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Hundred. Dolla. Bill. Real (Lifts)

Having stopped consistently lifting back in October 2013, I've decided that now is the time to get back on my feet and start weightlifting again.

Going for the good old Rippetoe's Starting Strength, seeing how it helped me with my original gains. Currently entering my third week, I decided to start with low weights to compensate for the months spent away from the gym.

The progression so far is - 2.5 kilos for every exercise, except for the deadlift, which gets a 5 kilo increase every workout.

Current stats: 77.5 kg, 9% BF, 18 years old.

Weight gain has been a particular issue, as I don't cook and my parents think I'll just turn fat... And I have no idea how many calories I'm consuming per meal, so just blindly trying to eat as much as possible in the hopes that I'm doing at least 3500 calories a day.

Will be going to the gym this morning. Let's see how I do!

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Reply 1
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The current workout regime, being:

Workout A
Squat 3x5
Shoulder Press 3x5
Deadlift 1x5
Leg Raise 3x15

Workout B
Squat 3x5
Bench Press 3x5
Deadlift 1x5
Leg Raise 3x15

I plan to change the Deadlift in Workout B after today's visit to the gym, to either barbell rows or pull-ups. Never had much like for rows, nor gained any real progress, because it's so easy to cheat on them. We'll see.
(edited 8 years ago)
Reply 2
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miser
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It's cool you're getting back into lifting. Starting low and slowly working your way up is a good idea. How low are you starting? And how tall are you?
Reply 3
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Original post by miser
It's cool you're getting back into lifting. Starting low and slowly working your way up is a good idea. How low are you starting? And how tall are you?


I started at 50 kilos for my bench, squat and deadlift.

My shoulder press started at 30 kilos.

I'm probably a high 5'11 or low 6'0. Haven't measured myself since January of last year.
Reply 4
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Original post by $100Bill
I started at 50 kilos for my bench, squat and deadlift.

My shoulder press started at 30 kilos.

I'm probably a high 5'11 or low 6'0. Haven't measured myself since January of last year.

6' / 5'11 with 9% bf and 77.5kg - that's pretty sweet!
Reply 5
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So today's workout. 30 Celsius heat, no air conditioner, and at least 10 other guys all packed in a small room. Nevertheless, managed to finish it under ~30-40 minutes including warm-up sets.

Squat - 62kg 3x5.

Bench press - 57 kg 3x5.

Deadlift - 75 kg 1x5.

Leg Raises - 3x15. Failed on my second set, so moved onto the deadlift and then finished off the third one. Need to work more on my core!

Original post by miser
6' / 5'11 with 9% bf and 77.5kg - that's pretty sweet!


Thanks!

There was a time as a 15 year old skinny teenager where I would LOVE a body like mine. Now it just seems average. Need to start eating more!
(edited 8 years ago)
Keep doing deadlifts every workout until it becomes too hard to recover from.

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Reply 7
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Another sub-30 minute workout today, including warm-up sets. It was only 28 Celsius today, so I didn't run out of water before my deadlift!

Squat - 65kg 3x5;

Shoulder press - 37kg 3x5;

Deadlift - 80kg 1x5.

Leg Raises - 3x15. Noticed I'm helping myself with arms to swing my legs above my head... Useless at this point. I think I might stick a light dumbbell and go for 10 reps next workout, and start progressing with weights.

Notes

Finally felt like I'd done any work at all - with that deadlift. A couple more weeks and I'm into the 100 kg territory!

Weight gain wise, ugh. I really need to start sneaking in food from my parents. I'm 77.8 kg as of this morning, it's been two weeks and I've gained only ~1.5+ kilos. Started drinking milk like crazy, a liter this morning, hopefully another liter or two by the end of the day. Let's get that protein in brah.

Original post by Smack
Keep doing deadlifts every workout until it becomes too hard to recover from.Posted from TSR Mobile


Hey. You think I should keep progressing with the deadlift? I honestly, from experience, can't tell if "it becomes too hard to recover from" or if it was just a bad workout that day.

Is it a consistent lack of progress/'bad workout' or are there any other signs? I'd love to get that deadlift to at least twice my weight, but I don't wanna rush anything. I'd rather take it very slow.
(edited 8 years ago)
Depending on how much fat gain you want, I would advise against gaining anymore than 0.5kg a week.
Not to worry at the moment as a fair amount of that 1.5kg will be glycogen and water

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Reply 9
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Original post by RobJ93
Depending on how much fat gain you want, I would advise against gaining anymore than 0.5kg a week.
Not to worry at the moment as a fair amount of that 1.5kg will be glycogen and water

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Half a kilo a week sounds a bit slow, but from what I understand that's the weight you gain with a 500 calorie daily surplus. So it's probably right.

I'm hoping to pack on about ~10-12 kilos of lean mass by next summer. It's probably a very agressive goal, but if I get there, great!
Original post by $100Bill
Half a kilo a week sounds a bit slow, but from what I understand that's the weight you gain with a 500 calorie daily surplus. So it's probably right.

