The Quest for Consistency

[ch]

Long story short:

I have done the novice LP multiple times. I have never successfully transitioned to intermediate programming. This time around, I’ve been spinning my wheels since August.

5-rep PRs are: 370/207.5/137.5/395

These are all stale. I’m weaker now.

35, 5’10”

Found myself close to 230 lbs a few months ago. I’ve cut down to 213 by cutting back on alcohol and eating mostly low fat single ingredient foods. My current focus is to get down under 15% bodyfat and/or a 34 waist.

Current plan is to run GGW while on a moderate deficit.

This week, I will work up to a conservative single on each lift to find a starting point. I haven’t deadlifted or pressed in a while, so these might be lower than I’m expecting, but I need to get on a structured program ASAP.

I am a member of a great gym. My work schedule is not too crazy. I have no excuses other than lack of discipline.

[Chebass88]

Keep pushing ahead - discipline and consistency are build a session at a time. Three consecutive sessions becomes five, which eventually becomes 20, and so on.

[mgil]

@ch, are you tracking weekly tonnage?

Also, how are things stalling?

[ch]

ch, are you tracking weekly tonnage?

Also, how are things stalling?

I’m not tracking tonnage. Right now it’s hard to make any judgments about my training since I’m averaging somewhere around 1.25 sessions per week for the past 6 weeks.

[ch]

1/15 — pre-GGW testing week

BW: 213.4
Belt hole: 5 (35”), barely

Bench

200x1 @6
215x1 @7 PR
230x1 @8.5 PR
240xF


Squat

315x1 @6
345x1 @7.5
365x1 @8.5
380x1 @9 PR

285x5x2 @7,7


Chins

BWx7,5,4


Happy to be benching 2 plates. Should have done some backoffs, but wanted to grab a rack while one was open. Shouldn’t have gone for 240 knowing how quickly my bench craters. Squat was a little disappointing considering I’ve hit 370x5, but 380 moved fast and was a conservative @9. After failing bench, I didn’t want to overshoot.

This is the first time I’ve attempted singles on anything but deadlifts, so I’m sure there’s a learning curve.

First time in recent memory I’ve hit the middle hole on my belt. Maybe first time ever.

Seems like there are more StSt devotees at my gym. Even some coaching going on. Spotted a SSOC shirt today.

[ch]

So, looking at GGW, a 380 1RM means I’d be squatting 360 for singles or doubles at the end of the program. That seems quite conservative. I’m trying to fight the little gremlin in my head telling me to use my e1RM as the starting point instead of today’s single.

If I did that, I’d be hitting 380 for 1-2 reps on the last heavy week. Considering how fast it moved today (difficult, but not a grind), I feel like it wouldn’t be a problem.

That doesn’t factor in accumulated fatigue + weight loss, though. If I’m doing things right, I’ll be down to 200 by the end of this program.

Decisions, decisions...

[GrizzlyAdam]

Don’t forget that you’ll be lifting those weights (360 or 380) in training. The PR is supposed to come when you test at the end.

[ch]

The Quest for Consistency has been postponed due to inclement weather.

This is from last time there was a major snowstorm in my town:



I envy you guys with home gyms right now. I need to at least get a pull-up bar.

[simonrest]

that is a fucking excellent photo

[ch]

1/18 — Cardio

Weight: 214.4

Walk 3.5 miles in 1:10

[ch]

BW 217.0
Belt hole: 4, easily

(Yikes! I was 211.0 on Friday and 213.2 yesterday. Had an epic cheat on beer and homemade pizza last night. Hopefully this is a spike and not a trend)

Squat: 265x6x4 @ 7s across, 4m rest (with belt)

(Easy peasy. Still fighting the urge to increase my training max, but I keep reminding myself that submaximal volume without grinding is the point. Hard to adjust from going @9 all the time.)

Press singles: 115@6 135@8 150@F 145@9 PR

(Could have had 150 if I was a little more aggressive. Died at the forehead. Also I haven’t pressed in a few weeks. I toyed with doing a bench focused GGW cycle but my press needs more work.)

Press: 95x6x4 @7s across, no belt (should have been 3 sets... oops)

(Easy peasy. Could do all 6 reps under one breath.)

Deadlift singles: 315@LOL 365@7 405@9.5

(Probably could have gotten 415 or so, but not worth it. On the plus side, this means I’m officially in the 1000 lbs. gym total club.)

Deadlift: 265x6x1 @ 6.5 (oops - misload) 245x6x2 @ <6,<6, no belt, DOH

(Really, ridiculously easy. But I guess that’s the point.)

Chins: 4,4,3

(Deadlifts always kill my chins. Tried to stay one rep under failure today and go on shorter rest, too.)

