I've read SS and PPST and starting a linear progression 6 weeks ago after 5 months on Wendler 531, hitting my first stall with that programme - I've only been working with barbells for 12 months now and didn't have much structure prior to that. I'm a club level cyclist so I'm skinny as hell, but I've gained 14kgs in the last 12 months which was a big deal for me as a classic hard gainer.
Now, I've got a ton of confusion from a few statements in these books, but I am happy to take them at face value. My first question is "what is the overarching philosophy for the SS Novice program, particularly as you hit the end of that progression?"
I'm feeling like I'm hitting the end of my run as a Novice quite quickly, obviously since some of that novice period was spent doing 531. At 83kgs, doing fives across, I have squatted 107.5, benched 62.5, pressed 47.5 and deadlifted 130. I haven't put on ANY weight during this couple of months, but I have had all the issues like stress, sleep, eating, a break, plus a ton of riding at times... but given the assumptions laid out in SS, I would have assumed that this wasn't an issue for a very serious increase in weight and strength. I know I'm not biologically explosive, I work best for 45-90 second efforts, rather than 5-10, so I know I won't be a powerlifter lol but surely this wouldn't run out after 25 pounds on the squat?
When I look at what I need to do next, PPST implies that I should move from 5s across to 3s across, then singles (?) Maybe I've mixed up the Texas Method stuff with Novice programming, but would a fair assumption be "we want you to add some weight to the bar, every single time, in a planned fashion, even if you are dropping reps to achieve that, according to the plan" during the Novice period? I don't have access to affordable coaching etc etc, but even allowing for mistakes in pounds conversion I don't think I am even in the ball park
Love your work all.
01-15-2017, 11:28 AM
Andy Baker (KSC)
If you have not put on ANY weight during your training thus far then you are simply expending more energy than you are consuming. So you probably need to cycle less and eat more. Really any other items of conversation are irrelevant if your caloric intake is exceedingly inadequate for barbell training.
