Today I squatted a plate on either side of an olympic barbell. The barbell weighs 45 lb; a plate on either side weighs another 45 lb x 2; That’s 135 lb!
I blew past this milestone with a full set – didnt even sweat it, and will be adding even more weight to the bar next session, as per my program. I don’t feel like a total amateur now – and I’m just 3 weeks into my lifting career. Talk about newbie / beginner gains! I started with just the bar about 3 weeks ago!
Thank you to the stronglifts 5×5 program. When I plateau i’ll move to the madcow 5×5 program and see how I like it.
I was also reccomended Phrak’s Greyskull Variant LP for beginners, according to reddit. But I opted to stay with stronglifts into madcow. Ultimately, doing compound excercises until you plateau is probably a good idea, especially when you’re a newbie, so that your whole body gets progressively stronger.
In the first few weeks i’ve seen tremendous gains; I’m also close to benching a plate and on my way to squatting two plates on either side.
I also deadlifted a plate on either side – for not one but 3 sets. I need to up the weight by 20 lb next time I deadlift.
I’m a bigger guy – big-fat as I describe it (instead of skinny-fat); – but now I’m progressively building muscle so I’m pretty happy with my significant gains.
I realized right from the getgo that this was a lifestyle choice – that I needed to sleep properly and get my nutrition right if I wanted to progress quickly. I’m glad to see the gains, proof that my nutrition, calories, protein and sleep is probably okay.
Catch you on the flip side!
Steve Mini from the 6.
YMCA enthusiast.
