Hey, glad your feeling better…
I think you’ll have FUN with SS…and fun is fun, right? 
I just posted this in my log, but I thought I should post it here too. Here are some Merrell barefoot shoes that should be work friendly!
[quote]alexus wrote:
i’m seriously thinking about doing starting strength. back squat, bench, powerclean, deadlift. i’ve never actually done the program as written because i got side-tracked by olympic lifting when i started learning how to powerclean. i’ve never seriously trained back squats or bench and haven’t trained deadlifts since last year.
i think it is 3x per week. then i can do mobility and olympic lifting technique (i really need to focus on mobility / positions / movements at lighter weights right now while i adapt to work) on my off days.
sounds like a plan…[/quote]
Sounds like a really good plan.
thanks MOM - yeah, fun, hopefully. also… i’m tired of being weak. i have injury excuses for front squats. i suppose i can complain a little about my levers… but really there is no reason at all for me to be weak at deadlift, bench, and low bar back squat.
sbmart - thanks so much for posting that! i saw those, too, and agree that they probably are less dodgey with respect to approximating a black dress shoe. merrells sound like the way to go. i’ll see what varieties i can find on the shelves this week. ideally… i think i’d get a barefoot pair and a pair of something that is more running shoe spongy. mixing things up seems to be best for my feet. will see…
brett - yep. so, it begins:
TRAINING
Starting Strength A
Low Bar Back Squat - 3x5@30kg. (after 20kg 2x5, 25kg 1x5 warm-up)
need to do some work on sitting back and using glutes / hammies to drive out the hole. i don’t like how i can’t really feel the depth on these. feels like i can’t feel my lumbar spine so while i’m trying to hold my arch i can’t tell whether it is getting pulled out or not. need to take some vids with these, i think, so i can see what i’m up to. think i’ll do this weight a couple more times to try and get a better feel for the movement. then the plan is to increase the weight very slowly (1kg increases i think) because i want to be able to continue increasing the weight on these for a Very Long Time - and I’ll be doing them 3x a week.
Bench 3x5@30kg. (after 20kg 2x5, 25kg 1x5 warm-up)
feels pretty good. need to make the warm-ups really controlled since it is a new movement. think i’m getting a good arch. i’ll get vids soon because i really know nothing about how to bench!
Deadlift 1x5@60kg. (after 1x5@40kg, 1x5@45kg, 1x5@50kg, 1x5@55kg).
could probably use a bit less warm-up. sets of 5 is crazy!!! resetting each rep. trying to use my legs mostly (otherwise i’m going to upset my back with the low bar squatting together with these). probably had more in me - but wanting to draw out the linear progression and really work my legs. will do 2.5kg increases with these, i think.
Assistance:
Inverted Rows - 6x5
Planks - unweighted 60 seconds, 10kg 60sec, 15kg 60 sec x2. trying to keep my hips down and push my upper back into the air. meh. i don’t know. the point is i feel it in my abs and that is supposed to be what happens, so good enough. Good Enough. that is the point. not being perfect is no reason to stop.
done.
exhausted.
looked so easy on paper 
wow. achy fatigue in lumbar spine / glutes / hammies already. damn.
I’m glad you’re feeling better, Alexus! I’m also excited to see how the new program goes for you!
Hey alexus, be intersting to see how you like the powerlifts compared to the oly lifts. No reason you can’t do both and they will probably compliment each other.
Awesome, we can be SS buddies!
Yay starting strength! It always seems like it isn’t that much, but looking at the sets and numbers, you’re killing it! Nice work!
Hi Lex! I’ve been away from the logs for awhile. Catching up over here. So fun to see you fighting for it in that video at your meet. So determined! WIN!! And congrats on the new job (FOOD)! Glad you’re feeling better, and is sounds like your boss is trying to make some accommodations. All good stuff.
I know most of your injuries were foot and ankle related, right? I was wondering if you hadn’t been able to bench previously because of injuries? Or is it just that you got into OLY and weren’t interested? Benching is by far my favorite lift. And I’d think the SS program is going to just complement your OLY stuff. I’ve never followed the program exactly either, but I did get the video and book and that helped give me the confidence to get started. I like the simplicity of setting up a 5x5 plan for the big lifts. I don’t think you can go wrong there.
