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I'm 5'7".Originally Posted by Drewfasa
I rested about 7 minutes between sets today and got all of my reps on 185, finally. I also did deadlifts 1x5. Thanks again for the help. I have been slacking in the eating department recently; I need to get my ass in gear.
Member
How long did an SS-workout take then? I agree that past 300, you start needing at least 5 mins, however this seriously prolongs the workouts IMO, and time is a luxury for most of us.
The times I've been on SS, I've switched to intermediate around 300+, but maybe I can squeeze more out of it resting longer. Food for thought...
Member
I also find the eating more difficult than the actual lifting. But it makes all the difference in the world.
Member
Hold in mind also that if you're 15, your metabolism is going to make eating enough to actively gain weight quite challenging, since it's already probably blazing at full speed. When I was around that age, eating 3-4000 calories a day was barely maintainance. Even without any organized exercise program, I could eat that much and remain rail thin (140-160# @ 5'11"), as could most of my peers (and I got more exercise than many of them too).
You therefore might have to actively concentrate on eating even more than a lot of the post-pubescent novice lifters on this board, since your total no-exercise baseline calorie requirements may be much higher than theirs.
TMPHBITEU
True. Some people do not have time to train effectively.
Starting Strength Coach
Yes, Texas Method volume day is even more of a bitch and unfortunately, many of us don't have the time to train as optimally as we might in a world without jobs, wives, kids, sick parents, etc.
You CAN still train productively even if not optimally however and you have to know how to make those changes.
You MAY have to experiment to find out what works and what doesn't....and you don't necessarily have to ask Rip for permission to do so. You might actually learn something for yourself.
For instance, for the last 8-10 weeks leading into the NASA Nationals I followed a bastardized version of the Texas Method because my schedule would simply not allow for the marathon of a workout that had become the Monday volume day. 5x5 on squats with 10-15 minute rest periods is a pretty long workout in and of itself, not counting the warm up sets to reach your target weights. It looked like this:
Mon-Volume Bench 5x5 + Presses 3x5
Tues-Volume Squat 5x5 + Goodmornings - 5RM
Wed - off
Thurs - off
Friday - Squat 5x1, Bench 5x1, Deadlift 1x1
Basically, I just spread my volume day out over two days, eliminated the recovery day and kept the intensity day as prescribed.
Main drawback was the omission of the recovery squat session. It made friday squats a little bit harder but I still hit PR's for several weeks leading up the meet and had a good meet performance. It worked for me, and I'm sticking with it.
Member
Not directed at me, but I have to pipe up. I was a little over 5'9" my senior year of college when I turned 20. I weighed about 125. I was squatting my little, skinny ass off, but with shitty technique (and sometimes in the smith machine!) and stuffing four hamburgers down my gullet at a time. I eventually got up to a little over 135. Good times!
Right now I'm on a four-day split: BP+assistance, DL, light BP+assistance, Box Squat. (Not squatting while some overuse knee injuries clear up.)
BP + assistance usually means BP plus an upper body pull and some other kind of upper body push. Usually takes me at least two hours to do a total of about 20 warm up and work sets. And half of those are just singles and doubles.
I'm doing a deadlift focus with multiple sets of doubles, triples and quadruples on deadlift day. Usually takes me about an hour just to do those deadlifts. Same with box squats. Takes about 10 minutes to recover fully from a set of deadlifts. If I were to cut that to five minutes, no way in hell I could complete the planned sets and reps.
I've been shamelessly doubling my rest times between sets and am amazed at the effect it's had on my ability to hit PRs consistently.
Member
You said it. Thanks for posting that schedule up. Back when I was less weak, I switched to TM after SS, and got buried in short order. This was probably highly related to me not being able to spend more than 1½ hour on Volume day.
I switched to a Starr 5x5 (i.e. ramping) - this seemed to work rather well, and the workouts were shorter. Not as effective as a perfectly executed TM, I'm sure, but still very good.
Member
Obviously you have to accept a degree of compromise when you adapt the program to your own lifestyle limitations, but how much do you feel you compromised your OHP at by sequencing the main lift on the same day and after bench volume?
Member
I need to warm up a little longer than some do, so the training sessions were about 1hr 40min. I didn't need 10min rest on my pressing or pulling, more like 6-8.
I managed to find the time amongst being gone 12hrs a day for work, and all the other fun shit life brings. I'll admit my sleep can be lacking, which isn't optimal, but better than not training (tried to make up for it with more calories). Just have to make it a priority if you want the results I guess.
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