Progress on Starting Strength

Well i am about a month into the Starting Strength program, and have made some decent strength and bodyweight gains.  Its been fun focusing on getting stronger, and eating alot more is enjoyable too.  I do miss the days when i did not get as tired riding my bike uphill, but its only temporary.  Here is how it all played out.

Bodyweight

I started out the program at 165lbs and have gained about 10-15lbs since then.  Thats a tad more than two pounds a week, which is a probably a bit fast.  I’v been consuming around 3700cal per day.  I am trying to stick to healthy choices but have eaten my fair share of half pound cheeseburger baskets.  When trying to gain muscle mass some additional fat is expected, and hopefully i can get rid of it when this is all done.  It would be nice to sit at around 170lbs with more muscle and less fat.

Strength

With the Novice phase of Starting Strength the goal is to start your lifts with a conservative weight and strive to add weight to the bar every workout.  Once you hit a stopping point there are a few back off strategies to use to keep progress continual.  The premise behind this simple linear progress is that a Novice is so unadapted to this type of training that gains can be made every workout.  That was definitely my case with the squat, i have never squatted hard and often before.  I am a bit farther along in the deadlift having pulled double bodyweight before, but i figured i would just hit it and still make some progress.

Week of 9-22-2008 All exercises are 3 x 5 except the deadlift which is 1 x 5

Squat 185

Press 85

Unweighted Pull Ups 3 sets  12/10/8

Bench 155

Deadlift 225

As of 10/26/2008

Squat 270

Bench 187

Press 127

Deadlift 270

Unweighted Pull Ups 13/10/8

So slowly getting stronger, though i have gained some weight too.  I would like to get the squat closer to the 300 mark.  I am going to try to continue this linear progress till the holidays.  Might as take advantage of all the food around to get fatter.

Food

On the subject of food, like i said, i have tried to stick to healthy things but definitely have not limited myself if i need the calories. I have been taking in about 3700 cal a day, and at least 1 gram of protien per pound of bodyweight. Breakfast usually is 3-4 eggs, 5 oz ground sausage or chorizo, and a bunch of veggies mixed in.  I’ll add a few table spoons of sesame oil or sour cream for more calories.  I added milk back into my diet, about a half gallon or so a day.  Its an easy to consume source of calories and protien.  I slowly ramped up the intake, and have been digesting it ok, though in the beginning i had to take a few hurried trips to the bathroom.

Other Activities

My other physical activities have been kind of limited.  Gotta conserve precious calories.  I have been keeping up brazillian juijitsu a few times a week, to get some conditioning in.  I have been getting a bit more tired on the mat due to the extra bodyweight and not being used to it.  Consequently i have just been playing a slower game, concentrating on the details and trying to be heavier instead of being athletic and moving fast.  Hopefully that will help out my game in the long run.

I have been riding my bike to work still occasionally, and uphill on the way home has started to suck more.  I guess that happens when you are carting around 10+ pounds of extra weight.

Thoughts

So far i am happy with how things are progressing.  I have noticed increated muscle in my upper body and legs.  If i can keep on riding this plan till after the holidays we’ll see if the extra strength and muscle actually helps my sporting activities.

Starting Strength Week 2

Well i am in the middle of week 2 of my Starting Strength program.  I started out the squat at 185, press at 85, bench at 155 (never have been a good bencher), had 12 unweighted pull ups, and deadlifted 215.  All the barbell lifts were for five repitions.  The bench and press alternate every workout, as do the deadlift and pull ups.  With the pull ups i am suppossed to do weighted ones every other pull up workout.

I’ll be squatting 210 today, pressing all of 100lbs, and shooting for at least 12 deadhang pull ups.  Last workout i deadlifted 225 for five reps, which felt good.  So far the squat feels heavy but not overly impossible.  I think part of it is mentally getting used to working up to squatting some real weight.  Double bodyweight is my eventual goal.  I feel i should have started the bench press a little more conservatively.  160 lbs on the last workout was already giving me some problems for the last few reps.  I was able to complete them, but the bar speed slowed a bit.  I’ll see how it goes.

Food wise i have been eating around 3200 cal per day, sometimes a bit more depending.  Just a note, if you have not drank milk for a few months don’t go and try to drink half a gallon of whole milk in a day.  I was not a happy camper.  I tried to drink some more milk a few days later and just felt all snotty and bloated.  So far i have been getting enough calories and protien from other sources, so i will forgo the milk for now.

I gained a few pounds right away, though its probably just water weight from all the eating.  I am going to monitor my weight over the next couple weeks before deciding if i need to up the calories.

Anton