First Reset on SS and GOMAD

[zach6432]

Hey guys. I have been doing SS and GOMAD for about 2 months. I have had great gains (I think). My squat has gone from 155 to 270. I finally failed for the second time trying to do 275lbs. So I guessed it was time for a reset. I reset down by 20%. So, I am back down to about 225 x 3 x 5.

It is definitely disappointing going down all that weight again after nice gains. So, I guess the question is: Once I build back up to 275lbs and assuming I break the plateau, how much more will I be able to progress before another reset? I know it probably varies person to person, but is there some kind of average? I hate to go all the way back down to break one plateau and then have to reset again lol. My diet is definitely on track. The macros are great and I have an extremely high metabolism (eating 5000+ calories a day.)

Sorry to ramble. Any insight would be appreciated. I really want to hit my goal of squatting the big 300lbs.

[grumble1]

Depends on the individual and their physical and psychological status. Small things like not sleeping quite enough, doing a little too much running, form being slightly off, personal limits as far as building muscle goes, physchologically not able to lift loads that extreme, etc can all limit your progress. You should be able to get by 300 though, you can actually go much higher than that on SS if you really push it, though it takes increasingly longer to move up.
Your reset was pretty big.

[scottaii]

Hey guys. I have been doing SS and GOMAD for about 2 months. I have had great gains (I think). My squat has gone from 155 to 270. I finally failed for the second time trying to do 275lbs. So I guessed it was time for a reset. I reset down by 20%. So, I am back down to about 225 x 3 x 5.

It is definitely disappointing going down all that weight again after nice gains. So, I guess the question is: Once I build back up to 275lbs and assuming I break the plateau, how much more will I be able to progress before another reset? I know it probably varies person to person, but is there some kind of average? I hate to go all the way back down to break one plateau and then have to reset again lol. My diet is definitely on track. The macros are great and I have an extremely high metabolism (eating 5000+ calories a day.)

Sorry to ramble. Any insight would be appreciated. I really want to hit my goal of squatting the big 300lbs.

Im just getting to 275 Lb's on my squat and i can REALLY start feeling it, Feels like a re-set will be coming for me soon aswell.

How are you finding starting strength? its worked wonders for me, and lets just say, i love milk

[jgreystoke]

Hey guys. I have been doing SS and GOMAD for about 2 months. I have had great gains (I think). My squat has gone from 155 to 270. I finally failed for the second time trying to do 275lbs. So I guessed it was time for a reset. I reset down by 20%. So, I am back down to about 225 x 3 x 5.

It is definitely disappointing going down all that weight again after nice gains. So, I guess the question is: Once I build back up to 275lbs and assuming I break the plateau, how much more will I be able to progress before another reset? I know it probably varies person to person, but is there some kind of average? I hate to go all the way back down to break one plateau and then have to reset again lol. My diet is definitely on track. The macros are great and I have an extremely high metabolism (eating 5000+ calories a day.)

Sorry to ramble. Any insight would be appreciated. I really want to hit my goal of squatting the big 300lbs.

You have made great gains!

Do you have to drop 20%?

I have both Rippetoe's Starting Strength and Practical Programming books.

In PP he goes into detail about stalling for a novice on the Starting Strength Program. He talks about restoring linear progression as quickly as possible, and keep the trainee as close as possible to his nearest best 5 rep performance.

If you are working really hard, a bit of extra rest should drive an increase in performance. This is the same phemomenon as the well known "taper" that weightlifters and powerlifters use before a peak at competition.

A ten percent reset should do it.

If you are seriously fatigued, do the 10% reset, but drop to only one set of five.

If you are doing a ton of "assistance" work, like me, make sure they assist and not hinder the big lifts. Cutting them ruthlessly should allow your strength to surge forward again if they have been allowed to become too hard.


When you get back to 275 x 3 x 5, you should be able to add 5lbs next session. How far you get is anybody's guess. There is no such thing as "average" for anyone doing SS.

Average is donut/soda/beer glass curls, sprawling on the couch eating chips, and slow lobotomy by TV.

[zach6432]

Ok. So 10% does make more sense than 20, but are you saying to cut out some sets as well? Does this help to break the plateau?

Luckily I did fail on a Monday which are typically worse days to me coming off of the weekend. (lack of sleep, food, etc.)

I'm about to hit it again today, so just trying to clarify what I should be doing.

10% off of 275 so around 250.
And only 1 or 2 sets?

[jgreystoke]

Ok. So 10% does make more sense than 20, but are you saying to cut out some sets as well? Does this help to break the plateau?

Luckily I did fail on a Monday which are typically worse days to me coming off of the weekend. (lack of sleep, food, etc.)

I'm about to hit it again today, so just trying to clarify what I should be doing.

10% off of 275 so around 250.
And only 1 or 2 sets?

Depends.

If you are not too exhausted, just a 10% deload should do it.

If you are really spent, then dropping to one work set, two next time, and three the third session is a good way to deload volume, without dropping the load more than 10%. If you went to 220, you'd be allowing your strength to detrain some.

Volume is more tiring than exact load.

Going to 1 x 5 is a reduction of 67% of work set volume. That is more of a break than deloading the weight 20%. So deload only 10, as a general rule.

Olympic lifters use that kind of stuff all the time. Say they did triples with 275 last week. They might do half the number of work sets this week one day at about 90% or 245-250, and a few singles another day with their three rep weight, say 275, which is only about 90% of their working max singles. That is called a taper, the following week they are stronger than ever on the platform.

Notice they don't usually go below about 90% of their normal poundage for a particular rep range.........'cos they don't want to lose strength. And most of the deload consists of reducing VOLUME.

But remember guys like that were OVER-REACHING before the taper, ie, deliberately doing too much VOLUME. That drives gains for guys beyond the SS stage, but also FATIGUE. They taper to dissapate the fatigue, and presto! they can express the improved strength.

If they did what most bodybuilders did, ie refused to deload volume(God forbid!), their performance would drop. They could be stuck at a "plateau" for years, because they are ignorant of the fact that a BIG step back in volume + a LITTLE step back in intensity, allows a couple/few steps forward to where they never were before.

Since SS is not about volume, unless you are adding a ton of accessories(like me, but I keep the intensity of that stuff low, say 50%), you might not need the volume deload.