Glad you liked it. Dave Tate has some awesome articles out there. His stuff probably influenced my training more than anything.
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First day back from being sick… my doctor didn’t release me but I needed this. It was my first time with bar squats and I really like it a lot 
45lb bar squats 4x10
55lb bar squats 10
65lb bar squats 10
75lb bar squats 5
Lunges and then hit the heavy bag for a while. Tomorrow night working with my trainer. I am excited to keep moving forward!!!
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I was wondering where you’d gotten to. Nice work.
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That’s an impressive first time squatting under a bar!
Side note: Look at that beautiful rack in your display picture! Hard to tell from that little picture, what species is it?
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@MarkKO thank you!! I hope your feeling better and very much enjoy keeping up with your log.
@littlesleeper you being impressed is a huge compliment!!! I wondered when you would notice the picture… we have white-tailed deer and there are a lot of nice ones this year. Since the crop fields are growing they are out like crazy.
I am thankful for the support I’m getting from everyone! My legs feel like jello this morning but I think it’s exciting. I only counted the good squats because there were some that I wasn’t satisfied with my form.
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Worked with my trainer today which throws me off a little on names of exercises and weight…
Lat pull-down 35lbs 3x10 mixed with 3x1min of Russian twist
Dumbbell bench press 20lbs 3x10 mixed with 3x1min of flutter kicks
21’s 15lbs mixed with 1min sandbag exercise?!? not sure what the name is
Dumbbell front and side raises (weight?) 3x10 mixed with 3x1min high knees
Single-arm rope triceps press down (weight?) 3x10 mixed with 3x1min mountain climbers
Squats 3x10
I did everything he asked me to do but it was rough after doing squats last night. I also feel I have better shake control with a bar and can do more weight but he wants me to use Dumbbells. I am going to stay motivatited to do my own thing on the side and see if I can progress some on my own. I like days he plans for me but enjoy pushing myself with the bar too.
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I’m beginning to suspect you may do better without this trainer. I can’t see any logic to his exercise selection. You might want to think a bit about that.
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@MarkKO If I felt confident enough to do it myself or with my partner that would save a lot of money!! I need to do what we said and make myself a program to see how I do with that on my own. What I do know is I took all of your bar squat advice and love doing those!!!
You’re doing great! I’m learning to front squat and not getting heavy with them yet. We can be newbies together.
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YES!!! The front squats seem pretty hard. At least when the bar is on my back my shakes don’t get me. Your log has been extremely helpful and I’m very happy you post as much as you do!
I agree, but I also understand that making a go of it as a trainer is difficult…
@Chris_Colucci can probably speak a lot better to this, but some trainers probably program things in an effort to keep their clients happy as much as to help their clients progress. To be sure, one would THINK that a client who is progressing would be a happy client, but I’m sure some trainers have lost clients because the client argued with them / thought they knew better / wanted to know why they spent so much time on one heavy exercise in each workout instead of chasing MUSCLE CONFUSION / etc. And yes, surely some might just be idiots that are totally making it up on the fly. So it’s hard to know if he/she is an incompetent moron, or if he/she has lost clients in the past who wanted to “feel the burn” or “do high reps instead of low reps” or “switch exercises every 2 weeks for MUSCLE CONFUSION” and has since shaped his/her programming more to try and keep clients engaged vs. what they think is really for the best.
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@ActivitiesGuy has a point, but I suspect a good trainer would go to some lengths to find out exactly what their client wants.
@countrygirl2016, put something together and if you like I’d be happy to check it out. So will pretty much everyone who checks your log.
Here are a couple of basic ideas you may find helpful.
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Train four days a week (conditioning not included).
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Focus on one exercise per day. You could do worse than having a day for:
- vertical press (over your head)
- squat variation
- horizontal press (you lie down and press towards the ceiling)
- deadlift variation
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Do horizontal and vertical rows every time you train. Do more on pressing days, less on the others.
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Try to avoid more than four exercises per day: one main, three assistance. The assistance will help improve your main lift.
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Try to go for three to eight sets of five to eight reps your main exercise, and only add weight when you can hit eight reps on every set. For your assisstance, three to five sets of 10 to 20 reps is pretty decent. Don’t worry so much about adding weight to these.
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For sure keeping clients interested and engaged during a session is important. It’s part of the psychology, dare I say “art”, of personal training. 1-on-1 coaching is always about balancing a client’s needs, their wants, and their progress, so a trainer should expect to compromise somewhat, without sacrificing results or personal/professional integrity. For example, I could put a client through a Starting Strength workout, but “Squat 3x5, flat bench 3x5, deadlift 1x5” is a pretty boring session. Effective, but boring.
It’s up to me as a trainer to A) Explain (and convince them) why the barebones training we’re doing is going to be effective; B) Gauge the client’s personality and general approach to exercise. If they’re using lifting for stress relief/distraction just as much as for physical improvement, they may need a program that’s more “active” while still being effective.
That snapshot of a workout looks like the trainer was doing an upper body session alternating an ab or cardio exercise with the lifting exercises. Not a bad idea at all. In general, I prefer supersetting with something (a.k.a. active recovery) as opposed to simple rest periods with most lifting. I might’ve chosen different exercises, volume, and/or arranged them differently, but as a concept, I definitely wouldn’t say it’s a bad or wasted session. I only took a quick look at the last few posts, so I could be missing some context.
I will say, though, anytime I see the stereotypical “3x10” in a routine, I always wonder whether that trainer is lazy or brilliant.
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From my own personal experience, I had to be ready before SS appealed to me - and that took me thirty years of bro splits before I was ready (I guess I’m a slow learner).
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@MarkKO @ActivitiesGuy @Chris_Colucci Thank you guys for your thoughts and explanations on the trainer topic. Basically I just go with the flow on everything he has me do. The only question I really ask is where should I feel it so I can be sure it’s working properly. He has had me work the same areas such as legs back to back and I’m told by others that’s a no go. Each session we do supersets and for the most part he seems to have things planned out for me. I have one session left before I decide if I pay the money to continue working with him. He just started and has 4 clients and I’m the only one going for strength and tone while the others are weight loss. I am more confident working out on my own from what he teaches me and what I learn on t-nation.
@MarkKO thank you for explaining what should be in my training schedule and offering to look it over!! I’ll absolutely post it so you can check it out. Your advice is greatly appreciated 
@The_Myth your funny and I am sure your not a slow learner! You seem very smart from the things I see you post on other topics. I love SS as long as the trainer helps me with my weak points and lets me know if I get sloppy.
So here’s one good reason for working with a trainer: it can provide you that initial boost of confidence that you’ll have a better idea what you’re doing when you strike out on your own. Again, I feel a little silly commenting on the personal-training industry when there are others on here who actually ARE personal trainers, but for many people the ideal use of a personal trainer is probably for those first 6-8 weeks to overcome the fear of “what if people stare at me while I’m in the gym? i don’t know what i’m doing!” and after that you might be properly suited to strike out on your own, reading and learning as you go.
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Your absolutely right!! That’s exactly how I feel when I go to the gym alone. I am starting to feel a lot better when I’m at home with my workouts which is great. Thank you for giving me your perspective on this!