Cimmerian Redemption

[immovablestone]

Ok, been posting a little while, and I like the atmosphere here, so I'm going to set myself up with a little accountability.

Age: 31
Height: 5'11
Weight: 225-230
Body Fat: No idea, but its the lowest its ever been.
Sign: Capricorn *wink*

Started lifting when I was 21 and morbidly obese (~310lbs and weak). Yada yada, 10 years go by, I yo-yo'd, lost a lot, gained a lot, basically just going balls to the wall with whatever anyone threw at me. Did strongman training for a while (300lb stones can make grown men cry) in the earlier 20's, lifted like a fool for most of it doing whatever anyone told me in my own ways and doing whatever felt strongest. Later 20's were rife with injury and loss of progress, which made me actually learn something about training and apply what I've spent 10 years learning about food. The last couple years have been a gradual rebirth of inner fury and desire for physical ability, which I will rip from lifes guts and devour with ravenous gluttony until I am the titan of power I know I can be. My will be done.

I'll be posting my daily workouts here, both as a way to track my progress, endure whatever flamming you more experienced beasts have to say, and garner whatever new knowledge may come from this catharsis...

[zop]

That was amazing!!

What's your lifting goals?

[immovablestone]

So I'm on a bill star 5 x 5, squat centered program. Why? Well lets just say during my 10 year run there was a point where I could bench 405 and only squat like 225-250, get the picture? Currently I've been working this program (I'm in the 7th week) to correct strength imbalances in my body, and it's been working like a fucking charm. I have a shoulder injury that I'm letting heal, which prevents heavy benching and upper body work anyway, so it's working hand in hand. The upper body workouts I do are rather tertiary, and do NOT center on heavy pressing, because it'll only rip my shoulder appart more. Eventually I'll work it back up, but not until my squats/deads are where they should be.

Anyway, with that now out of the way, here's my first workout post:

MONDAY:

Squats

Misc warm up and stretching, body weight squats, squats w/bar

5x145
5x170
5x190
5x215
5x240 (never did that many over 225 before, shitty, huh? This was a PR)


Bench

This is a funny category, because I just do it so I do something resembling a flat press and because it's part of the program, the weights are paltry compared to my past benches, but I no longer care, I'll work them up once my squat and deadlift are appreciably higher.

5x125
5x145
5x165
5x185
5x205

These actually make me laugh, because even though I haven't benched or worked my upper body to any great extent in many months, these weights are almost effortless, which is how I plan to keep it until my shoulder can handle more stress.

I alternated these bench sets with 5x10 oblique raises with a 65lb dumbell.


Bent Over Row

I'm also fairly new to this particular move, at least new to the proper way to execute the pull and hold your stance.

5x110
5x125
5x145
5x165
5x180



That's it for the day.

[Saith]

Haha! You're like the guards in Aladin!

[immovablestone]

Originally Posted by Saith

Haha! You're like the guards in Aladin!

Not quite, but it was pretty close at one time... Correcting it is my focus now, and it's working, which has me pretty amped.

[zop]

Awesome first workout! Make sure your going past parallel on the squats! When I first started Starr's routine I had trouble with form. But you seem experienced, I'm sure your doing fine.

[immovablestone]

Yeah I definitely had to re-learn squatting when I started, and I couldn't be happier with my form now. It still is not 100% perfect, but it's getting there, and is LEAGUES beyond how I used to squat. I go as ATG as I can, which is well below parallel, but I find when I'm down as far as I can, whats left of my midsection fat gets in the way and rounds my back a bit as I try to balance it. I guess if there's any incentive to lose the last 15-20lbs, this is it, hah...

[immovablestone]

This Tuesday was earmarked for rock climbing at the rock gym at which I'm a member. I am an absolute proponent of this activity as a method for developing your holding grip and muscular coordination, and I absolutely love it. When you're a bigger guy the grip/arm workout you can get is fantastic.

Anyway, I didn't get to make it due to family issues, hopefully next week. I'll be punishing myself during a conditioning day this weekend as pennance for not accomplishing the daily goal.

[immovablestone]

This is the mid week day of my 5 x 5.

SQUAT:

Misc stretching/warmup, bodyweight squats, squats with bar.

5x145
5x170
5x190
5x190

These were all easy, but I was in a rush so there were a couple points where I felt the form could have been a tad better.


PUSH PRESS:

This was my first attempt at this in a long time. I've laid off direct shoulder work completely for months, due to an injury I suffered doing extremely heavy incline bench followed by very deep dips, so I used very tentative weight.

5x45 (bar)
5x65
5x85
5x105
5x125

These felt GREAT. Easy weight, and no pain in my shoulder, I plan to steadily increase the weight on this day.

I also alternated these sets with sets of 15 pushups, elbows in, shoulder width.



DEADLIFT:

This is another one that I had to correct massive form problems. I was able to pull 4 plates in a strange, bent-back, totally wrong way that I'm sure would have landed me in a wheelchair eventually, so a couple months back I dropped the weight with concentration on the traditional pull stance and grip, coming up the shins, keeping the core tight, etc. I'm happier with how they feel, even though the weight is still not near a 1RM.

5x150
5x175
5x200
5x225
5x250



I had planned to do a circuit of KB shouldered getups (32kg, 3 rounds, 5 get ups per side), but time was a constraint and I had to run. I plan to make up for this on Sunday this week with a circuit that could kill a man.

[immovablestone]

Thursday was nothing, office holiday party. Open bar, not bad.

FRIDAY:

Squat: Day 3 of the 5x5 I'm on.

5x145
5x170
5x190
5x215
3x245
8x190

Felt good, I'm digging actually feeling leg strength. My current goal is 5x315, then we'll see from there where I go from there.

Bench:

5x135
5x145
5x165
5x185
3x210
8x165

Again,this is just tertiary weight so I'm doing SOME flat pressing.

I also supersetted these with 10x65lb/each arm side-raises.


BOR:

5x110
5x125
5x145
5x165
3x185
8x144

These feel better every damn time I do them, I'm falling in mad, passionate love with this exercise.


Done.