Upper body strength

[indiegamer]

Hello all.

I am 32 years old and have not really done any sort of strength training program before. Infact, you could say I have led an inactive life thus far.

I started the SS program a couple of months ago, figuring better late than never. I am making consistent progress on the main lifts (adding 10lbs on Squat and 15lbs on DLs every workout) not making the same progress on the Military press or Chinups. I understand that the same progress cannot be expected on the press, but I press a measly 35lbs right now (not including bar).

All numbers exclude bar weight
Squat: Started at empty bar (not kidding), up to 140 lbs today.
DL: 160lbs.
Bench: 80lbs.
I did have to take a break of a couple weeks due to unavoidable family obligations so these numbers may not add up to where I should be now.

I will stick with the program as I am seeing progress on the main lifts, but I was wondering if I could do anything to make my press go up. Same story with chinups, I have barely made any progress on them, though from reading forum posts, I understand this may happen if I try to do chinups at the end of my routine, or with insufficient rest between sets.

Any tips to allow me to increase my press will be really appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[AriSuper]

for the press - press , and forgo the chins for the time being, keep it super simple until you hit 220/240 in the SQ/DL.

[Róbert Kovács]

Hi,

You're doing Starting Strength for a couple of months? These numbers are a bit low for that, are you sure you're eating enough? You didn't mention your height or weight though.

You should include the bar weight, when you're talking about them. It's weird this way. Perhaps you don't know the weight of the bar, but you could always ask it in the gym.

As for presses, just press often, after reading the Press chapter in the book, looking for possible form problems. Perhaps you could do press/bench/press for one or two months, and not alternate them weekly like the normal program says so.

Chinups are harder to increase, especially if your bodyweight is going up, don't sweat about those yet.

My wild guess is that you're not really doing the program by eating enough, and increasing your bodyweight, but please prove me wrong.

I started when I was 30 years old, and wasn't too strong either. Once I actually let my bodyweight increase, all my lifts benefited from it.

[Trei]

Hello all.

I am 32 years old and have not really done any sort of strength training program before. Infact, you could say I have led an inactive life thus far.

I started the SS program a couple of months ago, figuring better late than never. I am making consistent progress on the main lifts (adding 10lbs on Squat and 15lbs on DLs every workout) not making the same progress on the Military press or Chinups. I understand that the same progress cannot be expected on the press, but I press a measly 35lbs right now (not including bar).

All numbers exclude bar weight
Squat: Started at empty bar (not kidding), up to 140 lbs today.
DL: 160lbs.
Bench: 80lbs.
I did have to take a break of a couple weeks due to unavoidable family obligations so these numbers may not add up to where I should be now.

I will stick with the program as I am seeing progress on the main lifts, but I was wondering if I could do anything to make my press go up. Same story with chinups, I have barely made any progress on them, though from reading forum posts, I understand this may happen if I try to do chinups at the end of my routine, or with insufficient rest between sets.

Any tips to allow me to increase my press will be really appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Add the weight of the bloody bar. You're lifting the bar, too, so it counts, and just creates more work for the people you're asking questions. Especially if you have an oddly weighted bar, which we won't know about. You also didn't list your chin-up numbers and, more importantly, your bodyweight and height.

However, press is basically always the first the stall, and the most annoying lift to progress on. It's a very finicky lift, where, in my experience, 5 pounds has a much greater impact on you making the lift or not than on other lifts. Similarly, it's very sensitive to form, so you have to make sure you have that locked down every time.

[Hollis]

Lot's of caveats in the information you've given. Be specific, post your height/weight and you'll get some useful advice.

An 80# press is not unusual considering your other lifts. You need to get fractional plates if you're going to see any progress on the press.

[Brian Zahn]

When your body-weight goes up your press will go up almost without trying

@180 pounds i was having trouble with 115x3x5

i added 20 pounds to my body, and my press has gone up over 20 pounds and i still havent stalled.

Bodyweight is more important for pressing motions then it is for the sq/dl

give your height and weight

[Corrie]

You need to post your important info like your height and weight and what you eat. Diet is one of the biggest factors in being able to continue putting weight on the bar.

And write your numbers with the weight of the bar added damnit.

[indiegamer]

Sorry people. First time poster here so I left out some critical info.

Training weights:
I asked the gym and the bar weight is 45 lbs. So, updated numbers are:
Squat: 185lbs
DL: 205lbs.
Bench: 125lbs.
That would make the press 80lbs.

I am 5'8" and weigh 181lbs. I weighed 174 when I started the program.

Diet
In response to other questions, here is a typical day's diet:
1: 1 cup milk + 2 scoops whey + 1/4 cup walnuts + blueberries. I also throw in one 4oz serving of yogurt. This is the first meal of the day.
2: 3 eggs + 2 slices of toast
3: Preworkout: 3 tblspoons tang + 2 scoops whey. On days I do not work out, I substitute with 1.5 cups milk + walnuts or almonds.
4: 6oz chicken or Quinoa + Lentils
5: 1 cup milk + 1/2 cup cottage cheese + 2 scoops whey as before bed drink. I just blend everything up and drink it.
I also try to get a gallon of water a day.

Thanks to everyone that replied. I appreciate everyone taking the time to help me out.

[Schwiggity]

I believe it's common for upper body lifts to stall before lower body ones. Do a 10% deload and keep on trucking. Try getting fractional plates to bring to the gym with you if they don't have them.

[Jsutt]

Try posting a form check, I bet there's some minor (or major) issues that could use some work. I agree with Trei that small form issues can make a big difference on whether you progress on the press or not. Someone more experienced than me would know better but I think 80lb is quite light to get stuck on at a bodyweight of 180.