Finally! Back to the gym. I can’t remember the last time I looked so forward to going to the gym (any gym, be it weights or martial arts). I’ve been really looking forward to starting Starting Strength. And today I did.

I’ve been reading the Starting Strength book and watching the DVD. I haven’t gotten through all of it yet, I wanted to focus on what was needed at the time: squat and bench press, as that’s todays workout. Between now and Wednesday I need to read and watch press and deadlift. But it was evident that the true SS program wouldn’t work for me, primarily because the gym I go to just doesn’t have the space nor proper equipment setup for doing power cleans. Shame. So instead, I’m doing Rippetoe’s Practical Programming novice routine. You can quickly see the programs at the SS wikia. But as well, I can’t do the PP routine exactly as-is either because I can’t do chin-ups/pull-ups because I’m just not strong enough. So instead, I’m doing inverted rows, which are a recommended exercise for building the strength needed to do full-fledged chin/pull-ups. I put the Smith machine on the 3rd peg from the bottom, which is just enough to allow me to hang with my back just off the ground, feet on the floor. Once I can do 3×15 of that, I’ll reevaluate my strength and determine from there what to do.

Today, being the first day, is about determining weights. Start with an empty bar, do a set of 5 reps, move up in 10# increments, lather/rinse/repeat until the speed of the bar slows down, there’s your weight, do 2 more sets and you’re done. Next workout will move up from there.

Here’s how things went for me (hrm… wordpress.com’s nested list support seems to be screwed up… even if you edit in raw HTML mode it reformats and screw things up).

Squat

• 1x5x45
• 1x5x55
• 1x5x65
• 1x5x75
• 1x5x85
• 1x5x95
• 3x5x105

Bench press

• 1x5x45
• 1x5x55
• 1x5x65
• 1x5x75
• 1x5x85
• 1x5x95
• 1x5x105
• 3x5x115

Inverted rows (chin-up position)

• 1x7x0 (bodyweight)
• 1x6x0 (bodyweight)
• 1x4x0 (bodyweight

One thing to note is rest periods: I didn’t do much. If I’m reading Rippetoe correctly, there isn’t any sort of hard line about how much rest to take between sets: it’s whatever is necessary. During the warm-ups sets you may only need enough time to change the weight on the bar then get back to it. During the work sets, you may need 3 or 5 or 7 or more minutes between sets. The bottom line seems to be, take whatever rest you need (within reason) to get the 5 reps. Since this is my first workout, I don’t really know where things lie, so I just kept moving: do 5, change the weight, get back under the bar. Once I got to a point where I felt “ok, this is the work weight” I took a little more time between sets, but never more than 2 minutes. Is this too little rest time? Well, probably. At this stage of the game, no it’s not. It’s constantly pounded into you to be humble, don’t let ego drive you — realize that on this program, it’s only a matter of time before you’ll be lifting heavy ego-satisfying weights, so just be patient. It’s better to start too low than too high. So I figured the worst that could happen from too little rest between sets is I might not get as high a weight as I could, but I saw no harm in this. I’m trying to be conservative. That said, things will change now that I know my starting weights.

Yes, my squats were less than my bench, which isn’t how it should be, but not unheard of for a n00b. I actually felt like I could have done a lot more, but again, let’s err on the conservative side. Plus, Rippetoe keeps saying that 85# is a typical starting point for most people, and kinda pounded on getting too far from that to start isn’t good. I wasn’t sure if that was for pure novices or what (because before my layoff I was doing 105 for a lot more reps, so certainly I know I could do more), but again… screw it, be conservative. I’m going to go up 10# a workout and you do squats every workout, so I’ll get up there in no time.

I did my best to stay with form that Rippetoe lays out. Makes a big difference! Of course, I still have a lot to refine and work on, but boy…. I could tell. It did feel odd in some respects, but it felt better in others. For instance, I’ve been doing high-bar squats and having a dog of a time getting the weight off the balls of my feet. Trying low-bar squats now feels so much better, so much more balance, but it’s also rather awkward since it’s a new movement. Plus, it’s going to take a few weeks for my arms and shoulders to get more flexible to have them pulled closer together and further back; wasn’t bad today, but there’s a lot of room for improvement.

I also need to get used to the Valsalva Maneuver. Spent all my life doing the “exhale on the exertion, inhale on the return” and I need to overcome that habit. There was a lot of stuff today to have to think about, so I tried to focus on the main things e.g. in squat to lift with my hips, but then I’d forget to do things like stare at the floor in front of me. I’ll get it all eventually, which is another good reason for not just warm-up sets but also starting light.

I got in and out of the gym pretty quickly too. I liked that! I know that won’t last, that workouts will get longer, but still it’s nice to get in and get out.

Anyways, I’m digging this. Progress should be slow and steady, but I’m sure will get more interesting in a few weeks.

A few random notes to myself:

• on the bench press, putting my ring finger at the “groove” in the knurling gives me the best range of motion
• watch your head on the squat rack. 🙂
• 3rd peg from the bottom of the Smith machine for the rows
• I might want to find out an iPod solution, because I’ll need something to do in between those long sets. 🙂