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Thread: Intermediate Programming and Fatigue

  1. #1
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    Default Intermediate Programming and Fatigue

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    36 YO. 5'10" and 250 lbs. Right now, I do a heavy, light, medium schedule with press, Deadlifts, bench, and squats except on the light day I sub cleans for deadlifts. Light days are 90% of heavy and Medium days are 95%. I only do 3 sets of each lift (except deadlift is only one set) on medium and light days.

    My heavy day looks like this (lbs): squat 390x5x5, press 205x5x3, bench 300x5x3, and deadlift 475x1x5. Still going up 5 pounds per workout on bench (I recently switched to 3 reps per set), squat, and deadlift. Press is stalled.

    Question - medium and light days no longer feel medium and light. Medium days don't feel much different than heavy days. I still feel fatigued from the previous season. I enjoy lifting for the most part, but it's started to become a drag. Do I need to 1) buck up, 2) drop my percentages for light and medium days, 3) take an extra day off, or something else.

    Thanks in advance.

  2. #2
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    The first three questions? Diet, sleep, increases, etc.?

  3. #3
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    Sleep is good. 7-8 hours each night uninterrupted. Maybe diet is the answer. I probably average 200 grams of protein per day. I suspect you'll suggest 300-350. I don't know what you mean by "increases."

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by moffemoff View Post
    I don't know what you mean by "increases."
    In your work set weights.

  5. #5
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    I agree with suggestion #2 in your first post. Your load offsets for medium and light days both seem insufficient. Medium is still kind of heavy and light isn’t quite light enough.

    Qualitatively, just in my opinion, medium workouts aim for a load that challenges you somewhat but never threatens a compromise in technique. You’re working, but not grinding, and the bar speed is smooth.

    Light workouts mean perfect form, plenty of room and no damper on your recovery ability. I think I read on here that a good light workout should have you leaving the gym feeling better than when you entered.

    Unless you’re reducing both load and number of reps per set, I’m suspecting that these workouts are too heavy if you’re an intermediate by our definition.

    Finally, I’d wonder about your workout spacing throughout the week. Primarily, do you have ample time to recover between medium and heavy? If work or other personal constraints forced you into a subpar lifting schedule, it might justify evaluating your programming volume and intensity. You can disregard this suggestion if your toughest workouts are spaced out with ample recovery days.

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by moffemoff View Post
    Sleep is good. 7-8 hours each night uninterrupted. Maybe diet is the answer. I probably average 200 grams of protein per day. I suspect you'll suggest 300-350. I don't know what you mean by "increases."
    What's your carb intake?

  7. #7
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    May 2018
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    Quote Originally Posted by moffemoff View Post
    Sleep is good. 7-8 hours each night uninterrupted. Maybe diet is the answer. I probably average 200 grams of protein per day. I suspect you'll suggest 300-350. I don't know what you mean by "increases."
    200 g of protein per day at 113 kg of bodyweight?? You are intaking only 1,76 g of protein per kg !!!! Raise that amount to 280-300 g of protein per day. 1,76 g/kg doesn´t even work for NPL. That´s all the problem, forget the rest.

  8. #8
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    The medium day should be 90% and light day should be 80%. You're doing a heavy day, a slightly less heavy day, and a medium day right now. That'll buy you some extra recovery.

  9. #9
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    Could you clarify your notation for your weight, reps, and sets? The standard around here is usually weightxrepsxsets. Are you actually doing 3 sets of five for your upper body heavy workouts and five singles on the deadlift? It does seem like what you need is to reset those weight offsets, hell you might even do well expanding them. 5x5 squatting for almost a full 400 pounds sounds like a real ass kicker.

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