I'm a failure

[transom]

I wrote a memo after training today I would like to share. Its all been said before but I wish I had this stuff bashed into me earlier:

It has been well over a year since I opened up the pages of Starting Strength: Basic Barbell Training and started the novice LP. Despite this, I'm still in the novice stage. I still have some strength gains to make with linear progression and I still have fundamental technical skills to learn. My failure could have been avoided at large by asking myself the 'first three questions' (The First Three Questions | Mark Rippetoe) and taking a simple reality check. I'm writing this in part as a note for myself and the friends and acquaintances who I recommend the book to, but also as a warning for anyone new to the book who by chance will stumble over this. My failures are listed here. Don't make the same mistakes.

Failure to train consistently.
I thought I was doing the program, but I wasn't. The novice LP for young, healthy men and women is three sessions a week, alternating workout A and workout B. Skipping sessions retards progress, especially when things get hard. One unplanned 'rest day' turns into two sessions, two sessions turns into a week, and before you know it, you've lost a month's worth of progress.

Failure to sleep consistently.
Sleeping eleven hours at the end of the week does not make up for sleeping five or six for the rest of it.

Failure to eat consistently.
Eating four thousand calories on training days and eating like a bird on non-training days doesn't adequately fuel the body. Just like sleep, nor does eating six thousand calories on Saturday night and being left undernourished for the rest of it.

Failure to microload.
None of us can make those five and ten pound jumps forever, and most of us can't do it for long. If I had bought a set of microplates earlier and utilised them, I could have avoided countless plateaus.

Failure to wear pants.
Everyone warned you you'd get bloody shins if you deadlifted in shorts. You didn't get bloody shins day one and so you kept doing it. What I didn't realise doing this is that the bar hovered about half an inch away from my shins, and this makes it a shit load harder. If I had listened to the book day one and put on a pair of track pants for my deadlifts I could have avoided many plateaus.

Failure to recognise injury.
As novices we can't tell the difference between acute injury and normal aches and pains all the time. Don't be stupid like me and squat and clean on a torn meniscus for two months. I'm not saying turn into a hypochondriac, but sometimes a professional opinion can avoid weeks of lost progress.

Failure to ask for help.
This is pretty clear cut, its better to look stupid than be stupid. I should have found a coach pretty early on. So should most of us. Rip and all the other coaches on the forum are generous with their advice, so make the most of that.

Failure to change environment.
Squatting three plates a side in a commercial gym filled with people not training does horrible things to the ego of young men, it actually took me a year to realise I was still weak sauce and needed to find a new crowd where I had the appropriate equipment, the appropriate motivation and the proper perspective.

Failure to be patient.
Initial stalling? Reset, be patient. Consider microloading upon later stalling.You'll break through the stall and save time in the long term. I prematurely moved to Texas Method before I was ready to or even understood how to utilise it, and wasted weeks upon weeks because of it.

Apparently I did some things right, though.

Utilising Olympic lifting shoes for general training.
Seriously, they are great.

Utilising the power rack and safeties.
Saved my arse countless times. Thanks, power rack.

Adequate rest periods.
Why the hell would anyone want to jump into the next set of squats in anything less than five minutes?

Spare pair of undergarments in the gym bag.
Just in case, for everyone and not just the ladies. I've seen some very unpretty things at the gym.

Actually reading the book.
It has brought more happiness to my life than any other non-spiritual/philosophical literature.

If only I did what the book told me to do. Could have, would have, should have. Time to move forward.

[Karl Schudt]

For newbies who have problems with persistence, I recommend that they don't miss any sessions for about 6 months. They are training their minds to be consistent. The program works if you do the program. If you have trouble doing the program, you need to train yourself at doing the program. It's as important as your squats.

[transom]

I recommend that they don't miss any sessions for about 6 months. They are training their minds to be consistent.

Have you ever had a trainee complete the novice LP without missing a single session?

[I_iz_a_fatass]

Have you ever had a trainee complete the novice LP without missing a single session?

I think less "never miss a session" than "never avoidably miss a session" - a lot of days I "don't feel like it" but that's insufficient reason to skip a day. Injury, family obligations, illness, and jail are reasons to miss.

[Adam Skillin]

I think less "never miss a session" than "never avoidably miss a session" - a lot of days I "don't feel like it" but that's insufficient reason to skip a day. Injury, family obligations, illness, and jail are reasons to miss.

Sure, build a whole bunch of excuses right into the thing. That's the formula for success...

[Meshuggah]

Incredible...

[transom]

I think less "never miss a session" than "never avoidably miss a session" - a lot of days I "don't feel like it" but that's insufficient reason to skip a day. Injury, family obligations, illness, and jail are reasons to miss.

I'm sure most coaches have had a handful of trainees with such dedication, but that's not why I'm asking. I'd be interested to know what it would be like mentally for a novice to go three-to-six months without missing a single session for whatever reason and finishing their LP. I mean I'm relaxed under the bar now, but that wasn't the case earlier on. Sometimes I would absolutely dread the next session, and getting under the bar was psychological suicide.

[Adam Skillin]

I'm sure most coaches have had a handful of trainees with such dedication, but that's not why I'm asking. I'd be interested to know what it would be like mentally for a novice to go three-to-six months without missing a single session for whatever reason and finishing their LP. I mean I'm relaxed under the bar now, but that wasn't the case earlier on. Sometimes I would absolutely dread the next session, and getting under the bar was psychological suicide.

From http://startingstrength.com/resource...e-weights.html

This is not your problem anymore. You embrace the fear. You love it when it feels heavy. You hate variety. You think people who make up bullshit excuses to justify their desire to do something easier are just scared, and you are not one of them. You are a lifter, and you lift heavy things. When you walk into the gym, you look around at all the bros doing arm work and five different chest exercises, and you smile because you know they don't know what you know. Or, maybe they do, but they don't have the balls to stay the course, put more weight on the bar and squat something they're afraid they can't squat. But you do that. You do that three days a week. You face your fear over and over and over. And sometimes you fail. Sometimes you can't get another rep. But you show up for your next session, and you try again. You stick to your plan. You learn how to fail. You learn how to try again. You learn that it won't kill you. And because you learned that, when life kicks you in the nuts, when your dog dies or your girlfriend dumps you or boss fires you, you can handle it. You can face it and feel it and know that you will get past it. And that, my friend, is more important that how much weight is on the bar. It's supposed to feel heavy. You're supposed to be scared. If you're not, you're not living.

[transom]

Bloody hell, Paul Horn seemed a lot less intense on that SS advertisement with the old people and that commercial keyboard jam.

Thanks for sharing that, Adam.

[Carnivroar]

Actually reading the book.
It has brought more happiness to my life than any other non-spiritual/philosophical literature.

If only I did what the book told me to do. Could have, would have, should have. Time to move forward.

This is how religious fanaticism starts.