Programming questions after 5 months

[thras]

Hi Rip. Thanks for the books and DVD. They've made a huge difference for me. I gave the DVD to my father and little brother a few weeks ago and I'm hoping that I can get them started on the program as well.

Current stats:

Began Starting Strength seriously in November. Was 235 lbs. Now 240. 5'10". 31 years old. Currently training with 3 sets of 5 at these levels:

Squat -- 345 lbs (started at 240)
Bench -- 240 lbs (started at 185)
Press -- 137.5 lbs (started at 115)
Deadlift -- 365 lbs (1 set) (started at 305)
Power Clean -- 165 lbs (5 sets of 3) (started at 135)

Some questions:

1) Two or three times now I've gone through longish periods of blah training days. I wind up skipping one or two of my weekly workouts for no good reason (they're normally MWF and usually I'm very psyched about doing them), and when I do work out I have to back off the weight I'm doing. This lasts for two or three weeks and then I have to work my lifts back up. Is there anything I should do the next time this starts happening?

2) I've been pretty fat since I was a little kid. 330 lbs after high school. Starved the weight off once or twice, but couldn't keep it up long term. In 2009, I read Taubes' book, ditched carbohydrates and easily got down to 235-245 after a year, where it has stayed steady (on a mostly meat + green vegetable diet). I'm still way too fat and am thinking about cutting calories until I hit 180lbs or so. What is a sane way to go about backing off weight training while I'm doing this? As an alternative to cutting calories I'm thinking of doing a lot of hill sprints + jogging + 2 day a week maintenance lifting. Does anything about that sound overly stupid?

3) Sometimes I'm literally scared of my next set of squats. I let my rest periods get too long (12-13 minutes) because I don't want to get back under the bar. By the time I hit rep 2, I'm okay again, but psyching myself up for the first rep is a challenge. Any tips for mentally preparing myself better?

[Mark Rippetoe]

1. More coffee, and a reminder to yourself about how far you've come and your commitment to stop being a fat kid.

2. I think you keep doing what you're doing now. You'd look like shit at 180 anyway. You've obviously lost a lot of bodyfat already, and I'd just tighten up a few loose ends and see what happens.

3. See 1., above. And remember that you haven't died yet. We all have this to overcome from time to time, and that's why we're better than everybody else is.

[forgeforth]

thras, point 3 is indicative of the fact that you are training in a manner that most other people find too hard. And this is what separates the successful people from the unsuccessful ones. This means putting your body through stress and pain on a programmed basis. It's a decision you'll have to make, kind of like choosing to put yourself through Texas Method. Wait until you squat 5 sets across at 90% of your 5RM. This is when getting under the bar may feel intimidating. But hopefully by that time you'd have learned too much and have been too committed to do anything otherwise. Life is about forging forth and strength training reflects everything else in life.

This quote always serves as a nice reminder: "The fact is, it's necessary to subject the body to increasing amounts of stress at a level that challenges recovery ability so that the adaptations continue to occur."

[hippy5alive]

3. Ever watched Ronnie Coleman psyching himself up before his lifts? A very, very amusing watch (search youtube)...one that should help you see that that 'psyching up' is an absolute requirement for lifting heavy. Just gotta do whatever you need to get yourself going.

(p.s. i wouldn't recommend necessarily mimicking RC's psyching approach for fear of looking somewhat of a fool)

[borzoi06]

Rip,

Best advice ever. I sympathize with the OP on this as I get stuck in ruts sometime. I usually try to crank up the Disturbed/Metallica and just bully my way through it. But item 3 above is just as good motivation.

[thras]

I appreciate the advice. I'll give it a try, especially the coffee.