Getting out of the LP-Zone

Training Q&A [Moderated]
1

Hi Jordan and Austin,

Thank you for the opportunity to ask you questions. Much appreciated.

My problem is this:
I seem to not be able to recover from workout to workout as required by the SSLP. As an example: This Monday I squatted 105kg 5x3, and on Wednesday I was crushed by 95kg. This happens a lot, though its not always this blatant.

The reason I cannot recover is, I assume, that I have a hard time sleeping more than 6 hours a night. In fact, sometimes its even less - and the sleep itself is of bad quality (waking up, having ‘stressful dreams’, etc). I tried to fix it with Melatonin, a good sleep environment, etc., but it just wont get better. And on top of that: its way worse when I train :frowning:

(I’m eating around 4000 kcal btw, so that shouldnt be the issue)

My question is this:
How do you change the Novice LP for someone who is not able to recover within 48 hours? I’m fine with all lifts except for squats, since all the others give me a good time to recover. For example: Last Friday I benched 82,5kg 5x3, and this Wednesday I did 85kg 5x3 with good form - which tells me I’m not at the end of LP. (And which also tells me the fucked up squat wasn’t just because of a ‘bad day’ - I had a Bench PR this day!)

Options I thought about:

  • Proceed with my current solution, which is having a light squat day on Wednesday - maybe with a bigger deload from now on (80% instead of 90%)

  • Giving me 2 rest days between each workout, so that I have accumulated enough sleeping hours to increase the weight the next session (but this will reduce my amount of training a lot)

  • If possible, fix my sleeping problems and stop doing LP until then (but what am I going to do - not train at all?)

So, have you ever encountered such a problem, and if so, how do you deal with it?

Thank you!

BR,
Philipp

P.S.: Of course I already tried listening to Jordan’s voice while falling asleep. But this only gives me dreams about Austin hitting OHP PRs without a shirt on. I should stop using these audios.

2

PM,

Thanks for the message and welcome to the forum.

I think that if you have evidence suggesting that the novice LP program is not producing improvements in performance then you should abandon the program rather than be limited by its constraints.

So…I would do the bridge. People will clamor, “Well, he’s still a novice! WTF?” However, if there are lifestyle or environmental factors that are compromising your ability to respond to novice training, you’re no longer a novice. Instead of spending the next 4-5 months screwing around so you can squat 110 x 5, I’d just switch programming.

Carry on :slight_smile:

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3

Are you taking in a lot of calories near bedtime? It’s been suggested this can hinder sleep for some people.

4

Thanks so much for your quick response, Jordan! I’ll switch to the Bridge soon.

You don’t have to answer this if you’re busy, but maybe someone else can:

Doesn’t an intermediate program introduce more volume (and more stress)? Which means my recovery must be even more on point, no? Thats why I shied away from it so far. My thinking was “if you can’t even handle a Novice program, how the hell are you gonna handle something even more advanced?”

Where is my thinking wrong?

BR,
Philipp

P.S.: MitchellCole, yes, I tend to eat late. Thanks for the suggestion, I try it out!

5

Your recovery gets better the more advanced you become.

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