Stuck at SS phase 3

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10-05-2022, 09:20 AM
TurboKostas

Stuck at SS phase 3

Hi! 33-year old male here with the following stats:
Height: 5’10”
BW: 192lbs (started at 178lbs)
SQ: 280lbs (started at 135lbs due to hip injury)
DL: 290lbs (started at 150lbs due to the hip injury. Can definitely do more but decided to alternate with power cleans for better recovery after the first month and a half)
BP: 185lbs (started at 135lbs)
OP: 137.5lbs (started at 95lbs)

This is my first time doing any serious strength training and I’ve fallen in love with Starting Strength! For the first time in my life I’ve been able to squat this much weight, and it feels good to know I can do it.

A bit of background: I’ve been training for a decade in the gym following bodybuilding routines for aesthetic reasons, but I’m starting to appreciate the effect strength training can have on your bones, joints, and muscles. I had a nasty hip injury half a year ago due to improper front squats, and the doctor suspected a torn labrum in the hip socket because physiotherapy wouldn’t make things better. Hopefully, MRI showed a healthy joint, despite the occasional clicking and pain. So far, we don’t know what it is exactly. This is what prompted me to start SS slowly with manageable weight, and work my way up to strengthen my hips (hip driiive!)

My problem is that I started stalling in my OP and squats. OP was no surprise to me and I’m managing with micro loads for the time being.
However, my squats have been extremely taxing lately, to the point that I feel adaptation isn’t happening due to insufficient recovery. Since I hit 260lbs, each set felt very heavy and my legs and back felt sore for 2 days at least. Not to mention the old injury started giving me some pain. So, I asked in the forums and got a form check from Chase which helped me fix my back tightness. I also switched to phase 3 by adding chin-ups and back extensions.This helped me progress until 275lbs along with an increase in calories (3200cal and at least 210gr of protein following a program from a trusted sport’s dieting, which helped me gain 14lbs in 3 months).

Today, I tried 280lbs for the first time in my life and I failed in the third set on rep 3. Every joint, tendon and muscle was on fire despite taking 6-7min breaks. My form broke down to the point that I thought I was gonna seriously injure myself (I almost fell on my face because the bar rolled upwards during a rep!) Is it now a good time to switch to advanced novice by incorporating a light squat day? I feel the heavy squats are interfering with my recovery. Unfortunately, I’ve never lifted anything so heavy before so I can’t compare to older workouts before doing SS.

Thank you guys for this amazing community! Looking forward to reading your feedback.
10-05-2022, 11:03 AM
Mark Rippetoe

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10-09-2022, 06:50 PM
Shahmatt

Not a coach or anything here, but you may want to check if you are hitting parallel when squatting. I had the same problem as you just a couple of months ago, and discovered that I have bad squat days when I didn't hit parallel on at least 12 of 15 reps during the previous session. Take videos of each set to check. That tiny bit extra makes a huge difference to the adaptation.

Also, check out the video on Tempo squats by Carl Raghavan. I found this to be quite useful. Cheers.
10-10-2022, 11:26 AM
Robert Santana

Quote:

Originally Posted by TurboKostas

Hi! 33-year old male here with the following stats:
Height: 5’10”
BW: 192lbs (started at 178lbs)
SQ: 280lbs (started at 135lbs due to hip injury)
DL: 290lbs (started at 150lbs due to the hip injury. Can definitely do more but decided to alternate with power cleans for better recovery after the first month and a half)
BP: 185lbs (started at 135lbs)
OP: 137.5lbs (started at 95lbs)

This is my first time doing any serious strength training and I’ve fallen in love with Starting Strength! For the first time in my life I’ve been able to squat this much weight, and it feels good to know I can do it.

A bit of background: I’ve been training for a decade in the gym following bodybuilding routines for aesthetic reasons, but I’m starting to appreciate the effect strength training can have on your bones, joints, and muscles. I had a nasty hip injury half a year ago due to improper front squats, and the doctor suspected a torn labrum in the hip socket because physiotherapy wouldn’t make things better. Hopefully, MRI showed a healthy joint, despite the occasional clicking and pain. So far, we don’t know what it is exactly. This is what prompted me to start SS slowly with manageable weight, and work my way up to strengthen my hips (hip driiive!)

My problem is that I started stalling in my OP and squats. OP was no surprise to me and I’m managing with micro loads for the time being.
However, my squats have been extremely taxing lately, to the point that I feel adaptation isn’t happening due to insufficient recovery. Since I hit 260lbs, each set felt very heavy and my legs and back felt sore for 2 days at least. Not to mention the old injury started giving me some pain. So, I asked in the forums and got a form check from Chase which helped me fix my back tightness. I also switched to phase 3 by adding chin-ups and back extensions.This helped me progress until 275lbs along with an increase in calories (3200cal and at least 210gr of protein following a program from a trusted sport’s dieting, which helped me gain 14lbs in 3 months).

Today, I tried 280lbs for the first time in my life and I failed in the third set on rep 3. Every joint, tendon and muscle was on fire despite taking 6-7min breaks. My form broke down to the point that I thought I was gonna seriously injure myself (I almost fell on my face because the bar rolled upwards during a rep!) Is it now a good time to switch to advanced novice by incorporating a light squat day? I feel the heavy squats are interfering with my recovery. Unfortunately, I’ve never lifted anything so heavy before so I can’t compare to older workouts before doing SS.

Thank you guys for this amazing community! Looking forward to reading your feedback.

Did you alternate your deadlift with power cleans because you were barely completing them or was this arbitrary? 3200 calories isn't enough food at this stage. What is your carb intake right now? Videos on SQ?