Click images to view slideshow. Submit your images to report@startingstrength.com Submission guidelines to enter this month's Under the Bar prize drawing.
We all know that lifting big hunks of iron that are sufficiently heavy that we can only muster 5 repetitions while progressively overloading your barbell for every performed exercise every session will make you a strong boy. But there are some of us that are interested in also increasing our cardiovascular conditioning while on the Starting Strength [novice] program. Is this possible or wise or even prudent? Share with me some strategies on improving this vital function of the human body all the while not compromising my ability to maximally make strength increases.
Drag a sled on Saturdays.
I offer for your examination the results of my first foray into doing a Starting Strength session while wearing a heart rate monitor chest strap:
* my gut tells me not to put too much stock in the calorie burn guesstimate, but my old kettlebell instructor tested his $19 Timex HR monitor's results against a MetCart at Vanderbilt and it was within 10%. Luckily, I don't really care about calorie monitoring; I just like to compare things.
So the Prowler has a higher average intensity for a shorter period of time. However, I note that the strength session looks identical to a longer, slightly less intense HIIT session.
What does all this mean you should say when somebody asks you "Yeah, but what do you do for cardio?"
Is the overall goal in the TX method to drive up our 5X5 Volume day, or the 1X5 Intensity day? Which is the most beneficial for strength overall?
Through the end of December, I had been increasing my Vol day by 1.25kg a week, along with my Intensity day by the same increment.
It got to the point (around 160kg) where my volume day was effecting my Intensity days in order to complete the 1 set by 5 reps. I failed the ID by one rep each at 192.5 and 195kg. Recognizing my fatigue, I decided to reduce my weight for the volume day back down to 150kg (and have kept it there for the last 5 weeks) and have successfully increased my ID 5 rep set over the last month, most recently for a surprisingly easy 205kg.
The reason I ask is because I thought the vol day was to stimulate the intensity day. With my lifts moving up on ID day, should I just keep the volume the same until the ID slows down? or should I make the effort to slowly increase the weights for my 5X5 volume day?
It's all about the ID. Adjust volume accordingly to ensure progress occurs on Fridays.
If you are using 5x5 for volume and 5RM for intensity, then yes, about a 10% offset is correct. Obviously it will be a bigger offset if the intensity work is being done for triples, doubles, singles, etc.
If you keep adding 5lbs to each day, eventually they will start to converge on eachother, and that 10% offset will slowly become smaller (9%, 8%, etc...) as the weights keep moving upwards. A small correction will be needed fairly often. I had a lot of success increasing VD every other or once every third cycle to keep progress moving.
Maybe you built enough fatigue with the 85% and now you can still see gains with 78% for a few weeks? Otherwise 78% seems alittle low. The recommendation in Practical Programming 3 is 80-90% but if i understand correctly 90% is better for most Andy?
Also why not just keep the 90% constant?
Percentage offset are not an absolute. It varies depending on lift and lifter.
In general the percentage offset will be higher:
It will be lower:
Unfortunately there is no set percentage that works universally. You'll have to resort to trial and error at some point and go with your own results.
Science Fiction Movies | Starting Strength Radio #110 –
Pete George –Marty Gallagher
Highlights from the StartingStrength Community. Browse archives.