A month into Rippetoe's in need of advice Please!

[Skitchen]

First off I'm 5'10 163lbs not a very big guy but very eager to get stronger and it seems that I'm hitting an early plateau. Here's my dilemma!

So I've been into this Starting Strength Rippetoe program for about a month now. Anyways, I was getting good results initially where I was going up 5 pounds every workout for Ass To Grass Squats and BB bench press, and even going up 10 every workout for deadlifts. I know the program wants you adding weight every single workout and I was succeeding, but now i'm in a rut. Deadlifts I'm still progressing, but for my last 2 workouts I couldn't mustard out the last rep for my last set on the bench and at the squat station..which is super frustrating and it completely deflates my motivation level.

Here`s where I`m at:

BB bench press 175lbs 3x5 (however I can never squeeze out my last rep on the last set)

Squat 165lbs 3x5(`same thing can`t squeeze out the last rep on last set or I squeeze it out with terrible balance and form)

Should I be taking the weight down or should I take a third crack at it and hope i succeed?

Another thing on my workout "B" days I do the Standing Barbell shoulder press and then the Bent over Barbell rows. Adding 5lbs every workout to these exercies I've had very little success I'm stuck at 100 pounds for the press but I can squeeze out all the reps on every set but barely. Do you think I should wait until I progress on the other lifts before trying to move up to 105lbs?

Sorry for the rant, I'm just in need of some good advice because I just need to know if someone else knows what I'm going through because it feels at times I'm the only one not succeeding out there and I've really been working hard!

Thanks for taking a look guys take care...Cheers!

[Hut*Hut]

Originally Posted by Skitchen

First off I'm 5'10 163lbs not a very big guy but very eager to get stronger and it seems that I'm hitting an early plateau. Here's my dilemma!

So I've been into this Starting Strength Rippetoe program for about a month now. Anyways, I was getting good results initially where I was going up 5 pounds every workout for Ass To Grass Squats and BB bench press, and even going up 10 every workout for deadlifts. I know the program wants you adding weight every single workout and I was succeeding, but now i'm in a rut. Deadlifts I'm still progressing, but for my last 2 workouts I couldn't mustard out the last rep for my last set on the bench and at the squat station..which is super frustrating and it completely deflates my motivation level.

Here`s where I`m at:

BB bench press 175lbs 3x5 (however I can never squeeze out my last rep on the last set)

Squat 165lbs 3x5(`same thing can`t squeeze out the last rep on last set or I squeeze it out with terrible balance and form)

Should I be taking the weight down or should I take a third crack at it and hope i succeed?

Another thing on my workout "B" days I do the Standing Barbell shoulder press and then the Bent over Barbell rows. Adding 5lbs every workout to these exercies I've had very little success I'm stuck at 100 pounds for the press but I can squeeze out all the reps on every set but barely. Do you think I should wait until I progress on the other lifts before trying to move up to 105lbs?

Sorry for the rant, I'm just in need of some good advice because I just need to know if someone else knows what I'm going through because it feels at times I'm the only one not succeeding out there and I've really been working hard!

Thanks for taking a look guys take care...Cheers!

Quite normal, you just need to take smaller jumps now. This is where microloading becomes essential on SS. I mean 5lb a week on the press would be 250lb in a year, you didn't really think things were gonna pan out like that did you?

[tom10]

Are you gaining weight?

[chaddukes]

Do you have the book?

In the book RIppetoe clearly addresses how to deal with plateaus. This is normal and expected. Have you "reset" at any point? Since, you're a month in I'd expect that you haven't.

Most of the questions that you're asking are addressed in the book in good detail. Is there something that you're not getting, or have you just not read it? It's tempting to do the workout without the book. It's such a simple program, but all the questions that you have are addressed by the book.

[clicker666]

Being that you are only a month in and are hitting limits, I would suggest that maybe you started off with weights that were too heavy.

[Miketoc]

Yeah the answers are all given (tom's indirectly) in these replies.

1) You may not be eating enough.
2) You may need to microload.
3) You may have started at too heavy a weight.

I am going with #1 because that's what usually ends up being the problem.

[Skitchen]

hey guys! Thanks for the feedback much appreciated.

Yeah your definitely right about not eating enough I guess its just because I' on a budget tha I haven't really had the chance to go nuts with the food.I thought at least if I didn't get bigger that I could at least get stonger lol.

As for the shoulder press 250lbs by the end of the year...haha I'm giving m head a shake I don't know why I even thought that was possible, good point!

I think I'm gonna have to grab up the book and investigate further because truth be told I started the program with the consensus of believing it was just a good noob program but never really heard much on how I should be going about doing it..better get the book in that case!

Not sure what you guys mean by resetting or microloading, I have an idea maybe I'll giver a google.

Once again thanks fellas!

[LiftHeavy85]

as someone else said...4 weeks in and your already struggling indicates u started off with way to much weight, you should be hitting your 5rm by week 3-4.

[Skitchen]

Yeah I wish didn't do that! Damn I'm kinda clueless as to how I should deal with this now.

If I started with too much weight, what do you suggest I do at this point should I cut down the weight then or just continue with what I've been doing? Say like now I bench 175, should I drop to 165 for a bit and then gradually go up again because I did too much initially.

I'm a little puzzled at how I'm going to approach my next workout now that I've started with too much weight, I hope I can still make gains down the road :S

[clicker666]

You might even benefit from dropping down 20 pounds. Consider that if you are adding 5 lbs per workout, you will only get 2 workouts (less than a week) out of that 10 pounds.

