Reset time?

[Foobar40]

40 yrs old, 5'7, 210 lb. Currently, at 300 lb squat and working 330 lb deadlift. Here are the last few workouts:

290 4/4/4, 300 5 -- I had a bad cold and didn't want a coughing fit when close to failure on squats, so stopped as soon as it felt even a little iffy. Missed a week here because of the cold and other life crap.

285 5/5/5, -- Dropped slightly on squat because of the week off. PC day, so no DL.
290 5/5/5, 315 5 -- Grip starting to be an issue, even with alternating grip. Haven't gotten straps yet. Somewhat poor form on first two sets (a little bit of GM on a couple of reps on each), but the last set was clean as far as I could tell.
295 5/5/4, -- I had a return of the GM on the last rep on each of the first two, part of why I stopped at 4.
295 5/5/5, 330 3 -- Grip limited the DL. Squats were pretty good.
300 5/5/4, -- Same issue as on first 295.
300 5/5/4, 330 3 -- Still losing form on a couple of reps. This time my lower back was pretty sore afterwards (doesn't feel like an injury). Definitely limited by being sore and generally gassed on the deadlift. Didn't get to grip being an issue.

Time for my first reset? Is there any need to reset more than 10% here because of the form issues, or are those fairly typical of what happens when you hit your first reset?

[scoppi]

Are you squatting heavy 3x a week? If you are its time to move on to the advanced novice template. For your deadlift, are you using chalk? If not, you should be. Do you use a belt? If not, it's probably time to start looking for one.

But yeah, it looks like it's time for a reset. You could probably keep pushing for another 10-15 lbs, but I don't think it would be useful in the mid to long run. I'd drop down to 245 on the squat, and 275 on the deadlift. These are probably a larger reset than is absolutely necessary, but it will help you in the long run. Form will deteriorate on the high end if you're a novice/intermediate lifter. As long as it's not wretched, you're probably ok.

[Foobar40]

I'm still doing the novice program, so, yes, I'm still on 3/wk. I'm not using chalk. Grip hasn't been an issue until the last couple of workouts. I'll get some. I have been using a belt for a while now.

I thought I was supposed to reset a couple of times on squat before moving to the advanced novice workout. This would be my first reset. Should I still look to switch?

[scoppi]

I thought I was supposed to reset a couple of times on squat before moving to the advanced novice workout. This would be my first reset. Should I still look to switch?

For switching over to advanced novice, its usually after your first reset, or just when things get hard. Basically, beginners go 3x per week because the weight is too light to really drive much adaptation. Once the weight becomes heavy enough, 3x a week is too much, and 2x a week works much better. The mid to upper 200's is usually where people make the switch, and it looks like its appropriate for you as well.

[Foobar40]

Wow. Didn't expect to hit that point for a while. Great. Thanks for the response.

[MikeC1]

Your squat could use a reset, but you don't need one for your deadlifts. For your deadlift, you should be using smaller jumps than 15 lbs by now, keep it at 5 lb jumps, starting with 320, and that should keep you going for a while longer. 245 sounds about right for your squat, that and switching to the advanced novice programming. Do you lift at home or in a gym?

[scoppi]

For your deadlift, you should be using smaller jumps than 15 lbs by now, keep it at 5 lb jumps

This is a great point, and something that I missed. Definitely start taking 5 lb jumps.

[Foobar40]

I lift in a gym at work. I'm pretty sure I'm not supposed to take pictures or video, or I'd post a few form checks.

20% reset on squat to 245, deadlift to 320, switch to advanced novice. Got it.

What's the best way to switch? I just did squat/bench/deadlift today. Week 1, day 2 of AN is front squat/press/DL -- I really don't want to deadlift again with just two days of recovery. Week 2, day 2 is front squat/bench/PC. That doubles up on bench, and I just hit a PR.

Does press need to stay with DL? Should I do FS/press/PC or just stick with FS/bench/PC? I just hit a new PR on bench. If I bench Wed, should I back off or try to increase by 2.5?

Thanks for all the advice. I do appreciate it.

[scoppi]

The Advanced Novice template I would run with is:

Mon:
Squat
Bench/Press

Wed:
Light Squat
Bench/Press
Deadlift

Fri:
Squat
Bench/Press

I didn't include the third exercise for Mon and Fri. I think its usually unweighted pull ups on monday, and weighted chin ups on friday, but it really doesn't matter. Just do some sort of upper back work that you like. I prefer doing light back squats on the light day rather than front squats for a couple reasons. First, if you're good at front squats, you can get them up to a weight where wednesday is no longer a light day. Secondly, back squatting on wed will help you keep the groove, and will help with recovery more.

Press does not need to stay with DL. When I type, "Bench/Press" what I mean is that those exercises rotate. So if i started with press on monday, bench would be wed, then press on fri, then bench on mon, etc. So if you did bench today, press on wednesday, and so on.

If you squatted and deadlifted today, I would just stick to the AN plan, but skip the deadlift this wednesday. Either that or just do a few reps at 225 or so. It really doesn't matter. Hopefully this helps.

[Foobar40]

It actually helps quite a bit. That's what I'll do. With this larger reset, how fast should I be increasing the weight on heavy days? Stick to 5 lb per workout, or should I do 10 lb per workout until back to 285?