Starting LP weights for a "strong" lifter

[DGA]

Rip,

My cousin called me a few days ago and asked for some advice regarding lifting. He said he's thinking about getting into powerlifting. He currently trains 4-5 days per week with a body-part split: chest/triceps, back/biceps, quads/hams. He told me he really hasn't been following a program, but works up to one heavy set of 2-4 reps in the big lifts. He is 5' 6" and weighs 175 lb. His recent lifts are:

squat: 500x1
bench: 315x4 (no pause)
DL: 415

He has never done a linear progression before. Unfortunately, I don't know much more about his training history except that he used to be a damn good hockey player and a decent baseball player. I told him to stop the bodypart BS and outlined the SS linear progression for him. I also recommended your books, told him to eat more, and sleep more. By the way, he knows that his DL sucks.

What working weights should he start his LP with?

I figured with working weight for a 3x5 being around 6-7RM, that a 10RM would be a good starting point (i.e. light enough). I recommended that he just use his 10RM if he knew it, or estimate it using the formula: (wt x reps x 0.0333 + wt = 1RM). This works out to 375 for the squat.

Are the starting weights I recommended reasonable? Any other advice for somebody in his position who is just starting an LP?

Thanks much! I'd appreciate your feedback.

David Anderson

[Mark Rippetoe]

He is 5' 6" and weighs 175 lb. His recent lifts are:

squat: 500x1
bench: 315x4 (no pause)
DL: 415

He has never done a linear progression before.

He's also never done a below-parallel squat before. He has to learn the lifts, and his first day work sets will be determined just like they are for everybody else: start with the empty bar and go up in reasonable jumps with perfect depth until you find the weight.

[DGA]

He's also never done a below-parallel squat before.

This was in the back of my mind also. And with the disparity between his squat and deadlift, that makes a lot of sense.

I understand that the bar-speed method would be the best way to determine starting weights. He lives 500 miles from me, so unfortunately I can't get him started properly. I'll have a chat with him about technique though. I can see how long distance coaching can be frustrating.

Anyway, thanks for the input - I appreciate it.

David