Ok.

I've got no idea where it came from either, but you are correct.

It's from PPST 2.

A reason not to push press the last rep: probably makes it easier to cheat involuntarily on the earlier reps as well, so make very sure you don't.

what could be keeping my bench press from getting stronger? it takes about 3-4 workouts to raise it by 5lbs (doing 3x5x5rm) meanwhile DL/press/squat goes up each time? i was doing the SS workouts but not warming up or increasing weight as it says i should cause i kept hitting walls. the power rack's been busto the past few weeks/been leg pressing instead. fwiw BP = 135lbs, DL= 240, Press = 100, SQU = 165 as of a few weeks ago. do pullups n stuff instead of pcs. it's just been a huge pain in the ass bp'ing while everything else feels really right.

edit: what are the warmup %'s?

Put a vid up

This is also known as NOT doing the program.

If the last data point you have for BP is "a few weeks ago", then your bench press is not increasing because you don't train it often enough. Once again, not doing the program.

Did you consider that "everything" may be tight because you aren't warming up?

Warm-up:
http://startingstrength.wikia.com/wi...ng_sessions.3F

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/ne...newthread&f=85

When doing SS, when do you know when it is time to move up 5lbs?

For example:

If someone can bench press 185x5x3 (and they could not physically perform another rep), should they move to 190lbs the next workout?

If so, the next time you move up another 5lbs is when you can lift 190x5x3? Is this correct?

I started microloading bench when I got to about 165x5x3. After that I bought 1.25 lb plates and just moved up 2.5 lbs each workout.

SS says you should increase 5 lbs EVERY workout until you fail (get 4 reps or less), then repeat. It that doesn't work, reset 10% and go work up the weights again or start microloading.

A non-Rip approved option is to reset 10% and then work back in 2.5 lb increments, with a Rep scheme of 2x5 & 1x5+.

Most people need to start microloading the press pretty fast (soon? Engrish hard).

After resetting several times on SS, I did a few things that I believed helped my BP.

I widened my grip a lot while still maintaining a about 45 degree angle on my arms.
I watched this video and especially paid a lot of attention to 4:30 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QnwAoesJvQ

I alternate between incline and flat twice a week and once a week I close grip flat bench. Recently I started alternating weeks of volume and intensity.

For someone with a really weak bench to start, "bad shoulders" etc. I think I have made pretty decent progress and I believe most of the value has come from widening my grip, following Dave Tate's advice and close grip benching. IMO.

I have a new and exciting shoulder pain.

So Friday I had 2 pretty good workout sessions, last one involving bench, db rows, and db snatches. Saturday was nothing but lay around/watch TV (cleaned my room, and maybe some shoulder dislocators once). Sunday played cards all day, except I did shoulder dislocators in the morning.

Felt fine Friday night, all of Saturday, and most of the day Sunday. Sunday around 10pm-ish, I started to feel some discomfort moving my left arm. And it persisted today, but hasn't gotten any better/worse. It's basically a pain if I try to randomly move my arm, and most often happens if I try to do a front raise with my left arm. The pain is somewhere here:



I'd say below the trap muscle, above the scapula. Wiki-ing around, the closest thing I can find is Supraspinatus muscle, but it's an abductor, and I can abduct just fine.

Anything I can do? Do those Brookstone vibrating massage things help at all for something like this?

edit: so I've just massaged the crap out of it with my hand, and looks like it's getting better. I'll see if I die benching today.

Cool story bpa.

I've been on SS [this time around] for a few months now. I have been enjoying it and I am pleased with my results. I am hoping to gain strength (and weight) and am eating a lot. I'm 6'2", 200lbs.

My SS has been quite basic, M-W-F alternating 2 workouts:
A: squat, bench, deadlift
B: squat, press, PC, pullups

I play semi-pro field hockey, and the season just started. Games are on Sundays.

I have been doing SS on M-W-F. On Sunday I feel muscular fatigue from squats which hampers my game a little, but, in my opinion, an acceptable amount. Monday, however, is a bitch. I am sore and cannot heavy squat, deadlift, or PC, as my hamstrings, quads, and glutes are destroyed.

1. So - how should I alter my workouts?
There is no real conceivable way for me to squat 3x per week unless I switch to Tu-Th-Sat and then I worry my hockey performance will be too adversely affected. Should I just squat+deadlift/PC W+F? Should I squat+deadlift/PC light weight instead?

Until now I have been pairing press+PC and bench+deadlift. Should I alternate bench/press on M-W-F and then, for example, deadlift on Wed and PC on Fri? What are thoughts on sometimes bench+deadlift and sometimes bench+PC?

What else can I add on to Monday's workout if I don't squat, DL or PC? I am thinking rows, pullups, back extensions.

