New log:
I am 43 and was somewhat athletic through my mid 30's with rugby and basketball from 17-25 , running and swimming from 27-36.
Been mostly sitting on my ass since then.
I've also played golf since 6 years old with as many as 60 rounds a year and as few as 1 in 5 years. Handicap has been as low as 6 and is now 10ish.
From Maryland, lived in DC and the DC area for 14 years and now live in SE Michigan(Go Blue!).
Very new to lifting having never done any weight training until 11/07. I've worked through NROL warmup,FL1 and HYP1.
Now starting with a 3 day a week program for beginners from Starting Strength by Mark Rippetoe.
Goal is strength, to get as strong as possible while new to lifting and gains come easier.
I'm heavy now at 243 at 6'1'', my weight from 17-36 was always between 175 and 190. I'll go into a cut when my stregth gains flatten off but have already lost quite a bit a fat since starting NROL in November.
Weight training will be every 3rd day:Monday,Thursday,Sunday,Wed nesday with occasional one day breaks. I might squeeze in an interval or swim on off lifting days.
First WO: Wednesday 4/9/2008
weights are lbs
db are each hand
Squats:
45x5
95x5
135x5
175x5x3
will try 185 next wo
post workout beer:
Bells Amber Ale - all of Bells' beers are terrific, this one has a more muted hop profile then most of their offerings and a slight maltiness that creates a very balanced,smooth drinking ale.
workout 2; Saturday April 12th
STARTING STRENGTH -BEGINNERS Plan
WEIGHTS IN LBS, DUMBBELLS ARE EACH HAND
SQUAT
45X5,95X5,135X5
185X5X3
BENCHPRESS
DB 45X5
BB 95X5, 95X5, 105X5 am very weak here, need to work on form and general arm strength.
DEADLIFT
135x5,185x5
225x5 - rep PR hands were weak on the last rep but my back felt strong
assistance
RDL
135x12x2
cable pulldown
100x12x2
ab stuff
My bench and pressing are weak.
They will get better.
The weakness was especially obvious today as there were the two muscleheads at the YMCA. They are around 40, have mullets and are always doing either a chest or back workout. Today they were doing "chest" which involved dumbbell benching and incline benching for like 20 sets with the 95lb dumbells. They also had a 5 minute argument about whether a particular exercise was chest or back. It seemed like arms to me but maybe that doesn't fit into their taxonomy.
DEADLIFT
135x5,185x5
225x5 - rep PR hands were weak on the last rep but my back felt strong
Nice! I almost always have no grip left by the end of harder workout, especially days with a lot of back work. Don't cheat yourself and start using wraps. Build up your grip strength. It will be much better for you in the long run.
workout 3; Wednesday April 16th
STARTING STRENGTH -BEGINNERS Plan
WEIGHTS IN LBS, DUMBBELLS ARE EACH HAND
SQUAT
45X5,95X5,135X5
195X5X3 rep PR for squats
OH PRESS
BB 45X5
BB 75X5, 75X4, 70x4 started too high here should have been at 70 lbs but happy to get one set. My shoulders are a little creaky and the right one is sore tonight
assistance
lat pull down
115x10x3
bent rows
95x6x2 tingling left hand during some reps here.
superset
BSS
bwx15x2
setups
bwx15x2
overall not too bad.
Happy with then suqat progress and still feel strong.
OH press felt very weak. Not sure if I need more activation work before doing these or what.
Y was very crowded with one hoooouuge guy supersetting sets of 180lb overhead presses in the Smith machine with 75lb DB curls.
beer:
Stoudts American Pale Ale(2) - Stoudts was one of the first craft brewers on the east coast and but hadn't tried one of their beers for a few years. This was a very solid interpretation of an American Pale ale with a slightly redder hue then usual and a clean hopped finish.
workout 5; Saturday April 19h
STARTING STRENGTH -BEGINNERS Plan
WEIGHTS IN LBS, DUMBBELLS ARE EACH HAND
shoulder warmup and bw squats
BB Bench Press
45x5
105x5,105x5,105x4
hate doing these with no spotter even at these lower weights. Feel like I have a lot in the tank.
SQUAT
45X5,95X5,135X5
205x2, didn't feel tight on these so dropped down
195x3
185x5,185x5,185x5
DL
135x8,185x6,185x6,185x5
235x5 back felt very strong need to work on hand strength
assistance
cable pull down w/narrow neutral grip
115x12,115x10,100x10
new grip for me, these really work the biceps
dynamic lunges
DB 20ex15 steps each leg
cable rows seated on plyo ball
130x12 3 sets v good form on these
plyo ball crunches
3x15 w 10lb overhead
planks
3x30 sec
no beer
had a hard time on the squats. was supposed to do 3 sets of 5 at 205lbs but felt very unstable. Could be that the morning workouts don't agree with my back?
With a 5 handicap you should be golfing for beers not lifting. I love the idea of beer as a post workout beverage but unfortunately I head to work after I lift. Good Luck with your lifting and enjoy the golf.
__________________ -50# by 4/1/10 2 down 48 to go.
Glad to see another beer lover in the ranks. I see you've had Stoudt's Pale Ale - I really enjoy their Fat Dog Stout and their DIPA.
