After pretty much three months off from my slight knee injury the first week of January I got back to lifting with the following program. It's the Starting Strength Practical Programming Novice Program. The one with chin ups/pull ups instead of the power cleans since I didn't think my back could handle that. You can read more about it using the link on the sidebar. Basically, this was the workout:
Monday
3x5 Squat
3x5 Bench Press / Press (Alternating)
Chin-ups: 3 sets to failure or add weight if completing more than 15 reps
3x5 Bench Press / Press (Alternating)
Chin-ups: 3 sets to failure or add weight if completing more than 15 reps
Wednesday
3x5 Squat
3x5 Press / Bench Press (Alternating)
1x5 Deadlift
3x5 Squat
3x5 Press / Bench Press (Alternating)
1x5 Deadlift
Friday
3x5 Squat
3x5 Bench Press / Press (Alternating)
Pull-ups: 3 sets to failure or add weight if completing more than 15 reps
3x5 Squat
3x5 Bench Press / Press (Alternating)
Pull-ups: 3 sets to failure or add weight if completing more than 15 reps
This would be my workout for the next four months. There were times I had to de-load to work though plateaus and minor injuries, these came about once a month. So far, this portion had been the most rewarding and fun of the exercising I had done.
Below are the stats, for the pull ups and chin ups I'll use my start and highest from my best set.
Start
Squat 45
Bench press 45
Overhead press 45
Deadlift 115
Chin Ups 3
Pull Ups 2
Bodyweight: 144.4
Highest
Squat 105
Bench press 85
Overhead press 70
Deadlift 135
Chin ups 9
Pull ups 6
Bodyweight 147.8
So, now for my back. During this time I had gotten progressively better until I started adding more weights on the squats. My back seemed to be in the best condition on the days I was squatting around 80 pounds. Getting up to over 100 pounds was a nice accomplishment, but staying around 80 pounds wound up being best for me at the time. I didn't take down the exact date, but during this time I was able to sit up like a normal person to get off the bench instead of "falling" off to the side. July 24th was my last day of this portion, mostly due to heat and somewhat laziness I suppose. I had then taken a couple weeks off with the unexpected result of my back starting to feel really great. Being able to lay down in bed or on the couch and roll over without effort or pain.
October 22nd now and I'm looking forward to getting back to lifting in the next month or so. I've been doing the Couch to 5k running program since August 22nd trying to work up my cardio and stamina. My back feels good now except for first thing in the morning, but getting up isn't a problem and the pain is gone in no time once I'm moving around. There's still work to do.
Below are the stats, for the pull ups and chin ups I'll use my start and highest from my best set.
Start
Squat 45
Bench press 45
Overhead press 45
Deadlift 115
Chin Ups 3
Pull Ups 2
Bodyweight: 144.4
Highest
Squat 105
Bench press 85
Overhead press 70
Deadlift 135
Chin ups 9
Pull ups 6
Bodyweight 147.8
So, now for my back. During this time I had gotten progressively better until I started adding more weights on the squats. My back seemed to be in the best condition on the days I was squatting around 80 pounds. Getting up to over 100 pounds was a nice accomplishment, but staying around 80 pounds wound up being best for me at the time. I didn't take down the exact date, but during this time I was able to sit up like a normal person to get off the bench instead of "falling" off to the side. July 24th was my last day of this portion, mostly due to heat and somewhat laziness I suppose. I had then taken a couple weeks off with the unexpected result of my back starting to feel really great. Being able to lay down in bed or on the couch and roll over without effort or pain.
October 22nd now and I'm looking forward to getting back to lifting in the next month or so. I've been doing the Couch to 5k running program since August 22nd trying to work up my cardio and stamina. My back feels good now except for first thing in the morning, but getting up isn't a problem and the pain is gone in no time once I'm moving around. There's still work to do.
