Progressive Lifting for a beginner/novice

jesslifts
jesslifts Posts: 34 Member
in Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
Hi there, I’ve been lifting on a progressive lifting programme for about 5 months and have been really appreciating the newbie gains - I was faffing around on machines since March ‘19 and then actually started doing stronglifts 5x5 in October. I’m now at the point where I can’t add weight to my overhead press and my depth in a squat wasn’t reaching parallel so I’ve deloaded to see if I can get it going right again.
So on to my question/s, at what point do I conclude this programme and try something else; should I keep deloading for a couple of weeks and keep trying to push higher PBs? I think I still have much more deadlift and barbell row weight to add before I start failing so I’m happy to keep adding on those, but I’m not impressed with my squat at all, I thought I’d be have been able to achieve more by now - can you advise on any accessory lifts to help build up some muscle to improve my squat? Or should I go for shorter reps, higher weight? Sorry lots of questions.
I know it’ll be asked so my big picture is that I’m trying to recomp but due to a lot of stuff going on and a bit of a lack of focus and time to track, I tend to be eating in a surplus and I’m always getting my protein in.

Replies

  • cupcakesandproteinshakes
    cupcakesandproteinshakes Posts: 1,092 Member
    jessicaanswer wrote: »
    Hi there, I’ve been lifting on a progressive lifting programme for about 5 months and have been really appreciating the newbie gains - I was faffing around on machines since March ‘19 and then actually started doing stronglifts 5x5 in October. I’m now at the point where I can’t add weight to my overhead press and my depth in a squat wasn’t reaching parallel so I’ve deloaded to see if I can get it going right again.
    So on to my question/s, at what point do I conclude this programme and try something else; should I keep deloading for a couple of weeks and keep trying to push higher PBs? I think I still have much more deadlift and barbell row weight to add before I start failing so I’m happy to keep adding on those, but I’m not impressed with my squat at all, I thought I’d be have been able to achieve more by now - can you advise on any accessory lifts to help build up some muscle to improve my squat? Or should I go for shorter reps, higher weight? Sorry lots of questions.
    I know it’ll be asked so my big picture is that I’m trying to recomp but due to a lot of stuff going on and a bit of a lack of focus and time to track, I tend to be eating in a surplus and I’m always getting my protein in.
    I’d personally move on and not try and squeeze anything more out of stronglifts. I did the bridge after stronglifts. It’s more powerliftery though. I also did phul but I found I still couldn’t progress much on phul. Are you willing to pay for a programme? Barbell medicine has some good ones. I’m currently doing a programme from muscle and strength training pyramids by Eric helms.
  • Chieflrg
    Chieflrg Posts: 9,097 Member
    I just move on. SL has it's purpose but isn't very useful trying to squeeze out gains compared to more advanced programming. Deloads are not very useful in that programming.

    I concur that The Bridge is one of the no brainers of free programs available that is the stepping stone for long term gains.

    There are others that will result in progress. Look for one that has slightly more volume and has auto regulation built in and you will more than likely have robust results at your experience.
  • cupcakesandproteinshakes
    cupcakesandproteinshakes Posts: 1,092 Member
    OP in case you aren’t familiar with the term auto regulation it’s where you rate your set in terms of difficulty on a scale of 1 to 10. 10 is ‘can’t do another rep’ 9 is Can maybe do one more rep. Etc. It’s a really useful tool for lifters. It’s honestly what has made me make progress after plateaus.

    FWIW the bridge wasn’t for me as it was too focussed on powerlifting type goals. But it taught me some good things. And it’s only an 8 week programme do in grand scheme of things no time at all.
  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,442 Member
    For a different perspective -

    I bought fractional weight plates off Amazon, like below, so I could continue to advance on OHP. (OHP is the devil's exercise >:) ). I deloaded several times, and ran SLs for about 14 months. At that point, I hired a powerlifting coach who now writes my programs.

    https://www.amazon.com/44SPORT-Olympic-Fractional-Plates-Weights/dp/B00XNCRLA4/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?dchild=1&keywords=fractional+plates&qid=1584106782&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEyNE1PS09BMTk5UU9VJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwMTgzNDE3Mk9YMU9KN0c2WVJCVCZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwODU4MjUwMU5YMzRDVlJXNUhDRyZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2F0ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=
  • jesslifts
    jesslifts Posts: 34 Member
    You have all been so helpful, thankyou. I'm going to give my overhead press (you're right @quiksylver296, I feel great doing them until I can't finish a set!) a couple of weeks to improve and in the meantime I'll have a proper look at the Bridge and see if I can move over to it; the lifts are just variations on what I've been doing by the looks of it, although it talks about using a belt - guessing I don't need one straight away?
  • Buff_Man
    Buff_Man Posts: 622 Member
    So strength gains are not linear, you can't just keep adding weight endlessly. If you want to improve in particular lifts then you need to prioritise those and increase volume and frequency.
    Don't worry that you'll turn into the Hulk if your lifting x4 a week or even everyday! It takes a hell of a lot of work to put on muscle and you don't necessarily need a lot more muscle to progress in your lifts.
    Watch Jeff Nippard on YouTube for tips. You look like you're in great shape already so the gains might come a little slower.
    Good luck
  • Chieflrg
    Chieflrg Posts: 9,097 Member
    edited March 2020
    jessicaanswer wrote: »
    You have all been so helpful, thankyou. I'm going to give my overhead press (you're right @quiksylver296, I feel great doing them until I can't finish a set!) a couple of weeks to improve and in the meantime I'll have a proper look at the Bridge and see if I can move over to it; the lifts are just variations on what I've been doing by the looks of it, although it talks about using a belt - guessing I don't need one straight away?

    The Bridge is especially written for somebody coming off a LP such as Starting strength hence the name. SL is in the same boat though it has way more volume as written than SS.

    It's been a while since I read the detailed instruction on the Bridge but I assure you the creators of the template aren't necessarily concerned if you use a belt or not.

    You still have to utilize the valsalva maneuver with or without a belt.

    A belt is a very useful tool though and something to consider if you plan on doing squats, deads, OHP, or bench.

  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,934 Member
    jessicaanswer wrote: »
    You have all been so helpful, thankyou. I'm going to give my overhead press (you're right @quiksylver296, I feel great doing them until I can't finish a set!) a couple of weeks to improve and in the meantime I'll have a proper look at the Bridge and see if I can move over to it; the lifts are just variations on what I've been doing by the looks of it, although it talks about using a belt - guessing I don't need one straight away?
    Overhead press is the first lift to stall for almost everyone. I wouldn't get too hung up on that. If you want to try to progress, deload and work back up to it again. I can progress on almost every lift but haven't been able to move more weight on OHP for a long time.
  • jesslifts
    jesslifts Posts: 34 Member
    Ok great, thanks again folks. I read through and actually printed out The Bridge last night so I’ll be looking like a real nerd but I’m ok with that! Looking forward to switching it up. I’ll have a little look at belts soon but probably won’t buy one for a while as I’m looking to save money right now.

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