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Thread: Starting Over

  1. #1

    Default Starting Over

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    After running myself into the ground I'm finally starting over with an honest to god intermediate linear progression. But where do I start? When?

    My knees were feeling very tender from all the volume and frequency I'd been doing, but after a couple weeks off, things seem to be healing up very nicely. I'm able to jump full force again tonight for the first time in many weeks! But now my squatting and pulling strength is way down.

    I was considering myself to be on the injured list, but now I'm feeling very whole, if a little on the weak and detrained side. I was planning to spend a couple weeks pretending to be a novice and quickly running through novice progression starting at 185x5x3, but that's seeming a little on the light side right now, way too conservative.

    Plus I got that 7/11 meet coming up. It's for me to put up a PR bench and not play hero on the squat or DL. I've only squatted once in the last three weeks and that was a lackluster 315 two weeks ago. I feel I could benefit from jumping back into squatting now and treating the meet as almost just a part of my progression.

    Initially I was going to just squat something like 100 kilos at the meet and then start novice progression with 185 a couple weeks later. But is that overly conservative? How about getting to work sets up to 315 right now, getting back in the squat groove so I can squat 364-405 without too much effort on meet day and then going from there. I just don't know if another three weeks away from heavy squats would really help me.

  2. #2
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    It seems like you already know what to do.

  3. #3
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    How about getting to work sets up to 315 right now, getting back in the squat groove so I can squat 364-405 without too much effort on meet day and then going from there.
    If it is going to fuck your knees up to squat that heavy right now, then don't. Unless you are getting paid well to be at that meet, you should probably think longer term. Your ideas on a very conservative linear progression sound about right. You are or were draining fluid out of you knee and while the rest of you can squat heavier, your knee may or may not agree.

  4. #4
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    why are you even asking us? no one knows you more than you. and you know more than most of us including me who just chips in at threads just for the sake of chipping in.

    just gauge your knee and work back up...slowly. TM or SS you know what to do.

  5. #5

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    Quote Originally Posted by simonsky View Post
    why are you even asking us? no one knows you more than you. and you know more than most of us including me who just chips in at threads just for the sake of chipping in.

    just gauge your knee and work back up...slowly. TM or SS you know what to do.
    For the same reasons I blog. I like to think publicly; for posterity; and because I'm starved for human contact but like to keep my distance.

    I just trained squats for the first time in three weeks. Got a mighty 255 x5 x3, over 100 lbs less than my best sets of five from earlier this year and they were pretty bloody hard. I did a set of conventional deadlifts with 415x5 afterward and they were a max set, but overall not that bad. That 415x5 was just 30 lbs off my best conventional set of five from a few weeks back.

    My knees feel fine and I was able to do pretty good vertical leaping between sets (I use my ability to jump as a gauge of knee health, along with pistols). The plan is to make 20-lb jumps so I'm using 315 x5 x3 on Friday. Then I'll just roll into the meet and take do something like 160-170-175 for my attempts. Also going to pull conventional this time because sumo just isn't feeling that hot lately. Heh. My first time pulling conventional in competition. Hoping to get close to my recent gym max, which was awfully close to my sumo meet max.

  6. #6
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    Oh c'mon, you can probably at least break 400 in the squat.

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by Gary Gibson View Post
    For the same reasons I blog. I like to think publicly; for posterity; and because I'm starved for human contact but like to keep my distance.
    well duh, hehe.

    just keep it slow, maybe 20lb jumps are too big but i dont know.

    soon you'll be back to being MONEY.

  8. #8

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    Heh heh.

    Sadly, my knees feel pretty fuckin' far from okay right now. It's been a long while since they had to work this hard and I just hope I didn't make things too hard for them too soon. Right now, I can't jump again and squatting down is murder.

  9. #9
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    Gary, I've checked in on various threads you've started, and contributed to, and always enjoyed your intelligence and humor. Though when it comes to weightlifting I am a neophyte, I am not a neophyte in life (I might be an idiot though ) and it seems to me that you don't use your intelligence when it comes to your weight lifting. To quote Rip (though not originally about you) "you are one hardheaded motherfucker" you talk about ruining yourself with your Russian or Romanian or whatever volume/intensity/insanity programs that you've stacked on end, then smartly take a couple of weeks off, with the intention of starting back slow, then jump right back in with both feet by not following through with those slow, gradual intentions.

    I recognize these things in you, because unfortunately I have some of the same traits (I think that the vast majority of men have them, though some, through restraint and common sense prevail against them) As others have said, you know what to do, you know how your body is feeling, you just have to be man enough to think long term and not think you're being a pussy to take it slow and easy for a while.

    Good luck man, I hope your knees come around, give them a while to readjust to the weight though.
    Last edited by grizzlybuck; 07-03-2010 at 09:46 AM.

  10. #10
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    starting strength coach development program
    Hey Gary,

    Have you considered a cycle of modified Starr/Stone protocol? For instance, light-heavy-light, or medium-medium-light, or even light-medium-light intensity, then slowly swap for a bit higher intensity as the knees recover. That would allow you to slowly ramp back up to higher intensity work, with a lot of active recovery.

    So, maybe something like light-medium-light (or medium-light-light) for a few weeks, then heavy-light-light for several more, and then medium-heavy-light.

    Would that be more effective at encouraging recovery and getting you back to higher intensity work without injury more quickly than just dropping the weight drastically and doing a short linear progression? I'm not sure, but I would think a mixture of really light active recovery mixed with a bit of higher (but not necessarily high) intensity would better preserve gains and stimulate recovery than doing the same intensity work on a linear progression. On the other hand, I would be the type to push the intensity too hard too fast, so maybe a planned linear progression period would better enforce discipline on me to not do so. It will be interesting to see what you end up doing and why.

    Good luck. No matter what, it has got to seem a bit discouraging to go back to weights we mere mortals are struggling with.

    Dave

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