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Thread: Stalling early(?) on squat?

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
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    Default Stalling early(?) on squat?

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    I am 36 yrs old and 180 lbs / 6'0". I've been doing SS for about 6 weeks. Before that, I had been doing an intermediate program (madcow 5x5) for about a year (that was when I started training initially). My squat went from about 95x5 to 185 x 5. Then I found out I was training wrong / eating wrong and needed a novice program, so I switched to SS.

    Before starting SS, I weighed 165 lbs and wasn't eating a lot. Now, I eat 4000-5000 calories a day (no milk -- it destroys my GI tract -- lactaid doesn't help -- but I do eat 2 lbs of beef a day). I have put on 15 lbs since starting SS.

    I have been doing 5 lb squat increases per workout and I am at 215 x 5 for 3 sets now. However, the squat seems to get harder and harder every workout. It is to the point now where after 3 reps I have to pause for a few breaths before reps 4 and 5. All the reps feel very hard, but rep 5 takes 4-5 seconds to rise up out of the hole.

    Is it normal for the squats to just feel really, really hard as the weight goes up? The other lifts don't feel comparatively as intense and are still progressing.

    What I'm wondering is, is it possible that I'm stalling already? Would it be unheard of for someone to need advanced novice programing (or intermediate programming) at only 215 lbs?

    I should have said earlier... this happened at 205 before and I tried a 10% backoff reset and climbed back up to 215 and it feels the same as it did before.

  2. #2
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    You haven't stalled, if I read this correctly. Squats are supposed to be hard, and I suspect that if they are really hard you're not driving your hips up like you should be. You could be resting insufficiently between sets. You're probably not eating enough. Nobody your size exhausts linear progress at 215 if they do the program correctly. Do you have the DVD?

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
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    Hi waterboys,
    I am 33 years old, standing@174cm tall, weighing 67kg. Just to share my recent encounter with my squats...

    Starting out for about a month, started off squatting @ 48kg, and sort of "stalled" at 66kg (fails at 4th rep of 1st set!!). Unloading most of the weight so to pick up the bar from the spotter, I reloaded with 65kg. Unfortunately, I fail at 3rd rep of 2nd set this time round . So... over the weekend(recovery period) I re-watch the DVD and re-read the book.

    The following workout on Monday, mentally prepare myself; going thru the important points in my mind, resting 5mins(instead of usual 3mins) between sets, and squatted. And I made it thru fairly easily! Except for the last rep of the last set where I felt like having a bad constipation, but still manage to lock my knees and racked it instead of landing my bar on the spotters.

    Hope this helps

  4. #4
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    Jun 2010
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    I do have the DVD, and I just watched the squat section in addition to you squatting 365 x 10 on vimeo.com. I then watched some videos of myself and I think my problem may be that I am pausing for a split second at the bottom instead of performing the bounce properly. So, yeah, I think you are right about the hip drive. I also noticed that I tend to look up as I drive up (though chest appears to be behaving properly).

    BTW, not to get off on a tangent, but on the DVD is it just my imagination or do quite a few of the people you are coaching attain their depth by flexing their lumbar spine (even some of the ones that you weren't getting onto about it)? I watched you squatting (as mentioned above) and you weren't going as deep as some of those people were, but your lumbar spine did not articulate. Or maybe my inexperienced eye is just seeing things wrong. Just curious.

    Thank you for the advice.

  5. #5
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    Read the board posts regarding "buttwink". SEARCH FUNCTION

  6. #6
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    Jun 2010
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    You were 100% right on the lack of hip drive. For the first time this morning, I felt what a strong hip drive is like. I repeated my previous workout and did 3 sets of 215 x 5. I tried to get it right on the first set, but didn't, and it felt very heavy. "WTF", I thought to myself. Then, as I watched a video of that set that I just finished, I realized I was still lifting my damn head up as I rose up. I thought about what I'd watched in the DVD last night and I remembered you putting your hand on one of the trainees' low back and pushing down hard while he came up out of the hole. On the next set, I really focused on looking DOWN as if I was holding a tennis ball under my neck and pushing an invisible hand up with my low back and I got it. Holy shit, 215 felt so much easier that way! I can't wait for my next workout. Thanks! I can't believe I've been doing it wrong for so long without realizing it...

  7. #7
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    May 2009
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    Quote Originally Posted by waterboys View Post
    You were 100% right on the lack of hip drive. For the first time this morning, I felt what a strong hip drive is like. I repeated my previous workout and did 3 sets of 215 x 5. I tried to get it right on the first set, but didn't, and it felt very heavy. "WTF", I thought to myself. Then, as I watched a video of that set that I just finished, I realized I was still lifting my damn head up as I rose up. I thought about what I'd watched in the DVD last night and I remembered you putting your hand on one of the trainees' low back and pushing down hard while he came up out of the hole. On the next set, I really focused on looking DOWN as if I was holding a tennis ball under my neck and pushing an invisible hand up with my low back and I got it. Holy shit, 215 felt so much easier that way! I can't wait for my next workout. Thanks! I can't believe I've been doing it wrong for so long without realizing it...
    I can't believe it either :P

    FWIW, it's a very useful tool to video yourself every once in a while if you don't have a training partner. Especially so when you start out. It's far less desirable than having a good coach or training partner of course, but will still provide valueable feedback for improving your form.

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by LarsM View Post
    I can't believe it either :P

    FWIW, it's a very useful tool to video yourself every once in a while if you don't have a training partner. Especially so when you start out. It's far less desirable than having a good coach or training partner of course, but will still provide valueable feedback for improving your form.
    I have been videoing myself for quite some time. Problem is, that doesn't help for schitt if you don't have the experience to see a problem in the video.

  9. #9
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    Aug 2010
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    Wichita Falls, Texas
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    FWIW, some possible signs you are nearing the end of your linear progression on squats:

    1) each and every set of squats becomes a religious experience
    2) you spend your rest days focusing on your 3 sets of squats the following day
    3) by the time you finish your third set of squats, you are physically, mentally, and emotionally drained
    4) and most importantly, you start missing reps and you missing reps and sets isn't immediately corrected by dialing in your recovery for the next workout.

    You are definitely not there yet, but maybe this will help when you start feeling this way once you hit the mid 400's.

  10. #10
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    Jan 2011
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    starting strength coach development program
    Quote Originally Posted by william_morris217 View Post
    FWIW, some possible signs you are nearing the end of your linear progression on squats:

    1) each and every set of squats becomes a religious experience
    2) you spend your rest days focusing on your 3 sets of squats the following day
    3) by the time you finish your third set of squats, you are physically, mentally, and emotionally drained
    4) and most importantly, you start missing reps and you missing reps and sets isn't immediately corrected by dialing in your recovery for the next workout.

    You are definitely not there yet, but maybe this will help when you start feeling this way once you hit the mid 400's.
    I think I might be stalling then!
    I know that the stall points are going to vary a lot from person to person, but does it sound early to be stalling at 210 for a 145lb male in his early 30's? (Granted, one that doesn't get as much sleep as he should... but even when I do...)

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