Packing it on

corribdude

Well, putting this log up here as motivation for the next 10 weeks. Started lifting 6 months ago and after messing about with my own programme for a few months, then doing a 5x5, I've finally realised that maybe I'll do what guys with 1000 times more experience than me recommend and do the starting strength programme. I have made decent progress all the same, lifting quite a bit more from when I started and was a complete pussy, and also putting on almost 2 stone in the process.
I took a week off after stalling and kind of feeling burnt out so I'm starting back into it on monday. I used to do a ramping 5x5 system but now I'm going to do 3x5 all at my top weight and increase every session by a small increment. Here's my current stats -


Age: 28
Height: 5' 10
Weight: 78 Kg

Squat - 85 1x5
Deadlift - 90 1x5
Bench - 65 1x5
Row - 50 1x5
Press - 45 1x5



And here's my goals for the end of week 10 according to the spreadsheet I made up to track it -

Weight: 83 Kg
Height: 6' 2

Squat - 104 3x5
Deadlift - 116 1x5
Bench - 77 3x5
Row - 68 3x5
Press - 56 3x5
Power Clean - ?? 3x5

I'll probably have to adjust these after the first two weeks when I've a better idea how I'm progressing but I'd love to hit these figures within two months.


Workout is gonna be as follows
Monday -
Squats
Bench
Row

Assistance - Good Mornings, Chin ups

Wednesday -
Squats
Press
Deadlift

Assistance - Leg Raises, Plank

Friday -
Squats
Bench
Power Cleans

Assitance - Dips, Crunches


Got a few supplements there the other day so I'll be taking Nutrition X RAM after each workout and a few scoops of protein every day. I'm also gonna be taking creatine for the first 5 weeks.

corribdude

Squats -
30x5
45x3
60x2
75x3x5

Bench
25x5
35x3
45x2
58x3x5

Row
20x5
30x3
40x3
50x3x5

Weighted Dips
BW+10kg 3x8

Crunches
3x30

corribdude

20 min run

Wasn't as bad as I thought it was gonna be considering this only the second time I've ran in the last year lol. I suppose other cardio work like cycling and swimming have improved my stamina a fair bit.

corribdude

Squat
30x5
45x3
60x2
76x3x5

Press
18x5
25x3
33x2
42x3x5

Deadlift
60x5
80x5

Weighted Chins
BW x 3
BW + 8kg 3 x 6
Plank

corribdude

Squat
30x5
45x3
60x2
77x3x5

Bench
25x5
35x3
45x2
60x3x5

Row
20x5
30x3
40x3
51x3x5

Weighted Dips
BW 2x10 supersetted with leg raises 2x20

corribdude

20 min run.

corribdude

Squats -
30x5
45x3
60x2
78x3x5

Bench
25x5
35x3
45x2
61x3x5

Row
20x5
30x3
40x2
52x3x5

Weighted Dips
BW+10kg 3x8

Crunches
3x30

corribdude

Squat
30x5
45x3
60x2
79x3x5

Press
18x5
25x3
33x2
43.5x3x5

Deadlift
60x5
84x5

Weighted Chins
BW x 2
BW + 8kg 3 x 6
Plank

corribdude

Squat
30x5
45x3
60x2
80x3x5

Bench
25x5
35x3
45x2
62x3x5

Row
20x5
30x3
40x3
53x3x5

Weighted Dips
BW+10kg 3x8 supersetted with good mornings, 35x8

Leg Raises
20x2

corribdude

Squat
30x5
45x3
60x2
81x3x5

Bench
25x5
35x3
45x2
63x3x5

Row
20x5
30x3
40x3
54x3x5

Weighted Dips
BW+11kg

Crunches
3x30

This method of increasing the weights by a very small amount each session is going great, this session felt like my easiest so far even though I'm lifting more weight. Hopefully this will continue.

