What’s your excuse?

Join the party with PR Friday and post your training PR’s or updates to comments.

Somebody asked me how I was able to have so much success on a linear progression (I used Starting Strength) since I worked up to 465x5x3 a couple years ago. On the first day I started at 325x5x3 and eight weeks later was at 445x5x3. I made a five pound jumps each workout; 24 workouts times 5 pound increments equals 120 lbs. of added weight on the work sets at the end of the two months. I had some set backs and eventually worked up to the 465 realm. I’d eventually work up to an easy 500×3.

AC had similar success. I remember meeting him when he weighed about 180 pounds. We were into CrossFit and were excited when he squatted 385, pressed 185, and deadlifted 435. His linear progression worked up into the 450s before I (intelligently) convinced him to shift the programming (to prevent getting beat down like I did). We put him on the S&C Program that I wrote, and he pushed his squat to 435ish, press to 205, and deadlift to 500. To date, he has squatted a comically easy 534 (barely missing 551 on a mechanical mistake), has benched a paused 380, and deadlifted 569. All raw, of course.

When I met Chris he was pulling about 440×5 and didn’t hesitate to tell me he wanted to deadlift 600×5. At the time it was a fucking tall order, yet he was steadfast in his goal (last week he pulled 600×4). He was squatting in the low 400s when he became my training partner. The first time Chris squatted 600 was at his first powerlifting meet on the third attempt (he deadlifted 633 in this meet). Recently he squatted 644 and deadlifted 661 in competition (raw).



The general trend here is that none of us were very special a couple years ago. People ask me all the time about AC’s “freaky genetics”. The dude isn’t a genetic freak; genetic freaks walk in the gym and squat five plates within five minutes. Chris and I certainly aren’t genetic freaks either. The three of us share the following qualities: 1) we had years of accumulated lifting, 2) we all were completely committed to getting stronger, 3) we did all of the little things right like having consistent technique and recovering/eating well, 4) we used a typical linear progression and later a properly tweaked Texas Method, and — most importantly — 5) we trained our fucking asses off.

I don’t think it’s fair to look at any of us as genetic freaks. That makes it seem like we didn’t earn anything, and that’s bullshit. AC has spent hundreds of hours in a gym, by himself, waiting to squat. Chris has sacrificed his schedule, even being late to school or work, to train. And all of us have had to develop the most sadistic, violent, and out-of-control mental hurricane to attack our hardest sets. I’ve seen Chris strain so hard that his soul died when he missed a 650 lbs. deadlift. I watched AC barbarically press 235 for a triple and completely rage out afterwards with his fists clenched as if he’d just severed the head of a mortal enemy. My heart rate has been 205+ bpm right after squatting a 5×5 that drained my adrenal and neuro-endocrine system so bad that it almost made me emotionally uncontrollable.

The only freakish thing about the guys from 70’s Big is that we cinch our belt, gnash our teeth, bark to the heavens, and fucking own the barbell every single time we train. We rarely miss lifts, we are never flat, and we always attack the bar. Not really all that special.

What’s your excuse?

100 thoughts on “What’s your excuse?

  1. i do not enough money for food. which goes back to me not trying hard enough to get a part time job. which makes me just a dude who just makes lame excuses.

  2. Swoleness PR: had a full spine X-ray taken on Tuesday. The lateral view has a big blacked out section from c5 down through about t3-t4 where the X-ray couldn’t penetrate the mass of my shoulders.

  3. i have quite a few life PRs this week.

    sexy PR—got followed for two blocks in downtown minneapolis by some fellow that wanted to seek out exciting relations with me. he met me from the front and mentioned how cute i was. as soon as i passed by and he got see me from behind, he added to himself (obviously surprised), “and she’s even THICK too!” and that is when he decided to follow me.

    food PR—i have now completed multiple consecutive days in which i ate a full dozen eggs on top of the other meat and fish i consume in extremely excessive amounts.

