So I finally decided to do one of Rippetoe's programs. I actually decided to do Practical Programming Novice workout. But first a little about me. I really started lifting with a program that ended up being a weight loss program, but at least taught me some basics about working out and eating right. After finishing that, I was around 150lbs and probably like 10% BF. I had actually put on muscle, but at the same time lost a lot of weight and was too skinny!
Finally I started doing NROL and loved it. It was the first time deadlifting and doing proper squats/bench presses. By the end of I had actually gained a fair bit of weight and a lot of knowledge (I was now 167lbs). Then I dabbled with Muscle Revolution by Waterbury.
But now I finally want to do a strength program, so I decided on Rippetoe (not Starting Strength because I don't know how to Power Clean).
I decided to start low with all my weights (I probably could have lifted more, as least I think, but I think this is a good start, because I don't want to stall early).
The chin ups weren't that great actually, I'm usually able to do 10, but I think I was tired today!
__________________
"You want science and studies? F**k you. I’ve got scars and blood and vomit." -Jim Wendler
The squats were definitely more difficult but I could finish them with good form and I didn't feel the last rep was a huge struggle to get.
The bench press felt a little light, I suppose I can go up by 10lbs, but I think I might keep at 5lbs increments. It seems like you can add too much weight and adding too little has no real disadvantage.
The deadlifts weren't bad at all. Hopefully I can keep adding to them!
__________________
"You want science and studies? F**k you. I’ve got scars and blood and vomit." -Jim Wendler
Practical Programming
Week 2
Day 3
Squat 3x5 135lbs
Military Press 3x5 75lbs
Pullups at BW 3x3
Squats again were more difficult but I still think I can keep going up by 10lbs. As for the pullups, they were very hard! I think I'm going to progress very slowly with them (if at all!).
__________________
"You want science and studies? F**k you. I’ve got scars and blood and vomit." -Jim Wendler
The squats were especially hard. Going up on my first rep I grazed part of the squat rack and I thought I was going to fall over. I think I might finally just go up by 5lbs rather than 10lbs. My other concern is how to bail from a back squat, in case I can make it. I think I can sit down and just let the BB rest on the pins. I'm guessing that's how it's done??
__________________
"You want science and studies? F**k you. I’ve got scars and blood and vomit." -Jim Wendler
Practical Programming
Week 4
Day 1
Squat 3x5 165lbs PR
Military Press 3x5 80lbs
Chinups 3 sets of 6,4,4 (don't think I rested enough between sets)
The squats were a lot easier this time around. I did catch my self stopping maybe just a few inches above parallel, which is probably why they felt easier. I'm getting close to my 1 rep PR which is 175lbs (only 10lbs away). I think this time I'll take much smaller jumps in weight to build myself up to it. Kind of crazy to think that I'm only 10lbs aways form my 1rep PR and I'm about to reach it for 5 reps.
__________________
"You want science and studies? F**k you. I’ve got scars and blood and vomit." -Jim Wendler
That was a good workout. I felt the Squat come much easier today and I'm glad I'm doing sort of Pseudo loading. As for the deadlift, that was definitely the most I've ever lifted for 5 reps! And it was damn heavy (at least for me). Fro the deadlift I think I'll opt for going up by smalled increments. I was going up by 15lbs, so I might just go up by 7.5lbs. The bench press is slowly coming along and I'm not sure I care for it as much as the squat or deadlift, but I still want to keep progressing on it!
__________________
"You want science and studies? F**k you. I’ve got scars and blood and vomit." -Jim Wendler
Practical Programming
Week 4
Day 3
Squat 3x5 170lbs PR
Military Press 3x5 85lbs
Pullups 3x4
The first set of squats were really hard, but after that they seemed to get easier. I think mainly because I was getting more hip drive and tensing up my abs. I did better on the pullups. I was stuck on 3 reps for each set and I'm happy that now I'm at 4. We'll see how far I can go with this program...
__________________
"You want science and studies? F**k you. I’ve got scars and blood and vomit." -Jim Wendler
Practical Programming
Week 5
Day 2
Squat 3x5 175lbs PR
Military Press 3x5 90lbs
Deadlift 1x5 210lbs PR
Today was a little different. I went to the low bar squat, which was a little uncomfortable compared to the the high bar. I much more used to the high bar. I also used a mixed grip for the deadlift.
I can't believe that 5 weeks ago my 1 rep max for squats was 175lbs, and I just hit it with 5 reps!
This is a great program and I'm truly a novice, because I keep setting PR's.
__________________
"You want science and studies? F**k you. I’ve got scars and blood and vomit." -Jim Wendler
I realized yesterday that on my last training day, I really did a somewhere in between a low bar and high bar squat, because the tops of my scapula were hurting me from the pressure of the bar. Today, I actually did more of a low bar squat and definitely felt there was more forward lean and my hamstrings/glutes were getting more activated.
