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Come and critique my weightlifting regimen

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calluses are not that bad. After a month of having hem develop, your skin toughens.

I don't use chalk but most say that is the way to go. I simply don't care about calluses personally.

Also keep in miond that gloves increase the diameter of the bar. It's going to be harder to hold the bar on a few lifts granted you can use a pronated grip on things like deadlift.
 
IHateMyJob2004 said:
calluses are not that bad. After a month of having hem develop, your skin toughens.

I don't use chalk but most say that is the way to go. I simply don't care about calluses personally.

Also keep in miond that gloves increase the diameter of the bar. It's going to be harder to hold the bar on a few lifts granted you can use a pronated grip on things like deadlift.
Click to expand...

Well, we'll see how it goes. They were only like $10, so it's not a huge loss if I decide to go without them.
 
IHateMyJob2004 said:
I don't use chalk but most say that is the way to go. I simply don't care about calluses personally.
Click to expand...

Funny you say that, I wish I didn't need chalk 'cause it's a friggen mess, but my hands sweat a lot.

This morning I almost had a wreck while doing squats, I set the bar too low on my back and felt it start to slide down when I got to the bottom of my first rep. I caught it, and finished the rep, but I was distracted enough that my second rep was off balance and I had to step back to catch myself. Ugly. Anyway, all this drama caused me to sweat a lot more than normal and I had to chalk up for the bench press. I felt kind of ridiculous doing it, but the bar just did not feel secure in the warmup sets due to my sweaty palms. The chalk took care of it though.
 
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Actually, come to think of it, I was starting to get pain from the knurl on the bars when lifting. I was getting into havier and heavier weights and eventually I will need to get chalk. leg injury stopped my progression but it was starting to hurt to do deadlifts.
 
Chalk is fine. The Eleiko bars I use have enough chalk on them and the fact that my hands are moulded to lift the bar makes no difference to me.

Koing
 
IHateMyJob2004 said:
"The only legitimate use for a glove is to cover an injury... A desire to prevent callus formation (possibly so as to not snag one's pantyhose) does not constitute a legitimate use. " - Rippetoe

"If you insist on wearing gloves, make sure they match your purse. " - Rippetoe
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If you grab the bar properly, you won't get callus'. Rippetoe points this out as well and show proper bar holds.

OP, make sure to go to startingstrength.com and watch the platform videos.
 
CPA said:
If you grab the bar properly, you won't get callus'. Rippetoe points this out as well and show proper bar holds.

OP, make sure to go to startingstrength.com and watch the platform videos.
Click to expand...

This is true. I finally started gripping the bar correctly for deadlifts (i.e. not letting that skin fold get stuck in there), pulled 325 on Monday and have no callus at all on my left hand, and a small one on my right hand that I'll lose pretty soon.
 
I see why you guys like this book. It's very well written and I'm enjoying it. The problem I have is that I'm somewhat knock-kneed and I can't even do an empty squat. If I (slowly) lower myself down to that position and stand up, it sounds like someone tearing velcro.

I've probably squatted less than ten times that I can remember (and I mean getting in that position, not squatting for strength). My guess is that I don't have the flexibility or strength to do a proper squat workout. Does anyone have any experience with this? Is the cracking in the knees something to be concerned about, or will it go away as I build muscle?

My plan is to just keep trying the empty squats until I can do them comfortably, then add weight.
 
Cool. I'm a few pages into SS, I've jumped around to check out different exercises. Do you think the leg press will help strengthen and stretch my legs so I can start to squat?
 
Chaotic42 said:
Cool. I'm a few pages into SS, I've jumped around to check out different exercises. Do you think the leg press will help strengthen and stretch my legs so I can start to squat?
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not really. if you want to get better at squatting, squat... simple as that
 
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I have huge flexibility issues with the squat. What finally worked for me was adding weight to the bar and letting it drive my hips down below parallel.

Do what Rip says to do in the book: drop down into the squat position and use your elbows to jack your knees apart. Once you have the position at the bottom, start with an empty bar, and then add a little weight. Gradually add more (5 lbs at a time) until the weight is enough to slow down the movement and STOP. That's the end of your first workout. Next time you'll add five pounds.
 
Well, that's what my problem is. I can't drop into a squat even with no bar and no weight. I've been working on that. I've also been watching some of his videos. There's no DVD with the book, but I've been checking out squatting form stuff. Improper squatting is what kept me out of the military. As soon as I dropped down, the Marine in charge called me out.

Not as embarrassing as the guy next to me in the not-so-clean Jar-Jar Binks underwear (not kidding), but still... 😛
 
Konig showed me goblet squats. Also do some mobility work and your squat will improve. Mine was terrible a few weeks ago. While it still isn't perfect I know I am getting better.
 
The leg press has helped with my ability to squat. Today I did 245 on the leg press and I feel much better trying to squat down without any weight (or bar). Since the leg press is at a 45° angle and I weight about 240 lbs, I'm figuring I need to work up to csc(π/4)*240 ≈ 340 pounds.

I've also been trying to work on my squat grip, holding the bar properly and whatnot based on Mark's video.

It was a good day today. I know you guys might not like all of this stuff I'm doing to build up to it, but my knees are really in that bad of shape.
 
Chaotic42 said:
The leg press has helped with my ability to squat. Today I did 245 on the leg press and I feel much better trying to squat down without any weight (or bar). Since the leg press is at a 45° angle and I weight about 240 lbs, I'm figuring I need to work up to csc(π/4)*240 ≈ 340 pounds.

I've also been trying to work on my squat grip, holding the bar properly and whatnot based on Mark's video.

It was a good day today. I know you guys might not like all of this stuff I'm doing to build up to it, but my knees are really in that bad of shape.
Click to expand...

As a beginner myself who tried this a few years ago, IMO what you're doing is fine. Everyone here says to start with the bar and avoid the machines, follow the book and you'll start squatting properly... but it's not quite that simple. If you've lead a sedentary lifestyle, you simply can't internalize what you're seeing on a video or reading in a book to make your body do exactly that. I tried all of that, including posting videos of myself for suggestions, but in the end I ended up with lower back trouble.

IMO the best way to learn the squat is to have a professional who's trained in SS teach you how to do it (note that most fitness instructors have a very different idea of what a squat is when compared to the book). You can give the video/book etc a shot and it might work for you, but ultimately I stopped doing them because I was just too scared of lower back issues (and I had other logistic problems as well.)

Not to put a damper on your workout - I think SS is a great program, if you can follow it precisely. But if you're used to a sedentary lifestyle, I'd recommend taking it slow and doing things that make your body feel comfortable. There's no point in injuring yourself and not being able to do *anything*.

As for a slower, "lead in" program that doesn't have you be a purist, try the beginners workout on http://exrx.net. I'm trying that currently, and while it does include compound lifts, you don't get judged if you substitute a machine workout for something you find hard to do. I'm having a great time doing it - especially in terms of time taken for workout and how I feel afterward, and in strength/fat loss gains. Pay particular attention to the "mobility exercises". I would recommend doing this for six months and then doing an SS style program where you focus on progression through heavy weights and low reps.
 
Starting Strength

or

All Pro's Beginner Routine

Both can be found with a simple google search (All Pro's Beginner Routine will take you to an old sticky on the workout program section of BodyBuilding.com)

I did what you did OP so don't feel bad. I cobbled my own program together. I did it for awhile, felt comfortable. Then I did AllPro's beginner routine (didn't like SS for some reason), and that's when I truly felt like I made progress every time I worked out.

Just like how newbies come here to anandtech, and no doubt they ask questions that are in the stickies, you should go to a workout forum, and read the stickies.
 
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