    (and i just ate 1.5lbs of ground beef for my bed time snack)

    work PR—finally quit the job that’s been draining the life from me.

    school PR—registered for my semester of graduate courses and have almost found an apartment

    lifting PR—-
    80x1x3 overhead press (if i would have remembered my micros, i would have hit 82.5 for sure. next time!)

    225×3 DL (considering i have 220×7 and 235×2, this one was actually simultaneously disappointing and confusing)

    there will be more lifting PRs as soon as i train tomorrow, i’m sure.

    pull up PR: i can still do pull ups despite eating this much…i am seriously proud of this one.

  4. @ThunderThighs

    I have read that women can do higher reps closer to their max than guys so your drop from 220×7 to 225×3 and 235×2 supports that. Don’t be discouraged.

  5. @Yosh
    she knows. And isn’t too discouraged. But it is out of pattern, as an example her best squat set of 5 is 15-20lbs below her max. Which is a 90% 5rm, and 225 is a 92% 3rm.

    PRs

    Finals week didn’t get a ton of productive training.

    Curls 125×9, 135×7
    Squat + BTN Power Jerk
    320×2+1
    That’s actually a pr for any type of jerk.

    Power Jerk actually felt quite solid, I usually split, I’ll probably do them in the future.

  6. One of the coolest things about a linear progression is knowing, every time you get to the bar, you are going to PR a workload.

    today: bs 260lb 3×5. I attacked that fucking bar.

    A little over a year ago, my max backsquat was a mere 185 and the bar hurt my back so bad I had to wrap it in a towel. I did Starting strength for 4-5 moths, took a break, then tried 5/3/1 for another 5 months. Both those programs helped. Now I follow the crossfit football amateur program and feel like I am really getting stronger. That and I have been eating like a maniac and approaching the bar equally maniacally.

    So much of this shit is in your head. I know I am not that strong yet, but I believe mental intensity will translate into physical intensity in the lifts.

  7. Justin, I have a question:

    Sometimes when I squat, by the time I am done my 3 sets of 5 I am exhausted, and feel drained. I can’t help but feel defeated, even though I just nailed the 3 sets, and it is difficult to get up enough energy to go on to the rest of my workout. Any advice on how to push through?

    I don’t know if it makes a difference, but I often train in the evenings at home, around 8:00 pm or so.

    I guess I could just re-read todays post and get fired up….Great post today btw.

    Phil makes a good point a few comments down; he suggests going to the GSLP. You may or may not opt for that program, but you can take your current program and do the presses first. As for deadlifts…if you’re doing SS and deadlifts come after squatting you’ll just have to deal with it or reset the squat (this is where the GSLP may be better or more enjoyable).

    –Justin

  8. Wait, you *started* linear progression at 325? That isn’t genetics? I still see your point, but, I think your DNA deserves some credit there.

    Now you’re saying that me starting at 325 wasn’t due to the fact that I trained the squat once a week since I was 14. Fuck you sir, I was squatting when everyone else was drinking or smoking in the first few years of college.

    –Justin

  9. During my linear progression I went from 225x5x3 to 380x5x3 in 5 months before transitioning to TM. Sometimes what the general public considers to be genetic freak gains are simply the difference between training and working out. Training – meaning have a plan and a purpose – can result in tremendous gains but very few people are willing to commit.

  10. Gregor,
    Try the Greyskull LP approach which is to move the big lifts, squat and dead, to the end of the workout. That way you can give those lifts everything you’ve got and then your done, good and wrecked.

  11. There is a genetic component to success in the barbell sports, but there is a difference between a genetic freak and somebody who works their asses off to achieve their high genetic potential. Its not easy to continuously progress no matter how good your genetics are because eventually everybody slows down, and pushing through those times to keep going is what makes you 70s big.

    I trained like an idiot for a long time, I went into the gym, tried to set a 3 rep 2 rep or 1 rep PR on each lift every week, I squatted once a week, deadlifted once a week, and benched once a week. Lord knows that isn’t the right way to train, but I was in there every week busting my ass trying to set PRs on everything because I had to be stronger than last week. I trained like this for probably about two and a half years. I made good progress on it because this was my novice gains stretched out across a long long period of time and probably stunted where I could have been now due to not doing it correctly.