2. If I have hockey training on the evening of a SS day, should I:
a) perform SS lifts in the evening immediately before hockey training,
b) perform SS lifts in the morning and rest before hockey training in the evening, or
c) skip SS lifts? Keep in mind I will probably only be squatting twice weekly and DL+PCing once.

3. A question on active recovery. My cardio has suffered of late due to SS and I would like to introduce something on off days that helps cardio but without harming recovery. Any ideas?

4. Has anybody tried to introduce yoga on off days? I am having some neck issues and my general flexibility is poor, and my physio has suggested yoga. I'm interested on any thoughts on this too.


Thanks in advance for any comments, suggestions, and ideas.

If this is in season for you, I think doing SS at this point is probably too much. You won't recover from training and matches. There are plenty of things you can do which could help. For example make Wednesday the 3x5 squat day and only do 1x5 on Mon and Fri, this has worked well for others I am pretty sure once they are past the newbie stage. Change to intermediate programming with slow progress. Go to a two a week thing doing A +B workouts alternately. There are like infinite options.

As for adding more cardio. Just adding some tempo work should be fine. Keep track of mileage per week. Keep intensity low enough to not harm recovery but high enough to have a training effect.

i feel like when i squat recently my wrists are getting bent way too far back and causing some pain. any suggestions?

Widen your grip.

Ab exercise is hurting back. I can't tell if it's because my lower back is just weak or if the exercise is putting a dangerous strain on my back.

My gym at work is very bare bones, so I have to get creative with the free weights (which only go up to 40 lbs). (Yeah yeah, join a gym, etc., I don't want to because I work two hours from my house.)

I'm not looking to pump out 1000 crunches--I want to build ab muscle. I sit on the bench, anchor my feet under two dumbells, and I do weighted situps. I sit on the bench such that I can extend my upper body far back (i.e., sitting back doesn't result in my back being on the bench--my butt is the only part touching the bench and I lean way back, then come up again).

It does a good job straining my abs, but again, the only thing supporting me is my butt, so my back gets strained. After a few sets, it's the back strain that causes me to stop and not ab fatigue. I don't want to push myself too much at the end because if I can't get that last rep I'll be bending backwards over the bench.

Is this lower back muscle fatigue or is it back bone strain? The lower back muscles don't feel sore, but sometimes the lower back will hurt for a day or two, leading me to believe it's an unhealthy exercise.

I stopped doing it altogether because I don't want to hurt myself. Kinda sucks though because I can do those situps with a lot more weight than when I started.

Widen your grip and/or do shoulder stretches.

tim, your gym sounds worthless. are there barbells there? and if there are no other convenient gym locations, what about a home gym? it also sounds like ab work is a big component of your training. if so, that is pretty. have you ever deadlifted? squatted? benched? overhead pressed? compound movements should comprise the vast majority of your training.

It is worthless. It's a federal government building. Free weights at 5 lb increments up to 40, a lonely bench, and some cardio equipment.

I've done all those exercises before. Like, 8-10 years ago. I'm not a complete beginner, but I'm definitely no expert. I started working out again about five months ago. I play high-intensity sports that require a lot of explosivity, and I felt like I hit a plateau as far as athleticism goes, so I decided to hit the weights. I'm primarily interested increasing sprint speed and vertical (already got my copy of Vertical Jumping Bible), but I'm also interested in general fitness. Not really looking to get huge, but bigger muscles are obv a bonus.

The ab workout isn't a huge component of my routine, but it's the only one causing irregular discomfort, so I thought I'd ask about it.

I'm not a muscular person, so the free weights are fine for now, but I'm definitely getting to the point to where using the weights would only be good for muscle endurance rather than strength/hypertrophy, so I might end up with a gym. I split my after-work time between the city I work in (cheap apartment) and my home city, so a gym membership in one city isn't ideal.

tim,

In general, crunches are not recommended because of spinal flexion. The general framework for core-training is based on stability (think plank), anti-extension (think rollout) and anti-rotation (think palloff press.) This is in addition to heavy lifting in the big lifts, and overhead work which requires mid-line stability.

The analogy for cruches often used is that of a credit card (I'm not sure how accurately it transfers over): you can bend it it repeatedly, but it eventually snaps. Moreover, spinal flexion reinforces kyphotic posture which, without getting overly technical, is bad for the back. Now this doesn't mean that crunches WILL cause back pain, and that NOBODY should do them EVER, but there are much better choices, with lower risk. This is especially true if you're already experiencing back pain.

lol I thought I was replying to someone asking about improving their bench...

When I DL, I wear long pants (athletic type pants or thin sweatpants) because I try to allow the bar to make contact with my legs/shins on the way up and down. The problem I have is that after several workouts the friction between the BB and the pants will cause them to rip and create holes. If I wear shorts and make contact, I get cuts on my leg and start to bleed. Anyone have this problem? Any solutions? Buying more pants isn't one of them, they're not really that cheap.

Non beginner answer below

Socks