Swoz Gives it a Red Hot Go

[swoz]

Squat
70x5
80x5
90x5 Squat 90x5 - YouTube

Press
40x5
45x5
49x3 Press 49x3 (then abort) - YouTube

Deadlift
125x1 Deadlift 125x1 - YouTube
125x1
115x3

[swoz]

I decided to switch from LP to other programming.

I had imagined milking the LP for another 4-6 weeks. I'm just not in such a hurry to make strength gains though. I'd rather lock in a long-term sustainable lifestyle that balances training with everything else. Looking back in five years it won't matter how much strength I gained on LP, only whether I continued training.

I'm now excited about getting back to basketball, cycling, running, swimming, being energized at work, doing "exercise" workouts with the kids on weekends, being awake with my wife after the kids are asleep, dieting away my new "LP belly," etc. It's amazing how much space LP has ended up taking up in my head and my life.

Thanks everyone for the help and encouragement! Strength training may well turn out to be the best thing I did in my 40s. I will leave history to judge whether my "red hot go" was more "luke warm" but I have enjoyed it immensely in either case

Maybe I'll start another journal when I work out my new programming.

[swoz]

I should also add here a big thank-you to Adrian for coaching me in person (for free.) This was really eye-opening and I see now what I have been missing in my DIY training without a coach.

In retrospect I think that diving straight into LP when starting strength training would work a lot better with coaching (or in a Starting Strength gym.)

[swoz]

I made a separate thread in a different part of the forum for my current non-SSLP programming: Swoz Phones It In

[swoz]

Interlude: I'm helping my wife get started with barbell training.

This is her initial programming:

- Squat and deadlift only.
- Two workouts per week.
- 1kg increments.
- Start with maintenance-level diet but plan to gradually introduce a surplus when limited by recovery.

This is a "slow and steady wins the race" approach to climb up to the novice plateau over a year or so without drastic changes to an enjoyable active lifestyle and familiar healthy diet.

On the one hand it's gentle and focused on long-term sustainability. On the other hand it's still linear progression with a ~50kg/year gradient.

See how it goes.