31-year-old Noob's Training Log

theNuge · 08:36 PM

Age: 31
Height: 6'5"
Weight: 265 lbs
Married with the Cutest Daughter Ever

His Current Goals:
Press: 135 pounds
Bench Press: 250 pounds
Deadlift: 315 pounds
Box Squat: 315 pounds
Back Squat: Get Below Parallel Without Lower Back Rounding

His Goals Met:
225 Box Squat --> 5/20/08
200 Bench Press --> 8/24/08

**Cap'n** · 02-24-2008, 11:02 PM

Right on dude, glad to see you started a log.

Get a vid of your lifts some time and we'll help you with any problems!

fennway4414 · 02-24-2008, 11:04 PM

Not bad, I would advise against the pull up machine though. I would get a band and put your feet or knees in that and throw it over the bar. I couldn't do a BW pull up a few months ago, and without really concentrating on them too heavily, I can bang out 8 or so dead hang chins/pull ups, and I credit that to the bands really. See if you can get a band.

Tamil · 02-24-2008, 11:04 PM

You'll find that lifting is very addictive. 5x5 is pretty awesome.

DEVILsSON · 02-25-2008, 12:34 AM

glad you started a log. video your lifts for form check.

good luck.

liquid! · 02-25-2008, 02:00 AM

Good job Nuge . Fire away with the questions these guys will help you out a ton. I starting lifting at 30 and I'm 31 myself.

ghostwipe · 02-25-2008, 04:20 AM

Nuuuuge!

Just keep working and you'll start seeing some nice gains just due to your body size and structure.

theNuge · 08:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fennway4414

Not bad, I would advise against the pull up machine though. I would get a band and put your feet or knees in that and throw it over the bar. I couldn't do a BW pull up a few months ago, and without really concentrating on them too heavily, I can bang out 8 or so dead hang chins/pull ups, and I credit that to the bands really. See if you can get a band.

What does this band look like?

February 24th, 2008

I went to the gym tonight and lifted heavy for the first time in my life. I was pretty stoked.

I did Day 0 of the Bill Starr 5x5 which entails figuring out your top 5 for the 6 exercises of the routine. In the description of the routine it talks about splitting up Day 0 into two different days but I decided to try and gut it out. I determined my top 5 for only 5 of the exercises. I couldn't get to Dynamic Rows. I'm not too disappointed about this considering I had to work on form for a few of the exercises and Dynamic Rows just seem ridiculous right now.

Here's what I did:
---------------------
Bench Press:
45x5 (This was a warmup considering I've never benched before)
65x5
75x5
95x5
115x5 (This was kind of tough)
135x5 (This was definitely my top)

Deadlift
Note: this felt like a scary lift if my form wasn't right.
135x5 (This was a warmup and I was working on my form)
145x5 (This was another warmup and my form got better)
155x5
165x5
175x5
185x5
195x2 (This was definitely my Top. I could feel my back arching forward a little and I couldn't tell if this was my shoulders or not.)

Military Press
45x5
55x5
75x5
85x5
95x3 (My back started to arch back on this one so I definitely stopped here)

Pull-ups
Note: I couldn't even do one BW pull-up so I had to use... the pull-up machine. The routine description said this was OK so I tried it out. I definitely hated the machine but I was able to top out at 2/3 of my BW.

Squat:
Note: it took me forever to get comfortable with the motion for this exercise. I practiced with a broomstick, I practiced sitting down on a bench, and I practice overhead squats. Finally towards the end of the night I felt comfortable enough to add weight. This was by far the weirdest motion I've performed in any kind of exercise.
45x5 (This was me practicing just with the bar.)
65x5
95x5
115x5 (This was my most comfortable set.)
135x5 (This was kind of difficult)
145x5 (I felt kind of wobbly here and my form didn't seem as comfortable.)

Klotz · 02-25-2008, 11:00 AM

Like a giant elastic.

theNuge · 02-25-2008, 11:02 AM

Could you point me to a website where I could purchase one?