__________________
"You want science and studies? F**k you. I’ve got scars and blood and vomit." -Jim Wendler
ive found I am actually a little stronger with a high bar squat. I would just do what you are stronger with. Your training looks spot on for your current strength levels.
ive found I am actually a little stronger with a high bar squat. I would just do what you are stronger with. Your training looks spot on for your current strength levels.
Thanks for the tip. Ripp seems very keen on pushing for the low bar squat, so I thought I'd give it a go. I'll see how far it'll take me.
__________________
"You want science and studies? F**k you. I’ve got scars and blood and vomit." -Jim Wendler
Practical Programming
Week 6
Day 1
Squat 3x5 180lbs PR
Military Press 3x5,5,4 95lbs
Chinups 3 sets of 6,5,5
I'm sticking to the low bar squat and I've noticed that there is definitely some GMing at the end of the rep. I notice that to complete the rep I'm doing a slight good morning. I'm going to try to focus and just shoot straight up. I'll try to reread Rip's SS on squats. The other thing, a tip from Squat Rx, is trying to imagine a wall in front of me and I can lean forward because of it. In Squat Rx, he actually squat in front of a wall to demonstrate this.
Also for the first time, I haven't completed my reps. The military press was difficult and I couldn't get 5 reps on the last set. Technically it's not stalling and I can keep going up on the weight, but I'll definitely repeat that weight again and will make smaller jumps in weight, 2.5lbs?
__________________
"You want science and studies? F**k you. I’ve got scars and blood and vomit." -Jim Wendler
Practical Programming
Week 6
Day 2
Squat 3 sets of 5, 4, 3 182.5lbs Strike 1
Bench Press 3 sets of 5, 4, 5 at 140lbs
Deadlift 1x5 217.5lbs PR
So I was ill for a week and couldn't make it in the gym. I finally make it back today and totally fall apart on the squat. I think it wouldn't have been so bad if I hadn't taken a week off. I think my form was terrible on it as well because the weight felt so heavy. It's amazing how just a week break causes you to lose strength. I also felt I tweaked my mid back on the squats, maybe because I was rounding my back?? I'll try to focus on my form next time. I'm going to keep the same weight on the squat. I have 2 more tries or I have to reset, since I missed more than 2 reps.
As for the BP, I thought I was going to fail at it but managed to pull through!
The deadlift, I'm really happy with it. Again I'm almost at the stage of pulling 5 reps what a month and a half ago I was pulling for one rep.
I think if that's the most I achieve with this novice program (pulling my 1 rep PR for 5 reps) I'd be pretty happy.
Still I don't want to give up yet on this program and I'll keep pushing.
__________________
"You want science and studies? F**k you. I’ve got scars and blood and vomit." -Jim Wendler
Practical Programming
Week 6
Day 3
Squat 3 sets of 5 180lbs
Military Press 3x5 95lbs
Pullups 3 sets of 4 3 5
I forgot my fractional plates today so I ended going down in weight for the squat. The weight felt good. I struggled in the first set but overall I think I did fine. On a few reps I may not have dropped below parallel and have to concentrate on this. I think in general I maybe over thinking the squat.
Also I'm not so sure about the pullups. I'm not really progressing much on those, because I always feel beat down. I may go to assisted pullps, or might just do the chinup program that Cosgrove put together.
__________________
"You want science and studies? F**k you. I’ve got scars and blood and vomit." -Jim Wendler
So now I've noticed that I have painless knee swelling. Well it's not entirely painless, it's mild uncomfortable when I flex my knee. It's the knee that makes lots of crunching noise when squatting and I noticed that on occasion when I bend that knee the fibula seems to pop in and out. Guess it's time to see the doctor!
__________________
"You want science and studies? F**k you. I’ve got scars and blood and vomit." -Jim Wendler
I decided to move on to a new program that doesn't require me to squat as much. So I'm going to do Wendler's 5/3/1. Right now I'm still recovering from my knee, but I still hit up the gym and did upper body stuff.
Before you start the program, you're supposed to test your strength. To see at what weight you're supposed to start. You don't actually test directly your 1RM. Just use Wendler's formula, once you have a weight and the number of reps.
So here's my current upper body stats (based on today's workout and Wendler's formula):
Bench Press 158
Press 105
Chins 3 sets of 4
For the chinups I'm going to use Cosgrove's program. When my knee is all set, I'll test the deadlift and squat. Then I'll start Wendler's program.
As an aside, this guy started chatting me up while I was working out. He was so damn annoying that he even kept talking to me when I started the set. And didn't stop till I completed my set. It was so damn annoying. He then proceeded to point out to me girls he thought were hot. I just wanted to tell him to shut the f*** up. If I see him again, I think I'll have to tell him that I don't like talking to people in the gym (especially not during my set)!
__________________
"You want science and studies? F**k you. I’ve got scars and blood and vomit." -Jim Wendler
My goal was to hit 7 reps on the last set, so I was very happy with 9. I'm make slow but good gains on the military press
Chin-ups
3 sets of 4 with 60 sec rest
This is Cosgrove chin up program. We'll see what I'll progress to. My goal is to do 3 sets of 10 with 60 sec rest.