Another trick I would use when stuck was to go slightly lighter for a workout or two, and increase my reps to say 8 instead of 5.

[truckerman79]

Originally Posted by Skitchen

First off I'm 5'10 163lbs not a very big guy but very eager to get stronger and it seems that I'm hitting an early plateau. Here's my dilemma!

So I've been into this Starting Strength Rippetoe program for about a month now. Anyways, I was getting good results initially where I was going up 5 pounds every workout for Ass To Grass Squats and BB bench press, and even going up 10 every workout for deadlifts. I know the program wants you adding weight every single workout and I was succeeding, but now i'm in a rut. Deadlifts I'm still progressing, but for my last 2 workouts I couldn't mustard out the last rep for my last set on the bench and at the squat station..which is super frustrating and it completely deflates my motivation level.

Here`s where I`m at:

BB bench press 175lbs 3x5 (however I can never squeeze out my last rep on the last set)

Squat 165lbs 3x5(`same thing can`t squeeze out the last rep on last set or I squeeze it out with terrible balance and form)

Should I be taking the weight down or should I take a third crack at it and hope i succeed?

Another thing on my workout "B" days I do the Standing Barbell shoulder press and then the Bent over Barbell rows. Adding 5lbs every workout to these exercies I've had very little success I'm stuck at 100 pounds for the press but I can squeeze out all the reps on every set but barely. Do you think I should wait until I progress on the other lifts before trying to move up to 105lbs?

Sorry for the rant, I'm just in need of some good advice because I just need to know if someone else knows what I'm going through because it feels at times I'm the only one not succeeding out there and I've really been working hard!

Thanks for taking a look guys take care...Cheers!

Give the bench and squats a 3rd shot and if you stall again drop the weight by 15-20% and work your way back up. Drop the press 15-20% immediately and work up from there.

[Skitchen]

Damn you guys are good! lol ..much appreciated! I think I'll take it down a bit and work my way up again, hopefully that will help me avoid any future plateaus. Thanks!

[chaddukes]

Originally Posted by clicker666

You might even benefit from dropping down 20 pounds. Consider that if you are adding 5 lbs per workout, you will only get 2 workouts (less than a week) out of that 10 pounds.

This is resetting.....again, get the book!

[Mvick07]

Originally Posted by chaddukes

This is resetting.....again, get the book!

why not just have someone that has the book help him?...saving money ftw

[Wildtim]

Originally Posted by Mvick07

why not just have someone that has the book help him?...saving money ftw

Because if someone is missing simple points like this, they are also missing the information on the other 320 pages in the book and I for one am not interested in typeing that much even if I did do "bodybuilding story time" every night for a year.

[serval]

I dont necessarily think resetting is needed at this level... resetting is for way more advanced athletes... doesnt make sense to reset after 1 month of training, sorry guys.
I agree that you need to eat more food though... very important.

I believe your plateau is a combination of several factors and different for every lift.

1) Your plateau on the squat is most likely because of attitude/lack of aggressiveness... If you're benching 175... your squat should be way over 200lbs
2) Given your height/bodyweight, I'd say that your bench is at the border of beginner and intermediate level. As such, I suggest that as far as your benching routine is concerned, you should switch to a weekly periodized program doing a heavy, medium and light day. I'd also add in a chest assistance exercise in there to help you out a bit... pullovers (12 reps) or incline dumbbell presses work well (8 x 12 reps).
3) I dont know what your deadlift weight is so I cant say

If I were you i'd two one of two things... periodize your bench routine while increasing your squat on every workout (trust me in can happen) or weekly periodize everything all together (recommended). But make sure to increase your squat by 10 pounds every week until you hit 220 or smth. So your routine would look something like this:

Monday:
Squat - heavy
Bench - medium
Deadlift - light

Assistance: Pullover, Leg Curls, Hyperextensions

Wednesday:
Bench - heavy
Deadlift - medium
Squat - light

Assistance: Pullover, Leg Curls, Hyperextensions

Friday:
Deadlift - heavy
Squat - medium
Bench - light

Assistance: Pullover, Leg Curls, Hyperextensions

[xXDeadmanXx]

Doing a reset is not something that is reserved for more advanced athletes. On the other hand, periodization is.

[klir_2m]

If you're only missing last rep of last set, no need to reset. Stay the same weight until you can get all 5 reps, or go up in smaller increments (2.5 lbs). Your bench is impressively high which is why I'm at a loss as to how you could possibly be stalling at 165 on squat. Especially since you're only going up 5 lbs. You should really be able to go up 10 lbs at that weight every workout, even in a calorie deficit (from experience).

I have two guesses as to why that would be. One is that you're not resting enough between sets - 5 minutes or more is normal (although maybe not at that light of weights). Second is that you might be underestimating the intensity of heavy squats. 250+ lbs are brutally, soul-crushingly hard, mentally and physically, and there will almost always be form breakdown towards the end of your worksets. So if you think 165 is hard, you ain't seen nothing yet, sorry to say.

[Skitchen]

Yeah bench has always kind of been my best thing and my legs are pretty skinny so maybe that's why my squat is so low. Next time I'll try and give it a 3rd shot and give you guys some feedback on how it went. I really gotta get that squat up and then again my deadlift as well I can only do 225for working sets right now...pretty sad I know!

Anyways guys, thanks for taking the time to help me with this dilemma.Cheers!

[Achilles-]

i bet your form on the squat is bad