Weight Training

I’ve been lifting weights for the last couple years and it’s been fun working on getting stronger and getting to take peaceful breaks for exercise.

Weight training gives a different sort of challenge for my body than more repetitive exercise and there’s a focus on progress (vs. fitness classes where I get a good sweat but don’t feel like I’m progressing).

I started weight training by following Mark Rippetoe’s Starting Strength program (book, online). The workouts are simple and there’s lots of emphasis on good form (form videos).

After about 9 months of semi-consistently following Starting Strength, I stopped getting stronger and (thanks to my friend Susanna’s recommendation) switched to Wendler’s 5/3/1 program (book that I got, newer book that I haven’t read, online). And after a few months of that I stopped training bench and military press because my right shoulder was feeling weird and I found out that I have a torn rotator cuff and labrum (old injury) and figured I’d rather not stress out my shoulder. Now I warm up with the Agile 8, do the main lift of the day, and then do bodyweight assistance exercises (on squat day, single leg step ups to a box and pull/chin ups; on deadlift day, glute hamstring raises). I document every workout in a training log and use a spreadsheet to calculate 5/3/1 percentages and draw graphs to show my progress.