Benching is my hardest and most frustrating lift. I’m not built for it and also have to constantly be cued what to do or I forget something. Good luck with it.
I’ve done 5 x 5. It’s great.
Nice job! I look forward to your videos, especially your bench. Benching is actually my favorite and best lift. Since I’m not benching due to the oly lifting, I have to live vicariously through other benchers!
glad your feeling better.
As for the bulk - eat well and plenty of the good stuff. 3kg in 3 months is fine. That’s 2lbs a month. My guess is your body will reach ideal mass weight and taper off (that’s what I do). Visually you should see your first set of abs ONLY. more is too lean. less is a personal choice.
Starting Strength! This will be entertaining. I know little about the program, except that everyone but me seems to have done it.
Work is unfortunately necessary for those of us born without a trust fund. I hope you can shape it to work better for you.
TRAINING –
didn’t get to the gym yesterday so was ready to tear it up today. forgot my paper log so did this program from memory. i’ll post the program i plan on following here for people who don’t know it. also to help it settle into my tiny little brain.
Starting Strength B
started with BARBELL HIP THRUSTS because i was having trouble activating glutes / hammies with low bar back squats last time. 1x15 unweighted, 1x15 @15kg, 1x15@20kg.
LOW BAR BACK SQUATS
warm-up
15kg 1x5, 20kg 1x5, 25kg 1x5.
work sets
3x5 @ 30kg.
feeling better than last time (hip thrusts helped a lot). will get vids next time i do these because i’m still not sure about depth. i think some of them are too low which is pulling my lumbar arch out a bit and making things harder for myself than i need to. my aim with these is to uncontroversially break parallel and move as much weight as i can!!! i’ll save the ATG deal for my Oly Front Squats.
POWERCLEANS
couldn’t remember how many sets i was supposed to do of these… but did remember they were supposed to be triples. ended up doing 6x3@35kg which was pretty easy - except that i’m very out of practice with triples. in between the sets doing some broomstick stuff trying to make the powerclean pulling as much like full clean pulling as i can. i’ll put the weight up next time.
PRESS
holy crap these have gotten weak since i stopped training them strict and started push-pressing! i’m slightly embarrassed to say that 3x5@25kg was hard work!!! turns out we have fractional plates hidden away in the cabinet - so i think i’ll use these for increasing the weight on pressing. will keep at this weight a couple more times, though, because i think part of it is about my relearning the motor pattern.
did some planks in between the presses (ab activation helps me press more).
3x60 second holds @15kg.
face pulls / shoulder rotation stuff.
then… because i was feeling particularly masochistic 25 minutes AMT interval style cardio.
didn’t have a cigarette on the way home… when i got home promptly threw up. i’ve never chucked from exercise before :-0
going to make a significant effort to cut back / stop smoking. otherwise… how the hell am i supposed to lean out come late winter / spring???
and… i like feeling like a well oiled machine that will kick your ass. and smoking undermines that feeling. one cigarette at a time… but it is pretty much the last self destructive habit i have, i think.
sorry that was so long…
The original starting strength program:
Workout A
3x5 Squat
3x5 Bench Press
1x5 Deadlift
Workout B
3x5 Squat
3x5 Press
5x3 Power cleans
Workouts A and B alternate on 3 non-consecutive days per week
add weight every time you train… for as long as possible.
(I’m going to have GHR, chin-ups, inverted rows, weighted planks, weighted hip thrusts, face pulls / shoulder rotation stuffs as accessories. go a bit easy with them - but keep 'em in there. will also do mobility stuff and oly lifting with light weights to practice technique on my off days. active recovery, like.)
Are you using a BB on the presses? I’ve taken at look at SS before, its all BB isn’t it?
What’s cardio, again? Its been a couple of weeks for me. Good luck with giving up smoking, maybe some extra puking wouldn’t hurt to help you give them up.
