A years progress through SS and PB1

Training Q&A [Moderated]
1

Hi guys,

First off, I want to say thanks for all of the info you put out. It’s been a real help for someone like myself trying to figure a lot of this stuff out, lifting mostly in a home gym.

For some context, I’m 35, M, 172 lbs, 5’ 11", have been training for coming up on 12 months with very little resistance training history prior to that. At the age of 30, I started getting lower back which progressively got worse over the next few years to the point where I would dread sitting in a car for more than 10 minutes or doing any physical activity like shoveling snow. I saw a number of specialist, physical therapist, had imagery done, some cortisone injections, and nothing had any noticeable long term benefit. I can’t even remember how or who convinced me that barbell training would help, but it certainly wasn’t any of the aforementioned professionals. My lower back pain is now about 95% gone, and I’m happy to accept the remaining 5% due to just being a 35 year old. None of this is the purpose of this post. It’s just to give some background info, and to express my gratitude to the barbell community.

I started the SS NLP last March. At the time, I weighed 155 lbs. I did that for about 6 months. After numerous resets and grinding out a lot of reps, I’d stopped making the sort of progress I’d seen in those early months. Generally, I felt terrible (shocking, right?!). I then did PB1 and saw some good progress, and have since been through it once more and am now on my 3rd run through it. I physically feel significantly better, day to day. Below is a comparison of my progress through each training block. It’s not a perfect comparison, as the SS e1RMs I’m inferred from my 5s at an RPE10, and the SS bench is TnG as opposed to pausing. However, it should offer some insight.

e1RM at the end of each Training Program (lbs)

BW Squat Bench Deadlift Overhead Press
SS NLP 175 295 156 336 104
PB1 (First run) 169 324 (+9.8%) 166 (+6.4%) 371 (+10.4%) 111 (+6.7%)
PB1 (Second run) 172 335 (+3.4%) 170 (+2.4%) 383 (+3.2%) 113 (+1.8%)

My third run through of PB1 is going well and I imagine I’ll see similar gains to what I saw in my second run through. I could make excuses as to why I didn’t see as great of progress in my second run through of PB1, compared with my first, (the holidays, family pressures, etc.) but it’s probably irrelevant to this discussion.

My questions is, I’ve seen you say that as long as you’re seeing progress with an existing program, don’t go changing it. Well, what does that actually look like? I’m generally quite underwhelmed with my Bench and Overhead Press performance, but probably not enough to change programs. But if my Bench e1RM is still below 175 lbs, should I change programs? Is there a percentage increase each training block for a given lift that you’d say “That’s not significant enough to be considered good progress” and you’d recommend a different program?

This post has ended up being significantly longer than intended, so thanks for sticking with me this far. I appreciate any and all advice.

Cheers,
Alistair

2

I think if you’re feeling generally good and making consistent progress, I’d be hard-pressed to change too much unless you wanted a significant difference with respect to programming style, movements, etc.

There’s not a percentage I feel strongly indicates a cut-point between significant progress and spinning your wheels. This varies wildly between individuals, how progress is being tested, etc. If things are generally getting heavier while RPE is staying the same and you’re enjoying training, I’d carry on.

3

Thanks Jordan.

So I guess what you’re saying is, as long as I’m seeing SOME progress, while keeping RPE constant, continuing with my current programming is entirely down to whether or not I’m happy to continue or satisfied with the progress made?

I know you probably don’t have all the information you’d want about me here, or maybe this just isn’t the right setting, but I guess I’m just still a bit unsure if or when I should change programs. I’m not in a massive rush to push these numbers up, but also don’t want to be wasting time. For instance, if my bench only gains 4 lbs to my e1RM in 10 weeks of training, are there programming tweaks you could recommend?

I also want to say thanks for the email blurb on exertion headaches today. I struggled with these for a few weeks several months back. Reading the responses on here from you and Austin to other lifters on this topic definitely helped.

Alistair

4

Yea, it’s really up to you with respect to progress, enjoyment, and overall ROI from the training.

I don’t think you’re wasting time, but I do think there are better programs for strength improvements in the big 3. I really am not in a place to recommend a go-to tweak without knowing how your bench has trended in various phases, preferred variants, etc. That all being said, it sounds like you’re thinking that your progress isn’t really what you think it should be. I’d take a look at Strength I or PB III-pending your 3 or 4-day/wk preferences and try one of those on for size.

-Jordan

5

Cool cool. Thanks again. I appreciate the advice.

Alistair

6

Were both in a pretty similair position mate.

Both 35 and 5,11". Im just coming up to 12 months aswell

Ive just finished Bridge 1 and just started PB1. Although i did do SSNLP before Bridge 1.0

Only difference is that im 62lbs heavier.

Just started a training log if your interested