Called it here. Workout took about 1:45 due to the press and deadlift testing.

I feel like everything is too easy, but I’m resisting the urge to tweak my maxes. The most important thing for me right now is getting to the gym three days a week consistently.

[augeleven]

Medium deadlifts are so light at first. Andy mentions doing a more difficult variation, rather than changing the percentages. I did paused Deadlifts for the first bunch of weeks. I also do a top single at 90%ish of my training max before the "heavy" day. If I run this again, I will probably add the single in for squats too.

[KarlM]

I ran a cycle of GGW and just like you I struggled with how easy it felt at first. I added 25 lbs to my squat and 20 lbs to my deadlift running it as written. That was great. However, I made no progress on OHP and bench, and others have reported that on Andy's forum at $$. Andy has suggested adding an extra bench day, or adding some extra volume or intensity. However, it may work for you as written. I think running the press centered one is tricky since the overall stress is not as great as if you ran a bench focused one. At a minimum it seems it is better to add two days of bench and two days of OHP per week to drive progress. Good luck!

[ch]

I ran a cycle of GGW and just like you I struggled with how easy it felt at first. I added 25 lbs to my squat and 20 lbs to my deadlift running it as written. That was great. However, I made no progress on OHP and bench, and others have reported that on Andy's forum at $$. Andy has suggested adding an extra bench day, or adding some extra volume or intensity. However, it may work for you as written. I think running the press centered one is tricky since the overall stress is not as great as if you ran a bench focused one. At a minimum it seems it is better to add two days of bench and two days of OHP per week to drive progress. Good luck!

By “extra bench day,” do you mean adding a 4th workout, or adding bench to the press light day?

[KarlM]

I ran a cycle of GGW and just like you I struggled with how easy it felt at first. I added 25 lbs to my squat and 20 lbs to my deadlift running it as written. That was great. However, I made no progress on OHP and bench, and others have reported that on Andy's forum at $$. Andy has suggested adding an extra bench day, or adding some extra volume or intensity. However, it may work for you as written. I think running the press centered one is tricky since the overall stress is not as great as if you ran a bench focused one. At a minimum it seems it is better to add two days of bench and two days of OHP per week to drive progress. Good luck!

By “extra bench day,” do you mean adding a 4th workout, or adding bench to the press light day?

Andy recommended adding an extra medium bench day on saturday (if you're running it as MWF). If you don't like that, I think you could keep the same layout but add some extra volume to the pressing days. I never felt beat up at all with respect to my pressing, so that may work out. Maybe add an extra set of pressing on each day.

[ch]

Thanks. I was considering adding a medium bench day on the light press day. But I should get myself into the gym for conditioning on Saturday anyway. It would also be a good way to get in some accessories.

[ch]

BW 214.2 (I figured 217 was a spike)

Squat 230x6x2 @ 6,6 paused, beltless

BP 165x6x4 @ 7,7,7,7.5 first rep paused

Rows 135x8x4 @ too heavy (not strict form)

Curls 45s x 8,8,8,8


Should have checked my ego and used bumpers for rows. They’re new to me, so hopefully they’ll progress quickly.

[ch]

BW 213.0 (coming off that spike, but still no net loss)

Squat 250x6x3 @ 6.5,6.5,6.5 (beltless)

Press 102.5x6x4 @ 7,7,7,7

Deadlift 285x6x1 @ 7 (beltless)

Superset {
- Chins BW x 3,3,3,2
- LTEs 38x15x4 (EZ curl)
}

Lat pulldowns +90 x 10x4

* * *

Everything felt really easy except the chins. I limited the first set to 3 hoping to get 5 sets of 3. Nope. Did lat pulldowns to supplement since I had the time. My chins always die after deadlifts.

[ch]

BW 211.6 (almost back to where I was a week ago)

LISS 57 minute walk

[ch]

Squat 285x5x4 @ 7, 7, 7.25, 7 (no belt)

Press 102.5x5x3 @ 6.5, 6.5, 6.5

Deadlift (2” deficit, no belt, DOH) 265x5x3 @ 6, 6.5, 6.5

Chins BW x 5, 5, 5 (last @10)

——

Morning gym session today, which is rare for me. I felt a little lightheaded. Don’t think I ate enough beforehand, and I definitely didn’t sleep enough. Luckily the weights were light enough that it didn’t matter.

A little weird squatting my previous light day weight on a heavy day. That’s why I kept the belt off. Not sure whether or not that was a good idea since I felt it in my lower back a little.

Trying to break myself out of the habit of 5-7 minute rests since I don’t need them at these RPEs. Got through my last press warmup and all three work sets during the song Chameleon, which is about 15 minutes long. So that’s good. And I got out in about 1:30, which is the target.