Workouts look good too, particularly the post-workout nutrition.
Hi Stingo,
My local grocery store jst started stocking the full Stoudts line. I'll try the DIPA first as I like the hoppier beers in the Spring/Summer.
04-23-2008 09:31 AM
tcoy777
Good job on the workouts. I think you might need more beer though!
Hey Tcoy,
Thanks for stopping by. I'll do what I can about the beer
Today 08:09 AM
GG300
With a 5 handicap you should be golfing for beers not lifting. I love the idea of beer as a post workout beverage but unfortunately I head to work after I lift. Good Luck with your lifting and enjoy the golf.
Hi GG300,
Probably closer to a 10 hcap now and haven't hit a ball in 2008. Michigan has sucked weatherwise this spring and I haven't felt like practicing. Maybe this week, at least for some shortgame practice
Thanks for the encouragement on the lifting, still new to me but am enjoying the process.
workout 9; Saturday May 3rd
STARTING STRENGTH -BEGINNERS Plan
WEIGHTS IN LBS, DUMBBELLS ARE EACH HAND
SQUAT
135x8
185X6
205x1
195x6
215x1 pr as far as i can tell from my logs
155x10
assistance
Superset
BSS BWx10 2 sets
Stepup BWx10 2 sets
used a very high bench for these
DB bench press on plyo ball (benches were all being used)
45sx10 3 sets
Plyo balll crunches
bwx15 3 sets
beer:
Avery belgian golden ale - this was terriffic: huge lacey head with a rich aroma of cloves and citrus fruits, smooth and slightly oily mouth feel with a long finish. I will try more from this brewery.
May 10th 2008
Workout 10
STARTING STRENGTH -BEGINNERS Plan
WEIGHTS IN LBS, DUMBBELLS ARE EACH HAND
5 min warmup on rower
Squats
warmups
45x10
95x8
135x5
work sets
3x5x195 good form on these, felt strong. Will try 205 next time which has been my sticking point.
Dead Lifts
warmups
135x8
185x8
worksets
265xF didn't feel right on this, was distracted by someone using the smith machine right next to me.
255x2
225x5
185x8
overall not where iwanted to be on the deads today. Will try next weekend for 5 at 255
was going to do some pressing but my wife was ready to go.
also have added daily(non-workout days) pushup sessions with 3 sets to fail as I need to increase my upper body strength.
beer:
Brooklyn Summer Ale - odd flavors here, might have been an off bottle.
Workout 11
May 12th 2008
WEIGHTS IN LBS, DUMBBELLS ARE EACH HAND
The Y was really crowded and I had 2 different people snake my bench so I did what I could and kept moving
High Pulls
80x5, 80x5,80x5 90x5 these felt really good will go up to 100 or 110 next time
DB bench
40x8,45x8 ..... stolen bench!!! I went to get 50s and some guy had cranked up the back and was doing shoulder presses. Then I tryed again and a women jumped in and started doing tricep kickbacks.
c1 DB shoulder press 30s 3x8 left shoulder still sore/weak
c2 Pull downs 115x10 115x10 130x8
d1 narrow grip seated rows 3x10 at 120
d2 RDL 3x10 at 135
E High to low standing woodchop 6 plates 10/side 7 plates 10/side
Workout 17
May 29th 2008
WEIGHTS IN LBS, DUMBBELLS ARE EACH HAND
High Pulls
90x3x5
Superset
DB bench
40x8,45x8,50x5
DB Bent Over Rows
40x8,45x8,50x5
Bent Over BB Rows
90x5,110x5,100x5
Lat Pulldowns
135x3x10
Intervals on Concept II Rower
15 minutes
1 min hard,2 rest
This was hard, I used minmal rest periods.
The rowing was a great finisher.
Beer
Bells Pale Ale - Drinking only Michigan beer until the Pistons and Wings seasons are over. Could be tomorrrow for the Pistons but I think they will win at home and go back to Boston for game 7.
In that time I had 7-8 workouts following a 3x5 Starting Strength format. I wasn't making much progress the last 3 weeks on increasing the weights so most of the gains happened in my first 5-6 weeks on the program.
Squat: 5x205 +30 with better form
Deadlift:5x245 +20, 1x265 +30
Press:5x85 +15
DB bench: 5x50e +5e
BB bent row:5x115 +15
Then this past Monday I was doing squats at 195 and on my second set of 5 felt a pull in my right lower back. I got the weight back up and racked and had to sit 5 minutes or so before limping to the car.
This was my own fault as I haven't been doing enough single leg exercises and didn't warmup much before this workout.
Fell much better today with only a slight tightness in my right buttock and leg.
Last October I has a similar attack of pain after walking 18 holes of golf on a hilly course. My doc said my hips were way out of line and adjusted them so I was level with the pain disappearing completly by the next day. I assume something the same here with my hips getting out of line and the squats causing a more dramatic injury then the golf.
I am scheduling an appointment for next week and resting except for walking and maybe a swim in the meantime.
My next program will be more a fatloss program for 6-8 weeks maybe based on Power Training with some HIIT and other cardio.