Feeling discouraged. Need direction
So I just got stapled to the floor for the first time on the Novice Program on my third set of squats at 307. On Wednesday I did 306 and had been increasing in 2lb increments since 295 (prior to that had been going up by 5 lbs). My first set I stalled on the 3rd rep and decided to rack it because I was sure I would fail on the fourth. Gave it 10 minutes and managed a full set of 5, but they were pretty ugly. Gave it 12 minutes and on the first rep of the 3rd set I got stuck at the bottom and had to set the weight on the straps.
It was incredibly disappointing. I woke up this morning not feeling good to begin with but I started my work sets determined to give it 210%. I was so discouraged and exhausted I just quit the whole workout.
I think the failure is ok, it's part of training, but I realize this is probably a pivotal point and want to see what y'all think. I am thinking I probably just need to take the weekend to recover and try again on Monday, but I feel like today has been a long time coming because every day has been getting harder and harder. I’ve been asking myself if I am in any way NDTFP:
1. Been making sure to hit my target for macros every day; gained ~35 lbs since starting 10 weeks ago. Body fat has gone up a lot (I need to drink milk to hit my marks because it’s hard for me to eat a lot), but I am 39 years old after all.
2. Getting plenty of sleep; usually over 8 hours, but never more than 10 and never less than 7. Sometime I stay up a little late, I could do better there
3. Stress - I've got a 20 month old son and a 5 year old daughter and stressful job so that is something that I have to contend with, but it's a constant variable in this case I think
4. I've not missed a day of training and all of my lifts have been going up steadily. This is the first day I’ve quite a workout.
5. I have some issues with my squat form that I am struggling with. Pete pointed out I’ve got a few common problems; not leaning over enough at the start, bringing my head/chest up and rolling my wrists under the bar. I have been trying to address these issues with mixed results. I also got yelled at about not wearing shoes; I am wearing my shoes now.
My current stats:
~220lbs
Squat – 306
Bench-206
Press-146
PC-220
Pull Ups – 3x10 w/ 15 lbs weight
I know I can improve on my squat form, and I am working on getting better about my diet (just started working with a nutrition coach). Am I just getting close to the end of my LP, am I NDTFP enough or should I just chalk it up as a bad day? It’s at the point now where it takes me 2 hours to finish workouts. I HAVE to rest 10 minutes between work sets. Wednesday I don’t feel fully recovered. Friday is a grind. I usually feel pretty good on Monday though. I think my recovery is starting to become an issue maybe?
For the record, I HAVE read barbell training cover to cover and re-read many parts of it since Professor Rippetoe so eloquently pointed out on these forums a few months ago that I am in fact still a novice and that I needed to start doing the novice program. So if I am missing anything it is because of my limited reading comprehension and not because I didn’t read the book. I’m up to Chapter 8 in Practical Programming.
Thanks all for reading. Thanks for your feedback!
-Steven