VR's Starting Strength log

vulturesrow · #1 11-05-2007, 05:55 PM

Background: About 6'2", hovering around 210 right now. Last time I had my BF percentage checked (when I weighed about 220) it was about 14.5%. I'm not a novice lifter, but when I've lifted in the past its been more of a high rep type of circuit workout. I've been working pretty hard on eating healthier, and my size 36 jeans are very loose on me, so that is heartening. I plan on adhering pretty strictly to the Starting Strength plan until Im not making consistent gains. At this point my only real desire is to just get stronger until I decide on more defined goals.

Today was my first workout. I did some tinkering in the gym last week to figure out where I need to start with weight. I welcome any comments on some issues I talk about for each exercise.

Squats- 3x5x225. Form was pretty good, although I'm pretty tight in the legs and as a result it took some work to get deep enough. I know on several of them I didnt get quite to parallel, I think some of this is just a mental block. Also I have pretty long legs. I think next time I'm going to widen my stance a hair and see if this helps. I did have to take a step forward on one rep, but that was the only one, otherwise I felt very stable.

Bench - 3 x 5 x 155 - Good form throughout, the last rep of the third set my lockout was sort of wishy washy. Think this was a good starting weight, going to bump it 5-10lbs next time.

Deadlift - 1 x 5 x 205 - LAst week I determined that I could DL 225 but I wasnt happy with my form so I took some off for today. Kind of a mixed review on the form today. I felt like it was very good coming up. But going down I'm honestly a mess. Im looking for some good lift keys for the lowering phase of the lift. Undecided at this point if I want to bump the weight up for the next time. I know Im physically capable of more, but I'm thinking it might be better if I do it again at 205 to concentrate on my form. Thoughts?

Thanks for reading. Welcome to answer any questions and Im open to any suggestions. Keep me honest guys!

istewart · #2 11-05-2007, 06:03 PM

There's no down part on DL; don't worry about your form there.

vulturesrow · #3 11-05-2007, 06:54 PM

[ QUOTE ]
There's no down part on DL; don't worry about your form there.

[/ QUOTE ]

The reason I had some concern there is that a pretty T-nation article on deadlifting (by Eric Cresser) talked about some flaws in the lowering phase of the lift.

Northern · #4 11-05-2007, 07:27 PM

When lowering the weight don't let the knees bend until the weight reaches them. Basically when watching from the side the weight will move straight up and straight down, not forward or back. Do not drop the weight like suggested lower it in a controlled manner.

SmileyEH · #5 11-05-2007, 07:41 PM

Hip mobility should be your #1 priority if you are doing starting strength. Tons of stretching, hang out at the bottom of squats with just the bar (overhead is best). And bottom does not mean at parallel. You are absolutely not going deep enough if your DL and squat are at all comprable. Having long legs isn't a huge problem.

cbloom · #6 11-05-2007, 08:10 PM

VR, dunno if you read all the SS stuff but you are not supposed to start with a weight that is near your 5 rep max. You should start well below where you think you need to, that way you can shoot up with a good progression while your body gets used to the program. Also Smiley is right, the first few weeks should be mainly about flexibility and technique, that's gonna be what's holding you back.

You should work with just the bar a bit and then start your squats at like 150 or even less and make sure you can do 3x5 clean all the way deep without your pelvis rolling forward.

Thremp · #7 11-05-2007, 10:26 PM

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
There's no down part on DL; don't worry about your form there.

[/ QUOTE ]

The reason I had some concern there is that a pretty T-nation article on deadlifting (by Eric Cresser) talked about some flaws in the lowering phase of the lift.

[/ QUOTE ]

Just drop it. Or do supermaximal SLDL eccentrics.

vulturesrow · #8 11-05-2007, 11:49 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Hip mobility should be your #1 priority if you are doing starting strength. Tons of stretching, hang out at the bottom of squats with just the bar (overhead is best). And bottom does not mean at parallel. You are absolutely not going deep enough if your DL and squat are at all comprable. Having long legs isn't a huge problem.

[/ QUOTE ]

Hmmm, ok maybe I'll dial back the squats the next time around and concentrate on getting deep. You concur?

vulturesrow · #9 11-05-2007, 11:54 PM

[ QUOTE ]
VR, dunno if you read all the SS stuff but you are not supposed to start with a weight that is near your 5 rep max. You should start well below where you think you need to, that way you can shoot up with a good progression while your body gets used to the program. Also Smiley is right, the first few weeks should be mainly about flexibility and technique, that's gonna be what's holding you back.

You should work with just the bar a bit and then start your squats at like 150 or even less and make sure you can do 3x5 clean all the way deep without your pelvis rolling forward.

[/ QUOTE ]

cbloom,

To be honest, I went in the gym last week and I just followed the procedures in the SS FAQ linked in the sticky. Basically, started real light and just kept increasing the weight until my form started to break down. Sounds like maybe my squat form may have broken down in squats earlier than I thought though, I thought getting parallel to the floor was deep enough.

Anyhow, if you think I should dial back some, I will But I wont lie, even though intellectually I know its not true, but when I go into the gym, I know I would feel like I was wasting my time if I went in there and did these exercises with really low weights (other than for a warmup set or two). I know thats not true, but I know this is what I will feel like to a degree at least. Thoughts on all this spew? [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Thremp · #10 11-06-2007, 12:02 AM

VR,

Working out to optimize gains isn't "fun". There are lots of fun things in the gym that I don't do because I want good gains. They include chatting, flexing in the mirror, getting a mad pump, excessive oogling of [censored], etc. etc. Doing squats so you can have a decent ROM isn't even in the same realm as the other (since IMO doing squats suck so much that the marginal suckage for doing them correctly is nonexistent). But parallel should be the min. ROM for all squats not a goal.