Squat 475x3x3
Deadlift 445x5x3
Bench 310x3x3
Press 195x5x5
Deadlift 525x3x3
Squat 405x5x5
https://www.instagram.com/p/BzgniXJAo1O/
Press (2.0) 227.5x3x3
Bench 262.5x5x5
Squat 500x3x3
Deadlift 425x5x3
Bench 312.5x3x3 PR!
Press (1.5) 195x5x5
Deadlift 500x3x3
Squat 425x5x5
Press (2.0) 230x3x3
Bench 265x5x5
Squat 480x3x3
Deadlift 450x5x3
BW 238.1
Bench 315x3x3 PR!
Press 197.5x5x5
BW 237.3
Deadlift 530x3x3
Squat 405x5x5
BW 235.3
Press 232.5x3x3
Bench 267.5x5x5
Squat 505x3x3
Deadlift 435x5x3
BW 238.0
Bench 317.5x3,3,2 (racked it after 2nd rep of 3rd set because something felt off)
Press (1.5) 200x5x5
Deadlift 510x3x3
Squat 430x5x5
BW 234.6
https://www.instagram.com/p/B0WJ3m0A9aS/
Press 235x3x3
Bench 250x5x5
Howdy, my name is Joseph. I am a 36 year old husband, father, professional firefighter, and Starting Strength Coach at Starting Strength San Antonio.
The reason that I became a Starting Strength Coach is that I want to help motivated individuals that are willing to help themselves. Over the course of my 12 year career in the fire and emergency medical service, I have been called to assist countless people that are prisoners in their own bodies. As they aged, they grew weak, developed metabolic diseases, got inducted into the sick care system, and eventually got to the point where they couldn’t prevent themselves from falling or even get off of the toilet, let alone care for themselves. I am excited to coach lifters of all ages and experience levels. Whether you are a teenager, an athlete, or an adult in your 30s, 40s, 50s, and beyond, it would be a privilege to teach you the skill of barbell training and aid you along the path to better performance and healthier aging through strength training.
I am a lifelong lifter. I have been lifting weights for better or worse, correctly or incorrectly, and incredibly consistently since I was 14 years old. I wrestled in high school and for a club team at Texas A&M (Class of 2009). The burning desire to win and stop getting my ass kicked on the mat led me to weightlifting. Over the last 22 years of lifting weights I have experimented with a very wide variety of programs and methodologies. If you can name it, then I have probably squandered precious time doing it. Oddly enough my path to Starting Strength began with Arnold Schwarzenegger. Arnold’s Education of a Bodybuilder led to Reg Park’s Strength & Bulk Training for Weight Lifters & Bodybuilders which led to John McCallum’s Keys to Progress which led to Bill Starr’s The Strongest Shall Survive. The aforementioned works instilled a passion for basic barbell training and 5s that finally drove me to Mark Rippetoe’s Starting Strength: Basic Barbell Training.
I ran my first Novice Linear Progession in 2016 and made tremendous progress, ending with: Squat 495x5x3, Press 210x5x3, Deadlift 555×5, Bench 290x5x3 at 5′ 8” and 230 lbs. I attended the Starting Strength Seminar held at Andy Baker’s gym in Kingwood, Texas in 2017. I competed in 2 strength lifting meets at WFAC. My best lifts were: Squat 600, Press 237, Deadlift 660.
I began my journey to become a Starting Strength Coach as an apprentice coach at Starting Strength San Antonio when the gym opened in November 2021. After completing the Coach Development Course I attended the Starting Strength Seminar held at WFAC in October 2023 where I opted in and passed the platform evaluation. I passed the oral board evaluation in November 2023, earning my Starting Strength Coach Credential.
Thursday, December 7, 2023
Squat 490 lbs x 3 x 2
Bench 280 lbs x 5 x 5
Sunday, December 10, 2023
Press 210x5x3
Deadlift 550x5
Wednesday, December 13, 2023
Bench 310 lbs x 3 x 2
Squat 445 lbs x 5 x 5
Saturday, December 16, 2023
Squat 495 lbs x 3 x 2
Bench 282.5 lbs x 5 x 5
My wife got me the book Mr. Weightlifting: Norbert Schemansky- History’s Greatest Olympic & World Champion Heavyweight Lifter by Richard Bak as a gift for earning my SSC. I had been looking for this book for years because it is out of print and the publishing company went out of business.
Norbert Schemansky was an American weightlifter. He was the first weightlifter to win four Olympic medals, despite missing the 1956 Summer Olympics due a back injury. He won a silver medal in the 1948 Summer Olympics, a gold medal in the 1952 Summer Olympics, and bronze medals in the 1960 and 1964 Summer Olympics.
My favorite part of the book is when he describes how he rehabilitated himself against medical advice to make a comeback after 2 back surgeries. Norb went on to earn 2 Olympic medals and set a heavyweight world record performing the split snatch. He set that snatch world record when he was 38 years old. He won his last Olympic medal when he was 40 years old.
Read this excerpt from the book where Norbert describes the process he used to rehabilitate himself and see if any of it sounds familiar:
“Norb rehabilitated in his usual methodical fashion. As he explained in a letter to Strength & Health’s Bob Haase, “After my second back operation in November 1957, I started training in January 1958 for a second comeback. I did mostly bench pressing, press off rack, rowing motion, and curls. Using light weights such as 250 pounds for 10 sets of 3 reps in the bench press, 175 for 10 sets of 3 regular presses taking the weight off the rack, rowing motions with 70 to 100 pounds, 5 reps and 10 sets, and a few curls were enough to get me back on the right path. During these first few months of training I made sure I did everything with a very straight back.”
“Over time, he began to ‘pull’ or dead-lift by starting at the top and taking the bar from a rack, then lowering the bar to perform a partial dead-lift or pull. As his training continued, he progressively lowered the bar closer and closer to the platform, until he was able to lift it from the floor. Norb also worked his press and his squat harder than ever before. This great emphasis on assistance exercises eventually led to a substantial gain in bodyweight.”
“Norb’s recovery continued, cautiously and incrementally. He perfected his version of the new “layback” style of press, which involved more body movement than the strict presses of the past. In order to build up strength in his slow lifts, he incorporated more squats, standing presses, and bench presses into his routine.
Within a few weeks he was able to bench press 440 pounds and had worked his standing press up to 345 pounds, his best ever. A new device called the power rack had gained popularity. The four-pillared cage-like apparatus allowed a lifter to safely perform partial movements with heavier weights than would have been possible if executing the full movement. Norb used it extensively with good results.”
Tuesday, December 19, 2023
Press 212.5 lbs x 5 x 3
Deadlift 555 lbs x 5
Welcome back, those are some big numbers you’re putting up!
Thank you @littlesleeper! I am just training the basic lifts. Keeping it heavy and simple.
Friday, December 22, 2023
Bench 312.5 lbs x 3 x 2
Squat 425 lbs x 5 x 5