Am I a Novice?

[TravisGude]

Hi Mark I have been 'seriously' lifting for a bout a year and a half now after going through high school pretty much half assing, training inconsistently, or training stupidly. I don't know if i am still a novice or not. And if I should use your starting 5x5 model. No i haven't read your books and i only heard about you 2 weeks ago and have been binge watching since then. I am 6 ft 3 1/2 in tall, 230lbs. I can overhead press 190, Back sqaut 355 (Just learned how to do that properly after watching your's and Alan Thrall's videos which has taken my neck and back pain away), dead lift 425, and bench 245. All of these maxes are one rep from last October. I have quit bench pressing since I have found it not as useful as incline and overhead for my sport of throwing shot put and discus. Also as a guesstimate for my my vertical (since i can reach 98 1/2 inches and bruised my forearm in late 2017 by smacking the middle of it against a basketball hoop at 10ft high the bruise being a foot from my top of fingers) that my vertical is close to 34 inches.

[Geoff Bischoff]

Yes, you're a novice. Possibly a gifted one.

No, SS is not a 5x5 unless you've exhausted LP and are using a Texas Method.

Catch up on your reading, then do a legit LP! Your 1-rep lifts are all low for your height and weight. You could potentially get actually, truly strong if you kept at it and put on a little extra muscle (I'm 71" tall and you only have 7 lbs on me, for instance ... a strong 75.5" man weighs more than 230).

I hope you do LP, and I hope you log it here! It'd be fun to watch you get strong doing the program.

Edited to add: Flat bench is still a thing for you. You can load more weight on it. Therefore, you build more muscle mass using it. Therefore, you can get stronger using it flat bench than you can using incline. Stronger guys throw things further than weaker guys, ceteris paribus.

Happy training!

[m.z.mac]

Travis,
I’m 100% with Geoff here, especially as it pertains to the bench press. Coincidentally, this week I heard a podcast with Max Aita of Juggernaut Training and he was extolling the virtues of flat bench pressing for throwing athletes.
Also, definitely give Starting Strength: Basic Barbell Training (3rd Edition) a read. You will not regret it. (And if you do, feel free to write me a strongly worded letter, put it in an envelope and throw it in the garbage. Just a joke.) Good luck man!

[TravisGude]

What do you mean by LP? And I will Read Starting Strength.

[Geoff Bischoff]

LP = Linear Progression. It's the abbreviation for "The Program." Many begin it; fewer finish it.

[TravisGude]

I ordered SS 3rd edition off of amazon a few minutes ago so I will read it as so as I get it.