It does matter how we define “beginner,” I guess. Squatting 225x5 is pretty good for an average person who hasn’t been in the gym very long.
The reason for my initial comment, though, is that I DON’T think 225x5 is particularly good for a healthy young male who’s been doing Starting Strength for 6 months. Even starting with just the 45lb bar and making only 5lb jumps per workout (very conservative, I think), the math works out to 225 for 3x5 after half that time, 3 months. If they’re eating to gain weight, I think that’s very doable for most guys.
Bench Press isn’t as straightforward, because there’s a lot less muslce mass involved in the lift and therefore anatomical and genetic variation is going to have more of an effect. BW for 5 sounds reasonable, but that depends a lot on starting bodyweight. With a full year of solid training, 225x1? I don’t know. I don’t think I could have done that at the 1 year mark. I think I was benching 165x5 around then, weighing 180.
yea, I threw 225 out because I didn’t know our parameters. Plus that’s a super reasonable number for a lot of guys that start out heavier, while the bodyweight x 5 is probably less reasonable. Like if a beginner starts out at bw 250, he obviously reaches 225x1 quicker than the guy who weighs 150, but he’s sure as shit not likely to press bodyweight x 5 in his first year.
I THINK I pressed 200 within my first year of lifting. But I was quite the bro-lifter, and my memory doesn’t serve me well enough to say if I touched my chest to the bar or not. My ass certainly would have come off the bench though, and I was not pausing reps then.
Dagill, I think that’s a fun idea. We haven’t had a progress pics thread in awhile either.
Zeta-
Try some hanging leg raises or decline situps. And side bends as well as side-to-side abs with the landmine and pulldown abs with a resistance band. Build your abs up with specific, weighted ab lifts. Don’t go crazy doing 1000 crunches. Do a few sets of 10-12 reps with a challenging weight. I know that you’re not supposed to be able to target the top or the bottom of your abs, but in my opinion sit ups will hit you differently than leg raises, which will hit you differently than side bends.
Flipcollar,
That’s really an awesome before/after. Great work. It’s interesting that you struggled with the squat/bench in the beginning, and your lifting got more basic as you became more advanced.
Re: Beginners
A “beginner” lifting with his friends, or even just around other lifters will probably progress faster than a beginner training all alone. A beginner training with a “coach” would do even better.
That one kid who trains with Brandon Lilly is stronger than I’ll ever be, after a few years of lifting.
As to why I have not progressed quicker, I boil it down 1 factor, and that factor is inconsistency. I let other factors and obligations in my life supersede the importance of my training and dietary practices. This was primarily caused by psychological stress, particularly with school and relationships. I will now attempt to have a firmer grasp of the routine and with effort I will maintain the discipline required to reap the rewards of this program.
[quote]EpsilonZeta wrote:
Thank you gentlemen for your help.
As to why I have not progressed quicker, I boil it down 1 factor, and that factor is inconsistency. I let other factors and obligations in my life supersede the importance of my training and dietary practices. This was primarily caused by psychological stress, particularly with school and relationships. I will now attempt to have a firmer grasp of the routine and with effort I will maintain the discipline required to reap the rewards of this program. [/quote]
Some things are more important than lifting. I don’t think you should apologise for prioritising those things.
[quote]EpsilonZeta wrote:
Thank you gentlemen for your help.
As to why I have not progressed quicker, I boil it down 1 factor, and that factor is inconsistency. I let other factors and obligations in my life supersede the importance of my training and dietary practices. This was primarily caused by psychological stress, particularly with school and relationships. I will now attempt to have a firmer grasp of the routine and with effort I will maintain the discipline required to reap the rewards of this program. [/quote]
Some things are more important than lifting. I don’t think you should apologise for prioritising those things.
[/quote]
Yeah, this has happened to all of us. But if you have the time/energy to devote to lifting/diet, you can make a lot of quick progress. Good luck.
[quote]EpsilonZeta wrote:
Thank you gentlemen for your help.
As to why I have not progressed quicker, I boil it down 1 factor, and that factor is inconsistency. I let other factors and obligations in my life supersede the importance of my training and dietary practices. This was primarily caused by psychological stress, particularly with school and relationships. I will now attempt to have a firmer grasp of the routine and with effort I will maintain the discipline required to reap the rewards of this program. [/quote]
Some things are more important than lifting. I don’t think you should apologise for prioritising those things.
[/quote]
Yeah, this has happened to all of us. But if you have the time/energy to devote to lifting/diet, you can make a lot of quick progress. Good luck.
[/quote]
Ditto.
Good Luck, and remember to check back here with updates. I personally love to hear success stories from these threads.