Feeling discouraged. Need direction

[Steven Z]

So I just got stapled to the floor for the first time on the Novice Program on my third set of squats at 307. On Wednesday I did 306 and had been increasing in 2lb increments since 295 (prior to that had been going up by 5 lbs). My first set I stalled on the 3rd rep and decided to rack it because I was sure I would fail on the fourth. Gave it 10 minutes and managed a full set of 5, but they were pretty ugly. Gave it 12 minutes and on the first rep of the 3rd set I got stuck at the bottom and had to set the weight on the straps.

It was incredibly disappointing. I woke up this morning not feeling good to begin with but I started my work sets determined to give it 210%. I was so discouraged and exhausted I just quit the whole workout.

I think the failure is ok, it's part of training, but I realize this is probably a pivotal point and want to see what y'all think. I am thinking I probably just need to take the weekend to recover and try again on Monday, but I feel like today has been a long time coming because every day has been getting harder and harder. I’ve been asking myself if I am in any way NDTFP:

1. Been making sure to hit my target for macros every day; gained ~35 lbs since starting 10 weeks ago. Body fat has gone up a lot (I need to drink milk to hit my marks because it’s hard for me to eat a lot), but I am 39 years old after all.
2. Getting plenty of sleep; usually over 8 hours, but never more than 10 and never less than 7. Sometime I stay up a little late, I could do better there
3. Stress - I've got a 20 month old son and a 5 year old daughter and stressful job so that is something that I have to contend with, but it's a constant variable in this case I think
4. I've not missed a day of training and all of my lifts have been going up steadily. This is the first day I’ve quite a workout.
5. I have some issues with my squat form that I am struggling with. Pete pointed out I’ve got a few common problems; not leaning over enough at the start, bringing my head/chest up and rolling my wrists under the bar. I have been trying to address these issues with mixed results. I also got yelled at about not wearing shoes; I am wearing my shoes now.

My current stats:

~220lbs

Squat – 306
Bench-206
Press-146
PC-220
Pull Ups – 3x10 w/ 15 lbs weight

I know I can improve on my squat form, and I am working on getting better about my diet (just started working with a nutrition coach). Am I just getting close to the end of my LP, am I NDTFP enough or should I just chalk it up as a bad day? It’s at the point now where it takes me 2 hours to finish workouts. I HAVE to rest 10 minutes between work sets. Wednesday I don’t feel fully recovered. Friday is a grind. I usually feel pretty good on Monday though. I think my recovery is starting to become an issue maybe?

For the record, I HAVE read barbell training cover to cover and re-read many parts of it since Professor Rippetoe so eloquently pointed out on these forums a few months ago that I am in fact still a novice and that I needed to start doing the novice program. So if I am missing anything it is because of my limited reading comprehension and not because I didn’t read the book. I’m up to Chapter 8 in Practical Programming.

Thanks all for reading. Thanks for your feedback!

-Steven

[Mark Rippetoe]

It's a recovery problem. Total calories/protein? Has your test level been checked?

[Steven Z]

Thank you, yes that makes sense to me.

I've been trying like hell to get to 250g of protein a day. Most days I'll be drinking between 1/2 to 1 gallon of milk because it's the only way I can eat enough. I tolerate it well and it doesn't fill me up (making me a little fat maybe). Usually ending up around 4k calories; a lot of that is fat from the milk and beef. Right now most of my calories comes from milk, beef(steak primarily) & eggs. I could be doing better with fruits & veggies. It used to be a lot easier for me to eat more when I did conditioning, but now that I am doing the program and absolutely nothing else I am finding it difficult to eat as much. I did recently change my macro goals, trying for 350g protein, 263g carbs and 117g fats but I haven't figured out how to hit it yet without throwing up (not literally) or going over on fats. Maybe that will help once I get that better worked out I'll have better luck with my recovery?

I'm overdue to get my testosterone checked. My last physical was June of last year and I was at 406 ng/dL for T, Serum, 7.4 Free T(Direct) and 3.76 TSH. My testosterone has always been on the low end.

What are your thoughts? Nutrition, low T? Both?

...maybe it's the stress from my kids. Maybe I should give them up for adoption. I am pretty serious about squatting 400 lbs before I die.

Thanks again,

-Steven

[danomite!]

How much are you deadlifting?

[Theseahawk]

40 fluid oz of full fat milk, 200 g chocolate, 60 g of egg whites. Throw it all in a pan and heat until melted. Don’t let the temp get above 60 degrees celsius. Sorry for mixing imperial and metric.

Gives you a nice tasting drink with lots of calories and protein. Loads of fat, though. But its not forever, its for the short lived LP.

Its about 2000 calories and 100 grams of protein (174 g carb, 100 g fat). I drink it in two parts. Wash down 300 grams (raw weight) of bacon with half in the morning and then drink the other half as a snack later. I boil the salt out the before I crisp it up.

I tried eating clean to get the calories in. Couldn't sustain more than 4000 cals and 250 g of protein and eating was miserable. Just had two half pound cheese burgers. They were easy to eat.

What happens if you go over on fats, but get extra calories in?

[Steven Z]

My deadlift was up to 375 6 weeks ago but my form was not so great. I was having lumbar and thoracic flexion that was getting worse and worse as the weight got heavier. Based on what I had read in the book and other videos posted on the website I figured it was at least partly an issue of me not setting my back enough at the beginning of the lift. I'm back to 355 now and doing a little better, but I'm still working on fixing my form. I think it finally clicked on Wednesday, I have to "mentally" hyper extend my back to get the back-set correctly. Hoping that will make 360 look better than 355 and I will be back to my LP on the deadlift.

[m s]

You only got 3 reps, without even trying for a 4th rep on the first set, but managed 5 on the second set, and 0 on the following? Doesn't seem like you've learned to grind out a heavy squat workout yet.

[dalan]

If you've gained 35 pounds in ten weeks, that's a massive calorie surplus. I don't see how lack of any macros could possibly be the problem if you're eating even a somewhat nutritionally sound diet.
Fwiw, are you using a protein supplement? I'm not a big fan of them generally but they're a way to get a lot of protein for not a lot of calories if you feel like you're getting fat.

[Steven Z]

Thank you SeaHawk I'll give that a try. I do tolerate milk fairly well so I'm sure I could consume that without too much trouble. I did manage to hit 300g of protein yesterday but I ended the day feeling pretty sick.

Doesn't seem like you've learned to grind out a heavy squat workout yet.

Yes s m you are right, 3+5+0 does not happen without making mistakes, and I made a few. It was just a bad day all around. and not typical of how my training normally goes. I'm giving myself a pass and chalking it up as not being adequately recovered.

I am going to keep working on getting my macros up, and I'll make an appointment with my doc on Monday to get my labs done and possibly talk to him about addressing my T levels.

I will nail 307 on Monday I am sure.

[CommanderFun]

Sounds like my situation, though the lifts I got up to were lower and I was heavier in weight. My testosterone as of 2 tests is in the high 200s.