When *not* to increase weight

[emclain]

Coach,

I have been following the program outlined in SS:BBT (2nd edition) for the past couple of months. I have only been introduced to weightlifting in the past 5 years and wanted to start over as a novice to properly learn the squat and power clean. I'm very happy with the book and information provided.

I started with 135 for sets across in my squat and have progressed in conservative (5-10 lbs.) jumps for my workouts until I am now at 245x5x3. I was conservative because I was lifting at home and without a power rack until 3 weeks ago, at which time I purchased a rack.

When I hit this weight I am now starting to feel as though my form is deteriorating later in the set of the last two sets. My back seems to be staying arched at the bottom and I'm confident that I'm getting below parallel. I'm still strong out of the rebound on the bottom but at about halfway my shoulders stop rising and my hips are going up faster than my chest. I'm concentrating on pushing out my knees and then with a mental "chest up" cue I can usually grunt out the last two reps.

I have been following a progression where when I feel form problems or bar speed slowing I stay at the same weight for the next squat workout, having never had to stay at a weight for more than two workouts. Is this proper or should I back off on weight 8-10% and start the progressions again?

If it helps these are my current lifts (not including warmup):

Squat 245x5x3
Deadlift 360x5x1
Bench Press 185x5x3
Power Clean 175x5x3
Press 130x5x3

29 years old
6'00 238 lbs. 23% bodyfat (too high, I know)


I consume about 1/2 gallon of milk per day and am counting the protein to ensure that I get 1 gram per bodyweight. It is difficult at times to get enough food and sleep with job requirements (Full time police officer in a *very* busy city) and I have only rarely missed workouts. Checking my log I have missed 4 workouts in 12 weeks always due to time constraints with SWAT practice or court which are unavoidable for me.

I do add in 1-2 workouts of either Xfit MetCon or row on my C2 per week as time and recovery allows. After my Deadlift workout I do dips BWx6x3 and after the Power Clean workout I do chins BWx5x3.

Is my progression proper or should I make some adjustments?

Thank you for your time. Any other suggestions would be helpful.

Respectfully,

Eric

[Mark Rippetoe]

Given your job constraints and your quite reasonable desire to lose some bodyfat while increasing your strength (and thus your decision to limit your milk intake) I think this is a good progression rate. Under the circumstances, you might even want to plan an occasional repeated workout before increasing the weight. Sounds like a practical approach to the situation to me.

[emclain]

Coach,

Thank you for taking the time to answer this one. I appreciate your input. The one thing I forgot to ask in there was about timing the rest periods. I know in the book you say that it can take long to recover for an advanced athlete, but obviously my lifts are not advanced. I have been using a recovery time of 2-3 minutes, trying to stay closer to 2 minutes.

Would it be beneficial in the squat to increase the rest period between my second and final set, out to say 4-5 minutes?

Have a great day,

Eric

PS,

Love the Eva poster, by the way. I have really liked her simple, no equipment MetCon workouts. Got to admit I do enjoy the occasional long, slow row on my C2 though.

[Mark Rippetoe]

The rest periods between work sets are to be whatever period facilitates the best performance on the next set. You get to decide that based on fatigue, nutritional status, how the day feels, etc. There is no metcon component here, just get all your reps on the next set, and take whatever time you need to be rested but not cold.

Glad you like the "poster", but that is the cover of the 2008 with Eva T calendar. Eva is an enormously talented athlete and an exceptionally cool broad. She is one of my favorite people, and we are proud to be the publishers of her first work of this type.

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