ExRx.net

Wow, nice deal on the deadlift.

As for squats, if going up 5 pounds has been working, I'd stick with that. The longer you can go up progressively before you plateau, the better. If you switch to 10 pound jumps, you'll plateau sooner (probably more than 2x sooner than if you stayed at 5 pounds). Put that off as long as you can.

- Thank you.



I've been jumping 10lbs with my deadlift. When should I shift to 5lb jumps so that I do not plateau too soon?

Tough call. It's really going to be a judgment call. I don't think you'll kill any progress by going up 5 instead of 10, but if 10 is working it's tempting to stick with it. You can see my own agonizing over this in my discussion thread - go up by 10 or 5 on my next cycle of 5/3/1 deadlifts. I'm doing fine with 10, but if I go 5, I'm erring on the side of caution.

Sorry I can't give a clear-cut answer. If pressed I'd say if the weights feel heavy - you're pulling hard and you have that doubt about getting 10 pounds next workout, go with 5. If the bar still feels pretty light, you can probably stick with 10.

Since it's a personal record, it felt as the heaviest thing I've ever lifted which it was until Wednesday when I go to deadlift the next weight. I think since 10lbs has been working for me so far I will stick with it until I miss then I'll go up by 5's till I miss again. By then I should be going for a reset.

What should I do with my military press and pendlays? My MP: I've attempted 110lbs twice and with the Pendlay I backed up to 115, 120 & 125 today because I could get 140 last week.

Its been a while; my family and I have been through stuff. We've recently moved, and now I'm looking into the area gyms to get myself back into it.

What's going through my mind right now is whether to go with pure strength training or to shift to a little bit of endurance training. I have always lacked in endurance, so I'm kinda undecided on what I should do. I'd like some comments / recommendations: should I go with strength or endurance?

You can see my journal for what I was doing and where I left off. As always, thanks for all your input.

I'm back with a vengence this time. My goal is to increase my strength to the advance level in the standard strength charts. I've posted my stats for the past week. Any pointers and guidance is always appreciated.

Moving the bar to the low position for the squat is extremely uncomfortable / painful with the tense stretch in back, arms & wrists. I know it will take time to correct this with proper stretching; however, what do I do for the squat in the mean time? I'm concerned with pushing higher weights when the position isn't comfortable.

Maybe you're setting it TOO low?

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

With all the learning I've done, I won't dare say I'm not. I tighten up my back and line up it top of the muscle just below my shoulders. I don't think it's too low in that my body is supporting the bar versus my hands. I will take pictures tomorrow and post after.

What do you do with your elbows?

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

I try to push them back to help keep back tight.

Try pushing them forward. Lots of folks swear by it.

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

See post in journal. Apparently I may have been setting it too low. This week was much better. My next concern is my MP has hit a tough spot.

This is where I can use some guidance:

I'm trying to figure out what weight standard to set as my goal. I want to be in the advance range using this site's chart for my ideal weight. My first question: what is my ideal weight? My am about 6' even, I would guess a medium build. I'm currently about 250 w/ a belly but other areas aren't too terribly off. I've ran the different calculators and found my ideal weight to be 165 to 185 which it makes it hard for me to believe that I'm that much over weight but perhaps I am.

The 2nd question is: given my current stats and routine, could I hit the target lifts for 165-185 weight range without resetting or having to change my routine?!?

3rd question: once I hit my target, how do I maintain that level?

Thanks for your assistance.

A body weight goal of 185 is probably good to shoot at. That would be a BMI of 25. There's no health reason for anyone to go lower than that. Short term, you should get under 30 which would put you at 220. Of course if you have a great deal of muscle, like Ironman, that doesn't apply. It's better to get your BF tested and then get down to the teens.

Based on the 181 standards, your 3x5 weight for squats is almost at the Intermediate level. Your 1RM is probably over that number. It's quite realistic that you should aim at the advanced number. It may take a while to reach, and you may have to change your program along the way, but it's a reasonable goal. I don't know where your other lifts are. This is based soley on your squat.

Why bother maintaining? Keep improving for the rest of your life. Each year, try to be better in some way that you were the year before.

_________________
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
_________________
Thanks TimD