moving to sets of 3s

[ndoud]

Coach,

Linear progression; 3 sets of 5 reps, I have recently got stuck at 320# failing at rep 4 of the 2nd set. I wanted to know your thoughts on moving to 5 sets of 3 reps in order to keep progression. Would suggest to resetting to a lower weight and working back up or starting back up at 320 with the sets of 3?

thanks

[Mark Rippetoe]

How did 317.5 feel before the 320 workout?

[stef]

What has your bodyweight been doing? Are you still a lean ~185#, 5'10"? That is underweight for a lifter, and it may be that your progress is being held back by a lack of calories for growth.

[ndoud]

Rip- Guess I need to invest in fractional plates?
Stef- Still the same weight. trying to gorge and it is surpiingly difficult to eat as much as I know i need. I suppose its hard to gauge when I am not hungry because I am full for hours after each meal.
So, i take from this, keep doing sets of 5, with smaller jumps and eat more? Do not go to sets of 3?
thanks

[Mark Rippetoe]

Right. Just do the program.

[Gunnhild Bruno]

trying to gorge and it is surpiingly difficult to eat as much as I know i need. I suppose its hard to gauge when I am not hungry because I am full for hours after each meal.

I suggest more calories in liquid form. It's just easier, if you're one of those people who has problems stuffing his/her face.

Or so I hear. I wouldn't know.

[forgeforth]

My .02, for what it's worth (and it ain't worth much).

You'll have plenty of time for 3s in the future, especially as you progress toward Texas Method programming. Eventually, alternating from 5s to 3s on TM will help you to continue to achieve linear progression on a weekly basis. If you decide to use 3s in the future while doing TM I strongly recommend that you 1) program light weeks; and 2) gain weight while doing so. Failure to do both contributed to some seriously nasty side effects for me after about 8-9 months.

Nice work on reaching 320.

[devnull]

For what is worth: My goal was to hit 315# for reps. I have been eating like a big boy, went from 187 pounds when I was squatting under 200# to 207 pounds (with creatine) and some of that is not just water and fat. At 285# I was feeling like linear progression had no end, so I stopped eating surplus because the end was in sight.

Let me tell you; those fucking weights got really heavy in a hurry.

lift, eat, sleep, repeat, come back and report.