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I'm going to write about myself and ask a few questions.
I worked out for a few months on SS, was pleased with my slow results (got up to a 48 bench i think!) and the way it made me feel.
I would go:
squat
bench
dead
mpress
back
abs
dumbell
Sometimes cutting deads (maybe i cut them altogether at some point)
i later added chin-ups after i realised i couldnt do a single one
My session would take 1.5hour and i would have 2 days break between, a few times more because of alcohol
I was bulking (trying to) on beans, veg and milk and vit pills. Eventually put on ~10kg
Suddenly for 3-4 sessions in a row i started to feel really faint and weak as soon as i started my squats at start of a session. I thought i must be getting ill but i didnt and it persisted. I cut out deads but my sessions became insanely unsatisfying and I just felt faint and didnt achieve anything.
I got really pissy and disheartened and probably got drunk and ended up never going back.
So what happened? Was i suffering from calcium OD (maybe :p) ? Were my sessions too long? Did I over-train? It kinda sounds like it doesnt it. Which is pretty sad when you're giving yourself minimum 2 day breaks.
I went to see the local gyms here and there's one round the corner i can actually afford!! im a bit nervous of starting again and dont want to come across these silly hurdles that messed me up last time when i was doing so well :x
So here's some ideas, thoughts, questions:
1. Guy in thread said NEVER have a session for more than 1 hour. 7 exercises at 6 reps 3 sets taking 30 seconds with 3 minutes gap between = 63 minutes.
2. This gym seems to have a squat rack (unlike the nearby 40/month luxury leasure gym rofl). But do i really want to do squats now? I enjoyed them and know their importance, but they honestly take a long time AND take a SHIT lot of energy out of me. My goal is upper body muscle mass only.
Question: what alternative to squats can i do that wont wear me out as much for the chin-ups and bench press? does running (5 mins) have a similar hormone stimulating affect? ie could i legitimately start my muscle sessions with a quick run, jog or sprint?
3. At my old gym I was focusing on STR stat with max weight possible and moving up. Sometimes my 5x3 would become 4x2 3x1 just because I was so insistant on moving up and never moving down. I feel like I was rushing and at my new gym think I should go for 6 reps instead of 5, 3 sets.
I am VERY weak, but from what I remember 6x3 should be fine for me. I just have to go a bit easier on myself and not over-do the weights. I'm the kinda guy who you see struggling and groaning with a bar suspended over his head for 30 seconds because he's overdone it and can't get it back on the rack  Using 6x3 instead of 5x3 means I can safely drop down to 5x1 or 4x1 on my later sets and not feel too dumb about it.
4. Cardio! I don't know if I can cope with cardio even if I wanted to. I can jog for maybe 3 minutes before collapsing so I'm very unhealthy (very very high heart rate also). IIRC a proper cardio session is 20 minutes at correct heart rate. I don't know how to fit cardio around my muscule sessions.
5. Session frequency and exercises.
I don't know if there's a pull-up bar in this gym but I hope so. I'm thinking (squats and deadlift to be considered):
(5 min jog for hormone release??)
(5x3 deadlift would be quite good here actually?)
bench press 6x3
chin-up bar 5-10 minutes doing what little I can
6x3 military press
abs/crunches
6x3 bent pulls (back exercise forgot what its called)
5x2-3 curls (I should be trying to jump from 12.5 to 15kg ones, woot  )
I would LOVE to go every other day if I could, but from my past it looks like I overwork myself by going just once in 3 days  Maybe without squats I can go more often.
6. When I train abs I try to take them very slow and IIRC do 15x4 or something similar. Since my abs are TINY is it okay to do an ab session more frequently (daily?) instead of requiring a lengthy rest?
7. Should I be doing push-ups? (noting what else I'm already doing)
 
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From where did you get the idea that you only rest 3 minutes in-between sets in SS? The original says about 5 minutes for pressing, and 8 minutes for squats/deads iirc.
I'm also on SS, and I'm still making incredible gains. You should stick to SS, and you should keep squatting.
Addendum:
"My session would take 1.5hour and i would have 2 days break between, a few times more because of alcohol"
What? 2 days? SS is mon-wed-fri, and you cant go getting wasted the day before you're about to load 80kgs on your back.
To sum it up for people: guy half-heartedly does SS, fails, blames the program and tries to find something else.
To OP: If you're serious about gaining strength and muscle mass, I could help you figure out what you're doing wrong, but you have to limit alcohol to fri/sat to begin with.
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On August 30 2010 04:41 Catch]22 wrote:
From where did you get the idea that you only rest 3 minutes in-between sets in SS? The original says about 5 minutes for pressing, and 8 minutes for squats/deads iirc.
I'm also on SS, and I'm still making incredible gains. You should stick to SS, and you should keep squatting.
Addendum:
"My session would take 1.5hour and i would have 2 days break between, a few times more because of alcohol"
What? 2 days? SS is mon-wed-fri, and you cant go getting wasted the day before you're about to load 80kgs on your back.
To sum it up for people: guy half-heartedly does SS, fails, blames the program and tries to find something else.
