Note: If you get lost with some of the terms in this post, then a good read-through of Practical Programming is in order. If you are serious about getting stronger or preparing for any kind of competitive event, it is well worth the money.
When you train hard by lifting weights, you disrupt homeostasis in your body. The disruption occurs at a general and a local level. If you are going to continue getting stronger and you aren’t using “medication”, then you need ample recovery for this “metabolic and structural fatigue” to subside.
There is a point in the linear progression when an appropriate body weight is reached (that is variable to the individual, but mostly dependent on height and frame) and recovery processes will start to ebb. This is the diminishing returns aspect of the linear progression; you cannot make five pound jumps on your squat every day forever.
When I approached the mid 400s on my linear progression, things became difficult. If I put any additional work load on my body, then I wouldn’t recover for the next workout regardless of how much I was eating. My comprehensive recovery processes were maxed out and soon would not be able to continue working. I survived a workout of 465x5x3…barely. I knew that it was time to switch over to the Texas Method. That point in which you cannot recover from the work load on a daily basis and must switch over to a program that allows you to adapt on a weekly basis is the conversion from “novice” to “intermediate”.
Linear progression days
Olympic weightlifting soon became my focus, and for different reasons, I went back and forth between a Texas Method program and an Olympic weightlifting program (that included the strength lifts). I began competing in the sport of Olympic weightlifting having performances that ranged from success to failure. Every time I got through a competition, I was eager to start training for the NEXT one. I always identified ways I could improve, and wanted to get started on them immediately.
Not so fast my friends…
It was Dr. Kilgore that gave me the proverbial slap in the face after I qualified for nationals in March. He told me to take a week off and I couldn’t understand it. I had been injured before that meet, I had gotten weaker, and I wanted/needed to be stronger. I didn’t want to hesitate – I only had 14 weeks to get ready for nationals, and I wanted to use every second of it!
He kept explaining to me matter-of-factly things that needed reminding. In the same way that there is a hormonal fluctuation for a novice, the same happens in the long-term for a more advanced lifter. If you are truly peaking for a meet, you change programming variables like volume intensity so that you give your body a chance to supercompensate for that meet. As Rippetoe has written, you don’t get stronger from lifting weights, you get stronger by recovering from lifting weights. The same concept holds true for a taper and peak; you stop doing as much work so that your body doesn’t have as much to recover from, and then your body will be in an optimal state to produce more force at the meet.
At a meet you pummel your body with maximal attempts (which you may or may not be adapted to) and your body may still be limping along from your previous training cycle. The best thing to do (for a non-drugged or non-elite lifter) is to take some time off to let the body get back to an appropriate homeostasis before the next training cycle begins. By trying to blow through your peak into heavy training, you are only reducing your effectiveness.
Recovery is the most important aspect of improvement. If you cannot recover from what you’re doing, then you won’t progress. Ensuring that recovery is fully complete before the next training cycle will help reset your body and your mind. You’ll know that you are starting with a clean slate for the next training cycle. When Kilgore was patiently explaining this to me, he referenced how the Russians of old would have a week of “play”. They’d play racquetball and get outside for a change. A “week of play” would would be a perfect opportunity to partake in activities you may have cut out before the meet so that it didn’t interfere with recovery or prevent injury. Get on a bike, play volletyball, or chase the dog – just do something that isn’t lifting for a week.
Brent told me last night that Dmitry Klokov, a 105kg Russian weightlifter, didn’t lift after the 2004 Olympics until the beginning of the next year. He apparently just swam, and when he came into the Arnold Classic in 2005, he was weighing around 96kg or so. This is an example of an elite athlete needing time off in order to rest his body, and probably more so his mind.
I’ve seen lots of people get overtrained unnecessarily, and they are always worse off for it. Gant has always said, “I have never rested too much.” As much as the “don’t be a pussy” attitude has permeated through strength training culture, it is still best to treat your body right. After you compete, take some time off, relax, and enjoy your plunder. Your body and mind will thank me.
Thanks, Justin very informative and good post. We can learn a whole lot from experiences of you guys!
465 linear progression… that is absurd, something must be in that water down there in texas, or maybe its the brisket, but you guys are mastadons
Olympic Lifting program with strength lifts? Maybe you can answer what’s been on my mind the past 3 weeks. At the end of my linear progression I like you was charmed by the sport of Olympic lifting. I left my gym and now train only the O. lifts. I am wondering how my bench, overhead press, and deadlifts will be adversely affected from only training O. lifts.
