Thanks for the reply

So you're saying that say

[
mon
squat warmup + 3x5
bench warmup + 3x5

thu
dl warmup + 1x5
press warmup + 3x5

(or even less than 3x5 for sq/bench/pr)

and then randomly get some chins in when I go climbing (there's a bar there) or just do that pulling work with climbing
]

would be enough? then why do people bother with doing Starting Strength?
this def seems like it would be feasible recovery wise

Prob to get some basic level of strength as a novice.

to be clear I have def not exhausted linear SS gains, my numbers are laughable (work sets of sq 85kg, sumo dl 105, bench 66.5, press 47.5)

You question was originally really poorly formed. Why are you even lifting? It seems like you just wanna go to the gym for the sake of doing it rather than accomplishing anything.

I am in a similar dilemma. I go running three times a week (once 1 hour+) and haver recently noted that even while squatting only once a week, I feel to weak. So I dropped 15% and am going for three sets of 8 instead.
I am not really sure why and it seems the opposite of what ActionJeff is proposing, but I'll try it for a few weeks and see how it works.

In order of importance:

1) Strength gains. Just the novice strength level I have now is such an improvement in my daily life over nothing. Helping someone move, carrying groceries, hiking, sex, ... Before lifting I wouldn't have expected that being strong (slightly less weak?) > regularly running 10k's for general life usage, esp by this big a margin
2) Makes me look better
3) It makes me aware of mobility I'm lacking and is a motivation to work on that. No way I'd be doing hip mobility work without the goal of doing a proper back straight squat. Same for posture stuff and just general body awareness
4) The general benefit any exercise gives you

But, while I like all those things and don't want to give them up, I also climb. And, noticing that lack of recovery forces me to prioritise one, I would prefer to improve in climbing over improving in lifting. So I'm asking: what's the best way to lift stuff and get as much of the benefits above as I can, given that I don't want to significantly hurt my climbing? (Tennis is less important, but that's not really something I'm ever going to do at 50% since it's a game vs friends )

I'm not sure why my initial question was really poorly formed or how these priorities mean I just want to go to the gym without accomplishing anything.

I stopped trying hard for gains once I was able to do cross fit wods Rx'd. Women's Rx'd

Answer is the same as before. Cut back everything to once a week and manipulate volume and intensity as desired.

I'd consider quitting barbell squatting which has little to no carryover to climbing. However if your legs aren't getting much work otherwise, I would hesitate to axe the best leg exercise there is. Still, if your goal is to prioritize climbing and reduce training strain squatting multiple times a week makes no sense

Deadlift once a week for 1x5 is totally fine. Bench for 3x10 or 5x5 is fine. etc. Just keep lifting and trying to progress in some way. Squat DL and Bench are basically worth doing in some form. That doesn't mean you need to do them multiple times a week while drinking a gallon of milk to effectively utilize them.

If you really want to prioritize climbing the reality of the situation is that if you quit all of those exercises and climb more you will be a stronger, better climber a few months down the line. Very few of the elite climbers I've ever listened to on the Training Beta podcast do any of these exercises, and none of the top 5 level climbers do any of them. Even among the climbers who do them, apart from one powerlifter whose lifetime best is like 5.13 and who recommended gaining 30 pounds of muscle to be a better climber (seriously), none of them do these exercises full time- it's essentially off season work.

Move to lunges and rear foot squats and cosack squats. Single leg endurance and to a degree power is more important to climbing with regards to lower body work.

Both of my rotator cuffs hurt after doing bench and ohp. It's the area directly above my armpit and also a little bit on the arm sides. I have internally rotated shoulders which I've been working on but they are still bad.

Should I stop doing these lifts until I've managed to get them aligned, or can I tough through this?

Generally doing anything that causes pain is a bad idea.

Doctor.

Yeah.

Also, form check.

Already saw a doctor about it actually. Basically told me it won't fall off and gave me some painkillers.

I could go try another doctor I suppose.

Agree form check but likely "elbows in". Also, what's your warmup?

band pull aparts, hand facing palm up against a wall stretch and then some shoulder stretch while on the floor. For the lift itself 2 sets of the bar, 1 at 60% 1 at 80%

It's probably worthwhile to immediately quit both. Definitely OHP.

I'm not saying never press again, but a phase of physical therapy with lots of retraction, mobility work for shoulders, perhaps a cable/band press and eventually pushups could be useful in the interim. Pushing movements for higher reps that don't cause pain, essentially

People bother with programs like SS to get faster results and maintain gains for longer without plateauing

There's no real reason you can't do this lower volume program and continue pushing for gains semi-indefinitely

Thanks everyone, will take some time off and post form vids when I start again.

Is there anything I can do in the meantime while I try to correct this? Seems like this could take months, and I don't really want to be missing out on any chest or shoulder work for that time.

Find variants of the lifts that don't aggravate your shoulder. Neutral grip db flat bench or db ohp, cg barbell bench, etc. Just try things until you find something that you can go heavy on without pain.

Yup

You can train chest and shoulders a ton.

just not with maximal weights

Thanks. Actually tried neutral grip inclined and while it didn't hurt as much it didn't feel pleasant. I feel like most things will be like that to at least some degree... I'm considering doing just machine isolation work if that is alright, but still not really sure.

Right now it seems like with the amount that I'm on a computer and my phone that trying to get my shoulder squared up is 1 step forward and 2 steps back.

By all means, do the machine work, but you should do the experimentation necessary to see if there are compound movements you can do as well. The benefit of finding a couple that you can do will be well worth it.

Also probably look into supplemental exercises to strengthen the rotator cuff muscles, such as this and this.

Thanks for the links, that's exactly the type of stuff I'm doing while taking a break from upper body lifts.

I'm not even sure if machine work is ok. I'd rather get my shoulders aligned quickly and do no work rather than do some work and need a longer time to recover. I guess I can experiment with some compound movements too though.

Thanks for the help.

So I did a bunch of reading on regular baked potatoes, and can't get a clear answer.

Some say they're fine to eat, other's say it's just another form of white bread.


Thoughts?