Adding weight during novice LP

[Gene61]

Randy, TM for us old guys is different than for the young guys. I've read several posts by Rip on this. Instead of 5x5 on volume day we do 4sets of 5, or even our familiar 3x5. Then medium day gives us recovery time. Intensity day while "intense" is pretty short with 1x5, or 2x3. So in reality TM IS a lighted load of work to allow us to recover from the heavier weights we have gotten to by that time, compared to 3x5 across with full working weight 3x a week.

[synchronicity]

Staring at PP 2d Ed, p.105, for "young males who weigh 150-200 lbs", AFTER setting baseline weights through the "get to a weight where form is good and bar speed slows down just a little" (which PP notes may not happen on the first workout, as form may need to be worked on), deadlifts can likely go up 15lbs/workout, and squats 10 lb "for perhaps 3 weeks before slowing down to half that rate". For bench, cleans and press, it's "5 to 10 lbs per workout for the first few, slowing to 2.5-5 per workout after only 2-3 weeks".

Not surprisingly, and as Randy has noted, SS 3rd edition echoes this advice (generally on pp. 304-305), with notes that older trainess, women and kids will need to make smaller jumps (on squat "5 pound jumps are sufficient to start with, and then smaller jumps will be required", on Bench and Press it's 5 lb max with smaller jumps being a fact of life quickly. On deadlift it's more like 10 to start and then 5 for quite awhile.

That said, these are obviously general rules and one should listen to one's body, but I think Rip would approve of a maxim of "work hard, but don't get greedy". My personal experience includes making some pretty large jumps early in my training and probably overrunning my body's ability to cope with it; looking back a more measured approach may have been preferable. Rip repeatedly says that it's better to stay "unstuck" (keep progressing) than to get stuck and have to undo that.

I'd note that PP talks in terms of someone being properly coached on the lifts (which makes sense, as PP, although used by many of us lifters, is a "programming" book, [yeah, I know, hence the title, fine, be sarcastic] and thus aimed at more at coaches), so the vast majority of us who are NOT receiving highly skilled coaching every session should also take into account that our form may kinda suck and that may inhibit our increases.

THBS, I'm a rank novice whose only experience has been trying to train myself, so I gladly defer to just about everyone else.

[pkelly54]

That said, these are obviously general rules and one should listen to one's body, but I think Rip would approve of a maxim of "work hard, but don't get greedy". My personal experience includes making some pretty large jumps early in my training and probably overrunning my body's ability to cope with it; looking back a more measured approach may have been preferable. Rip repeatedly says that it's better to stay "unstuck" (keep progressing) than to get stuck and have to undo that.

.

Ditto What he said.
The value of Linear Progress is it is the fastest means to strengthen a novice lifter. It seems to me if your jumps are fractions of a small plate and you are in the one of the geezer categories, it might be time to switch to a Texas Method style program. It think the strength increase will be faster Synchronicity makes some good points as to the other factors affecting progress. I think progress for the geezer class is easily impacted by these other considerations. Plus a geezer is built more for comfort than for speed.