2011 - 2015
Started working out at home around 14. Push-ups, Pull-ups, knee-raises, and lunges in the driveway made up our (brother -12) routine. I was in the gym by 15 and doing much of the same training save for the addition of a few bodybuilding movements and the bench press. By 17 I had gone from 87lbs - 135lbs. Then, I started a Kris Gethin program on a popular bodybuilding website and managed to get up to 150lbs by the time I graduated high school in 2015. That summer, I read Starting Strength and began a novice linear progression with starting lifts at Squat - 155x5, Bench - 185x5, Deadlift - 185x5, and Press - 85x5. I DNDTP, put on a bit of weight, and moderately increased my lifts.
2016 - 2018
Now 18, I went to see coach Wolf as I was stuck at 225x5 for squats. After our visit, I ended up hitting 275x5 in the subsequent months before I was stuck again. I decided to mess around with some Dan John programs and lost focus. At the time, I was working as a part-time PT at a luxury gym (while in University) where many of the other trainers convinced me to follow the FMS’ astute judgments and work on perfecting a Turkish get-up. After 3 months of messing around - and straining my hamstring pulling 335 for a single - I joined a BBM starting strength group. Leah was awesome and over the next 3 months, I quickly improved. I was now squatting 325x5, deadlifting 360x5, benching 235x5, and pressing 145x5. Unfortunately, I strained my back squatting and ended up falling out of group programming before the 3-month cycle was up. I was sleeping 6-6.5hrs/day and wasn’t feeling great. I took another sabbatical and then signed up for online programming. I also improved my sleep to ~7.5hrs/night and managed to eat my way to 183lbs where I stayed for quite some time. I ended my year-long online programming stint with significant improvements across the lifts: Squat - 435x1 (380x5), Bench - 302.5x1 (260x5), Deadlift - 482.5x1, and Press - 200. Now, in September, I’m following BBM’s 12W Strength program. With respect to the future, I’d like to compete at some point, possibly before I graduate from university this May. Ideally, I’ll be totaling 1300 by that point.
Tuesday 9.04.18
Squat: 345 x 5 @ 7, 352.5 x 5 @ 8, 365 x 5 @ 9
Press: 157.5 x 5 @ 8, 162.5 x 5 @ 8, 167.5 x 5 @ 9
Pendlay Row: 135 x 10 @ 6, 155 x 10 @ 7, 175 x 10 @ 8
I hit 152.5 for a 3x5 on Saturday so I knew this first press would be difficult but I wanted to stick to the program. I’d say my final set was closer to a 9.5 than a 9. Rows felt easy so I’ll bump them up next time and Squats went ok - I shot my hips back a bit more than I’d like to; hopefully, leg press will help me fix that. Rating RPE is different and it will take some time for me to adjust. I’m going by the percentages rather than purely by RPE so I can slowly get an accurate feel for it. Finally, I’m hoping to maintain 190 while dropping a bit of body fat. I’m in my last year of university and got an internship so I had to transition from a semi-laborious job (2.5 years as a PT) to one where I’m sitting from 8.30am until 6.30pm. I didn’t adjust my calories (4300) so I went from 184 to 190 over the past 1.5 months. I may do a small cut to ~4000 should I continue to gain weight during September.
I didn’t manage to keep up my posting on the SS forum but I’m hoping to change that with BBM!
Wednesday 9.05.18
Deadlift: 382.5 x 5 @ 8, 390 x 5 @ 8, 405 x 5 @ 9
Bench: 240 x 5 @ 7, 245 x 5 @ 8, 255 x 5 @ 9
3-0-3 Tempo Squats: 245 x 10 @ 8, 245 x 10 @ 8, 245 x 10 @ 9
Deadlift felt challenging from the beginning. I’m used to Deadlifting on Wed and Squatting on Sat so I think I was a bit fatigued from yesterday’s squatting. The last set felt more like a 10 than a 9. Bench moved fast; the final set could’ve been @ 8. 3-0-3 Tempo Squats were difficult. I should be doing more on these but I was drained. I need to get my general fitness level up!
Friday 9.07.18
Beltless Squat: 315 x 4 @ 7, 325 x 4 @ 8, 335 x 4 @ 9
Slingshot Bench: 255 x 4 @ 7, 275 x 4 @ 7, 295 x 4 @ 8
CG Incline Bench: 135 x 10 @ 7, 145 x 10 @ 8, 155 x 9 @ 10
First time doing all three of these exercises. Beltless squats probably should’ve been a bit heavier. Sling shot bench felt too light. I didn’t have enough time to do another set but I think 305 would’ve been @ 9. I overestimated my ability on CG Incline Bench.
Tuesday 9.11.18
Squat: 405 x 1 @ 8, 320 x 5 @ 7, 320 x 5 @ 7, 320 x 5 @ 7, 320 x 5 @ 7.5, 320 x 5 @ 8
Press: 185 x 1 @ 8, 145 x 5 @ 7, 145 x 5 @ 7, 145 x 5 @ 7, 145 x 5 @ 7.5, 145 x 5 @ 8
Pendlay Row: 155 x 10 @ 7, 175 x 10 @ 8, 195 x 10 @ 9, 185 x 10 @ 9
I lifted my head on squats which brought the bar speed down. Also, I condensed pressing breaks to ~3min and ran through rows pretty quickly too. I managed to get through the day in 1.5 hours which is about as long of a training session as I can manage before work on Wednesday’s.
