SS: very tired after squats, affecting other lifts!

[bbnewbie11]

Hi, I started lifting 3 months ago, but for the first two months I was not very serious about it and took a two week break somewhere during the middle. For the last month (since the start of college) I have been following SS and gotten these gains so far:

Squat (3x5):
145->215

Bench:
85->137.5

Dead:
165->215

I am 6 feet tall, between 170-175 lbs, have been eating at least 3000+ calories every day.

The problem is that my deadlift is not progressing much and I feel that it is because I am so worn out after squatting. For example, on one deadlift day I could not do squats (because the rack was being used by alot of people) and I was able to pull 215x5, but on the next deadlift day I got all my squat reps (3x5x215) but could only pull 225x2. I felt really worn out before the deadlift, as opposed to the previous time when I didn't squat beforehand.

What do you guys suggest?

p.s. my squats are below parallel

[Jesse_l_g]

I think you should be eating 3,500 calories +. Are you still gaining weight? How long are you resting between squat sets? Are your warm-up sets on deads wearing you out?

Did you buy the book? Are you doing power cleans?

[bbnewbie11]

I think you should be eating 3,500 calories +. Are you still gaining weight? How long are you resting between squat sets? Are your warm-up sets on deads wearing you out?

Did you buy the book? Are you doing power cleans?

On average I am eating about 3500, I tend to eat around 4000 on workout days and 3000 on rest days. I'm resting 5 mins between squat sets. For deads I don't do much warmup since I already feel warmed up from squats and am already pretty tired. For the 225 attempt I did 135x5, 185x3, then attempted 225.

I have the book, but can't do cleans because my college gym doesn't allow them. I'm doing rows instead.

[Farley1324]

I notice that you did not answer the weight gain question....how about sleep/rest?

[Jesse_l_g]

You should probably eat as much on your off days for recovery. Are you gaining weight each week? It wasn’t your grip that failed? Maybe if your squats are stalling you just need to reset them. You could also start increasing your deads by 5 lbs instead of 10.

You arnt eating less on recovery days because of fear of fat gain are you?

[y0lked]

are u taking pre workout? creatine? how long are your rests between sets?

[Kirra]

Sounds like a diet/sleep thing.

[bbnewbie11]

I notice that you did not answer the weight gain question....how about sleep/rest?

You should probably eat as much on your off days for recovery. Are you gaining weight each week? It wasn’t your grip that failed? Maybe if your squats are stalling you just need to reset them. You could also start increasing your deads by 5 lbs instead of 10.

You arnt eating less on recovery days because of fear of fat gain are you?

I'm not gaining weight at the ridiculous rate that Rippetoe seems to suggest on his forums, i.e. 10 lbs the first 2 weeks, etc etc.
But I did gain 5 lbs over the last 4 weeks.

Its not my grip that failed I'm pretty sure, as with 215 I still had control of the bar. My squats aren't stalling, if you got that impression from the initial post. I just wasn't able to do squats on the day that I pulled 215x5 (i skipped squats that day). The squats are getting very difficult but I'm still progressing every workout (5lbs). Its just the deads that are not progressing as well. Maybe I could increase deads by 5lbs, but its just that I feel I could make the 10lb progression as long as I don't do squats beforehand.

I sleep 8 hours a night on weekdays, sometimes ~6 on weekends but I try to make it up the next day with naps.

are u taking pre workout? creatine? how long are your rests between sets?

no, no, ~5 mins

[romajc]

Could be many things. Food, sleep, whatever.

Maybe your form?

But regardless, you have made some great progress and you are still progressing on everything else, correct?

I wouldn't worry about it too much. If 5lb increases are all you can do on deads there is nothing wrong with that.

[Farley1324]

I just wasn't able to do squats on the day that I pulled 215x5 (i skipped squats that day

You chose not to squat that day.

It is quite misleading to say you were not able to do squats when in reality you simply chose not to.

6 hours of sleep at night isnt going to cut it.

[james0566]

For example, on one deadlift day I could not do squats (because the rack was being used by alot of people) and I was able to pull 215x5, but on the next deadlift day I got all my squat reps (3x5x215) but could only pull 225x2.

225x2 after squats is better than 215x5 fresh. thats an improvement...you have no problem

[grumble1]

Sleep more, eat more, take appropriate rest periods during your workout, work on your form and mentally get tougher.

[Jesse_l_g]

225x2 after squats is better than 215x5 fresh. thats an improvement...you have no problem

This.
You shouldn’t be surprised you can deadlift more when you don’t squat first. Just drop the weight to something you can do after squats (never skip squats) and keep going. I think you should be able to increase your squats by 5 lbs and deadlifts by 10. Your deadlifts are way behind and should catch up easily. You might need to reset squats soon but dont untell you miss reps.

I sleep 8 hours a night on weekdays, sometimes ~6 on weekends but I try to make it up the next day with naps.

Why would you sleep less on the weekends? I have a feeling you are up all night drinking. If so this is your problem. If you are drinking you are probably skipping a meal or two and getting poor quality sleep. Also half of your weight gain is coming from empty calories. Having a beer is probably fine but getting drunk is going to kill your progress.

Sleep more, eat more, take appropriate rest periods during your workout, work on your form and mentally get tougher.

And this
From here on out your workouts are going to feel very hard. At this point your lifts are going to feel heavy even when you can “easily” finish your sets. You are going to need to pay more attention to bar speed and mentally you need to convince yourself you are capable. Eating and rest are going to get more and more important if you want to progress so aggressively.

[BluntD]

Having a beer is probably fine but getting drunk is going to kill your progress.

No.



Drinking everyday, feeling like crap and missing workouts? Sure.


Occasionally getting drunk on a weekend? Not a chance.

[abg]

What was your deadlift at the start of the program? Where did you fail on rep 3 of the 225? What is your form like? (be specific: obviously you think you are doing it right or you would have said "oh, and my dead form sucks".)

Beyond that, eating and sleeping seem to be big ones here. You might also want to do 3 warm-ups instead of 2, such as 135x5, 165x3, 195x2, 225x5.

[Jesse_l_g]

No.



Drinking everyday, feeling like crap and missing workouts? Sure.


Occasionally getting drunk on a weekend? Not a chance.

Well he is only gaining a lb a week. If half that is coming from a drinking binge on the weekend its not enough. Also I am on S.S. and no way I could/can make gains every workout if im drinking once a week. If you are serious about such an aggressive program drinking should be cut out. If you want to drink once or more a week i would just pick a different program.

[zephed56]

Your preworkout nutrition probably needs improvement. Focus more of your calories before your workout instead of at other times of the day. You need lots of energy to perform well on this program.

And just to be clear, you are doing the exercises in the following order, right?
1) Squat
2) Press or Bench
3) Deadlift

If you're gassed by the time you get to DL's, I suggest taking a 5-10 minute break after bench presses. Perhaps you just need to let your body recover a bit and gain back some energy and strength. Take more time between your DL warmups as well, maybe drop a couple reps from a couple of your warmup sets (post your warmups for a typical DL day as well, maybe there's something glaringly obvious).

Your DL form probably needs improvement as well.


Other than that, suck it up and stop being a bitch?