Progress on the deadlift and overhead press

[Chris Kagadis]

I'm hitting a wall and would like some feedback on whether I'm seeing an issue properly. My deadlift, right now, is set to 220 lbs after having been stuck at 215 lbs for a week. I was eventually able to do dl 1 X 5 for 215 lbs, but it took getting used to. No surprise, 220 lbs will be a challenge as well. I was able to complete 3 reps in my last session, but no more. So, my question is; should I do what I did with my dl at 215 lbs and continue trying to complete it, or does it make more sense to back down to, say, 217.5 and proceed with smaller increments? I'm about 1.5 months into my LP and am seeing a similar wall with overhead press (have been stuck at 95 lbs for the past couple of sessions (first session, I couldn't complete 5 reps. In my second session with 95 lbs, I WAS able to complete 5 reps in my first set, but I couldn't for the second and third sets.)

I suspect that my bench and squat will follow the same pattern soon. I'm adapting for sure, but should I be reducing my increments when I get to this point or try to soldier through it until I'm able to do it? Sleep, eating, and rest time between sets are not a factor (my weight's at 235 lbs and taking in protein all day (if anything, I'm too heavy and have started recording waist size to keep an eye on things), getting a full night's sleep every night, and my rest period between work sets is about 5 or 6 minutes.)

[Steve Hill]

This issue is made complex by a dearth of information, BUT there are some things we can glean here that may be at issue:

1) On the DL, you state that you are doing 3x5. The NLP does not use 3x5 for DLs, it uses 1x5, for a reason that is explained in the book. 3x5 may be too much work to recover from by the next session, which...
2) You do not clarify how often you are deadlifting.
3) On the press, you do not state what increment you're increasing the lift at each time.
3) You do not provide some other necessary information. See this link: Necessary Info for Programming Questions

So you may not be (probably aren't) properly applying some of the basic programming principals for the NLP. We'll need more info to help, but right off the bat you should not be doing 3x5 on the DL. And yes, this could affect your other lifts.

[Chris Kagadis]

This issue is made complex by a dearth of information, BUT there are some things we can glean here that may be at issue:

1) On the DL, you state that you are doing 3x5. The NLP does not use 3x5 for DLs, it uses 1x5, for a reason that is explained in the book. 3x5 may be too much work to recover from by the next session, which...
2) You do not clarify how often you are deadlifting.
3) On the press, you do not state what increment you're increasing the lift at each time.
3) You do not provide some other necessary information. See this link: Necessary Info for Programming Questions

So you may not be (probably aren't) properly applying some of the basic programming principals for the NLP. We'll need more info to help, but right off the bat you should not be doing 3x5 on the DL. And yes, this could affect your other lifts.

1) I'm sorry, I keep saying 3 x 5 for dl in every post. My mistake! I meant 1 x 5.
2) Right now, I'm dl'ing 220 for 3 reps. That happened Friday, am planning to attempt 220 lbs again today. I'm am dl'ing 3 days/week.
3) I am incrementing by 5.
4) Other information;

- Age / sex? 45 years old, male
- Current Body Weight? 239 lbs
- Current programming (what program are you using). Am on LP since the beginning of August.
- How long have you been on current programming? Since the beginning of August.
- Starting body weight (what was your body weight when you started lifting? Started current program?). 215 lbs
- Increment you are using on the lift in question. When did you switch to this increment? What was the previous Increment for the lift in question? 5 lbs increments. Used to be 10, switched when I started failing doing a full set a couple of weeks ago.
- Caloric intake (in calories-ish. The answer "sufficient caloric intake" is totally insufficient). ~2500 calories
- Protien Intake (gr/day) ~ 250 g
- Amount of rest between sets (work sets). For warmup sets, 120 seconds. For workout, has recently been increased to 6 minutes.
- What weight you started the program at (weight on the bar for the lift in question) and a detailed description of how long, what increments were used, and what kind of breaks / vacations / etc caused a disruption in the programming). Starting dling 150 lbs, including bar. Since the beginning of August, only took one day off (my Friday workout) because I had a fever.
- Other activity that you are engaging in (sports, hobbies, job that causes physical exertion). No other physical exertion. USED to row, that stopped when I went on LP.

[Steve Hill]

The usual advice applies: REad the article on the first three questions (here: The First Three Questions | Mark Rippetoe)

Right off the bat if you’re adding 5# a session to the press, that’s too much, and you’ll need to microload. Reset per the book and then resume LP with a smaller increment.

On the DL, of you’re still trying to DL every session, go to every other session. Do some back extensions or light RDLs on the other days, or teach yourself to PC (unnecessary, but you might want to learn the lift....). If you already are lifting every other session, go to once per week.

On both lifts, one possible cause for an early stall is improper technique. Ypou’re a registered member, you might as well go ahead and post a DL video so we can see if something is going on there. Same potentially goes for press, but if you were using a 5# increment, I know where my betting money lies WRT the problem.

[Chris Kagadis]

The usual advice applies: REad the article on the first three questions (here: The First Three Questions | Mark Rippetoe)

Right off the bat if you’re adding 5# a session to the press, that’s too much, and you’ll need to microload. Reset per the book and then resume LP with a smaller increment.

On the DL, of you’re still trying to DL every session, go to every other session. Do some back extensions or light RDLs on the other days, or teach yourself to PC (unnecessary, but you might want to learn the lift....). If you already are lifting every other session, go to once per week.

On both lifts, one possible cause for an early stall is improper technique. Ypou’re a registered member, you might as well go ahead and post a DL video so we can see if something is going on there. Same potentially goes for press, but if you were using a 5# increment, I know where my betting money lies WRT the problem.

Sounds good. Will review form (and post a dl form video later this week), move to smaller increments for the ohp, and review frequency of the dl itself (maybe alternate with power clean). In short, my takeaway is that this problem is typical and I should look at the usual suspects.

Question; reset per the book? I have it on Kindle, can you tell me where I can find this information?

[Steve Hill]

Reset within the novice linear progression is covered in Practical Programming. Apologies. A search of this site will reveal several discussions in the forum and articles on this as well.