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Hey everyone.
I've decided to create a journal to help keep track of my progress on Rippetoe's beginner's lifting program.
Stats: Age 18, 6', 177 pounds, 20% BF
Background: I've been lifting for around 4 months, most of it being done incorrectly. I just recently came off of a 4-day split that, while I felt helped me get accustomed to the major lifts, didn't really do much. I wasn't feeling like I was making much progress by doing each body part only once a week. That's why I'm using this program which was recommended to me by a few members and that I've read a lot about afterwards. Once I stop progressing I'll take a week to recover (Still lifting, but light) and then I'll transition into the SF 5x5.
Goals: I want to gain strength and muscle mass while at the same time keeping my body fat in check. 20% (Possibly 18%, it was taken with calipers and I have a lot of loose skin from previous weight loss) is a little high and if I can lower it while simultaneously building muscle that would be great. For this reason I'm going to be doing light cardio 2-3 days a week for 10-20 minutes at a time. I'll be joining the Air Force in the summer and I want to use all the time before that to gain as much strength/muscle as I can while keeping below the weight limit (197) to enlist. After I get out of basic training and into a routine I'll jump right back into it.
Diet: This is where the program will differ the most. I'm not the 140 pound kid the program is geared towards and I won't be eating as such. I will be taking in around 3200 calories a day, with tons of protein and fats kept under 100g. It's a clean diet consisting mostly of oatmeal, chicken, milk, eggs, cottage cheese, peanut butter, small amounts of bread and wheat rice, and whey protein. I also take multi-vitamins daily. If I see that I'm losing weight or stalling then I'll toss in a couple more eggs/glasses of milk/scoops of peanut butter here and there.
Program:
Workout A
3x5 Squat
3x5 Bench Press
1x5 Deadlift/Power Clean 5x3,alternate every workout ''A''
Workout B
3x5 Squat
3x5 Military Press
3x5 Chinups
3x8 Weighted hyperextensions/ Good mornings
For major lifts I'll try to add weight every workout, and I'll warm-up using 5 sets of light weight, working up to the work sets. For chin-ups I'll be using the assistance machine because I can't do them yet on my own. I'll also be adding in abwork on Mondays/Wednesdays and direct armwork on Fridays. All weight will be in pounds.
Tuesdays/Thursdays will be light cardio days, and Saturdays might be used for working on my grip and a little interval training. If this proves to be too taxing then I'll tone it down a bit. These are just some things I'll want to be doing in the SF 5x5 so I'm going to start them out now. Ok, enough rambling, to the first workout!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Monday 2/13/06 - Week One - Day One
Workout A (Deadlift)
Squats:
Bar x Warm-up x 2
95 x 5
115 x 3
130 x 2
145 x 5
145 x 5
145 x 5
Got them all fairly easy.
Bench Press:
Bar x Warm-up x 2
85 x 5
100 x 3
115 x 2
125 x 5
125 x 5
125 x 5
These were a little harder than I had anticipated, but still went well.
Deadlift:
Bar x Warm-up x 2
95 x 5
105 x 3
120 x 2
135 x 5
These were awesome! Really got the form down. I felt the contraction of my glutes/hamstrings and I knew I had it. They just felt right.
Accessories:
3 sets of abwork
Comments:
The first workout went very well. I started with weight that was roughly 10% less than my estimated 5RM, and I really focused on my form. I went deep on squats and deadlift form was great. Bench form needs a little improvement as sometimes I feel unbalanced. I'm going to focus more next time on keeping my shoulder blades together and slightly arching my back. I was a little tired because I only got a little less sleep than usual (7 hours vs. 8-9) and I had PE today. After the break we'll probably start swimming so I won't have to worry about running the mile affecting my lifting. I also did some high intensity interval training yesterday as well as a little shoulders, and I think it affected my bench. No more of that, I'm only doing interval training on Saturday so I'll have a full two days of rest before lifting. Other than that, real good workout, I hope I can stay on this for at least a month or two!