corribdude

Squat
30x5
45x3
60x2
82x3x5

Press
20x5
27x3
35x2
45x3x5

Deadlift
60x5
88x2x5


Weighted Chins
BW + 9kg 3 x 6
Plank



It's a pity I didn't start off doing SS sooner rather than my own ill-conceived programme, I'd probably be squatting 1.5 times bodyweight and benching bodyweight by now. My strength seems to be increasing faster than the weights as each session feels easier than the last. This is how I see the exercises at the moment -

Deadlift: Lots of room to improve, feel I could do 100kg 3x5 handy enough
Squat: Feels strong, no problem handling the weight increments
Bench: Feels decent, feels like I can keep up with the weight increments
Row: Almost as good as bench, think I can keep up with the inc's for the moment.
Press: Don't know if I can keep up with 1.5 KG inc's per week, might drop this back to 1KG.

corribdude

Squat
35x5
50x3
65x2
83x3x5

Bench
25x5
35x3
45x2
64x3x5

Row
20x5
30x3
40x3
55x3x5

Good Mornings
30x5
40x8x3

Dips
BW 3x8

Leg Raises
20x2

Not a great session, hit all targets but the squats and bench felt really tough, probably could've done with more carbs a few hours before the session.

corribdude

10 min run (mix of jogging and sprinting)

corribdude

Squat
35x5
50x3
65x2
84x3x5

Bench
25x5
35x3
45x2
65x3x5

Row
20x5
30x3
40x3
56x3x5

Military Press
25x3
45x3x5

Deadlift
65x3
92x3x5

Weighted Dips
BW+10kg 3x8

Crunches
3x30

Added in Deadlift and Military press today as Im going on holidays for a week and wont get to do them. Felt much stronger than last session, probably due to the feed of pasta one hour before working out. Only hitches were form suffering on the last rep of rows and having to rest for prob 8 seconds before finishing the final rep on the last set of the bench.

corribdude

First day back after the holidays.

Squat
40x5
55x3
70x2
85x3x5

Bench
25x5
35x3
50x2
66x3
63x3
62x4

Row
20x5
30x3
40x3
54x3x5

Dips
BW +10kg 3x8

Plank

Pushups 22

Bench was a disaster, very disappointed, definitly lost strength after the week off. My diet has been a disaster too, surprised that I haven't really lost any weight, gonna get it back on track from monday on.

corribdude

Squat
40x5
55x3
70x2
86x3x5

Press
20x5
28x3
36x2
45x3x5

Deadlift
65x5
96x5

Weighted Chins
BW + 10kg 3 x 6

Leg Raises
30x2

Push-ups (hands close together)
22

corribdude

Squat
40x5
55x3
70x2
87x3x5

Bench
25x5
35x3
52x2
64x3x5

Jump push ups
16

Close grip push ups
16

Row
25x5
35x3
45x2
55x3x5

Weighted Dips
BW + 11kg 3 x 8

Crunches
30x3

Bench went alot better today, I think I mighn't have been raising the bar fast enough last time around leading to me getting stuck in mid position. Im hoping the supersetted pushups done straight afterwards also give me a little boost in power. I hope I can keep the 1kg per session weight increase up but if it's not happening it's not happening and I'll drop it to 1kg every 2 sessions. Squats on the other hand, I feel like I could be increasing in bigger increments but feck it I'm happy enough that I should hit 100kg in about 4 weeks.

Pub07

Squat
40x5
55x3
70x2
88x3x5

Press
20x5
28x3
35x2
46x3x5

Deadlift
65x3
85x3
100x5

Weighted Chins
BW + 9kg 3 x 6

kevpants

Pub07 wrote: »

Squat
40x5
55x3
70x2
88x3x5

Press
20x5
28x3
35x2
46x3x5

Deadlift
65x3
85x3
100x5

Weighted Chins
BW + 9kg 3 x 6

corribdude

Oops, my brother's account was still logged on.:p

corribdude

Squat
40x5
55x3
70x2
89x3x5

Bench
25x5
35x3
52x2
65x3x5

Weighted Dips
BW + 12kg 3 x 8

Leg Raises
30x2

Close grip push-ups
20

Wide grip push-ups
20

corribdude

Decided to change this starting strength routine up a bit for a few weeks and then come back to it. Starting to lose enthusiasm a bit so hopefully a slight change will get me back in the mood and maybe shock my body into some extra strength gain. I don't think I'm recovering properly with two days between workouts so I'm gonna split it. Squats one day, bench the next, then a day off, then rinse and repeat. Also gonna drop the weight and up the reps to improve my form a bit.