    The fact is that working really fucking hard is common to people who make progress regardless of if they have good genetics or bad genetics. I’ll give my genetics some credit, I pulled 635 @ 181 when I was 21 and my brother pulled 600 @ 165 when he was 19, theres probably something going on with the genes for that to happen but it doesn’t mean that we didn’t show up at the gym ready to kill ourselves every day. Thats whats common amongst everybody who gets called a genetic freak, because there may be somebody with better genes, but the people you call freaks worked their ass of to get where they are.

    Posting PR:
    This post was by far my longest on 70s big ever!

    Thanks for sharing. Nolan is in the same boat, but it’d probably piss him off for you to say he’s “just gifted”, as if moving the weight he does is just an accident and something he didn’t earn.

    –Justin

  12. Justin started at 325 because he’d already squatted a ton before he started the LP.

    I on the other hand had never done a proper full depth squat with correct technique, ever, before last year so I started at 185 and am now up to 300 5×3.

  13. No training PRs, other than being back to full on training after taking a 10 day break.

    Mom PR: Last weekend my awesome mother asked me to explain barbell training to her. At age 52 she’s tired of not getting the results she wants from silly fitness classes, eliptical machines and nautilus machines. She began her linear progression this week. I’ll post about her progress from time to time. I think she’ll stick with it. I showed her the Monday Lady posts, which she very much enjoyed. Oh, and if you’re reading this, Hi Mom! I love you! You’re going to get brutally strong!

    I wouldn’t have her squat 3x/week, and probably DL on the Wednesday workout (I was doing that with older women before GSLP for obvious reasons). Another option is to train twice a week and squat one of those days while deadlifting the others (divvy up the press/bench accordingly with some mild assistance like pull-downs and back extensions). Also depends on your mom’s ability.

    –Justin

  14. trainer PR: had clients doing box squats and suitcase deadlifts. on top of the regular variations.

    back-at-it-edness PR: after nearly 2 months off with pinched nerve/broken rib, I’ve lifted 4/4 the last days. being back down to a barely .5 bw press sucks. not that it was ever that high…

  15. PR on front squat, 255×1. Getting my BS back up there, just did 265×5,5,5. Was up to 285x5x3 a while ago but firefighter class ate up all my recovery for a bit (speed-crawling around abandoned buildings for hours on end tends to tenderize the knees just a bit)

  16. Great write up. sometimes I forget that you guys have so many years under your belt, because you’re so young.
    But it’s a true testament to how hard work pays off. You guys are very inspirational, thank you for sharing all of your knowledge with us.

  17. Nice post, one of your better ones!

    Medical PR: On Monday my surgeon cleared me for full physical activity following two leg surgeries.

    Food PR: Just ate two tasty chicken thighs with rice and beans for breakfast following my workout.

    None of these are true PR’s, but they are jumps from where I have been recently:

    DL – 295 X 5
    Bench – 240 X 3
    BS – 205 X 5

    Wait — you ate food AFTER training in the morning? Me don’t like dis.

    –Justin

  18. I’ve been on Wendler 5/3/1 since beginning of April, and I just finished my second “3” week.
    This week I hit 2 squat PRS:
    325# x 10
    345# x 8
    I have been troubled by my dead lift – I haven’t seen any progress there – and I’m not sure why.
    Also, hit a bodyweight PR: I have maintained 180#+ bodyweight for the the whole week (was 183.2# this morning) for the first time in more than 3 years – since I trimmed from a fat from 193#, down to 90s skinny 157#. I’ve been gaining weight at a slow but steady pace — I’m 40 years old, and I didn’t want to go crazy, plus I have some problem joints and arthritis.

    Deadlift issue might be technical. And for you ‘older guys’, the method of changing your body weight slowly is preferred since losing the fat will be more of a pain in the ass.

