Brainstrain

I am 33 years old, 6 ft tall, 200 lbs. I was an athlete all my life and started lifting at a very young age. However, I did not start lifting properly and using all the barbell movements until I was in high school. I ended up being strong for my age and excelled at sports mostly because I was stronger than almost everyone in my high school, even as a freshman. In high school I was around 205lbs. After High school, I stopped playing sports and stopped lifting weights. By 25 I was a very fat 265 lbs and started to develop a plethora of health problems. I decided enough was enough and started lifting again on my 30th birthday. However, I avoid the barbell movements mostly because of nagging injuries and a hurt ego. For the past three years I have mostly used plate loaded machines, pulleys, and dumbbells. I have done push, pull, legs 3-5 days a week religiously for three years. I use compound movements and progressive overload but 3-4 sets of 8-10 reps using higher volume “power building” style. I have done 3 bulk and cuts. My question is, could someone like me benefit from switching over to Starting Strength? Are there hidden gains in Starting Strength that I would not achieve otherwise? Or would I get just as strong eventually, even if it’s not optimal? I can’t tell you my barbell lifts because I don’t know them, but to give you an idea of my strength level, for seated dumbbell shoulder press I did 3 sets of 8 with 80 lb dumbbells this week.

Soule

These gains are not hidden and if you haven’t done SSNLP then you likely haven’t come close to your strength potential.

Lifelong athlete here. 195 lb functional fitness soyboy before SS, 235 lb grown ass man 2 years after SS. Still have abs, so I probably don’t eat enough to become an actual badass, but there you have it.

Mark Rippetoe

What is your squat/deadlift now?

Soule

I had a bad back before I started. Even after surgery, I kept tweaking it for years. Now it feels stronger than ever and I don’t worry about it.

Doing this shit with excellent technique teaches you how to fix your back.

Start light with perfect technique and do the NLP. It will get heavy fast - don’t jump ahead. Just do the program.

Mark Rippetoe

If you have SI joint problems, leg presses are the worst thing you can do for it. Think about why.

I see that you haven't read the book. Read the book. Do the program. Type later.

Scaldrew

I've been on a successful run of 4-day Texas Method since August: got my bodyweight up to around 96kg at the moment (up from 90, not stopping till at least one hundo) and all of my lifts have gone up as well. Lately though, I've been having a bad time performing on Friday, the last workout of the week, where I do intensity squats and volume deadlifts. I feel sluggish and uncoordinated, but fresh and in control every other day of the week. It's mostly the squats that go poorly. I've frankly barely made progress on heavy squats, especially compared to my other lifts which have all gone up at least 10% or more. I'm still pulling a max set of five on deadlift though, with very minor form breakdown on the last rep.

But I think me pulling a max set of five is negatively impacting my intensity squats later in the week. I'm otherwise a very busy guy, and my sleep and diet are definitely things I need to clean up. I'm committing more time to sleep and diet now to ensure that it's as smooth as can be, but I honestly need a second opinion. Should I move to 2x3 and 5x1 deadlifts to aid recovery or not?

(For numbers, my last 1x5 deadlift was 192.5kg (3 weeks ago) and I pulled 195x3x2 today since it's my first week back from vacation; that's the last weight I deadlifted two weeks ago. Squat 1x5 is 155kg and 165x1x3.)

Scaldrew

I wake up every night to go to the bathroom, so it's not uninterrupted or as much as I'd like. Sometimes I sleep 7 hours, sometimes 7 and a half (sweet spot, I think; I feel better sleeping 7 and a half), 8, sometimes 6 and a half, or even 6. Never less than 6, but often I'll have one day in the week where I only sleep 6 and a half hours. I usually only go to bed at around midnight, sometimes a bit later.

Diet is mostly good. I like my sweets a bit too much and I'm dialing that back now. I also average around 200g of protein daily, now aiming for 250g again. Total kcal is about 3800 a day right now, still gaining weight. I need to eat more veggies, too, so I've found a way to incorporate more into my diet.

Workable stuff, nothing too bad if I say so myself.

Jeff LC

I literally without fail wake up every two hours to pee no matter what, every single night. Maybe, if I am EXTREMELY burnt out from an intense workout plus bad sleep the night before, I will make it through the night with only 2 wake-ups, but that is rare. Never, ever, in my adult life, have I actually went to sleep at a normal time, and then woken up 7-8 hours later without waking up multiple times to pee. Ever. It really bothers me.

dmgetz

Any chance you have apnea, or some other kind of sleep disorder? This sounds exactly like the situation I was in before I started using a mouthpiece. I did not meet the formal criteria for apnea, but was a loud and persistent snorer.

Scaldrew

May not be abnormal, but very annoying. Short on time as is and I need half an hour to fall asleep again afterwards. I also didn't have this problem up until recently which just makes it even more annoying.