Week 9 done. Still no fails, but I'm getting close on a couple of things.

Week 9 in the books as well - still no missed workouts.

2X Failure on Bench this week @ 115lbs, both times I went 5/5/5/5/4 - so close...
1X Failure on OHP this week @ 85lbs, 5/5/5/4/0

We'll see how I manage next week on both of those - potential re-set coming.

I'll just keep plugging away.

Started week 6 of my modified version of Stronglifts. I switched to Dumbbells on bench because I was getting to the point where I'd be more comfortable with a spotter but I hate asking people to spot me...

Squat (5x5) +20 lbs each time
Goal - 315
1 - 145, 165, 185, 205, 225, 245,
2 - 145, 165, 185, 205, 225, 245,
3 - 145, 165, 185, 205, 225, 245,
4 - 145, 165, 185, 205, 225, 245,
5 - 145, 165, 185, 205, 225, 245,

Overhead Barbell Press (5x5) +10 lbs each time
Goal - 175
1 - 95, 105, 115, 125, 135, 145,
2 - 95, 105, 115, 125, 135, 145,
3 - 95, 105, 115, 125, 135, 145,
4 - 95, 105, 115, 125, 135, 145,
5 - 95, 105, 115, 125, 135, 145,

Barbell Bench Press (5x5) +10 lbs each time
Goal - 205
1 - 125, 135, 145, 155, 80 DB, 85,
2 - 125, 135, 145, 155, 80, 85,
3 - 125, 135, 145, 155, 80, 85,
4 - 125, 135, 145, 155, 80, 85,
5 - 125, 135, 145, 155, 80, 85,

Incline Dumbbell Bench Press (3x10)
1 - 50, 55, 60, 70x7, 70, 70,
2 - 50, 55, 65, 70x6, 70x7, 70,
3 - 50, 55, 65, 70x8, 70x5, 70,

Cable Chest Fly (3x10)
1 - 40, 60, 60, 70, 70, 80x6,
2 - 50, 60, 70, 70x9, 70, 80x5,
3 - 50, 60, 70x8, 70x8, 70, 80x5,

Tricep Pushdowns (3x10)
1 - 70, 80, 90, 100, 110, 110,
2 - 80, 90, 90, 100, 110x6, 110,
3 - 80, 90, 90, 100, 110x9, 110,

Whoa, first workout of week 10 was tough. On my very last rep of the last set of OHP I stalled out about halfway up, but managed to push all the way up at 110 lbs. Squatted 180 and my form was starting to get out of whack at the end. Deadlifted 225 and I feel it a little in my back. Hopefully I didn't tweak it.

I'm going to try to keep climbing up in weight until the end of week 12 on my squats and deadlifts, but then I think I'll just try to shoot for a goal of working out on squats at 225 and maybe around 250 for deadlifts. I'll keep doing both as part of my workout, but I don't care about trying to go higher past those goals. I quit running because it was effecting my squats, but I want to get back to it after I hit 225. I also want to break my mountain bike out and hit the trails without fear of wearing out my legs and not making the next 5 lbs on squats. But like I said, I will still squat 3X a week and deadlift once or twice a week like I do now. I'm a small guy, 5'6 175 lbs and I'll be happy to work out at those goal weights.

However, I'll keep building on my upper body weights.

I start on Tuesday and can't wait to begin!

Good luck. Stick to it and you'll see good results. I was in couch potato shape when I started and it's been great for me. Start light no matter how easy it seems and practice your form. You'll need it for when things get heavy.

Ya, when I finish wk 12 I plan to ad endurance at those weights also.

I'm dropping to 3X sets instead of 5 at the suggestion of this guy:

Andy Baker

He's the co-author of Practical Programming for Strength Training which is one of the more well respected book in the Strength Training space.

I talked to him for a few minutes at the little league fields this weekend and he convinced me that dropping to 3X will let me progress further.

Tough workout this morning to start Week 10, even at the reduced sets. Taxing weekend on the body makes the Monday morning workout rather tough.

Failed at 205 on Dead Lift.

Been having pain/tightness in my hib abductors after squatting. Any idea why?

I started the workouts this morning. The initial weight levels are very light but I am taking this time to focus on form. Also, since the workouts are shorter and I am taking found free time to focus on stretching more/increasing flexibility. I notice this morning, with the lighter weight, that I didn't have the flexibility in my hips that I'd like/need to squat properly so hopefully I can fix that before I get back in to heavier weight levels. I did lift a bit heavier on bench press than suggested as I may have let my ego get the better off me. Regardless it was a lighter weight than normal and I still feel like I am accomplishing the overall goal.

Prior to today I have never really had a "plan" when entering the gym. I would have target areas identified when I entered and more-or-less wing it from there. I am excited to have a plan, get stronger, and hopefully add some lean mass.

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The initial weight levels are very light...

