I became interested in powerlifting this summer and I’ve pretty much learned what I know about it from online. I started out with around a 160 bench, 250 squat (although not quiet parallel), and I’m not really sure about my deadlift. I started out doing stronglifts and ran it for about 2.5 months, but stopped after repeated stalling and then switched to starting strength, but I didn’t make any additional progress on it.
My bench went up to an approximated 180, I was doing 5x5 with 220 (when before I could only do it with 190), and my deadlift kept stalling at 350x5 (which I could do before SL. I am 5’10" and weight 170.
I then switched over to WS4SB 3. I though it would be good because it is also not very advanced and I could work on weakpoints (I was imbalanced on a lot of my lifts it seemed). I just finished both of the max effort workouts on week 2 and they didn’t go up at all from week 1.
I was going for 3 rep maxes. I switched to Sumo pulls for the first time and they feel better, but I was surprised that I could only pull 375 for 2 reps because I pulled 365 a few years ago when I weighed 140.
So i was wondering if I am doing something wrong, and if I should switch programs. I am sleeping about 8 hours a day and eating a lot. I thought 5/3/1 looked good, but I am reluctant to have to wait 3 months to know if I am progressing or if it was a waste of time. Also, my assitance lifts all went up from last week, so I don’t know why my bench and deadlift didn’t.
Sorry about the long post, I just wanted to make sure I provided all the information.
Yeah I thought that stronglifts would last 5-6 months, but I kept stalling, deloading, and then stalling again at the same weight. It said to switch to 3x5 (which was basically starting strength) after 3 deloads. And I didn’t make any additional progress on that.
Also, I have been lifting for years, just with stuff like 5 day bodypart splits and GVT and stuff like that that I don’t think is generally associated with powerlifting training
The problem I am guessing is that you are starting too heavy.
You need to pick ONE program and stick it out no matter what for at least 6 months. Just do 5/3/1. It’s more or less foolproof. Keep your training maxes conservative. Make sure you’re doing plenty of reps with quality form and volume. You should only rarely be testing your strength. First you must actually build it.
[quote]csulli wrote:
The problem I am guessing is that you are starting too heavy.
You need to pick ONE program and stick it out no matter what for at least 6 months. Just do 5/3/1. It’s more or less foolproof. Keep your training maxes conservative. Make sure you’re doing plenty of reps with quality form and volume. You should only rarely be testing your strength. First you must actually build it.[/quote]
Agreed.
Program hoping isn’t doing you any good. You have to be patient and consistent. Gains will come.
Keep in mind that stalling isn’t just one or two bad workouts. And sometimes the body and mind just needs a rest. That would mean a back off week. I’m not going to tell you what exactly that should entail because it’s highly individualistic, but you’ll have to cut back on conditioning, volume, intensity, and frequency. Maybe just one, maybe all of them.
Like what someone else said, 5/3/1 progresses slow enough that it is pretty much fool proof. Just start too light. Instead if 90% maybe try 85% so you really know you aren’t starting too heavy and you’ll be set to make gains for a while on it starting that low.
I’m gonna do it with around 85% like you said and I’m gonna add in some static holds after deadlift and squat assistance also just because my grip tends to weaken a lot if I don’t work it directly.