building dads super setting EVERYTHING. Tie up a squat rack for curls, smith machine for shrugs, and some dumbbells for OHP, why not?
Moving on… My legs were fairly stiff during warm ups. I typically train 8-10PM. A few snaps, crackels, and pops later I was feeling pretty good.
Press w/ 115 felt easier this week. Progress is still slow.
I ended up using straps for my rows. I have two torn calluses from Friday that I re-aggravated on Monday. I’ll probably use them again of Friday if my hands are not fully healed by then.
I’m hoping to avoid travel interfering with my training this week. I should be able to do GPP in the hotel gym tomorrow. The only limitation may be upper back pulling if they don’t have a cable machine. It’s been my experience that they typically don’t. Friday should be standard if everything goes well on my travel home. Delays will push me to Saturday.
Incline Treadmill Walk - 25 minutes
Front Planks - 30s hold/ 30s rest x7
Notes - No body weight or lat pulls today. Limited by hotel gym. This was done in the early morning following a crappy travel day. Hoping to head home early tomorrow and get a late training session in regular gym.
Notes: Travel last week really screwed up my training schedule. This should have been done on Friday, but I was not able to return until Saturday. Prior commitments for Sunday resulted in this training session being 3 days overdue. It doesn’t help that I will be leaving for a long weekend this week as well.
Hoping to cram some sessions in on short rest over the next two weeks.
Notes: I now fully understand why this training session is prescribed 2 days after week 3 day 4. I felt like garbage doing these two on back to back days. Definitely had a poor attitude throughout the session, and even considered doing the rack pulls on a later date, but I pushed through.
Ultimately, I was proud of my decision to complete knowing that my upcoming schedule would not be easy to train around. Business travel and a long weekend following this session has my programming all screwed up. I will attempting to train every other day to make up for some time away.
Had a wonderful long weekend fishing the Adirondacks in upstate New York. We stayed in Cranberry Lake. It was beautiful and relaxing. Friday we went on a nice scenic 4-mile hike.
Notes: It felt good to get back under the barbell after two weeks of a poor training schedule due to travel. I plan on going every other day for the next two weeks to make up for the missed sessions. This session was Week 4 session 2. I should be on week 5 session 1.
I really focused on trying to stay tight on my squats during this session. I’ve noticed that my breakdowns usually consist of a falling forward feeling resulting in a good morning squat. I need to remain focused on keeping keeping tight. Currently queuing to keep my chest up by envisioning that I am trying to separate my chest. My last rep or two are always the worst.
I pressed the same weight as last week, but I was able to do the same weight for 2 more sets @8 this time around. It’s slow progress, but I’m happy to see that it is moving in the right direction. I focused on breathing for this movement. I’ve noticed that I get light headed often while pressing, especially during unracking through my first rep. Breathing at the top of every rep seems to be helping.
Notes: It feels good to get some training consistency back. I’m writing this as I’m getting ready for a 4th of July GPP day. mmmmmmm coffee. I’ll definitely be having a beer or two and some burgers today, So, not a bad day to have some early morning cardio on the schedule. I’m currently planning on dialing the diet back in after the fourth. I haven’t been tracking the last few weeks due to travel. Fortunately, I’ve pretty much maintained.
In this training session - Deadlifts started to feel heavy after my 3rd work set. Back started rounding on late reps. Dropped weight and carried on.
Bench felt really good. I’m finally starting to get a better feeling for what it is to stay tight. I could really feel the difference.
Tempo squats felt smooth. This is the first time in a while where the dead lifts in this training session didn’t make me dread the squats. I cued myself to focus on a nice straight bar path. “stay tight, descend straight, rise straight.”
Lat Pull Downs - 100x10x5~ 7min
Front Planks - 30s hold/ 30s rest X7
Max incline walk - 25 min - 2.7mph incline at 15
Happy Fourth!
Man, my gym was packed! Limited hours from 8-12am meant everyone was trying to get some work in before their festivities. My girlfriend joined me to check out the gym as she recently canceled her membership for another gym in town.We shot around some basketballs after our workouts. It was a fun way to cool off.
Notes: I started off this session a little hungover from the fourth. Squatting helped ease that a bit. I got distracted and actually forgot a squat set. I made it up after benching. Overall decent session.