Question for the GSLP set

[s-m]

A couple of weeks ago I was kind of stalling on my bench and press, losing the grip on the fifth rep of my deads, and still progressing nicely on the squat. I took a trip to visit family for two weeks and made it to the gym four times. None of the workouts were stellar, and it even seemed like the squat was starting to stall. So I figured I would just reset everything when I got home. Which is what I did. I decided to try GSLP with this reset. Just the base template, with some burpees thrown in after the fact. So that's where I am.

I've been getting between 7 and 9 reps pretty consistently on my last set of everything but my squats. I reset them from 370 to 335 and worked back up to 350 last night. With the exception of my 340 workout where I got 8, every other workout was a grind to get 5. My sleep and diet are not really any different than they have been. The things that have changed have been that I now squat after doing upper body and I do three sets of 20 burpees with a minute rest between them. That's what's new so far as I can gather.

So, the questions:

1) Has anyone else running GSLP had less success with the AMRAP set on squats than other movements?
2) I don't think the upper body workout is the issue. I don't really feel very tired after them, but I could be wrong. Barring that, would the burpees really affect recovery like that? I'm doing them just after.

[caveman]

I've been following a GSLP program for about a month. I would say that my squats were the first lift to lose the AMRAP component, meaning that I can only do 5, if that. My squats also seem to be the most senstive to recovery. I've experienced something as "easy" as a brisk 40 minute walk the day before have a negative impact on squat day. FWIW, I'm 37, and only get about 6 hours of sleep per night (working family with two little kids), so my recovery is less than ideal. But in any event, squats seems to be the most senstive, as all of the other lifts are progressing fairly linearly.

Also, I did not see an impact on squats when I moved the pressing movements first. I did however, see a noticeable improvement in the pressing movements by doing this.

[Jordan Feigenbaum]

I ran GSLP with no Amrap squat component for a long time. It was the first to go, followed by deads. My bench and press Amrap never stalled. I've created a sort of GSLP strength bias if you want to take a look - http://thefitcoach.wordpress.com/201...strength-bias/

[s-m]

Thanks gang. At least I know I'm not crazy.

Thanks for the link Jordan. Interesting stuff there. Seems like a nice way to duck 5x5 in the Texas Method. ;-)

[Jordan Feigenbaum]

You know me, always trying to get out of extra work!

[Tom Narvaez]

GSLP managed to run my squat and deadlift straight into the ground. Managed to "lose" ~100lbs off my squat/deadlift while doing that program. After about a month of reduced volume, 95% of it came back. I also managed to set bench/press PRs while losing weight. My experience seems to mirror Jordan's and yours.

[hamburgerfan]

I did GSLP briefly a couple years ago. It helped my squat the most by far, but my presses stayed about the same.

[Mcpie]

It's hard to say since I'm building back up after a lot of weight loss, but my squat AMRAP is humming along fine. I cut it off at 10 reps, and this Friday I'll go for 300. To be honest though, reps 8-10 are a grind.

[Damian]

Have you tried doing just the amrap set without the two "heavy warmups" beforehand? That helped me a lot as far as generating enough intensity for the max sets to be beneficial and stopping the "boring" attitude I had towards the sets across. Also something I noticed you said you got 7-9 reps in the begginning of your reset, I usually get in the range of 12-15.

[Briks42]

Yeah dropping the first 2 sets might help. Sheaffer has mentioned before that he uses them as a "volume net" for novices who might not get enough work from just 1 amrap set. But with your lifts, the 1 amrap set should probably be enough I'd think.