i'm sure it'll be fine.  



Looks similar to what i've seen quite a few strongmen and powerlifters use at home...  



These racks handle 600+ pretty well...   especially if they're counterbalanced or bolted down.
As far as squats:



Practice moblity with an empty bar.



Do wall squats.



Keep squatting. depth will come.

Post a video. Watch some instructional videos. Get some instruction/coaching if you need it. If you pick up bad habits now, it will harder to kick them later.
You may need to focused mobility/stretching. Every single day. I spend 20 mins at night while watching tv doing mobility work.
Remember you are in this for the long haul and progress may be slow but it's still progress

Try box squats with just the bar.

This

Except instead of wall squats do belt squats.

Get a dip belt put some weight on it. Stand on two boxs and squat. Let the weight help pull you down then sit in the bottom position for minute or so.

Or prisoner squats.

Thanks for the recommendations for getting low on squats.

Like I posted in the other thread, y'all making them look so easy and there eating my lunch.

Would like some feed back if I could.

Since I'm having to go baby steps to get this damn squat thing down, I don't want to waste my workout time with the 3x5's practicing.

So here's what I did tonight and what I plan to do in between but definitely want opinions.

Instead of squats I did Barbell Curls.
Like I said, I didn't want to waste lifting day and I need to build my bicep strength up so I thought using the 3x5 on the curls would work.

My plan is.

Mon., Wed. and Fri. do the the Starting Strength 3x5's  but in place of squats, do the curls. I'm doing the Pendlay Rows in place of Power Cleans and Barbell Rows as was suggested.

On  Tue., Thurs. and Sat I'll do my Cardio, plus 100 Pushups, 200 Situps, work on on my form on the squats, ( getting depth and technique ) and walk a few miles.

I hope the off lifting days is Ok more doable. I still have more weight I want to drop.

I know someone may say pull ups but I'm still pulling to much weight and gravity is working against me on those for now.

Again, I'm open to suggestions and critiques if anyone wants to post them.

First off we all started off somewhere dont worry about slow progress. I would not skip any squat workout. Do the 3x5 squat day and do curls in between sets if you want. Also pratice on off days. Work on mobility everyday.

Yes, don't skip squats. That is one of the most if not the most important lift for your whole body.

Maybe your problem with squats is due to a lack of hip mobility?  

Start with this...


and work toward this...


and for fun...(start at 1:35)

Thanks for the impute.
Advice taken.

Also, believe everyone is right on the hip abductors.

I was doing calisthenics last night and also working on just trying to get lower on squats and
my hips / waist area just seemed really stiff and tight.

I stretch before exercising but it looks I'm not doing the right ones.
I'm ging to watch the vids that were suggested andwork on etting more limber in this area.

Reading Starting Strength, still on the Squat chapter. It's a little ruff reading not knowing all the
the terminology and muscles. I'm having to re-read some stuff t its been helpfu

Found some more YouTube vids someone took of one of his classes on shoulder presses .
He was talking about the hip flex to help with getting heavier weight up
I know when I was doing shoulder presses Monday I was lifting heavier and I was having to
kind of rock my body to help me push it up.

Going to try the hip flex or whatever he called next time.


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If you are doing strict press you don't want to use any momentum to move the bar off your shoulders. Just use less weight.

I mean it's ok to cheat one last rep but if you are doing it on every rep you're not really lifting that much weight.

Starting strength does not use a strict press. Mark recommend a "hip thrust" to start.

Yeah, Rip's press 2.0  

This is where I got the hip thrust or whatever he called it from.

I'm still on the Squat chapter of the book so I haven't got to the Press yet.

KaiK, I was thinking I might be trying to much weight also.
I was putting a lot of  " Hip " and adding a "  humph " into my press then they did in the video .

I tend to get a little to motivated sometimes and have to check myself.

PRESS

Tell him to stop being such a cheater.

Yeah man start light. It gets heavy real fast anyway.

Haven't had a chance yet to watch the YouTube vids yet so I
don't know if they have back stretches in them or not.

Can someone point me to a few good lower back stretches?
Pulled my lower back slightly last week dead lifting and really
felt it pulling yesterday when I dead lifted even though I cut about 30lbs
off .