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I take somewhat of a backwards approach on Stronglifts. Since I can already lift more than the 12 week finishing weights you'd get if you're just starting with the empty bar like the program calls for, I decide on goal weights I want to accomplish for each exercise and then work backwards from there to determine my starting weights. It's still relatively light in the early exercises when you do it that way, but it doesn't take long before you start to get some pretty decent weight on the bar.

Each time I've done the program this way I've set new PR's and ended up stronger than I ever was before.

What I did to make it a little harder was do as many reps at the light weights at once as possible to get to 25 reps.

So I might do 3 sets 10 10 5 say of squat as long as I could, or was punching out 1x25 reps on the bench until the weight got heavy enough to start dropping reps and adding sets to reach 25 reps. Makes for a very quick workout early on....

Did ny first day yesterday. I can't get to 90 or just below on the squat. I think i need to do more flexibility exercises to help. Had an issue slightly arching the back too.

Bench and rows went fine.

SQ - 45
BP - 45
RW - 55

I'm back on SL5x5 after alot of interruptions (Late Jan Ski Trip followed by Wedding then followed by honey moon).

I've dropped down from about 184 LBS in December to about 175 LBS now, some due to eating better, some due to stress I'm sure.

BN 5x245
SQ 5x255
DL 5x335
OHP 5x155
RW 5x180

I just did squats and deadlifts tonight. 5x5 of 255 on both. Not sure if I should be posting in this thread since what I'm doing is a heavily modified version of Stronglifts, but the main exercises are still the same.

I've never understood how most people can deadlift significantly more than they can squat (referring to post above). I'm the exact opposite. My goal is to be able to deadlift as much as I can squat, but I've never accomplished that.

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BN 5x245
SQ 5x255
DL 5x335
OHP 5x155
RW 5x180

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Are those goal weights or is that what you're doing right now?

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I've never understood how most people can deadlift significantly more than they can squat (referring to post above). I'm the exact opposite. My goal is to be able to deadlift as much as I can squat, but I've never accomplished that.

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You would definitely be the outlier here. The vast majority of people are the opposite.

Here's your solution....

https://www.t-nation.com/training/third-world-squat

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BN 5x245
SQ 5x255
DL 5x335
OHP 5x155
RW 5x180

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Are those goal weights or is that what you're doing right now

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That is what I am at currently. I'm not too far off my goals on some lifts, but SQ and DL need to get up. I want to maintain those numbers effectively but get down to about 170lbs

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Here's your solution....

https://www.t-nation.com/training/third-world-squat

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From that article...

"The classic North American squatting down to grab something from a low shelf or play with his VCR is going to balance on his toes and shoot his knees forward."

That describes me perfectly. If I try to get into that "third world squat" position that my kids seem to do so easily and naturally I'll fall on my butt every single time. Part of the problem is that my belly gets in the way, but that's a topic for the weight loss thread.

Thanks for that article. I'm going to start working on this daily to see if I can improve my hip flexibility.

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BN 5x245
SQ 5x255
DL 5x335
OHP 5x155
RW 5x180

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Are those goal weights or is that what you're doing right now

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That is what I am at currently. I'm not too far off my goals on some lifts, but SQ and DL need to get up. I want to maintain those numbers effectively but get down to about 170lbs

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Nice. Those are good numbers. My current goal is to be able to do 5x5 of the following:

Squat - 315
Deadlift - 315
Overhead Press - 175
Dumbbell Bench - 100's
Barbell Row - 185

I'm a few weeks away from doing that on squats and deadlifts. I could probably do it now if I tried, but I'm sticking with the program. My next goal after Stronglifts is to get to get to a point where I can do 20 reps with 315. I don't really see much reason to try and go up in weight, so I want to go up in reps.

I just started this program up last week. In high school, I lifted all the time due to football, basketball, baseball..etc. When I got to A&M I took one weightlifting class and since then I haven't lifted or run hardly at all. Its been 4 years or so since I took the class. So I decided just to start from the very beginning weights, ie bar on most workouts. I was a tad sore after the first day of squat, and I thought dam this is pathetic. But now that I'm back in the groove of lifting again, I'm not sore at all. I do feel kinda embarrassed that I'm lifting such small weight, but if anyone was to ask I'll just tell them I'm doing a lot of reps (not exactly lying).

Do yall have any other workouts to compliment SL5x5? I'm looking for more functional strength. I'm not going to the circuit weights and targeting specific muscles.

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I just started this program up last week. In high school, I lifted all the time due to football, basketball, baseball..etc. When I got to A&M I took one weightlifting class and since then I haven't lifted or run hardly at all. Its been 4 years or so since I took the class. So I decided just to start from the very beginning weights, ie bar on most workouts. I was a tad sore after the first day of squat, and I thought dam this is pathetic. But now that I'm back in the groove of lifting again, I'm not sore at all. I do feel kinda embarrassed that I'm lifting such small weight, but if anyone was to ask I'll just tell them I'm doing a lot of reps (not exactly lying).

Do yall have any other workouts to compliment SL5x5? I'm looking for more functional strength. I'm not going to the circuit weights and targeting specific muscles.

