For deadlifts I'm setting the catch bar of the power rack (bet that's not the proper name for it) at the lowest setting and lifting from the top of that since there aren't any big plates on the bar. Should I be lifting it from the ground? Sorry for the new kid questions, I'm a fast learner, so hopefully you won't have to deal with these from me for long.

Brand spankin' new to this program and pretty much a rookie. My first workout was today.

I sought out a trainer and asked her to show me the squat rack. It's a good thing she did because I had previously stood in front of the Smith machine. She actually recommended the Smith machine and I explained that I really did want the Squat rack. I watched her do a few and then tried my own. She said I went too far down the first time, so I adjusted accordingly. The mirror isn't really in a great place but I was able to turn in the squat rack a little bit to see myself at an angle that would help me see how far I was going down.

My daughter's friend's dad was there and he said that my squats looked great, but that what helped him in the beginning was dragging a bench over into the squat rack so that he knew how far he was squatting.

Then a co-worker came over and chatted me up, so I rested about a minute too long in between my warm-up sets.

Then my Body Pump instructor came over and chatted it up while urging me to continue as we chatted. She said that it looked like the bar was too easy for me. 45 did feel light because I already load up 50 when I'm doing high rep low weight in Body Pump but I just wanted to ease into this and get familiar with the bar before starting to load.

Finally, I was left alone and finished my workout.

Barbell (just the bar - 45) squats. Warmups were 2x5, 1x5, 1x3, 1x2 and then the 5x5's
Bench (just the bar - 45) press. Warmups were 2x5, 1x5, 1x3, 1x2 and then the 5x5's
Barbell Row I used the straight barbells that already have weights on them. They did not have a 45. So I did my warmup sets at 40. 2x5, 1x3, 1x2 and then my 5x5's with a 50.

I did not feel breathless like I do in Body Pump but I think that's to be expected until I start loading on heavier weights. I did enjoy myself and look forward to my Tuesday workout B. I will be taking my Ipod next time and hopefully can kind of focus in without too much interference. :laugh:

That depth for squats sounds fine. Some people preach *kitten* to grass, some try to hit it, and then some people think you shouldn't break 90 degrees (that,s not even parallel!). If you hit below your knees you're low enough to get the stretch reflex which is what you're looing for to engage your hips/hamstrings/posterior chain into the lift as opposed to half squats where almost all that work are your quads

As for the deadlift, what you're doing consists more of a rack pull. If your power racks are anything like the ones I have at the gym, the lowest setting is about knee height. What you'll want to do instead is unrack the bar and lower it down a lil under mid shin and then lift. If you can find steps, boxes, blocks or plates that would elevate the plates you,re using to that height it's better to use them. Once you're at 25s on each side (95 total - you'll get there very fast) usually pulling from the floor shouldn't be too much of a problem, even if that's more of a deficit deadlift. You're still better off with blocks if you can find them since a huge part of the deads is getting that bar off of the floor and going for good form is a priority. If your gym has bumper plates, definitely use those asap

Yes! I definitely want to get my posterior involved in the squats. Maybe I can find something just slightly lower to tap on.

Thanks for your reply. No bumper plates at my gym, unfortunately. I've looked around for something to set the bar on but I can't find two things of equal height that are close tot he "right" height. However, the lowest setting on this particular rack is around mid shin, so maybe that will work for now. Hopefully I'll get to the 95 pounds quickly and not have to worry about it anymore.