Wednesday 9.12.18
Deadlift: 445 x 1 @ 8, 355 x 5 @ 7, 355 x 5 @ 7, 355 x 5 @ 7, 355 x 5 @ 8, 355 x 5 @ 8
Bench: 285 x 1 @ 8, 225 x 5 @ 7, 225 x 5 @ 7, 225 x 5 @ 7, 225 x 5 @ 7, 225 x 5 @ 8
Tempo Squats: 225 x 10 @ 8, 225 x 10 @ 8, 225 x 10 @ 8
I had a few compromised nights of sleep and last night was the worst of them all. Hopefully I’ll be able to catch up tonight. Regardless, I ran short on time and was slightly late to work despite dropping the final set of tempo squats. For next week, I’ll try to wake up by 5.30-5.40am so I can get to the gym by 6.30am for my Wednesday training session. I also have a runny nose - hopefully it fades.
Friday 9.14.18
Beltless Squat: 320 x 4 @ 7, 330 x 4 @ 8, 340 x 4 @ 9, 325 x 4 @ 8.5
Slingshot Bench: 275 x 4 @ 7, 290 x 4 @ 8, 305 x 4 @ 8.5, 290 x 4 @ 8, 290 x 4 @ 8.5, 290 x 4 @ 9
CG Incline Bench: 135 x 10 @ 7, 145 x 10 @ 8, 155 x 10 @ 9, 145 x 10 @ 9
Squats felt good. I tend to stay more upright when I squat without a belt so I’ll try to lean over more next week. Slingshot bench felt strong; I will bump these up again next week. Overall, a solid day of training. The cold symptoms got a bit worse but nothing major.
Tuesday 9.18.18
Squat: 407.5 x 1 @ 8, 322.5 x 5 @ 7, 322.5 x 5 @ 7, 322.5 x 5 @ 7, 322.5 x 5 @ 8, 322.5 x 5 @ 8
Press: 187.5 x 1 @ 8, 147.5 x 5 @ 7, 147.5 x 5 @ 7, 147.5 x 5 @ 7, 147.5 x 5 @ 8, 147.5 x 5 @ 8
Pendlay Row: 160 x 10 @ 7, 180 x 10 @ 8, 200 x 10 @ 9, 190 x 10 @ 9
Overall, an ok day. The squat single was the same 6s as last week - I went a bit too low which made it feel harder than it had to. Press & rows felt good. I’m going to try to get up around 5.40am tomorrow so I can try to squeeze everything in before work but we’ll see. I may just drop the leg press and replace it with tomorrow’s tempo squats on Saturday’s.
Wednesday 9.19.18
Deadlift: 450 x 1 @ 8, 360 x 5 @ 7, 360 x 5 @ 7, 360 x 5 @ 7, 360 x 5 @ 8, 360 x 5 @ 8
Bench: 287.5 x 1 @ 8, 230 x 5 @ 7, 230 x 5 @ 7, 230 x 5 @ 7, 230 x 5 @ 7, 230 x 5 @ 8, 230 x 5 @ 8
Woke up at 5.35am and 192.8lbs. Despite the early start, I still couldn’t manage to squeeze the tempo squats in. I’m going to substitute the leg press for tempo squats on my final training day of the week (Saturday) when I have more time.
Deadlifts felt strong. I’m hoping to push this up to 465-470 x 1 @ 8 by the end of the training cycle. Bench was good - it moved fast despite not feeling great during warm ups. Also, I did 6 sets on bench today as that’s how it was written in 12W Strength V2. If anyone knows if this is an error, please let me know!
Tuesday 9.25.18
Squat: 410 x 1 @ 8, 340 x 4 @ 7, 340 x 4 @ 7, 340 x 4 @ 7, 340 x 4 @ 8, 340 x 4 @ 8
Press: 190 x 1 @ 8.5, 157.5 x 4 @ 7, 157.5 x 4 @ 7, 157.5 x 4 @ 8, 157.5 x 4 @ 8, 157.5 x 4 @ 8
Pendlay Row: 165 x 10 @ 7, 185 x 10 @ 8, 205 x 10 @ 9, 195 x 10 @ 9
After a fairly brutal night - I had a decent day. 410 moved faster than my reps the previous weeks (5s vs 6s). 190 on the press felt heavier than I would’ve liked but I also pushed it too far out in front so I had to reel it back in to complete the rep.
Friday 9.28.18
Squat, no belt: 330 x 4 @ 7, 340 x 4 @ 8, 350 x 4 @ 9, 332.5 x 4 @ 7, 332.5 x 4 @ 8, 332.5 x 4 @ 8
Slingshot Bench: 285 x 4 @ 7, 300 x 4 @ 8, 315 x 4 @ 8.5, 300 x 4 @ 8, 300 x 4 @ 8, 300 x 4 @ 8
CG Incline Bench: 145 x 10 @ 7, 155 x 10 @ 8, 165 x 10 @ 9, 157.5 x 10 @ 9
I feel like I underestimated my ability with the slingshot. I left a few pounds on the bench each week so for the next go around I’ll try to be less conservative!
Tuesday 10.01.18
Squat: 412.5 x 1 @ 8, 342.5 x 4 @ 7, 342.5 x 4 @ 7, 342.5 x 4 @ 7, 342.5 x 4 @ 7, 342.5 x 4 @ 8
Press: 192.5 x 1 @ 8, 160 x 4 @ 7, 160 x 4 @ 7, 160 x 4 @ 7, 160 x 4 @ 7, 160 x 4 @ 8
3ct Paused Bench: 175 x 10 @ 9, 165 x 10 @ 8, 175 x 10 @ 9, 165 x 10 @ 9
Squats moved fast today (4s). I think I may have tweaked something during the volume sets. The discomfort is on the right side of my lower back. Started feeling it after the first volume set. Hopefully, it’s subdued by tomorrow!
My competition bench is essentially TNG so I’ll try to incorporate a pause this upcoming week. I was tired today and it showed - it was a difficult day to get through. Looking forward to getting a bit of rest next week with the volume drop!