Alexus: Vomitting! How awesome. Good luck with the cigs. I do think giving those up will improve your performance. My husband got a lot stronger when he gave up the chew, in part, because he was finally able to gain weight. He didn’t get fat. Just bigger and stronger. He trained hard.
Yeah buddy!! The new program looks AWESOME! I love working sets of 5 and I saw a lot progress - I hope you will too!
So wait, which “Press” is this? Military? Bench?
Anyways, your last training sesh was absolutely everything I love, including the intervals of course. Total puke worthy too. Get it girl!
The accessory work and Oly technique is a great idea too! I generally enjoy the accessory stuff more than the main lifts. lol! But I’m a volume whore. At any rate, sounds bloody good and its nice to see you get some of that excitement back. Don’t forget to eat and rest!
And yes, quitting the butts would be a very good thing. It sucks, but you can do it. And you’ll feel better for it. Just think how madwoman strong you’ll be when your cells have tons of oxygen in them to do their job!
Keep killing, Lex!
rant about my body image (feel free to ignore)
i can’t much trust how i feel because when i saw myself on video i had serious difficulty accepting that i looked like that to others. in my vids… i reckon i look skinny-fat. maybe a little muscly / pudgy in the upper body - but definitely skinny fat legs with no muscular shape to them whatsoever. so… i decided to bulk. or maybe ‘bulk’. basically the idea was to have growing my legs (in order to squat more weight) as my top priority so try and fuel that as best i could even if meant the rest of me got pudgier.
i think my legs have got a bit more muscular. in my upper body i definitely have biceps and triceps and delts and traps and rhomboids. the lat situation is a little unclear to me lol. good covering of fat that means there isn’t much definition, but you can definitely see the muscles there. i just wanted my lower body to similarly look as though i actually trained it. i think it is getting better - but i also feel like it has a long way to go. and… i am getting a bit concerned that i’ve gained more bodyfat than i’d like and if i don’t reign things in a bit i’m going to end up fat. simply cutting the crap food from my diet will probably be enough of a good start (free food - not just free protein unfortunately, they make delicious desserts, too).
i train in a university gym - but we don’t have athletics scholarships at university level the way the US system does. that basically means that there aren’t very many athletes training seriously in the gym. i think those who are high level in sport do their strength training elsewhere for the most part. there are a few guys in the heavy weights room who are doing something like ‘starting strength’ and are clearly making bulking gains over the winter - and i guess i feel most comfortable around them.
the discomfort mostly comes from two things. the first is that i reckon (or i feel) that i’m a lot bigger in my upper body than the majority of guys who work out. i feel really self conscious that they stand there doing their curls intentionally trying to get a pump and when i do my presses my upper body pops out so that it is bigger than theirs. they seem… disgusted? weirded out? they tend to walk away… or else they tend to get all interested in me in a way that freaks me out. some fetish thing. probably my imagination… but i feel self conscious anyway. it probably isn’t that objectively my upper body is bigger than theirs. it is more that i look like i train mine whereas they don’t look like they train theirs. so bigger in that sense.
or else… guys bring their girlfriends or whatever into the heavy weights room… probably trying to encourage them to train. usually they start moving massive amounts of weight around (with better or worse form) and i think the idea is to try and inspire their girlfriends that they really can work hard and not worry about outdoing their boyfriends. i think it is supposed to be motivating. but… i also think (sometimes at least) that i’m somehow supposed to be part of motivation. that their girlfriends are supposed to look at me and think that they can work hard without looking like a shebeast. so i guess it is kinda flattering that the guys think women would see me as something to aspire to. only… i’m pretty sure the women don’t. if they saw one of you leaner women that might well be the case. but i think to most women… i look a bit freaky bulky and fat. just sort of generally… but then once you consider most of them aspire to look anorexic then i look like a hideous shebeast indeed.
probably this is all my imagination and i still look pathetically skinny fat. but whatever… that is how i feel right now.
and of course it is largely because:
- i don’t track my nutrition well enough to keep things properly in check. and the fact that i don’t upsets me. so i’m self conscious about my bulk status.