ExRx.net

Life has been getting in the way a bit so I have been making it to the gym only 2x per week. I have noticed better strength gains in these past few weeks than I did when I was going 3x per week. I finally broke the 80# squat today and went for 85 and it was easy! I probably can easily do 100.

The reason I assume it is 2x rather than 3 is last week on my 3rd day I could not even do a DL with more than 100# and my squat dropped to 65#.

Should I take the hint and drop to 2 days? If I do what can I do on the 3rd day if I want to workout?

Diana

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Diana
Goals
squat 150
bench 100
DL 175

I think there comes a point where every 2 days is too much. Every 3 days is the next logical step and twice a week is a good approximation of that. Take a look at how Madcow is arranged. There is squating 3 days a week but the Weds workout is essentially a warmup only, then onto deadlifts. The heavy weight is Monday and Friday is the heaviest. Maybe you're ready to move to an intermediate program.

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Let thy food be thy medicine, and thy medicine be thy food.~Hippocrates
Strength is the adaptation that leads to all other adaptations that you really care about - Charles Staley
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Thanks TimD

I have noticed the same thing dog mom. Thanks for posting about it, I didn't want to be considered a sissy for bringing this up myself. My only problem is that, I want to work out more not less. For myself I am considering some isolation work on Wed or meybe tackle that first pull up

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A man should look for what is, and not for what he thinks should be.
Albert Einstein

Ouch!
Digger

The link for Madcow in our stickies is out of date: Here is the new one: http://madcow.hostzi.com/5x5_Program/Linear_5x5.htm

Monday
Squat 5x5 Ramping weight to top set of 5 (which should equal the previous Friday's heavy triple)

Wednesday
Squat 4x5 First 3 sets are the same as Monday, the 4th set is repeating the 3rd set again

Friday
Squat 4x5, 1x3, 1x8 First 4 sets are the same as Monday's, the triple is 2.5% above your Monday top set of 5, use the weight from the 3rd set for a final set of 8

_________________
Let thy food be thy medicine, and thy medicine be thy food.~Hippocrates
Strength is the adaptation that leads to all other adaptations that you really care about - Charles Staley
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Thanks TimD

I 3th.

self analysis and custom programming for the win

So it is the same exercises I have been doing just a different configuration?

I would like to be able to lift more weight prior to moving to an intermediate program.
And....Am I better off doing the push press since I am pretty much maxed out with the OH press at #55? (been up and down 2x)

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Diana
Goals
squat 150
bench 100
DL 175

Diana, there are various different ways to incorporate Push Presses for improvement for the OHP. Just on way of doing it would be on a heavy day, to maximize the overload. Stay with 5 sets of 5 or so, and ramp the sets. Start light, the first 3 sets are OHP only, ramping up to your heavist OHP done OHP only. Add weight on the next two sets and do 3 OHP + 2 PP, with the 2nd set being close to a hard but doable max. Added like this once a week, it should show carry over to the press itself. Again, this is just one way of doing it. There are many.
Tim

Dan John recently posted in T Nation about training 2 days a week:

http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_art ... _the_gains

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Our greatest fear should not be of failure, but of succeeding at things in life that don't really matter.--Francis Chan

I saw that and was not sure if I should trust the source (so much crap on the internet you know) and if it would fit with a rather new lifter.
I would like to do something on the third day perhaps some lite exercises for triceps and biceps (I don't think my arms get enough). I know at this point I will no longer be doing the SL 5x5 but judging from my performance and attitude when I do the 2 days I should be OK. I should keep a food journal too to see if it is related to what I eat.

Diana

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Diana
Goals
squat 150
bench 100
DL 175

Dan John is a great resource. You would do well to pay attention to him.

_________________
Let thy food be thy medicine, and thy medicine be thy food.~Hippocrates
Strength is the adaptation that leads to all other adaptations that you really care about - Charles Staley
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Thanks TimD

Agreed. And in general, if you can understand who the target audience is for any particular article, T-Nation is a pretty good site. Some articles are blatant advertisement for their supplement products. Don't let the "T" in the title necessarily scare you off as a woman.

Look at the great writers who publish there regularly--Dan John, Mark Rippetoe, Eric Cressy, Tony Gentilecore, Mike Robertson, Chris Tibaudeau, Michael Boyle, Bret Contreras, etc. There is a lot of good material there.

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Our greatest fear should not be of failure, but of succeeding at things in life that don't really matter.--Francis Chan