The back stretches I'm doing don't seem to give my lower back
a good enough stretch.

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This may not be what you want to hear, but I suggest leaving the barbell on the rack for a bit and begin your workout routine with strictly bodyweight exercises or light dumbbells at best.  I don't know your background, but if you're like most Americans, the majority of your day is spent sitting and your body is tight and your mobility is limited.  A bodyweight routine doesn't have to be forever, just do it until you're able to carry out the exercises pain free, and at an athletic pace. ...athletic pace meaning briskly as seen in the videos below.  You shouldn't have pain, feel stiff, or have difficulty moving your body into any given position due to anything beyond the normal strenuous exertion required to complete any given exercise.  Don't underestimate bodyweight exercises, they can be some of the most difficult to carryout and you'll get strong and your fitness will improve greatly and then you should be able to perform the barbell routines without injury.

Also...do a youtube search for "Joint Mobility Routine".  Steve Maxwell has an excellent one ..."Universal Mobility: Standing & Floor Work".... for download on his website.  It costs $15 and is worth every penny.  click here.  

I never really did an intro in the this particular tech forum, I just started asking for advice so I guess I should put a little
more info out there.

Check OP if you want a little bit of background.


Barney, I looked at the vid's you posted and I will incorporate some of them into my workouts.
Looks like they will help me out a lot.

The pain I get ( other then rushing through a dead lift last week and pulling something in my back ) is that when I squat there is a slight pain in my lower back.
It happens when I squat as low as I can go without weights. I think it's from just not being limber enough yet.

Dr took Xrays and said everything looked good.

OK, how am I supposed to concentrate on stretching watching this video !?

My wife saw me watching it and and gave me the eye roll stink eye !

I tried to explain to her that if was for the benefit of my health and in turn would keep me around longer for her.

She was not amused



I was though




STRETCH

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That video didn't loosen me up.

Ok, I'm having trouble finding the warm up sets in the book for Deadlifts.

I've been using the same formula for the Deads as I have for the others but thumbing through the book I noticed that the listed warm ups
were heavier for the deads then the rest. Book stated that the reason was the body was already warmed up from the squats so you heavier.

I couldn't find how much heavier to on them though.
Can anyone recommend the percentages?

I always just wing it. Doesn't matter much IMO as long as you get warm, and don't smoke yourself.

I want to get a little touchy / feely for a minute.

Just want to say I do appreciate the feed back everyone has given me in this forum.
I've been able to ask a question and get a fast helpful response every time.

From the recommendations on Starting Strength to the help on my calorie intake in the Protein thread.
The advice I received has helped me a lot and I have completely changed my workouts because of it.

I'm trying to keep most of my questions in my thread so I can reference it quickly when I need to but I'm reading the others and posting there if it's already been asked
and I haven't overlooked it.

Anyway, thanks for the feedback.

OK, touchy / feely over with.

Maybe move your diet questions here, I forgot you had this thread too. Just a suggestion.

Moved.

Would the Protein Powder help me  get my protein levels up or would it hurt my weight loss?
I'm trying to to find some higher protein meal menus on the net, but wasn't sure if the powders would work for me
at the stage I'm at right now.

I've started adding a little weight to my squats. I've been just using the bar to work on my form.

When I'm squatting it's like I'm having a conversation with myself.  " Keep your chest up, stop looking down, butt up first, suck your gut in damnit ! "

I've been doing a lot of stretching and working on my abductors and I'm able to get a little lower in my squats without it hurting my lower back, but I still have to get lower.
I'm using my flat bench but it's a little high, so I'm going to make a little stool that'll help me.
Also gotta work on my balance when I'm coming up. I'm letting the bar dip to one side or the other.

I've just using my Walking shoes for lifting but they are throwing me off balance a little when I'm lifting.
I've done a few squats without shoes to see if made a difference and it did. I just don't like lifting without something on my feet.
Especially if I dropped a plate.

Macro count matters.

Everything DT said.

your cals and protein are so low a shake wouldn't hurt, but IMO you should just eat more.

Get some chucks for lifting for sure.

I just tried that sitting here, and damn that makes a difference.
Pressing on my stomach just sucking it in is still spongy, but like you said driving my gut out and contracting in I pressed on my stomach it was solid.

