31-year-old Noob's Training Log - Page 2

fennway4414 · 02-25-2008, 10:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by theNuge

What does this band look like?

theNuge · 02-25-2008, 10:07 AM

I have no idea which one I should purchase. Any suggestions on the resistance and the length?

takeahnase · 02-25-2008, 11:25 AM

You are pretty tall, take you time with finding a nice and comfortable squatting position.

enright3060 · 01:25 PM

The light band #3 or the #2. You can use them for a lot of other exercises and pre-hab stuff.

See http://asp.elitefts.com/qa/default.a...nd%20Exercises

You can buy them at APT or Elitefts.com. Buy whatever is the best deal.

Best of luck.

Diesel6 · 02-25-2008, 04:45 PM

Holy shit. First bench press at 31? WOW!

Good luck man, and always remember that whenever you are lifting...

I'll be watching.

Merrill · 05:24 PM

I'm also 31. I started lifting January 24, 2007 at 30 years old. My intial lifts looked like this.

Bench Press 135X7

Squat 185X8 (probably not going deep enough)

Deadlift 165X8 (my grip was so weak that I could barely hold on to the bar)

Chinups - 2

I've made progress in leaps and bounds. Strength Training is fun.

I will definitely watch your log and help if I can.

Good Luck and good start on the first workout.

Check out the Squat Rx videos on youtube.

theNuge · 02-25-2008, 11:33 PM

I have a question to ask regarding the soreness in my lower back. From what I've read this is normal to a certain extent. Given I did deadlifts and squats my guess is my lower back is going to be sore since I've never really worked those muscles very hard ever. However, I would like to know what I should watch out for concerning lower back injury. I know to lift light and at first and REALLY pay attention to my form but is there anything else I should be concerned about when it comes to back soreness due to deadlifts and squats?

Merrill · 02-25-2008, 11:42 PM

Back soreness is normal when starting the squat or the deadlift.

Pay attention to your form and practice doing the lying superman exercise to learn what a proper back arch is.

When doing the deadlift, you should concentrate on using your glutes and hamstrings to bring your hips forward rather than leaning back using your lower back muscles. Think about squeezing something between your butt cheeks to emphasize this.

Think "hump the bar."

theNuge · 02-25-2008, 11:44 PM

Thanks again for the response Merrill. You've been on top of my questions today

.

theNuge · 02:37 PM

February 26th, 2008

OK, my first workout two days ago seemed a lot better than this workout. In hindsight I should have probably taken an extra day off given my first workout was kind of intense. I decided to do the third day of the workout since the next day I can work out is Friday and today is Tuesday. And to top it off I forgot my camera. Here's what I did:

Bench Press
---------------
Note: this wasn't that bad at all. I finished all the sets and the last one got a little tough but I wasn't worried.
120x5
120x5
120x5
120x5
120x5

Squat
-------
Note: this is where the workout started to go downhill. I felt my form go on almost every rep. I'm trying to go past parallel and as I go past my shoulders come forward way too far. As a result I'm using more of my lower back to come out of the hole instead of my legs. I really wish I could have taken a video these. I'm getting paranoid I'm messing up my lower back. So, is it better to go past parallel and have your shoulders come forward (my back doesn't arch forward though) or is better to stay more upright and not go past parallel? Here are my "sets":
75x5
85x5
100x5
120x5
140x5 (On the last one I started to rock back and I had to step out of my stance.)

Dynamic Rows
------------------
Note: I was going for my top 5 here since I didn't get to assess my top 5 two days ago. I had a ridiculous time with this excercise. First of all, my gym doesn't have bumper plates... So, I'm kind of screwed from the get go. My gym also has the smaller 25 pound plates so my first two sets were pretty useless since I was coming way down. The next three sets were spent trying to figure out form with weight using 45 pound non-bumper plates. All the practice I did with a broomstick didn't really matter when it came time to do it with weight. Anyway, I kept my back straight, I bent my knees and I "rowed" as best I could. Here are my sets:
95x5
95x5
135x5
135x5
135x5

This session was kind of discouraging. I just need to regroup and try again. Hopefully I didn't mess up my back. I don't think I did but I just get paranoid...