I've decided to create a journal to help keep track of my progress on Rippetoe's beginner's lifting program.
Stats: Age 18, 6', 177 pounds, 20% BF
Background: I've been lifting for around 4 months, most of it being done incorrectly. I just recently came off of a 4-day split that, while I felt helped me get accustomed to the major lifts, didn't really do much. I wasn't feeling like I was making much progress by doing each body part only once a week. That's why I'm using this program which was recommended to me by a few members and that I've read a lot about afterwards. Once I stop progressing I'll take a week to recover (Still lifting, but light) and then I'll transition into the SF 5x5.
Goals: I want to gain strength and muscle mass while at the same time keeping my body fat in check. 20% (Possibly 18%, it was taken with calipers and I have a lot of loose skin from previous weight loss) is a little high and if I can lower it while simultaneously building muscle that would be great. For this reason I'm going to be doing light cardio 2-3 days a week for 10-20 minutes at a time. I'll be joining the Air Force in the summer and I want to use all the time before that to gain as much strength/muscle as I can while keeping below the weight limit (197) to enlist. After I get out of basic training and into a routine I'll jump right back into it.
Diet: This is where the program will differ the most. I'm not the 140 pound kid the program is geared towards and I won't be eating as such. I will be taking in around 3200 calories a day, with tons of protein and fats kept under 100g. It's a clean diet consisting mostly of oatmeal, chicken, milk, eggs, cottage cheese, peanut butter, small amounts of bread and wheat rice, and whey protein. I also take multi-vitamins daily. If I see that I'm losing weight or stalling then I'll toss in a couple more eggs/glasses of milk/scoops of peanut butter here and there.
Program:
Workout A
3x5 Squat
3x5 Bench Press
1x5 Deadlift/Power Clean 5x3,alternate every workout ''A''
Workout B
3x5 Squat
3x5 Military Press
3x5 Chinups
3x8 Weighted hyperextensions/ Good mornings
For major lifts I'll try to add weight every workout, and I'll warm-up using 5 sets of light weight, working up to the work sets. For chin-ups I'll be using the assistance machine because I can't do them yet on my own. I'll also be adding in abwork on Mondays/Wednesdays and direct armwork on Fridays. All weight will be in pounds.
Tuesdays/Thursdays will be light cardio days, and Saturdays might be used for working on my grip and a little interval training. If this proves to be too taxing then I'll tone it down a bit. These are just some things I'll want to be doing in the SF 5x5 so I'm going to start them out now. Ok, enough rambling, to the first workout!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Monday 2/13/06 - Week One - Day One
Workout A (Deadlift)
Squats:
Bar x Warm-up x 2
95 x 5
115 x 3
130 x 2
145 x 5
145 x 5
145 x 5
Got them all fairly easy.
Bench Press:
Bar x Warm-up x 2
85 x 5
100 x 3
115 x 2
125 x 5
125 x 5
125 x 5
These were a little harder than I had anticipated, but still went well.
Deadlift:
Bar x Warm-up x 2
95 x 5
105 x 3
120 x 2
135 x 5
These were awesome! Really got the form down. I felt the contraction of my glutes/hamstrings and I knew I had it. They just felt right.
Accessories:
3 sets of abwork
Comments:
The first workout went very well. I started with weight that was roughly 10% less than my estimated 5RM, and I really focused on my form. I went deep on squats and deadlift form was great. Bench form needs a little improvement as sometimes I feel unbalanced. I'm going to focus more next time on keeping my shoulder blades together and slightly arching my back. I was a little tired because I only got a little less sleep than usual (7 hours vs. 8-9) and I had PE today. After the break we'll probably start swimming so I won't have to worry about running the mile affecting my lifting. I also did some high intensity interval training yesterday as well as a little shoulders, and I think it affected my bench. No more of that, I'm only doing interval training on Saturday so I'll have a full two days of rest before lifting. Other than that, real good workout, I hope I can stay on this for at least a month or two!
Last edited:
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