I think that the strength lifts need to be done at least once a week, even in an Oly-centered program. Bench could be once every two weeks.
–Justin
That’s still the best looking squat ever (no homo). Video’d mine yesterday to see the grossest butt wink of all time…Stretching will be the death of me….
Or to put as Max Mormont did at the recent CF Football cert in Stockholm: “I dont believe in over training, only in under recovery.”
Great article!
This rest stuff sounds great and all but there aint no rest for the wicked so Ill rest when I’m dead!
Na im kidding. Some of the best workouts i have ever had came after taking a week off, I strongly recomend it if you haven’t done so in a while. You’ll probably come back stronger than you were before you took the break…
I take a deload week every month and I take a full two weeks OFF every 4-6 months. I usually take 3-5 days off after events. I always come back fresh, and I keep getting better.
For me, active rest isn’t a light day in the weight room. It’s playing tennis, throwing a baseball, or riding a mountain bike.
You need it for the mind as much as you do for the body. For you guys with only a few months under your belt, develop these practices NOW. It will keep you in it for the long haul.
I made this mistake after my first power meet I did a while back. I didn’t feel too sore or beat up so I decided to do some light squats on Monday. As I warmed up I realized my hips were sore as hell. Instead of just cutting off like I should have, I just lowered the weight and finished out my sets. Stupid mistake 2. I was hurting for the rest of the week and was still sore the following week. Next time, I’ll be taking the week off for sure.
Rest is extremely important. I had coached one person who insisted on training heavy again two days after his first PL meet. He did this after I insisted on him taking a week off. Of course he gets injured/overtrained within a few days.
Well, it’s not like the overtraining suddenly occurred. He was on the brink of it, and the excess lifting solidified it. The injury aspect is something I didn’t emphasis enough, but that is more likely than anything else.
–Justin
Touche
–A.C.
Good write up Justin, it is hard to tell when you are having a couple bad days, or when the novice period is truly over. Which sucks.
It just means you’re becoming an adult.
–Justin
Good advice, thanks for the write up 70sbig.
I’m competing in my first meet on August 14th. WABDL (yeah I know, no squats but it’s literally 3 miles from my house, I gotta do it!).
This was well timed for me, since I had my first failed SS workout after 2+ months of clockwork like gains. Then as I was reading today’s post I realized I quit GOMAD friday, and have consumed 2500-3k cals for the last 4 days straight. I do everything else for recovery… how could I forget something so damn basic???
Oh yeah, and 465?! Damn it, you got me by 5lbs. Strong bastard.
I’m currently in a deload right now with 531. I’m training for tomorrow, not today.
Kittensmath – Wow 465, he’s got me by 100+ lol
AC, i was goin through some of the other videos on vimeo, whats the song you used in the statesboro starting strength crew pt 2 video?
Answered in yesterdays comment
–A.C.
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What would you suggest for a novice who wanted to train in olympic lifting?
i have trained on and off for years, just started SS but have a real urge to learn the olympic lifts.
should i continue with SS and wait until im stronger or just train the olympic lifts and try to work the powerlifts in aswell?
I have been strictly been doing high-bar squats on SS and progress has somewhat come to a halt. Any suggestions?
There are plenty of suggestions, but we don’t know anything about you. The problem with high bar squatting is that you are leaving out some muscles from helping on the squat, and this is a chicken and egg problem. It means you aren’t training as much muscle, and it also means that when you deadlift correctly, the deadlift aids the squat if you are doing the lowbar, but you aren’t. That’s the first issue.
But, again, we don’t know anything about you.
–Justin
Nice Post Justin.
SMC: You first gotta make sure your recovering enough like Eating enough food, drinking your milk, getting enough sleep and not exerting yourself too much before you workout like running a 10k or something. After that, maybe you could switch to low bar. I’ve been high barring but am now going to switch to low bar. if you’re gonna stay with high bar, maybe you just need a minor reset to bust through the stall or you are ready for advanced novice? what are your lifts like and are the others progressing still?
