Newborn and Maintaining Strength

[atw_abn]

Mark,

I've seen a few threads dealing with newborns/trips/etc that require someone to either stop training or significantly reduce the time available for training. My situation didn't particularly get addressed in the threads I saw but if I missed something I apologize for wasting your time.

I am ready to switch to an intermediate program. I've followed the novice program that you laid out in SSPT2 exactly and have finally stalled out on the "advanced novice" program. My last work sets were at the following weights:

BS: 345
DL: 425
BP: 270
PR: 187.5
PC: 245

The catch is that my wife has a C-section scheduled for 12JUL11. From my other child I know to expect my sleep/rest/recovery to suffer greatly for the next 4-6 weeks.

My goal is to simply maintain the level of strength that I've developed so that when things settle down I can go right into TM. I was thinking something like this for the next couple of weeks:

Monday
Squat
Press

Thursday
Deadlift/Powerclean
Bench

-No conditioning/No accessory exercises

I'd keep the same rep/set scheme that I've been using and add weight if and when I can. Does this seem reasonable?

[Mark Rippetoe]

It's reasonable for your schedule, but you will not maintain on a schedule that produces a lower level of adaptation. I guess it's too late to put her on the Pill.

[IDRISCKY]

What is SSPT2?

[atw_abn]

What could I do, in keeping with a twice weekly lifting schedule, to produce a higher level of adaptation? Could switching to 5x5 for sets across be an answer?

[AdamW]

Yeah you fucked up big time here, no where in the book does it say to get your wife pregnant. Do the fucking program and you won't have these problems.

[Mark Rippetoe]

What could I do, in keeping with a twice weekly lifting schedule, to produce a higher level of adaptation? Could switching to 5x5 for sets across be an answer?

Abort the child. Really, you have bigger fish to fry right now.

[stronger]

Abort the child. Really, you have bigger fish to fry right now.

Rip, thats out of line and not funny

[Mark Rippetoe]

I'm being perfectly serious here. You have to get your priorities straight. Sometimes we have to arrange things so that the most important are the focus, and silly things like babies just have to be back-burnered.

[tertius]

Rip, thats out of line and not funny

Sarcasm fail.

[hamburgerfan]

Obviously you'll need to get the baby on a novice linear progression, complete with GOBMAD*, as soon as possible. You don't want the embarrassment of a sub-200 pound offspring, do you?



*A wetnurse may be useful in this regard.