Beginner programming

[Ayymate]

I started lifting in September but didn't start training seriously until December. My goal is to increase my strength in bench press, military press, deadlifts and squats.
My weight is 160lbs and my maxes are 140lbs,80lbs,240lbs,200lbs which fall into the beginner category. I talked to a personal trainer about increasing strength and he gave me a 5/3/1 full body program. My bench increased by 10lbs, squat increased by 20lbs and deadlift increased by 20lbs over a period of two months. I am wondering if I could make faster progress switching to SS as weight increases every session instead of every month.

Thoughts?

[I_iz_a_fatass]

Short answer: Yes.

Longer answer: Very likely, in the absence of relevant information such as height, sex, age, and diet. My wild-assed-guess is you're got a solid few months on SS before switching to an intermediate program.

[Ayymate]

Short answer: Yes.

Longer answer: Very likely, in the absence of relevant information such as height, sex, age, and diet. My wild-assed-guess is you're got a solid few months on SS before switching to an intermediate program.

I'm a guy 19, 5'10 and on a bulking diet (3200+ calories day)

[Tim K]

At 5'10 and 160lbs, you should definitely be doing SS, not 5-3-1, and probably eating more than that. How has your weight changed over the last two months?

[dmgetz]

I talked to a personal trainer about increasing strength and he gave me a 5/3/1 full body program.?

I would ask him why he thought this was appropriate, and if I didn't like the response (and I think it's unlikely he will offer a good one, because I cannot fathom what it would be), I would get a new trainer.

I am wondering if I could make faster progress switching to SS as weight increases every session instead of every month.

This essentially boils down to an arithmetic question -- if you add weight more frequently, the numbers will go up faster, right? The only reason not to do so is if you can't handle it (i.e. you are not recovering and/or risking injury), so as long as you are able to continue to add weight every session, you should. At your age, weight, and lifts, I would imagine you would still be able to.

[chrisd]

Yes, go for it. People have heard of 531, the beginner version in "beyond 531" has you doing 3 sets of 5, so you might as well do starting strength.

[marcf]

I started lifting in September but didn't start training seriously until December. My goal is to increase my strength in bench press, military press, deadlifts and squats.
My weight is 160lbs and my maxes are 140lbs,80lbs,240lbs,200lbs which fall into the beginner category. I talked to a personal trainer about increasing strength and he gave me a 5/3/1 full body program. My bench increased by 10lbs, squat increased by 20lbs and deadlift increased by 20lbs over a period of two months. I am wondering if I could make faster progress switching to SS as weight increases every session instead of every month.

Thoughts?

Do the SSLP and skip 5/3/1. You will make faster progress.

[Aaron Montgomery]

Do SS. It will put 40-60lb on your squat in one month if you eat enough.

In the last 3 months I've gone from squatting 135x5 to 255x5 (with a massive reset), deadlifting 185x5 to 310x5 (with a massive reset), benching 135x5 to 177.5 (with a big reset), and OHP 75x5 to 115x5 (with a reset). Still adding 15lb/week to squat, 7.5lb every 2 weeks to bench, and 5lb/week to deadlift. Mediocre numbers by this forum's standards, but way faster progress than 5/3/1 would have given. If you can get your technique down early you can avoid all these resets like I had to do. Just make sure you're putting on at least 1lb/week.