Goals

[joshbro73]

38 yrs, 5'9", 4th week on SS with a few small hiccups.

BW: 189-200
Squat: 115-185
Dead: 165-235
Bench: 115-130
Press: 75-90
Clean: (just started) 95-100
Chin/Pull: Haven't started but will soon. Can only mange 1-2 bw chins right now.
Food: Eating like a fucking pig, I feel. 200 grams of protein for sure, beef at least 5 days a week, chicken the others. caloric intake seems to be > 3500 but I'm not tracking. Definitely gaining weight though.

I'm trying to figure out what my actual goals in terms of pounds are. I've started this thing, but I'm not sure where the end is, really. So I'm trying to figure out what I really want from all this. I'm hoping you can help me. Some things I know I want/don't:

1) 3 kids. Youngest is 8 months, and my first boy. When he is in HS, I still want to be strong and functional to be able to keep up with him.
2) I do not want to be crazy strong. Stronger than I am now for sure, but I have 0 interest in a 600+ lb dead or anything like that.
3) Shoulder strength: Family history of shoulder issues. I am in a field that puts repetitive stress on shoulders during work. So I assume a focus on press, but am not sure if this is correct.
4) Don't care at all about bench. OHP has already early improved my functional quality of life, but I don't see that with the bench, and again I also worry about shoulder health. But I will bench as long is necessary to DTFP.
5) When I'm "done" (which I'm not sure when that is) I want to switch from "training" to "working out" and the dreaded "maintenance." I have many diverse physical interests, and I want to maintain strength, but right now SS is my only focus, and when I am done I want keep lifting but do lots of other things as well, without compromising my strength gains.

Ok, so, the actual fucking questions:

Q: At what poundages do I stop increasing weight?
Q: What does maintenance look like? Roughly. two days a week without linear progression? maybe switching away from 5s to 10s? I have no idea about this really.
Q: What about press vs bench? Maybe keep press on a linear program but others for maintenance later on?

Maybe this is too much to answer in one post. Sorry for the length. If you only answered one of the questions, I guess how/when to phase out bench and focus on press (or if this is the correct approach at all), would be the most technically involved and hardest for me to answer on my own. Thanks in advance for putting up with this shitty thread.

[Andy Baker (KSC)]

Aim for this by 45 yrs of age:

Deadlift 500
Squat 350-400ish
Press 200

This will keep you busy for the next several years. Also, for a guy who has only been training for 4 weeks, you have alot of concerns about maintenance. I'm not trying to be a dick or insulting, but you might need a little bit of an adjustment in your overall mental attitude towards strength training.

[joshbro73]

Thanks for the answer. Those numbers are in the range of what I was expecting. I guess I didn't expect it to take that long...being new to this I just have no frame of reference...but, it is what it is.

As to the maintenance issue, first off no worries. Second, I guess I'm not sure what you mean...Maintenance is a long ways away, I guess, so just focus on getting stronger now and worry about the other stuff later? Ok, fine, I can do that.

What about bench...start to deemphasize it after novice phase?

Thanks again.

[Andy Baker (KSC)]

I would not totally deemphasize it. Benching heavy will make your press stronger. You are slowing down press progress/potential if you eliminate it completely.