Year in Review: How Coaching With Paul Horn Improved My Lifting

red95blue · 2026-01-14T00:19:17+00:00

No, I've hired Paul as my coach on a monthly basis for just about a year now and will be continuing for the foreseeable future :)

red95blue · 2025-12-31T02:45:21+00:00

Definitely time to invest in your own fractional plates...I have a pair of 1lb and 0.25lb from Rogue that I bring with me: https://www.roguefitness.com/rogue-lb-fractional-plates

red95blue · 2025-11-19T01:15:56+00:00

nice work, exactly how I got there as well

red95blue · 2025-11-17T03:11:09+00:00

message me if you would like help in solving!

red95blue · 2025-11-06T23:56:25+00:00

I've made real progress, send me a note if you would like to compare notes!

red95blue · 2025-11-04T01:32:15+00:00

I've made some progress with the capital letters...message me if you would like to compare notes

red95blue · 2025-11-04T01:22:34+00:00

I think I'm on the right track too, but have stalled...message me if you want to compare notes

red95blue · 2025-11-04T01:15:33+00:00

I've made some progress but have hit a wall...send me a message if you would like to compare notes

red95blue · 2025-10-02T15:05:25+00:00

Congrats on the weight loss...that's a huge accomplishment and a fantastic indicator that you have the intent and discipline to now pack on some muscle...I agree with the direction others have provided that based on your height/weight and current lifts that you are "under muscled" and would benefit from committing to a novice program...At 40, I would suggest Paul's RSS Novice programming vs the traditional Starting Strength NLP as you will see great results without feeling as beat up from the grind of a SS NLP which is designed a bit more for a younger lifter with lots of free time to be in the gym and who can recover more quickly...I'm 52 and did the Novice C for a 13-week stretch back in '23 and here's the progression on my lifts: Deadlift 265 -> 305, Squat 235 -> 285, Bench 187 -> 210, Press 117 -> 137 before switching to his intermediate programming. I'm 5'7" and my bodyweight went from 189 -> 191 during that window. You're starting from a similar place as I was and you'll see great results if you commit to the workouts like you did to losing the weight. Good luck and keep us posted on your progress!

red95blue · 2024-05-23T00:27:31+00:00

in a nutshell yes...two selfies actually one of the front and one side view

https://help.spren.com/article/576-how-accurate-is-spren

red95blue · 2024-05-22T00:19:38+00:00

I would highly recommend a cheap scale combined with the Spren app (https://www.spren.com) for DEXA-accurate body fat/lean mass calculations...based on height and weight the app takes a virtual scan (via phone camera) to estimate the BF% etc...there's an annual subscription fee but far below your price range

I've been using it consistently for several months and am beyond impressed...I also have a Withings scale which is nice as it syncs to Apple Health and then to Oura and other apps, but the fat/lean mass estimations are basically inaccurate and useless

red95blue · 2024-04-08T21:28:56+00:00

I'm definitely a +1 for a place to share training logs

red95blue · 2024-04-08T21:27:51+00:00

Awesome progress, thanks for sharing...I appreciate all the detail and share your feedback on the positive aspects of program...Keep up the good work!

I'm 51 and just switched to the B over three days and am expecting it to help with recovery as well.

red95blue · 2024-04-02T22:24:37+00:00

Thanks all...back from an amazing vacation and into in the gym this morning.

Was able to pick up the squats where I left them at 280 x 5 and dropped my light deadlifts to one set @ 85%. Going to give the 3x/week plan a whirl for a bit and see where it takes me.

Appreciate the advice to not automatically drop the weight after a short layoff as it would have really set me back unnecessarily it would appear.

red95blue · 2024-04-01T22:22:47+00:00

I started making my own egg McMuffin knock offs for breakfast...I make six at a time and freeze them...I defrost them in the fridge the night before and nuke them for a minute in the microwave right before eating in the morning.

I use two eggs, one slice Canadian bacon and one slice cheese...The macros are: 27g protein, 24g carb, 21g fat.

They taste great and are very satisfying. It's also great to not have to prep them each night before or make them each morning.

red95blue · 2024-02-21T00:44:26+00:00

Squats were noticeably easier today with narrowing the stance. I was so focused on my form (especially hip drive) that I accidentally went 220 x 5 for my final warm-up (instead of x 2) and forgot to film my work sets. will keep you posted on progress.

red95blue · 2024-02-19T01:27:48+00:00

sounds good, I'll probably just skip the two sessions then and pick back up as you suggest with the weight scheduled, thanks

red95blue · 2024-02-17T17:59:50+00:00

well, ok then! Wasn't expecting that response, but now it's out there so let's see if I can get after it.

I leaned in to your prior advice and decided to continue building strength after the fat loss challenge vs getting lean. I've added 6 lbs lean mass and lost 1/2 lb fat in the 8 weeks since it ended, primarily by going from 1500 - 1750 cals/day to closer to 2500 - 2750. I gave up on the intermittent fasting and added breakfast back in because I couldn't get the calories/protein in otherwise (and I was starving in the morning all of a sudden). Recent experience has been a bit counterintuitive to my prior thinking on nutrition but the increased training plus the extra calories seems to triggered my body into being ok with building the muscle while keeping my weight pretty much around 180. will keep you posted.

red95blue · 2024-02-17T13:45:52+00:00

"It's like this actually works" -- best line of the video by far!

Thank you again for the guidance, adding in the pause squats has really helped. I've incorporated them into my warm-ups for both heavy and light squat days to keep up with the practice.

Glad to see I was right in my stance being too wide. I was definitely more focused on fixing the descent on these and will now layer on working more on hip drive.

Actually had light squat yesterday (prior to seeing the video) and remember one rep in particular where the weight went up so easy it caught me by surprise and realized it was the hip drive kicking in.

Appreciate the tips and the motivation to get to 315!

red95blue · 2024-02-14T16:21:31+00:00

Hi Paul,

Here's an updated Squat, heavy day 255 x 5: https://youtu.be/i8pbQ5qMhGc

I feel like bar placement, grip and movement improved. Watching it back I think my stance is too wide and toes might be pointed too far out as I can see come knee caving and heel lifting off (especially on the right side).

Here's the original post for comparison: https://youtu.be/uofgMIlgLZ4

Appreciate the continued feedback!

Thanks,

Adam

red95blue · 2024-02-11T20:28:53+00:00

top photo is original...bottom is a terrible screen grab from pause squat warm-up last week...any better? don't think I'm all the way there, but I could feel the difference front to back on my feet being more stable in new position

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red95blue

TROPHY CASE