To OP: If you're serious about gaining strength and muscle mass, I could help you figure out what you're doing wrong, but you have to limit alcohol to fri/sat to begin with.
I'm certain I read 3 minutes, in both SS and in BB forums (maybe on TL too). If you're taking 5-8 minute breaks can I ask what you're doing in your down-time? Playing on your phone or meditating or what? In my last gym I felt embarrassed because everyone around me was doing crazy 20 reps with 30 second breaks and constantly harrassing me to use the machines while I was just sitting there looking weedy on the bench :x
I might have remembered wrong about how long I had breaks inbetween sessions, now you put it like that. I'll have to check some old blogs whereever they are. It does seem like i would have been going every other day (for certain if that's what SS said). Please excuse me for remembering this wrong.
Edit: You were right about the resting times
If you get something strange like 5/5/2 or 5/3/4 on your 3 sets, then you probably just need to be more mindful of rest periods. Best to use 3 minutes between pressing, cleaning and rowing work sets and up to 5 for squats and deadlifts if necessary. For now, use a little too much rest rather than too little rest. -SS thread
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I actually have a notebook for going to the gym to remember my routine and to write down stuff about it -- mostly how hard or easy it is, and to remember what weight I used last time, and if I need to up/lower my weight (mostly need to up it now that I've done this new routine a few times).
The routines I get come straight from a competitive bodybuilder that I've known since high school, so I trust it to work. My last routine (we change it up every 3-5 months) did wonders for me -- I have a significantly stronger core and am able to run much faster than I was able to before I started working out, and my legs are fucking huge now O_o
Anyway, my current routine for upper body:
+ Show Spoiler +Day 1/3/5: - 30 minutes cardio; my friend and I get on the elliptical machines - 5 sets of 10 lateral pulldowns - 3 sets of 10 sternum pulls (colloquially known as boat rows) - 3 sets of 10 shoulder shrugs MAX WEIGHT bar bell (1 rep == shrug for 10 seconds) - 4 sets of 25 bicep curls (25 each arm, so you have to count to 50 when doing each set) - 3 sets of as many as you can MAX WEIGHT assisted pull-ups (until you can do pull-ups on your own) Day 2/4 - 5 sets of 5 benchpress* - 3 sets of 10 incline benchpress* - 4 sets of 25 dumb bell press (LIGHT WEIGHT) - 3 sets of 15 tri-cep extension - 3 sets of as many as you can tri-cep pulldowns MAX WEIGHT - 30 minutes swimming * Must have a workout buddy with you to do these or you'll die
Now, this is coming from a casual gym goer (unlike my bodybuilder friend), but your workout seems all over the place.
Ab workouts are to accomplish 1 of 2 things: to strengthen your core or to have SUPER RIPPED 6 PACK ABS THAT WOMEN WANT TO LICK WHIPPED CREAM OFF OF. In either case, they're not really conducive to an upper body workout when you're first starting. When you get significantly bigger, you can incorporate them in to a new workout, but for now, they're not really helping you achieve your goal, which is to have a bigger upper body.
If you're too out of shape for unassisted cardio, get on a cardio machine of your choosing. Step machines are the most intense of the bunch, while ellipticals are the most laxed. However, I hate doing cardio more than I hate getting shot in the face, so I choose the elliptical machines and just turn up the intensity. For upper body, I stick to the 30 minutes of cardio, because chances are if I did an hour like I did with my last workout, I would be too tired to do the exercises both correctly and with as much weight.
The squat workout also isn't conducive to upper body workouts. The muscles you're working out when you do squats the largest muscles in your body, and therefor will completely obliterate your energy for the day. They're excellent if you're trying to lose weight and get a stronger lower body, but they're not so hot for trying to do other workouts alongside them.
Finally, are you stretching before and after you workout? Stretching completes the tri-fecta of the 3 most important things to a workout: drinking water, doing the exercises, and stretching. Injury is less likely, and your recuperating period will be shorter. Instead of having to take 3 days off, you'll only have to take 1 day off.
edit: Also, where do you live? What city?
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If what matters to you when you're at the gym isnt what is the best workout for you, but rather what other people are thinking about you, then maybe Starting Strength isnt really what you should be doing.
More likely than anything else, you felt faint either because you were hungover (again, why the fuck do you even lift if you'er hungover?) or because heavy squats are fucking hard to do man, you should feel tired after them. If so, I suggest you stop trying to move heavy weights, and go on our friends easier, more cardio-intense "fitness" routine posted above. (No offense, I just assume your goals are a bit different)
I might be comeing off like a bit of a hardass here, but SS really is the way to go if you wanna get bigger and stronger early on. But I wouldnt try it if i had to party every other day
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When I said "a few times more because of alcohol" I meant that I'd gotten drunk 4-5 times in 3 months, which was great for me but still mentionable!
I did say I felt embarrassed but I did however stick to my 3 minute breaks (as I had read them). I was just asking what people actually do in these breaks so as to not feel silly, nervous, or just plain bored.
This blog is to see what shit I churn out so I'm able to assess the way I'm thinking and improve upon it. It does sound like I should keep squats in my program and simply lower the weight by a large margin, rather than kick them out altogether. Thanks for helping me notice this 
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EPT