    –Justin

  19. I had some PRs this week…
    Yesterday I squatted 3×5 at 225, and it wasn’t a grinder. Last cycle I ground through 3×5 at 215.
    Also, 5×3 Romanian Dead lifts at 207.5, and 5 hang power snatches at 115 (if I didn’t use the hook grip it would be more, that shit kills my thumbs). And finally, a PR for sticking to the program.

  20. I should clarify – the reason I squatted 2 x this week, even though I’m doing 5/3/1 is I missed my squat session last week, so I picked up at the beginning of this week, the day I did my Press.

  21. @phil g

    Thanks for the advice, I am going to be travelling for work for the next 2 weeks, so maybe I will get the GSLP e-book to read along with Justin’s TM book.

  22. You just keep on putting out fucking quality posts.

    Freaks are rare, very rare indeed, but those who’re prepared to put the work in will indeed look like freaks to the outsider.

  23. @ Thunderthighs
    you rule

    @ NolanPower
    Well said

    DL pr: 520×3

    depression pr: Haven’t pressed in 33 days due to injured bicep/forearm. Stupid limb won’t heal, Raw Nationals in August, hope I don’t kill myself before then.

    Nice pull. What’s the injury issue?

    –Justin

  24. There is no substitute for time. 70’s big guys have been busting ass since their teenage years, whereas before I saw the light I was on the following routine:

    Mon.: Biceps

    Wed.: Shoulders

    Fri.: Biceps and shoulders

  25. I do want to point out that there is a 70’s Big Facebook Fan Page that provides additional material (whether weird, amusing, or helpful) on a regular basis that doesn’t make it to the main site. For example, this mob video is really good for shoulder work:

  26. Justin never truly failed during his LP? Pussy! Actually I’m just jealous that you beat me, haha.
    I feel that I might have slightly better genetics than some to get to squatting 460 for reps on LP, but as Justin mentioned, it sure the fuck wasn’t easy. I started with 265 and have been in the gym since I was 13 or 14. It’s not like any of us just walked into the gym and kicked ass, it takes years of busting ass.

    Actually, I didn’t attempt to do anything after the 465 workout. I pretty much knew the next one wasn’t gonna go because I was merely surviving the training sessions.

    –Justin

  27. so did you drink and smoke for the last few years of college, douche?

    No, but that’s typically when some people clean their act up. The first few years are the “oh my god I have freedom and I’m a free spirit” gayness.

    –Justin

  28. @Justin thanks for the suggestion. I think she’s going to do two days barbell traning, one day aerobic type stuff/long dog walk. Once her squats get up to 100 lbs or so I think I’ll have her only squat once a week and deadlift the other day, depending on how recovery is going. She’s just starting with the bar, so we’ll see how it goes. My mom was varsity back in her day…ok it was cheerleading and the old girls basketball game where she couldn’t go past half court…but still.

  29. Squat PR: 395×4

    I’m actually 90% sure this was 5, but I can’t count it unless I’m absolutely sure. It was the heaviest weight I’ve ever squatted though.

  30. @Terrible Wait… you didn’t do forearms???

    GOMAD P.R. been on gomad for a little over a week now flawlessly… i feel indestructible.

    Biology P.R. just got done with an exam on advanced cell biology i was scared i would fail… it really wasn’t that bad.

    Iv’e never understood the whole “Genetics” thing. Surely if you did start out a genetic freak you would still want to bust your ass to do the most you possibly could with it.

    Hard work is integral to all success gifted or not.

  31. Started the Greyskull Linear progression right at the end of March and have gained 10lbs. I let a savage growl that scared my girlfriend when I saw a “9” as the second digit of my weight for the first time in my life. I get so angry when I think back at all the years I spent wasting time on “bodybuilding” crap that neither built my body nor made me strong. I will be asking Justin for advice on my Bigmitzfah soon.