@razor
right now my lifts are currently:
(HB)sqauts – 365 x 1, 315 x 5 x 3
deadlift – 435 x 1
clean – 245
clean + jerk – 235
snatch – 180
press – 175 x 5 x 3
bench – 225 x 5 x 3
i see so many people excelling with low bar squats and they have tremendous numbers.
Height/weight is necessary for this to be relevant.
–Justin
maybe a belt might help as well..
SMC,
Low Bar back squats involve the hamstrings to a greater degree than a high bar back squat. Bringing in more muscle is good, for obvious reasons. Have you read SS? Rip makes an argument for low bar back squatting that is hard to refute.
Question for Justin, or Gant or A.C., but anyone is welcome to weigh in:
From what I’ve understood, the GOMAD approach is not forever. But when to say when?
To put it differently, should I start GOMAD if I’m already over 200lbs?
I used to compete in Olympic lifting (and follow a program based on the O lifts), but switched to PL for fun, and did Sheiko for a year. Then more recently I’ve been doing 5/3/1. I’d like to compete in OL again as well as PL.
I weigh about 220lb, but am not anywhere near as strong as I’d like to be. Getting stronger seems almost impossible to me unless I’m eating like a maniac, but I like to try to look good too, and I tend to get a little soft and mushy when I’m power eating.
Is it reasonable to build up to a gallon of milk a day, do that for a month or two, and then dial back the calories?
Thanks for the fun and informative site! All the best to everyone in setting PRs. I’m coming back from a hamstring issue, and will start posting PRs on Friday to log my recovery.
Ron
You didn’t tell us how tall you are, but 220 probably doesn’t require GOMAD unless you are wanting to weigh 250+. Go check out my friend John Scheaffer’s Q&A, it is a valuable resource: http://www.startingstrength.com/resources/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=160&order=desc
–Justin
Good article. I am currently supposed to be in my de-load week right now but I feel horrible so I am just taking the week off completely. I am sick and don’t want to push it. I’ve done it before and it didn’t go well. There was a time when I did my scheduled workout no matter what, but now I have no problems taking time off if I’m going to do more harm than good.
SMC: your numbers aren’t bad at all. I’d suggest using a belt and trying low bar out, read up on the technique and use it in your warm ups and see how it feels. you may be able to hit your next schedule squat weight with it or a minor reset will be necessary but your squat #’s will go up in no time once you get the low bar technique down. It seems like you still have more room to progress on the novice program fortunately.
Justin,
Perhaps you can answer this query. I am not aware of any Oly meets held in the great state of Oklahoma. I think I heard/read somewhere that Okies can compete in some Texas meets (Texas Open?). Can you substantiate this?
I’ve never heard of people from different states not being allowed at other state’s meets, or other state meets for that matter.
–Justin
Sorry fellas, I am 215 @ 5’10
Wow 465 5×3 from linear progression…just wow!!!
I’m currently in week 16 (not consecutive as there’s been about two weeks total off during that stretch) and working up from a deload of 10%. I was struggling with 275 5×3 on the squat and 250 5×3 on the BP before the deload. I’ll probably have to switch to Texas type program before I get anywhere near 400 on the squat.
I’m 6’3″ 235 48 yo.
@homerj742
I wish there were competitions 3 miles from my house. My first meet was in December and I just signed up for the deadlift. That was a 5 hour drive to the west of me. My next competition is this July and it is about a 4 hour drive to the east of me.
@Justin and Captain Ronn
I am lifting in the Big Sky State Games – the Montana part of the State Games of America. The powerlifting portion allows competitors from Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, and Idaho. Perhaps with low populations in these states, there might not be enough opportunities/interest for competitions in these states so they allow them to have a chance to compete too.
I know that this wasn’t the main point of the article, but damn, 465 lbs linear progression? Boy, I’ve got a lot of work to do…
Justin,
How long were your rests between sets when you were nearing the end of your linear progression? Any tips on how to decide when to increase those rests?
And if your numbers are any indication, I won’t be surprised to see you in London in 2012.
I thank you for the kind words, but I won’t be anywhere close to making an Olympic team.
My rests were around 10 minutes as it got really heavy in the linear progression. You increase the rest when you need to. I don’t think I ever rested more than 10, but it was at least 7 or 8.
–Justin
Hey Justin,
I’m 6ft tall, 220-230lbs. Thanks for the link, I’ll have a look. Best with the site,
Ron
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