Tim Coenen

First of all I'd like to say thanks for everything you do. After reading the blue book I stepped into the gym at 25 years old, 5'11, 145 pounds. 1.5 years later (with a 2.5 month break after getting injured playing soccer), I now weigh 230 and the bodyweight is still going up. My lifts went from 155 pounds for three sets of five to 420 pounds for three sets of five on the squat, 130 for three sets of five to 245 for three sets of five on the bench, 175 for one set of five to 490 for one set of five on the deadlift and 75 pounds for three sets of five to 170 pounds for three sets of five on the press. The upper body lifts are a bit low, but they are catching up quickly after I learned I need to take bigger breaks between sets. I also have long arms - I look a bit like the orangutan on your desk - so that probably plays a role as well in those lifts being on the low side.

Anyway, the questions: I recently quit my awful office job and decided to become a HVAC technician. I feel like I made the right choice switching jobs, but there are also some problems. I have trouble eating enough because of the switch to manual labor, which is costing quite a bit of energy. At my previous job I could also store a couple cartons of milk in the fridge to drink while sitting at my desk, but I don't have that luxury now. Because of that I probably dropped from getting 5000-6000 calories per day to around 4500. As you can probably tell from my starting weight it takes some real effort for me to eat enough. Do you have any advice for getting more calories while on the job (or at any other time)? I was thinking of putting some protein bars in my pockets and just eating those throughout the day, but that probably won't be enough.

Second question: Sometimes after a really difficult set (like earlier today on the squat) I get a lot of red spots on my skin around the shoulders/traps and sometimes face/neck. It doesn't look too bad and it usually goes away after a day or so. Should I be worried or is it harmless? I can include a picture if needed.

Last one: I'd like to visit a seminar, but still have to save up some money after the job switch. I also have to pay back back roughly 35,000 euros in student loans for my literature degree (I know I fucked up). Do you think it's worth saving up to visit the seminar as soon as possible or should I just continue lifting, pay off my debts, invest in some tools and a better car and come to a seminar in 2-3 years time?

Mark Rippetoe

1. If you eat enough bars, it will be enough. Or get a little ice chest for your milk.

2. That is called petechiae. It is of no concern, just some aggravated capillaries.

3. Better to make the student loan wait than improvement in your training.

LEFT

Thanks as always for the informative podcast on training women. I subsequently read your article: Training Female Lifters: Neuromuscular Efficiency. Obviously neuromuscular efficiency has serious implications on programming the lifts. The less neuromuscularly efficient you are, the heavier you will need to go and the more volume at those heavier weights you will need to induce an adequate stress.

You discussed that the standing vertical jump is a great way to measure this. However, most people do not have the access to obtain an accurate measure of this. What would you recommend people do as a substitute to this? It seems to me that people should generally know how explosive they are, but people have a funny way of deceiving themselves when it comes to this stuff. I once trained someone who was in his early thirties. He's 5'7", overweight, not the least bit strong or athletic, and when I asked him what his goals were he told me with a straight face he wanted to play collegiate basketball at THE OSU (he was applying for grad school there).

One way I can think of testing this is by simply using a % of a 1RM and seeing how many reps you can get with it. So, if someone tests their max and then waits at least 10 min and then performs about 85% of their 1RM, the amount of reps they get should give you a pretty good idea (if you have good reference data). What do you think of this approach?

Mark Rippetoe

Depends on whether you're testing power or conditioning. The SVJ can be tested with chalked fingertips and a wall, much easier than a bench press reps test.