Squats
40x5
55x4
70x3x10

that was supposed to be it but a bit of fuel still left in the tank so did some narrow stance squats

40x5
70x2x8

Bent Over Row
25x5
35x5
45x3x10

Weighted Chins
BW + 5kg x 8
BW + 5kg x 7

Barbell Shrugs
25x10
45x10
55x10x3

Plank
90 seconds each on sides and front

corribdude

Bench
25 x 5
35 x 5
52 x 3 x 10

Narrow grip bench
52 x 3 x 8

Pullovers
15 x 10
20 x 2 x 10

Bradford Press
20x5
30 x 10
30 x 8
30 x 10

Dips
BW + 7.5 x 2 x 9
BW + 7.5 x 5

Wide push ups
20

Narrow Push ups
10

Some rotator cuff work, yes I don't know what they are, you don't know what they are, who gives a fook? Seen alot of people saying they're important so I'm gonna do em.

corribdude

Squats
40x5
55x4
72x3x10

Deadlift
60x5
80x2x10

Bent Over Row
25x5
35x5
55x2x9
45x10

Weighted Chins
BW + 5kg x 8
BW + 5kg x 7

Barbell Shrugs
25x10
45x10
55x10x3

Leg Raises
30x2

corribdude

Bench
25 x 5
35 x 5
53 x 3 x 10

Press
25 x 5
35 x 3 x 10

Dips
BWX 2 x 8
BW x 12

Wide push ups
20

Narrow Push ups
10

corribdude

Squats
45x5
60x3
75x3x10

Good Mornings
25x8
40x3x10

Bent Over Row
25x5
35x5
46x3x10

Barbell Shrugs
25x10
45x10
55x10x3

Narrow stance squats
60x5
75x2x10

Weighted Chins
BW + 5.5kg x 8
BW + 5.5kg x 8

Plank
90 secs each side and front

Looks like the change to 3x10 is working well, squats actually felt lighter than last week and felt way stronger in general even tho i didnt get a proper feed beforehand.

corribdude

Bench
25 x 5
35 x 5
55 x 3 x 10

Bradford Press
20 x 5
31 x 3 x 10

Narrow grip bench
37 x 5
50 x 8
55 x 7

Pullovers
15 x 3 x 10

Dips
BW+8 x 3 x 8

Wide push ups
20

Narrow Push ups
10

Some rotator cuff work

Crunches 3 x 30

corribdude

Squats
40x5
55x4
77.5x3x10

Deadlift
70x5
85x2x10

Bent Over Row
35x5
47x3x10

Chins
BW x 10
BW x 10

Barbell Shrugs
55x10x3

Dumbell Curl
15 x 5

corribdude

Bench
25 x 5
35 x 5
56 x 3 x 10

Press
25 x 5
36 x 3 x 10

Dips
BW X 2 x 10
BW x 12

Wide push ups
20

Narrow Push ups
15

Some rotator cuff work

corribdude

Squats
50x5
65x3
80x3x10

Good Mornings
25x8
45x3x10

Bent Over Row
35x5
48x3x10

Barbell Shrugs
45x5
57x10x3

Narrow stance squats
65x5
80x10
80x3 (pain in right knee, decided not to take a chance on damaging it)

Weighted Chins
BW + 6kg x 8
BW + 6kg x 8

Barbell Curl
25x8

Plank
90 secs each side and front

Various stretches

Good session apart from the narrow stance squats, anyway gonna swap em out for pause squats in future, I don't think I'm getting down far enough and thats what caused the pain in the knee. Cant afford to take any chances when I've no spotter or power rack.

