When is it normal to use smaller increments?

[ryeguy]

I'm on my 4th week of SS and this week I've failed to complete my work sets on bench, deadlift, and press over the past few workouts. I'm doing 5 lb increment for bench, 15 for deadlift, and 5 for press. I'm eating at a large surplus and tracking my calories. I rest for 2 min between sets. I get at least 7 hours of sleep per night. I eat sufficient protein.

Is there something wrong with what I'm doing, or do you really drop to smaller increments this early? I always thought you could do these increments for a couple months.

I'm 23, 5'10", 165.

[Les Hahn]

I'm no expert, but I can see that the rest time between sets is too short. When you start lifting maximally, you may have to take 5+ mins between sets. If that doesn't do the trick, you might have to do a deload and ramp up again. Be sure to get some 1.25lb plates as well.

Best of luck on your lifting!!!

[MikeC1]

Yes, 2 minutes between sets is going to be too short by this point. You're also still underweight which doesn't help. To answer your question, your assumption that you can make these increments for a couple months is way off the mark; at best it only applies to heavy people which you're not one of. So, you need to drop to 2.5 lb jumps for the bench and press, and down to 10 lbs for the deadlift and possibly even 5 lbs. If I were in your shoes, I would just drop to 5 lb jumps on the deadlift to give yourself the best chance of sustaining progress.

[ryeguy]

Yes, 2 minutes between sets is going to be too short by this point. You're also still underweight which doesn't help. To answer your question, your assumption that you can make these increments for a couple months is way off the mark; at best it only applies to heavy people which you're not one of. So, you need to drop to 2.5 lb jumps for the bench and press, and down to 10 lbs for the deadlift and possibly even 5 lbs. If I were in your shoes, I would just drop to 5 lb jumps on the deadlift to give yourself the best chance of sustaining progress.

Huh, damn. Didn't know it would come so soon. Guess I need some fractional plates.

[Rusi]

I'm no expert, but I can see that the rest time between sets is too short. When you start lifting maximally, you may have to take 5+ mins between sets. If that doesn't do the trick, you might have to do a deload and ramp up again. Be sure to get some 1.25lb plates as well.

Best of luck on your lifting!!!

+1

2 mins is bodybuilding. You have to rest more especially between squat sets.

[RobCor]

How much are you lifting, OP?

[David_G]

Few small suggestions
1. Rest as much as you need, even 7 minutes is fine when the weights are demanding
2. Take as many videos as you can and criticize your own technique, when you get to a certain level of mastership train and go up in weights until you have 2 training sessions with no linear progression(better to reset then get stuck)

After the first reset in the squat start going up slower
Press/Bench/PC will include as many as 5-6 resets which is normal for a 6-7 month SS cycle.
Deadlift should include one reset, squat would be 2 resets, max 3(as I said, after you already reached a good form on the lifts)

[ryeguy]

How much are you lifting, OP?

Squat 125 (bit low, I reset to work on form a bit ago)
Bench 105
Deadlift 185
Press 75
Power Clean 85

[kel]

Bump up your rest time to 4-5 minutes, if only between squats. How many calories are you eating a day? You shouldn't be starting to fail already on those weights at your BW unless something is going wrong elsewhere.

[ryeguy]

Bump up your rest time to 4-5 minutes, if only between squats. How many calories are you eating a day? You shouldn't be starting to fail already on those weights at your BW unless something is going wrong elsewhere.

Im eating at a 1000 calorie surplus. I'm tracking it so I know I'm hitting it too. I've been gaining 2 lbs per week so far.