Incremental Increases(Linear Progression)

[JCavin]

This is going to be a really general answer, i'm sure.

I'm wondering at what point do most people switch to smaller increments in linear progression than 5#. For instance, if i'm adding 5# every workout to my squats and i'm squatting 250, when do I know to switch to some smaller jumps?

Is it just a matter of listening to my body and figuring out when it has decided that my workouts have been getting consistently harder? It seems like this would take a few workouts, and by that time I might require a small reset due to form breakdown or something.

I'm fairly positive that i'm overthinking this quite a bit. I think the problem is that Rip has put the fear of God in me when it comes to stalling. I feel like i'm gonna get struck with Zeus' Lightning if it happens.

[gzt]

1. This has been addressed many times.
2. It's in the books, too, if you read carefully.
3. Don't microload the squat, it just isn't worth it. In the novice progression, you're going up 15#/week, in the advanced novice, it's 10# per week, and the TM, it's about 5# per week. Microloading won't do better, at least not for long.
4. Don't be afraid to fail. You will eventually. You'll have a bad day and make 5,5,4, then you'll push on in the next workout. Eventually, you'll fail multiple times in a row. Don't stress about it. 250 is too early to fail multiple times in a row unless your form sucks.

[jacob cloud]

There are people who have microloaded the squat successfully up to ~410 3x5. It's a viable option if you are paying attention to recovery. The extra volume can be good if you're still up for it at that point.

JCavin - stalling on the squat is typically a mental failure or recovery failure. I'd keep going until you get REAL close to missing some reps, then eat more and switch to 5lb bumps. Continue that as long as possible.

[JCavin]

Thanks guys.

I'm sure it is in the book, but I don't have it with me at work today and I was wondering about it.