corribdude

Bench
25 x 5
35 x 5
58 x 3 x 10

Bradford Press
20 x 5
32 x 3 x 10

JM Press
27x5
37x0
27x2x10

Narrow grip bench
55 x 6

Wide grip bench
50 x 8

Dips
BW+8.5 x 3 x 8

Raised Wide push ups
10

Narrow Push ups
7

Some rotator cuff work

Leg Raises 2 x 30

Stretching

corribdude

Squats
50x5
65x3
82.5x3x10

Deadlift
70x3
90x2x10

Chins
BW x 10
BW x 10

corribdude

Bench
25 x 5
47x 3
59 x 2 x 10
59 x 5
57 x 5

Press
25 x 3
37 x 4 x 8

Dips
BW X 2 x 10
BW x 16

Some rotator cuff work

corribdude

Squats
50x5
70x3
85x3x10

Bench
27x5
42x3
52x1
65x1
68x1
70x1
62x7

(Escalated Density Training)
Weighted Dips BW+8kg
Rows 50kg
---80 reps in total in 15 minutes

Leg Raises
25x2

corribdude

Well todays session was unmitigated disaster. I'm not even gonna post up reps/sets it was that bad. Wanted to switch things up as I've been doing 3x10 on all exercises for the last while so decided to try rest pauses and dumbbell presses for the first time. Well my form went to sh1t and I was so wiped I wasn't even able to do one dip after two sets of rest pause db presses and dips are normally my best exercise. Did one set of military presses and threw in the towel. Fúcking disaster I dont see myself attempting rest pauses again for a long long time. I've decided to just keep it simple and go back to the starting strength routine, albeit doing 3x10 on squats and 5x5 on bench.

corribdude

Deadlift
47x5
67x3
82x3
95x2x10

Military Press
25x5
32.5x3
40x5x5

Weighted Chins
6x2x8

Good Mornings
40x10

Leg Raises
3x25

corribdude

Squat
55x5
70x3
87.5x3x10

Bench Press
27x5
37x3
47x2
58x5x5

Row
35x5
50x5x5

Weighted Dips
BW+9kgx2x8

Plank

Rotator Cuff

Made a fairly decent improvement in my bench technique today, finally understand what it is to have a solid base by retracting your shoulders, pulling them towards your feet and raising your ribcage. I had been also incorrectly been flaring my elbows. Hopefully this will take me to 70x5x5 before stalling again.

corribdude

Deadlift
47x5
67x3
87x2
97x1
110x3x5

Military Press
30x5
42x5x5

Assistance -
Romanian Deadlift
30x5
50x10
60x10

Muscle Clean and Push Press
30x3
40x3x4 (weights kept coming loose after 3 reps)

Weighted Chins
6.5x2x8

Leg Raises
3x25

Pleased with the deadlift today, beats my previous best of 100x1x5, felt good for a fair bit more too.

FunkZ

Well fcukin' done on the Deads man!

corribdude

Cheers horse, in good form this evening after 'em feels like im after lifting some semi-respectable weight. It's a long way from when I gave up deads in my second week of doing em after failing to get 5 reps at 55kg, yes you read that right lol.

corribdude

Squat
40x6
60x3
80x2
90x3x10

Bench Press
27x5
47x2
60x5x5

Row
35x5
52x5x5

Dumbbell Floor Press
44x2x10 3 sec pause at bottom

Weighted Dips
BWx2x8 3 sec pause at bottom

Rotator Cuff

corribdude

Deadlift
47x5
67x3
87x2
102x1
115x3x5
(just realised my warmup procedure isnt great, gonna switch to 70, 95, 110 for next session)