I'm hoping to pack on about ~10-12 kilos of lean mass by next summer. It's probably a very agressive goal, but if I get there, great!


Generally speaking, the higher you get above a 500cal surplus (over half a kilo gain a week), the more fat you will gain relative to muscle.


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Original post by $100Bill
Hey. You think I should keep progressing with the deadlift? I honestly, from experience, can't tell if "it becomes too hard to recover from" or if it was just a bad workout that day.

Is it a consistent lack of progress/'bad workout' or are there any other signs? I'd love to get that deadlift to at least twice my weight, but I don't wanna rush anything. I'd rather take it very slow.


Usually after the first couple of weeks it's time to stop deadlifting every workout.
Reply 12
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Original post by Smack
Usually after the first couple of weeks it's time to stop deadlifting every workout.


Yeah, that's my plan so far. It's been almost three weeks since I've started the program, so I guess I'll switch over to barbell rows tomorrow.
Original post by $100Bill
Half a kilo a week sounds a bit slow, but from what I understand that's the weight you gain with a 500 calorie daily surplus. So it's probably right.

I'm hoping to pack on about ~10-12 kilos of lean mass by next summer. It's probably a very agressive goal, but if I get there, great!


You want to add on 10-12kg in 12 months, which you accept could be an aggressive goal but are skeptical at 0.5kg/wk. You realise if you managed to maintain 0.5kg for a year you'd gain over 25kg?

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Original post by RollerBall
You want to add on 10-12kg in 12 months, which you accept could be an aggressive goal but are skeptical at 0.5kg/wk. You realise if you managed to maintain 0.5kg for a year you'd gain over 25kg?

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Technically it's 10-11 months (until the beginning of summer, it's July now).

Also I'd assume the effects of 'beginner gains' would start to lessen as time progresses.

We'll see. 79.2 kilos as of this morning, ugh, water weight is annoying!

EDIT: An hour later, decided to not eat anything just yet - weight is down to 78.8 kg. Stop telling me lies, weight machine!
(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by $100Bill
Technically it's 10-11 months (until the beginning of summer, it's July now).

Also I'd assume the effects of 'beginner gains' would start to lessen as time progresses.

We'll see. 79.2 kilos as of this morning, ugh, water weight is annoying!

EDIT: An hour later, decided to not eat anything just yet - weight is down to 78.8 kg. Stop telling me lies, weight machine!


Your beginner gains aren't going to pack on mass at a rate higher than 0.5kg/wk - even that is pretty good going. People over estimate the initial few weeks from alterations in water and glycogen storage.

There's even some sketchy evidence floating around that you don't make structural adaptions for 4-6 weeks and up til that point it's all neuromuscular.

All I'm saying is, it's a reasonable goal but you're going to hamper progress if you decide you need to cut in six months because you're blubber. Don't be disheartened by scales either. I've had almost 3kg fluctuations across a day or two, it's all about the general trend.

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Original post by RollerBall
Your beginner gains aren't going to pack on mass at a rate higher than 0.5kg/wk


How do you know this?
Reply 17
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Hot day, bad workout...

Squat - 67kg 3x5;

Bench press - 60kg 3x5;

Barbell rows - 40kg 3x5;

Leg raises - 3x10 with 5kg dumbell. My legs refused to swing higher than waist-line... Or did they? Felt like I didn't put enough effort.

For my squat, I actually felt some difficulty on the last rep across all my sets. Ugh... I feel like if I add another ~5-10kg plate on each side, I'd actually struggle with completing the set.

Here's hoping I get to at least 90-100 kilo squat before I need to deload. F***'s sake.
(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by $100Bill
Hot day, bad workout...

Squat - 67kg 3x5;

Bench press - 60kg 3x5;

Barbell rows - 40kg 3x5;

Leg raises - 3x10 with 5kg dumbell. My legs refused to swing higher than waist-line... Or did they? Felt like I didn't put enough effort.

For my squat, I actually felt some difficulty on the last rep across all my sets. Ugh... I feel like if I add another ~5-10kg plate on each side, I'd actually struggle with completing the set.

Here's hoping I get to at least 90-100 kilo squat before I need to deload. F***'s sake.


It shouldn't be too arduous a task reach a 100 kg squat before having to deload.

I would ditch the leg raises as they're not part of the programme. Neither are barbell rows, in fact. Why aren't you doing chins?
Reply 19
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Original post by Smack
It shouldn't be too arduous a task reach a 100 kg squat before having to deload.

I would ditch the leg raises as they're not part of the programme. Neither are barbell rows, in fact. Why aren't you doing chins?


Leg raises: I believe Rippetoe, or some other dude working with Rippetoe, said that abs at the end of the workout are fine, as long as you're doing them in a low rep range (below 15). I decided why not? It shouldn't interfere with the program.

I wanted to do chins or pullups instead of rows myself, but I read conflicting advice on the Internet. Guess I'll switch over next workout. Any benefits with chins specifically, versus barbell rows?

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