Programming question + Equipment Question

[docoftheworld]

Quick Stats:

Weight: 210 lbs
Height: 5'9"
Age: 39 years old
Male
Waist: 34 inches
Suit jacket size: 40

Lifting Stats:

Squat: 323.5 lbs x 5 (last set is tough, dialed back a bit to avoid losing reps)
Deadlift: 300 lbs x 5 (cautious due to past lower back injury)
Overhead Press (OHP): 135 lbs x 5
Bench Press: 215 lbs x 5 (was at 225 lbs x 5 for 3 sets last year when squat was weaker, now bench has dropped as squat improved)
Chin-ups: 5 reps at body weight from dead hang with chin above the bar
Power Cleans: 140 lbs x 5 (not trained seriously, just doing for program's sake)
Background:

I started training after watching Rip on Art of Manliness but had a 2.5-year hiatus during COVID. I rebuilt my lifts after that. I don’t know my body fat percentage, but I can see my ribs when my arms are overhead and a shadow of my upper abs. I care about not getting fat due to past obesity and the psychological impact of gaining weight.

Lifestyle:

I work long hours (12 hours a day) in a job that requires standing the whole time (not unusual to get 6000 steps during work) and is somewhat mentally taxing (procedural medical job). However, I get to sleep 8 hours uninterrupted at night. I am not married and have no kids.

Equipment:

Squat rack
Two barbells (Rogue Ohio barbell and Xult Olympic barbell with a mid-bar knurl)
Rogue US-MIL Spec Bumper plates (bought during COVID): a set of 45s, 25s, 10s, 5s, 2.5s, and microplates down to 0.25 lbs
Rogue squat rack with safety pin (Monster Lite)
Dip matador station
I recently received a fantastic gift: a set of Ironmaster adjustable dumbbells that go up to 120 lbs each. They have microplates allowing jumps of 2.5 lbs increments, and I found another 1-inch microset online that allows 1 lb increments. The quality and locking system of these dumbbells are outstanding; it's great to see American-made products performing as they should!

In addition to the dumbbells, I was also gifted adjustable kettlebells, an adjustable mace, and their row handle (which can be used on a barbell), essentially the whole ecosystem offered by this company.

Diet and Nutrition:

I answered the first three questions and the only question I am not sure of is eating. I cannot count calories, etc. I do have a food scale for cooking. I eat plenty of chicken, liquid egg whites, protein powder, lean smoked salmon, and occasionally red meat, but there is room for improvement (less carbs, more protein). I eat legumes like fava beans and black beans and brown rice.

Question:

Any advice on what program to move to? I am really grinding at my current NLP and had to voluntarily cut weight back and re-reach it to avoid stalling and failure. I did fail on bench 220 lbs which is mind-boggling since last year I reached 230 x 5 (when my squat was very low at 225).

[Griffin727]

Have you ran the advanced novice style linner progession. It is in the grey book. You need to buy it. A 20 dollar book a college would sale for 300 dollars. Practical programing for strength training 3rd Ed.

[BareSteel]

Intermediate programming is when things begin to get very personalized. You might start by asking yourself some basic fundamental questions, then building from there:

How many days per week do you want to lift? Do you like three longer workouts or would you want to spread the work into four slightly shorter sessions? Your work schedule will likely influence your answers here.

What are your goals? For example, which lift(s) do you want to prioritize?

The best plan will be commensurate with your recovery ability. What is your recovery ability right now and can you improve it?

Hope this helps you get a good start. Practical Programming is a great read for this kind of thing. I tried Texas Method for a long time, but found HLM to be a better match for me.

[Ham]

There's very little personalization involved with going into intermediate territory. It just means increased stress and recovery duration inhibits adding weight workout-to-workout. Most programs for early intermediate lifters look the same. And it makes sense too. If you can add weight to the bar on primary lifts each week, you should.

[Satch12879]

That 300 pound deadlift on a 325 squat is a red flag.

Describe your actual programming, i.e., schedule, weight increases on the lifts, sets and reps, etc.

Show us your squat and deadlift.

Honestly, you might be hamstringing yourself by not gaining weight, not driving up the deadlift, etc.

[Maybach]

Your deadlift should not be that light.

Everything is following from your deadlift being too light. You need.to.get it 50 pounds ahead of your squat. Being "cautious" is not applicable here. You have to get it heavy.

[heinz83]

Keep running your deadlift up and move your squat to a HLM type of program. The transition is explained best in this video:
How to Become an Intermediate with Nick D | Starting Strength Gyms Podcast #59

For a more detailed explanation of the bench/press programming mentioned in the video, look at this article:
Intermediate Programming for the Upper Body Lifts | Nick Delgadillo

Keep running up your deadlift in a linear way. You can get that much higher without any programming adjustments. Just 5 lb jumps for sets of 5.

The key is to not just pick a new program off the shelf and run. Use your most recent training history (like last week's) as the most useful information, and make small logical adjustments one at a time.

Finally, add some human liver and a nice chianti to those fava beans.

[docoftheworld]

I appreciate everyone's input and grateful for your time.

The deadlift situation is indeed a redflag. I just am afraid of the deadlift given a remote injury I had. I will keep working on it.

As for what I am hoping the training will look like, I have a garage gym so can literally do the work anytime!

Few ideas I gained from reading your posts: keep NLP for the deadlift, but follow HLM for the other lifts.

I do have the gray book and in the process of reading it. Given its not a short book, I figured I'd ask your input to know what to do while I am reading it (its not possible to read it in a short time).

Lastly, when a census taker tried to test me, I realized he is a ve"j"an and did not eat his liver with the fava beans and a nice chianti.

[Maybach]

If you can get your deadlift up past your squat, you can probably resume NLP progression for the other lifts, perhaps with a light squat day

[BareSteel]

Few ideas I gained from reading your posts: keep NLP for the deadlift, but follow HLM for the other lifts.

I do have the gray book and in the process of reading it. Given it's not a short book, I figured I'd ask your input to know what to do while I am reading it (it's not possible to read it in a short time).

Very good. You'll learn that it's common to change lifts from novice to intermediate programming at different times, as your progress on each lift dictates. Maybe one lift can still NLP, while another has stalled and needs to be "dosed" differently.