Military Press
30x5
44x5x5

Assistance -
Romanian Deadlift
30x5
55x3
70x2x8

Muscle Clean and Push Press
30x3
45x5x3

Leg Raises
3x25

Barbell Curls
25x5

Reverse BB Curls
26x5
27x5
30x5

Plank

Form was a bit sloppy on the last set of deadlifts but going to keep going 3x5 til I hit 125 then drop to 105kg for sets of 10 to sort out form, working back up to 125.

kevpants

corribdude wrote: »

Deadlift
47x5
67x3
87x2
102x1
115x3x5
(just realised my warmup procedure isnt great, gonna switch to 70, 95, 110 for next session)

Deads are growing by the session. Warmups don't look too bad, first set's a bit light but then again you've gotten better at pulling. Don't be tempted to go too heavy on them, first set of 5 should be 50% is of your 1RM. You should be warm but not tired when you get to the heavy stuff.

corribdude

Bench Press
27x5
40x3
54x3
62x5x5

Pause Bench Press
45x3x8

Weighted Dips
BW+10 x10
BW+10 x7

Pause Squats
70x2x10

Glute Ham Raise (3x6)
3x6 (DIY effort using barbell on the floor, couldn't hold myself static all the way down and had to push with my arms when coming up off the floor, hamstrings need alot work, as I thought)

Row
45x4
54x5x5

Jump Pushups (3x8)

Rotator Cuff

Plank

corribdude

Deadlift
60x8
80x4
100x2
110x3x5
(Kept weight the same as last session as Im switching to conventional stance)

Military Press
Bar
30x4
46x5x5

Assistance -
Romanian Deadlift
30x5
55x3
75x3x5

Muscle Clean and Push Press
35x3
50x5x3

Chinups
BW+15kg x3x4

Reverse BB Curls
32x5

BB Curls
30x5

DB Hammer Curls
18x5

Leg Raises
2x25

High rep chins are my least favourite exercise, I even skipped em last week, so from now on it's gonna be low reps high weights. Been trying to decide on an exercise to get the gunz up to scratch, think I'm gonna go with db hammer curls and maybe reverse bb curls, for some reason normal bb curls feel like they are gonna snap my forearms.

corribdude

Bench
32x8
47x3
55x2
64x2x5
64x2 WTF
58x5

Front Squat
25x3
65x3
70x3x5
First time doing these, found em way tougher than regular squats

Row
45x4
56x5x5

Glute Ham Raise
3x8

Assistance -
DB Bench Press Paused (half ROM)
44x8
44x6

Skullcrushers
22x2x10

Rotator Cuff

Plank

corribdude

Muscle Clean & Press
25x5
35x5
45x2
50x3x5

Weighted Dips
BW x 3
BW + 20kg x 3 x5

Raised Push Ups with 3 second pause at bottom of each rep
2x8

Leg Raises
2x25

Rotator Cuff

Static Stretching

corribdude

Decent enough first session back, short and sweet which is what Im looking for. I dont have the motivation for 1.5 hours workouts at present so my plan is to do short sessions comprised of 2 compound exercises 5-6 days a week and then throw in an assistance exercise or two if I feel like it. Im dropping the bench press as I cant seem to keep my form locked in tight without a spotter unracking it for me and 4 times out of 5 I dont have one. Gonna be doing weighted dips instead which I much prefer anyway. I also dont know what to do about the squats, I'm doing 90kg for 3x10 but I dont feel comfortable going any higher without a proper squat rack in case something goes wrong.

corribdude

Deadlift
60x5
80x4
90x3
100x3x8

Bent Over Row
30x5
45x3
55x5x5

Reverse BB Curl
30x2x5

Hammer Curl (Negatives)
20kgx5

Plank

Static Stretches

7 minutes on exercise bike

corribdude

Military Press
Barx5
30x5
48x5x5

Weighted Chins
BWx1
BW+20KGx3x3
BW+20KGx2

Pause Push Ups
3x8

supersetted with

Hammer Curls
15x3x5


Hammer Curl (Negatives)
20x3

Rotator Cuff

Static Stretches

Jimmy Bottlehead

Whats stats are ya now, man?