Thanks for that.

Forgot to ask earlier, I was watching YouTube lifting vid and it reminded me.  

Bench Press, when I used to lift we would let the bar touch our chest.

I seen a few vids where they say " don't " let the bar hit your chest, and others where they say do let it touch your chest.

Do y'all let touch the chest or not ?

touch, pause, press... not sink or bounce on the chest.





Occasionally, there is benefit to stopping an inch or so from teh chest for pauses... but this is something to look at in a couple years... ;)

Well, I learned I wasn't doing Deads quite right.
I wasn't keeping the bar in contact with my legs during the whole lift.

Even now, it's still hard to keep it in contact especially when going by the the waist groin area.

How many of you have new knee caps installed from knocking them off with the bar ?

Squats are still giving me a little trouble. When I'm squating I'm thinking, keep my stomach tight ( from darktide
although that's not as easy to do when squatting for me ) keep my elbows up, head in the right direction, butt up first, ( keep your head in position dummy and elbows, your elbows dropped !! )

A lot more to do other then just squat, but It's getting better.
I'm already able to get a little lower in the squat position.

As soon as I think I got the form I want I'm going to post a vid and ask for criticism. Right now I'm still able to point out to myself what I'm doing wrong when it happens.

I've increased my calories since my last post and I can already tell a big difference in how I'm feeling and my energy level in my workouts.
I done some math and 1200-1600 cals. a day and burn 500-700 cals. on workouts wasn't leaving my body much to live on let alone grown on.
Right now I'm probably around 1800-1900 cals. but may bump that up more.


I haven't checked online yet, but where does everyone get their chalk for lifting?
My hands are getting so sweaty that' it's beginning to affect my grip.

Whoever has the best price on chalk is where I buy mine. It's really cheap and lasts a long time if you get a box of it.

Well, I've had my first real  problem with working out.
I think it was more then just not wanting to workout because I was in the middle of it.

Earlier last probably starting Monday, I just wasn't having any energy it seemed like.
I was giving out on my " 100 push up " program, I was doing less then I was the week before and struggling to do what little I had done.

Same with the weights, On bench at least, I'm struggling to get the last couple of reps in each set. I haven't added weight to it in several weeks.
( I'm still no where close to where most of you monsters are )

This last Wednesday I had done my stretches, struggles through the pushups again and was starting my second set of squats when in the middle of them I just
kind of lost my drive. I just called it day.
Later I was thinking maybe I should just take off the rest of the week minus some walking.

I've been working out regular and pretty solid since January 1 this year.
Minimum 3 days week starting out, but it has grown to 6 days week.

I'm not killing myself on my workouts although this Starting Strength has kicked my ass, but it's getting kicked by someone like Sara Evens, it hurts, but I keep coming back for more.

I have upped my protein levels considerably form what it was. Main carbs are form a little rice once in while for lunch and maybe pasta in my lunch no more than once a week.

I bought some BCAA's at Walmart yesterday after reading about a lot of you taking them and I've decided to add fish oil to my vitamins also.

Is losing stamina or drive normal like this or do I just have to suck it up it if keeps happening ?

Like I said, this has been my first real issue on workouts, I sometimes have make myself go out to the shop and hit it, but after warm-ups, I'm always glad I did.

Now, it's like I want to but my body is fighting me.

Any ideas ?

Overtraining. Deload. Rest. Eat. Sleep.

Well I do feel better.  Guess that's  what it was.



Can someone  recommend  an abdominal  routine I  add to my workout?
Perfect something  that doesn't  take up a lot of time.
This would  be in addition  to what I'm already  doing.

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Yeah you probably need an easy week with lots of sleep and food.  

Just do like half your workout weight and go for some walks or runs.

AB Wheel,Leg Raises do them in between sets of other exersices

You can do bird dogs first thing in the moring or while watching TV.

What are Bird dogs?

Haven't  thought about the Ab wheel.
Used one once, a buddy's and paid for it the next day.
I was going  to just do situps,  planks and side planks, ( heard they were  good ) and leg raises / trunk twisters.

Unless someone  had a better  idea.


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