starting SS soon, got some last minute questions and so on....

[deadliftman]

okay i have reset my weights so i hit my 5 rep max either on a Wednesday or Friday in week 4 so week 5 onwards will be PR weeks..

Deadlifts will go up in 2 kg increments
Squats will go up in 2kg increments
power cleans will go up in 1 kg increments
is it too greedy to increment my presses by 1.5kg each time?

also during my first week or too the squat weight is going to be light and i struggle to go as low as i normally do with the light weight, I can normally squat a couple of inches from ATG squats with heavier weigths. As the weight gets heavier probably at the start of week 3 I will be able to get considerably better depth. My question is if i do not squat at the same depth the first two weeks or so compared to the third week where i will go lower will it fuck up my conditioning and make me stall way earlier?

thank

[Carlos Daniel]

Fucking wiki... there are so many things wrong with this, I'll correct them after I finish dinner.

[Carlos Daniel]

First thing, as a general rule, if you can't squat deep with light weights, you can't squat deep with heavier weights. Fix your form so that you can go deep from week 1.

Forget this shit about hitting 5RMs on week whatever, I want to punch in the nuts the fucker who came up with this. You do ascending sets of 5 with say, 10-20 lb jumps, until the you find a weight in which the last rep is slightly slower than the other ones. Do not be afraid to start a little low, it's better than starting too high.

Start with 10 kg jumps on the deadlift, then move to 7,5. Start with 5 kg on the squat and 2 kg on the bench, press and power clean. After you get reasonably good with the lifts, learn how to do chins/pull ups and get strong at them. If you're skinny eat. How much food, you ask? ALL OF IT. AND THEN SOME MORE. WITH A GALLON OF FULL FAT MILK ON TOP OF IT. AND IF YOU BITCH ABOUT IT I WILL COME AND CHOKE YOU WITH MY PENIS.

If you're fat, it's another deal.

[deadliftman]

i have good form with all the lifts i have been training for quite a while even though my rep maxes are not good.... i struggle to get to the same depth as i normally do with heavier squats i have been trying to fix that for 2 years but i does not work 75kg onwards is where i can get really deep and even 70kg i get to the same depth i believe

and i was u under the impression you can't make those big jumps on the lifts unless your a complete noob, although i am still classified as a novice due to my rep maxes i have been training for quite a while so i thought i have lost my opportunity to make those big jumps

and yes before you ask i have the book

[mariawolters]

Bearing in mind that I am a n00b, too ...

i have good form with all the lifts i have been training for quite a while even though my rep maxes are not good.... i struggle to get to the same depth as i normally do with heavier squats i have been trying to fix that for 2 years but i does not work 75kg onwards if where i can get really deep and even 70kg i get to the same depth i believe

First - keep a log on here. Invaluable if you need specific feedback from people. I also find the warm-up sequence quite helpful for making sure I don't lose my form

and i was u under the impression you can't make those big jumps on the lifts unless your a complete noob, although i am still classified as a novice due to my rep maxes i have been training for quite a while so i thought i have lost my opportunity to make those big jumps

and yes before you ask i have the book

Well, the jumps you can make depend on how you feel, cope, eat, and recover. I started with the normal progression for a woman of 2.5kg on bench, squat, press, power clean and 5 kg on the deadlift, even though I'd already been lifting for a couple of months prior to starting. I've now done a fortnight of SS, and I am looking to move to 1kg / 1.5 kg increments on the bench, press, and power clean - still figuring out the power clean, so I don't want to load too fast. 2.5kg on the squat are still OK - I deloaded massively due to a form problem, and am now building up again sloooowly. Deadlift at 5kg - why not.

Bear in mind that I am not eating enough (I should be in calorie surplus) and not enough protein (way below goal of 1g per lb of body weight). I also have a three-year-old who insists on waking up once per night.

Why don't you spend the first week or two figuring out how large your jumps can be *right now*? (And make sure you eat enough. Seriously.)

[deadliftman]

diet will not be an issue....

im coming to the end of my cut and previously i had started university so lost strength during that period.. but my rep maxes before where

Squat: 100kg for 5
Deadlift: 115kg for 5
Bench press: 85 kg for 5
Shoulder press: 48kg for 5

even though there not big stats i would say it has gone past the point of me adding large increments during the first couple weeks of PR's

[mariawolters]

even though there not big stats i would say it has gone past the point of me adding large increments during the first couple weeks of PR's

That's OK - the point is more that you need to get a feel for how big the increments can be, and that you may want to try and replicate the relative increment size as specified in Starting Strength. So why not try more, i.e. 5 kg on the DL, 2.5 on the squat, 1.25, 1.5 or 1 on the presses, and see how you go? I don't know what weights your gym has, but that's the kind of progression I could do with the weights at mine plus 1 set of fractional weights.

Give it a try, report on your log - looking forward to reading!

[scwot]

Do your first sessions and take it from there. If you just completed the reps then increase the weight conservatively. If you completed the reps easily then be more aggressive with your increases. If you completely balls'd up your calculations and couldn't complete 1 set then go back to how the book prescribes to find your starting weight and do what Carlos says.

[Carlos Daniel]

With your numbers, probably go with 2 (or 2.5, whatever is available to you) kg increases in the squat, 5 on the dead and 2 on the rest. Start looking for microplates, you might need them in the not so far future.

[deadliftman]

you really reckon i could get 5 kg on the dead each workout for the first 2 to 4 weeks on PRs on starting strength? sounds like a lot to me, not that i don't appreciate the advice but a potential 30 kg increase on deads and a potential 12 kg increase on presses for the first month of PRs sounds like a lot to me considering iv been lifting for quite a while and have lost the initial 'window of opportunity' to make super fast strength gains for a couple of weeks. When i have done madcows 5x5 before i could only keep bench up by 3 kg increments for 3 weeks and that had less volume..