So I'm low-key coaching again, at my new Army assignment. A peer of mine asked me to lift with him, and wants to focus on getting as strong as possible before a major career event he's got coming in April/May. The timing in his life and career are about perfect for some LP-style training, and having a lifting partner helps me keep accountable to training as well.
Seth's stats:
Life: Married father of two, Army company commander.
Lifting experience: Some bodybuilding and crossfit work. Seth is naturally strong, and appears solidly built. He is in reasonable shape, as he has to set an example for the troops under his command. While deployed to the Middle East he did as many of us in the staff-officer world do: Workout, eat, work, sleep, repeat. But he's never done focused strength work.
Age: 28
Height: 72 inches
Weight: 240 pounds (He'd like to lose some weight, but since he's within Army standard for AR 600-9, I'm encouraging him to stay at 240 for now, and just change the way that 240 hangs).
Reported Personal Best Lifts (not observed by me, but I consider them credible):
Squat: 315x5 (high bar)
Bench: 275x3
Press: NONE
Deadlift: 340x3 (For the Army ACFT, which he reported as being quite easy, but as 340x3 is a maximum score and time was tight, he didn't try for more that day)
Method:
Seth and I are Active Duty Army officers in the same battalion. The good news is, that means our schedules have a lot of synergy. The bad news is ... we're a busy battalion. But we've got a brief lull in which to insert new habits. I cannot possibly do my 4-day split AND coach Seth through a "vanilla" Starting Strength 3/week (and stay married to my wife, and in the good graces of my kids), so I'm putting him on my 4-day schedule of lifts. It will look like this:
M: Bench, Press
T: Squat, Pull
W: Rest
Th: Bench, Press
F: Squat, Pull
S: Rest
Su: Rest
Today was session 1:
4-day Split LP, W1D1
Bench: 205x5x3
Adjusted grip so that forearms are vertical in the bottom position. Really harped on the elbow-tuck, to maximize shoulder health and progression. He probably had 225 for sets across today without issue, but I want to long-game this and see how his body holds up to the pummeling we're about to give it.
Press: 95x5x3
Form will be a sharp learning curve on this one. He's used to behind-the-head presses to parallel. The SS semi-strict press (I use the 1.5 almost exclusively) is an entirely new animal to him. But he's pretty darned strong. He probably had 135 for sets across today, but I throttled him to 95 to work form. At 95, he was able to give me about 3 excellent reps per set of 5.
Based on today's performance, on Thursday for Upper day, I plan to go with a +10 on bench, and a +20 on press.