  32. Age 27, 5,9 13.5 stone in weight
    wanting to compete

    Squat 150 kg 3 x 5
    deadlift 147.5 1 x 5 (After lower back injury from January)

    Justin you it would be great if you had a page on how to work out common injuries.

    I am unable to bench at the moment due to some sort of shoulder / Scapula pain. Im not sure if it is to do with tighness of my upper back ?

    Any suggestions would be great.

    Shoulder pain is kind of vague. Can you be more specific?

    –Justin

  33. Posting PR: havent posted a PR or anything for that matter in a long time…

    Found a doctor PR: Been plagued for 2 years with knee pain. I would stupidly push myself through it and end up hitting that tipping point Justin wrote about not too long ago and have to reset really low. Looking forward to getting on the right track.

  34. Justin,
    I eat as soon as I wake up and before going to the gym in the morning, but am ravenous when I leave and get to work, thus the need for MORE food.
    This typically results in me eating my lunch for (second) breakfast and my dinner for lunch. Forcing me to cook more for my second dinner before my bedtime snack. Eating is good.

    I thought you meant you don’t eat before training. You are weapons free.

    –Justin

  35. Still trying to milk some LP…hit one set of 5 at 360 on squat yesterday (PR) but failed on the 5th rep on both the second and third sets, will retry on Monday

  36. Hey Justin, I first felt the pain on April 9th during bench press. The pain is in my brachialis and brachiodialis. It could be referred pain from my shoulder because I feel mild “nervy” pain periodically in the middle head of my deltoid. I am assuming it is not a tear and probably something like tendinitis. I have been icing, stretching and mobbing with a tennis ball but it has not seemed to improve. When I am not using it there is little to no pain. Mainly, when I am in flexion, not necesarily contraction, it starts to hurt. I feel it the most at the bottom of the bench press and my arm feels weak. Holding the bar in my front rack (flexion) and in the low bar back position also causes pain. Any advice?

    With the information I have and the length of time since the first occurrence, I’d have to assume it’s nerve related. Check out what’s going on around your shoulder joint. If you’re tight, it could exacerbate it. Might want to analyze the bench and squat-grip mechanics.

    –Justin

  37. Squatted 422.5 x 5. Hardest set I’ve ever done.
    Benched 300 for a paused single.
    Deadlifted 470 x 4. Missed rep 5.

    I have 3 more intensity days before my meet and it doesn’t look like 5’s are gonna keep working for deadlifts. Would triples or singles be better for the Fridays?

    I would have had you doing triples leading up to it the whole time.

    –Justin

  38. @maslow

    please please please tell your mother that i think she is one bad ass fuckin woman. maybe even give her a bear hug. seriously, this personal investment into her strength is legit. kudos from another lady lifter!

  39. I have been away on Honeymoon for a few weeks. Everything seems to have gotten fairly intense on here in the interim.
    Good Show.

    Also, South African food is 70’s big.

  40. Well you didn’t put that in your post dude, how am I supposed to know?

    Well, in any case, 325 isn’t “genetic freak” status by any means.

    –Justin

  41. Squat 180 kg (~397 lbs)x3
    Bench 120 kg (~265 lbs)x3
    Deadlift 197,5 kg (~435 lbs)x3

    Trained for the first time in my new blue rehband knee sleeves (old model). Does anyone here have these and can tell me if they widen a bit over time? I bought size XL and I am surprised how tight these things are. I still have bruises on my skin from them (one hour after training).

    Either you bruise like a premature baby or they are too small.

    –Justin

  42. Nothing great to post this week. Got two pretty clean split jerks with 205 though, which I was pretty happy about… Oh well, looking forward to next week…

  43. Got a couple of PRs this week.

    Front Squat – 275 (up from 255)
    Felt like I had more in me, but tweaked my hip a little on 275 so decided to leave it at that.

    Clean and Jerk – 245

    Also matched my old overhead press PR of 180, which had gone down about 15 pounds due to not really training it the past year. Almost got 182.5 but shoulders were tired. I’ll probably try again next week. Need to dial in my diet more.

    Weighed 204 this morning.

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