Press Form Check and Programming Question

[John Tony]

I am trying to master the Press 2.0 but feel I am coming up short. I have been making slow but steady progress since the June seminar. I restarted LP at 105 3x5 got up to 130 making 2.5lb jumps and at 130 switched to 3x3 to keep progress going. Now at 140 I have missed 3 consecutive press workouts going 2,2,0 each time. At this point should I reset 10% and make another run at LP, or move on to a more Volume/Intensity program for presses?

A video of one of my missed sets is below. Any feedback is greatly appreciated. I apologize in advance for the crappy quality.

[Tom Campitelli]

At least we can see what you are doing. That video works better than most here. Things are fine until rep three when the bar path becomes distinctly non linear. Grip the bar harder and keep the bar moving in a straight line. Everything else looks okay.

Here be your options. None of them are necessarily wrong.

Deload. Go after it again. Don't be afraid to make smaller jumps than 2.5 pounds.
Move on to something Texas-Methodish for the press. This will also involve a deload.

I have not found 3x3 to work, especially not for men on a linear progression. Triples often work for women, but I have them do four or five sets. Women get more mileage from triples than men do in general.

If it were me, I would probably deload once more and go up in smaller jumps, staying with 3x5. Also consider a top set of 5 and two more sets of five at 95% of that once sets across start to tap out.

Fahves.

[sking1001]

Also consider a top set of 5 and two more sets of five at 95% of that once sets across start to tap out.

I just want to cast my vote here!

[John Tony]

Thanks gents.

I have a few follow up programming questions now that I have more data from the last week that I didn't have at the time of my original post.

I had been progressing nicely with the Advanced Novice routine (except for presses) through August 20. My workout that day was:
Squat 310 3x5
Bench 230 3x3
Power Clean 140 5x3

The next workouts went as follows:

8/23
Squat 315x5, 300 2x5 (315 was definitely a 5RM and I knew I wasn't going to get another 2 sets of 5 so I backed off 5% and did 2 more sets at 300)
Press 140 2,2,0
Deadlift 365x5

8/25
Squat 250 3x5 (felt just as heavy as the 300lb squats on 8/23)
Bench 232.5 3,3,2
Power Clean 142.5 3,0,0,0 stopped (felt completely drained)

8/27
Squat 320x2, 305x2
Press 125x4 (was backing off and trying to do 3x5 as suggested)
Deadlift- N/A didn't make it past warm ups

I completely hit a wall and missed everything last week except for deadlifts on 8/23 and my light squat.

I was sleeping eating the same if not more last week and was pretty much blindsided by all of these missed reps. I would go into the workout feeling good (not run down) but as soon as I got the weight on my back or in my hands it felt significantly harder even during warm up sets. I usually do Sun/Tues/Thurs and took this last Sun and Tues off to see if that helps me recharge. Is this something that you have seen clients run into when they reach the end of LP? After taking these few days off should I go back and make another run at LP or should I move on to intermediate programming?

[Tom Campitelli]

This is not usually how things go. How old are you? It would not surprise me if you are nearing the end of your linear progression, but falling apart like that is not the norm.

[John Tony]

Stats
Age:30
Height: 5'7"
Weight: 168lbs (~22%bf) have gained weight while running LP

[Tom Campitelli]

You are young and don't weigh a lot, although at 5'7", you are better off at 168 pounds than when I was 6'2" and 172 lbs. Dark days. Dark days.

There is something unusual afoot. When was your last training day? What did you do? How did you feel?

[John Tony]

Tom,
Those sound like some dark days indeed. I can relate. My freshman year of high school I was no more than an inch or two shorter than I am now and weighed just over 100lbs. I wanted to join the wrestling team but they told me to cut weight to make it into a lower weight class. Needless to say that was my first/last practice. I digress...

The week that I had all of the missed reps I felt good going into the workout. As soon as I got about halfway through my warmup sets regardless of exercise something felt off. It is tough to describe, but it felt like someone had slipped extra weight on the bar while I wasn't looking.

Since that point I took two workouts off (8/30 and 9/1) and had a 'light' day back on Thursday (9/3).
Squat 250 3x5- felt heavier than it should have, but a hell of a lot better than before.
Bench 205x5, hadn't done 5s on bench so I was trying to gauge where I was at in that rep range. I easily had 2-3 more in the tank.
Deadlift 330x5- felt pretty easy. Again I hadn't done 5s in a while, and after taking a few days off wanted to be a little conservative rather than overshoot and end up missing any more reps.

Today (9/6)
Squat 275 3x5
Press 125 3x5
Power Clean 140 5x3

Everything felt pretty good.

Should I just chalk it up to "who the hell knows" and see where I can go with LP? My initial reaction was to switch to TM, but now that everything is feeling better I am not so sure.

[Tom Campitelli]

See if you have a little more gas in an LP. That whole crashing thing is not good. If you run into a wall again, it is probably time to move to intermediate work.