Alternating sets
DB Incline
Set x rep x lbs
1 x 10 x 35
1 x 10 x 40
1 x 10 x 40
Tricep pushdowns Set x rep x lbs
3 x 10 x 35lbs
For now I'm going to just focus on Wendler's upper body routine, to let my knee rest up. It feels much better actually and the swelling is completely gone. But I want to give it a good long rest.
__________________
"You want science and studies? F**k you. I’ve got scars and blood and vomit." -Jim Wendler
I was surprised with the 12 reps on the last set. I was aiming for 7-9 reps.
Assistance: Chin-ups
3 sets of 4 with 60 sec rest
Next week I'll be dropping the rest time to 45 seconds
Dips
3x5 at BW
I'm still playing around with the assistance exercises. I'm not keeping dips around, because I'm too tired to get 10 reps. Wendler recommends reps to hit 10-15. I haven't decided what I'm going to do. I'm thinking of changing the dips to one of these 3: pushups, high cable row (I'm leaning towards this), or neutral grip one arm DB shoulder press.
3 point plank
1 set for 60 seconds
__________________
"You want science and studies? F**k you. I’ve got scars and blood and vomit." -Jim Wendler
Looking at the goals I set for myself, a few posts above, I realized that they were not realistic and I just pulled those numbers out of my ass! I just sat down and thought of what would be more realistic. So here are an updated version of my goals with my current PR's in mind and how long it should take me to get there.
By June 2010: Bench Press: 5 reps at 200lbs
Military Press: 5 reps at 135lbs
Squat: 5 reps at 255
Deadlift: 5 reps at 300lbs
My current 5 rep maxes are around: bench press 135, military press 85lbs, Squat 180lbs, Deadlift 220lbs
__________________
"You want science and studies? F**k you. I’ve got scars and blood and vomit." -Jim Wendler
I was only supposed to do 3 reps in the first set! The last set I was happy to do 7 (the last rep was brutally hard and I don't think I could have eked out anymore reps).
Chin-ups
3 sets of 4 with 45 sec rest
I cut down my rest time by 15 seconds. It seemed to workout well
Alternating sets
DB Incline
Set x rep x lbs
3 x 10 x 40(e)
One arm DB Farmers Walk Set 1: 60lbs walked for 30 seconds each side
Set 2: 50lbs walked 30 seconds each side
Set 3: 40lbs walked 60 seconds each side
I've never done the farmer's walk before so I thought it be fun to give it a try. I was experimenting with different weights to figure out what's best. The 60lbs was too heavy and I was leaning too much. The 50lbs was good but still seemed to much. The 40lbs burned my forearms a lot because it was for 60 seconds. I noticed that the longer the hold, the more it works the forearms, while the shorted the time the more it worked the abs (because it was heavier).
I think I might hit 45lbs for 30 seconds and see how that feels.
As an aside, I think my knee is fully recovered, but I want to finish the cycle before jumping back with lower body stuff
__________________
"You want science and studies? F**k you. I’ve got scars and blood and vomit." -Jim Wendler
I was able to do these rather easily. I'm looking forward to ripping through 12 straight reps without a hesitation.
High pulley cable row
3 x 10 x 60lbs
I took this exercise from a Waterbury workout. It's working well. I'm trying to pull more than push in my assistance workout and so far so good.
3 point plank
1 set for 60 seconds
This was a little easier the second time around. I might keep this exercise for the next cycle and just start extending the times to total 2 minutes.
__________________
"You want science and studies? F**k you. I’ve got scars and blood and vomit." -Jim Wendler
I was happy with the 6 reps. Today was the 5/3/1 rep day. So the last set was good.
Chin-ups
3 sets of 4 with 30 sec rest
The 30 second rest made the chins really hard. I'm about to go into a deload week, so I might just keep it at 30 sec then when I go onto to the next cycle, I'll cut down to 15 seconds.
Alternating sets
DB Incline
Set x rep x lbs
3 x 10,7,8 x 45(e)
So the middle set, some guy came over to my incline bench (while I went ot get a drink) and raised the bench up to use it. When I came back, I didn't notice the bench was raised and went ahead with the set, which was more like a shoulder press than an incline bench press. I'm guessing that's probably why I got 7 reps (excuses, excuses!)
Reverse Crunch
3 x 10
I was originally doing farmer's walk, but I wasn't a huge fan of it in the end. So I changed it up.
As an aside, my knee feels great and I bought Bulletproof knees. There is a program in it that you can use if you have knee pain. I'm going to skip that instead I'm going to do the following on a daily basis:
1. Ankle Mobility
2. Hip Mobility
3. Foam rolling
4. Stretching + Glute activation
5. Lower body mobility (the ones listed in the book, eg craddle walk, spiderman, etc).
I'm also this week, going to start working my legs. I think I'll just do some simple exercises. And when I hit the deload week I'll jump back on with squats and deadlifts (but at a deload level).
__________________
"You want science and studies? F**k you. I’ve got scars and blood and vomit." -Jim Wendler
Squat Rack's Strength
Strike 1
Linear Mode
