Is my job hurting my progress? And needing general advice

[Satch12879]

Where would I post videos of my lifts? I might be able to record and upload tomorrows workout. I'm sure my presses don't have the best form

Also I hit 315 on my deadlift yesterday, all of a sudden it was much easier than it had been

YouTube, Vimeo, or Dropbox, iCloud, or OneDrive link.

[ChsBkr]

The press you are going to stall early. Yet I feel you shouldn't be stalling this early. You aren't doing anything stupid like cardio right now are you? Also are you trying add 5 pounds to your bench and press per work out. They will come a point as a novice where you put 5 pound on the bench every week and 5 pounds on the press every 2 weeks. I would stay at what you are doing for a 3x5 for 2 weeks at a time on the press before tying to add 5 pounds. A good way to know if you can get more weight on upper body lifts, is that the bar speed increases slightly. With squats and deads you can bull through weight. A press you really can't bull through it. As I said earlier you won't be able to add 5 pounds to your press every workout for long. It will go 5 pounds a workout, 5 pounds a week and so on. I'm not saying dont put weight on the bar, but make sure you are ready. This may mean staying at the same weight for a extra week at this phase. Also buy some micro plates. The first 3 question bellow is a great go to when any lifting is stuck in any phase.

I'm adding two and a half pounds and about to switch down to 1 lb and yes I have micro plates but I thought the whole point of a novice linear regression was to add weight every workout I understand 5 lb is too much but staying at the same weight for 2 weeks isn't how I understand NLP or starting strength works

[Jason Donaldson]

I'm adding two and a half pounds and about to switch down to 1 lb and yes I have micro plates but I thought the whole point of a novice linear regression was to add weight every workout I understand 5 lb is too much but staying at the same weight for 2 weeks isn't how I understand NLP or starting strength works

I think Griffin is getting at the fact that eventually, you won't be able to make weekly progress...but that's after you're a novice. If you're "microloading", that just means adding weight regularly, but at increments lower than the smallest normal plate, generally 2.5 lb on a side. Adding 2.5 lb every week equates to 5 lb every two weeks - it's not add 5 lbs and do it two weeks in a row.

There's nothing magical about the 5 lb increments, in themselves. In fact, I would say that the tendency for people to think their press is stalled is often premature due to that being the usual available increment. 5 lb is inherently a higher percentage of a lower weight on the bar.

A good way to know if you can get more weight on upper body lifts, is that the bar speed increases slightly. With squats and deads you can bull through weight. A press you really can't bull through it.

Just to be clear, Griff, you're NOT saying to add 5 lb and not add more until the bar moves faster, right?

I'm curious what you mean by "bull through weight". The press is technique dependent, similarly to the power clean, but unlike the PC, you absolutely can grind through a heavy press. And should.

[Griffin727]

If you have micro plates, then you shouldn't have to do that. Throw on a extra 1 pound to your press each workout. If that's to much then do .50 pounds. You should be able to add 5 pounds a month to your press at this stage easily for a few months for sure. Make sure you are resting 5 mins between sets at least. Also the simple things hydration, sleep, food intake. I think you are on the right track, but make sure you are trying to add to your bench as well. This will only speed up progress. Make a goal for 30 pounds to your bench in the next 3 months and 15 for your press.

[Mark Rippetoe]

If you have micro plates, then you shouldn't have to do that.

And if you don't have "microplates" you're not equipped to train the press and bench.

[ChsBkr]

If you have micro plates, then you shouldn't have to do that. Throw on a extra 1 pound to your press each workout. If that's to much then do .50 pounds. You should be able to add 5 pounds a month to your press at this stage easily for a few months for sure. Make sure you are resting 5 mins between sets at least. Also the simple things hydration, sleep, food intake. I think you are on the right track, but make sure you are trying to add to your bench as well. This will only speed up progress. Make a goal for 30 pounds to your bench in the next 3 months and 15 for your press.

Thank you and everyone else the conversation has been helpful, basically what I'm picking up on is I just need to add less weight each workout than I have been(2.5lbs). I'll try 1lb and if that doesn't work I'll lower to .5. those are good goals, I'll be happy if I can get 10 and 5lbs a month on my bench/press. And I saw in someone else reply about technique being particular important for the press and I have been working on that as I know mine is not great at all

[Jason Donaldson]

Thank you and everyone else the conversation has been helpful, basically what I'm picking up on is I just need to add less weight each workout than I have been(2.5lbs). I'll try 1lb and if that doesn't work I'll lower to .5. those are good goals, I'll be happy if I can get 10 and 5lbs a month on my bench/press. And I saw in someone else reply about technique being particular important for the press and I have been working on that as I know mine is not great at all

Note that this is all assuming that you are correctly approaching The Three Questions. As Satch suggested, you should also get form checks up. If you're close enough to an SSC, in person is even better.

You've gained some good weight, but you're still 6'0" and 190 lb, which is not doing you any favors, so that needs to keep going up, and probably faster, given where you're stalled, and how soon.

You say you're getting 200 g of protein a day. Why not try adding more protein to what you're eating now, and see what happens? I know for me, at my mass and age (both higher than yours), the difference between 200 and 250 is distinctly noticeable. An extra can of tuna or pint of Fairlife milk or scoop of whey isolate per day is simple, and at least a 10% increase.

[Griffin727]

Just to be clear, Griff, you're NOT saying to add 5 lb and not add more until the bar moves faster, right?
I'm curious what you mean by "bull through weight". The press is technique dependent, similarly to the power clean, but unlike the PC, you absolutely can grind through a heavy press. And should.

Im saying if he doesn't have micro plates he will have to judge when he can make 5 pounds jumps. This mean's he will have to stay at the same weight for 2 weeks and try to do the set with 5 mins of rest instead of say 8 mins (This should not be a substitute for micro plates, but I have done it and it works to a degree). Of course we are not going to judge off pure bar speed, but you as a lifter know when you could do a tad bit more. Micro plates are something you have need to have sooner than later for the best results.

As for "bull through" I feel you can push through a dead and squat easier then a press since you are using more muscle mass. Now of course you can grind at any lift, but at the deadlift there is less of a difference in 5 pounds extra than 5 pounds on the press, if you get what I mean. You can get angry and pull a extra 5, but when doing the press this has never happened to me. I guess it's a mental thing for new lifters with the deadlift. When I hear a guy can't pull an extra 5 pounds a week. I believe it's because he didn't pull hard enough. This is usually not the same for the bench and press.

With the best results this is true. Micro plates were my issue. I tried working around it for a few months. I was stuck doing 5x5 with 275. When I tried bumping up to 280 the last set of 5 would fail. This happened for weeks, a set of .25s and .50s fixed it. Now I can make the 1 pound increases a week. The using the same weight each week stops at some point and isn't the best way to train.

[Maybach]

If you don't have micro plates, you can still load the bar in 2.5 pound increments by taping a single 2.5 plate to the center knurl. The cloth athletic tape occasionally recommended to approximate center knurls on bars without them works pretty well for this purpose.