Novice progression re-setting

[Dwayne_KONG_Wint]

Background: (because I don't have a log here)
Age: 28
Height: 6' 2"
Current Weight: 243 lbs

2002-2008: Trained and competed as a natural bodybuilder (yeah I know...go ahead laugh). I competed four times and won one overall (good for me..I know).

2009: Got tired of being "all show no go" and started training as a powerlifter. I did three cycles of a 13 week Sheiko programming and took a 275 quarter squat in the end of Nov 2008 to a 375 full squat (using the low bar back squat described in SSBBT) in the end of 2009. Also, started eating monstrously in August this year and took my bodyweight from 190 lbs to the current 243 lbs and still growing.

Nov 2009: Came to grips with reality and saw that I was still a novice (as described in PPST). So I got on the novice progression. Didn't know where to start so I just picked a really easy weight and went with it...185. My jumps per workout were as follows for the squat 3 sets of 5:

185-205-225-245-265-285-305-315-325-335-345-355-365(wall)

Tonight was my second attempt at 365 and it yielded the same results as on Monday (1st set 5 reps, second set 4 reps, third set 2 reps). Currently, I'm experiencing some left bicep pain after squatting and it really eats up my set-to-set recovery. Yes, my elbows are up and wrists are straight, I've been squatting the SSBBT way all year with absolutely no problems. Also, I've been experiencing the novice back pump where the erector spinae grow too fast for the fasciae. No pain, just pump all the time...which can be fatiguing throughout the day.

Anyway, my question to all that have been on Starting strength novice progression longer than I have is this:

Should I give this weight the good ol' college try one more time or should I just reset while I can?

Part of me thinks I'm up for a reset and part of me says just go torture your left biceps again under the bar with 365...maybe it won't hurt the next time.

I'm currently doing the Vitamin I bomb 4 x daily for the next couple days to try to get this inflammation under control.

[nisora33]

If you're sure that your form is correct, if you've not been using inappropriate jumps in weight from session to session (I know you likely haven't), if you've been getting enough sleep, and if you're eating enough calories, yada yada yada, and this is your second missed attempt at getting all your reps at this weight, then you should probably do you're 1st reset.

[Notorious]

How long are you resting between sets?

As for the elbow/bicep pain... I seem to randomly get that too. It goes away just as randomly as it comes. You probably just have to work through it.

[Dwayne_KONG_Wint]

Yeah, I was kind of feeling like the reset was the right thing to do here but needed to hear it from more experienced folk with this type of thing.

Rest between sets are long...I used to time it but now I just rest until I'm feeling good and ready to go, after the hands stop shaking, the heart stops beating hard through my chest, the back pump subsides a enough, the light urge to puke goes away, and I feel somewhat more of a normal human being again. I'm definitely somewhere between 7-15 minutes at this point.

[BryanM]

Are those really ten pound jumps between sessions?

[kittenSmash]

Reset and make 5lb jumps. 10lbs is too much to sustain progress this far along. I widened my grip just a little bit and it helped my biceps.

[Weakling]

I've had the bicep thing happen to me. I think it's a result from pressing the bar against my back, which I do it involuntarily on hard sets. Whenever I make a conscious effort not to push the bar against my back I never get the pain.

The first time I considered this a possibility, I tested it out. When I still had this bicep pain that lasted from a previous workout, I pressed the bar down on my back (without squatting) and the pain in my arms was intense.

I dunno, test it out, I guess.

[Sami]

I'd reset to 335, then proceed with 5lb jumps. You'll be back at 365 in 2 weeks and you should be able to blast by 365 like that.

[Tom Campitelli]

I agree with kittenSmash, ditch the 10 lb jumps, man. You can probably milk the linear progression for a while longer with 5 lb increments. You may also get to the point where you need to deload on Wednesdays and go heavy on Monday and Friday prior toward getting to intermediate.

Also, as the weights get heavy I find my arms are taking a beating. I think this is because I "bounce" the weight a little at the top. That is, the intertia of the bar keeps it moving upward for a few mm after I reach the top of the squat. Then the bar, settles back down and the arms absorb some of that. Get yourself a foam roller and/or a lacrosse ball and start working on the painful parts of your arm.

[Dwayne_KONG_Wint]

Thanks! I started up with 335 yesterday on the reset and am using 5 lb jumps herein.

The arm pain is still there and I think I do the same thing that Weakling does. As I tighten up my upper back where the bar sits I involutarily tend to push the bar into my back with my hands which stretches the elbow area a little even once the elbows are up.

That's the way I've done it all year without a problem but I think as TomC says its just starting to hurt because of the heavier weight I've been using all of a sudden in the last 4-5 weeks.

Thankfully with ibuprofen and a reset, the arm pain was not nearly as bad. 5 lb jumps should help to make the adjustment a more gradual one.

I started my lacrosse ball and foam roller work on the areas too...as for some reason, everything just feels fucked up today in my left arm/shoulder. I will stay the course though, I've had worse injury in the past.