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I don't think anyone will ever ask why you're lifting such a small amount of weight. If they even care enough to notice, they'll probably think you're just warming up or working on perfecting form or something along those lines. And even if they just think to themselves, "Man, that guy is weak," they're probably just going to keep that thought to themselves.

There are some good functional strength workouts in the New Rules of Lifting book. It used to be pretty popular and talked about and recommended by lots of folks on this board, but it seems many have moved on to doing CrossFit and other things now. They're still good workouts though. The book is a good read too.

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Did ny first day yesterday. I can't get to 90 or just below on the squat. I think i need to do more flexibility exercises to help. Had an issue slightly arching the back too.

Bench and rows went fine.

SQ - 45
BP - 45
RW - 55

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A couple of things... First off, form is tough for me when there is no weight on the bar... However, chances are you don't open your hips enough.

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Did ny first day yesterday. I can't get to 90 or just below on the squat. I think i need to do more flexibility exercises to help. Had an issue slightly arching the back too.

Bench and rows went fine.

SQ - 45
BP - 45
RW - 55

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http://strengtheory.com/how-to-squat/

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I just started this program up last week. In high school, I lifted all the time due to football, basketball, baseball..etc. When I got to A&M I took one weightlifting class and since then I haven't lifted or run hardly at all. Its been 4 years or so since I took the class. So I decided just to start from the very beginning weights, ie bar on most workouts. I was a tad sore after the first day of squat, and I thought dam this is pathetic. But now that I'm back in the groove of lifting again, I'm not sore at all. I do feel kinda embarrassed that I'm lifting such small weight, but if anyone was to ask I'll just tell them I'm doing a lot of reps (not exactly lying).

Do yall have any other workouts to compliment SL5x5? I'm looking for more functional strength. I'm not going to the circuit weights and targeting specific muscles.

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Don't feel embarrassed. I have much more respect for someone who is going full parallel with 65 lbs rather than someone doing half-squats with 250.

Finished Week 10 tonight. I bought a weight belt this week and it really helped my workouts. Up until now, I'd been doing it without a belt and my form was getting a little off with the weights getting heavier. Anyway, I feel the belt helped my form and it's nice to have something to push my abs against. I felt I tweaked my back on 225 deadlift on Sunday, but today with the belt I did 230 and my back feels fine.

Anyway, I'm currently at

125 BP
115 OHP
135 Row
190 squat
230 deadlift.

No missed workouts and no fails yet after 10 weeks. On to week 11............

Week 10 in the books this morning as well.

I'm at a point where, even after dropping to 3 sets, everything is getting hard and I'm squarely in the fail/stall/progress phase.

Squat - really struggled with 220 this morning. May need to drop back to work on form after I get the 225 next week.
Press - 5/5/4 @ 90 this morning
Deadlift - pulled 4 @ 205 this morning. No problems at 195 warm-up.
Bench - 120 on Wed.
Row - 95 on Wed. (I'm doing my Rows on the machine)

I may need to think about a belt as I'm struggling with form on Squats.

No missed workouts still, but I think the effects on limited sleep is holding me back on some of the lifts. I'm also pretty limited to just an hour in the gym in order to get to work, so rest between sets is also a limiting factor for my progression.

Gracias

Did 2nd workout last night and I freakin love dead lifts. Granted it was only 65 lbs but this one is going to fun once weight gets added.

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Did 2nd workout last night and I freakin love dead lifts. Granted it was only 65 lbs but this one is going to fun once weight gets added.

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Nothing makes you feel stronger than doing some deadlifts. It is surreal.

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Week 10 in the books this morning as well.

I'm at a point where, even after dropping to 3 sets, everything is getting hard and I'm squarely in the fail/stall/progress phase.

Squat - really struggled with 220 this morning. May need to drop back to work on form after I get the 225 next week.
Press - 5/5/4 @ 90 this morning
Deadlift - pulled 4 @ 205 this morning. No problems at 195 warm-up.
Bench - 120 on Wed.
Row - 95 on Wed. (I'm doing my Rows on the machine)

I may need to think about a belt as I'm struggling with form on Squats.

No missed workouts still, but I think the effects on limited sleep is holding me back on some of the lifts. I'm also pretty limited to just an hour in the gym in order to get to work, so rest between sets is also a limiting factor for my progression.

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Keep your shoulder blades squeezed and keep your core tight throughout the lift.

Finished the fifth workout last night.

Squat 65lb, Bench 55lb, Barbell Row 75lb

Still pretty easy going.

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Did 2nd workout last night and I freakin love dead lifts. Granted it was only 65 lbs but this one is going to fun once weight gets added.

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You're in luck then because the weight piles up quick on the deadlift. I remember when I was nervous to go with two 45 plates at 135 lbs on the deadlift and now that's my first warm-up set. It seems light now.

Yep, keep adding plates guys. The first time I pulled 315, it was a great feeling. Nothing makes me feel more "powerful" than deadlift.