Hello,
I am getting my wife into strength training and have started her on an NLP. Her lifts are low enough that she is using a 15 lb bar (for weight under 45 lb), and deadlifts are swapped out for rack pulls (until she gets to 135 lb where she can do it properly from the floor at correct height). She weighs about 150 lb at 5’7" and is 26 years old. Here is the problem: no matter what, she cannot successfully squat 50 lb for 3 sets of 5. I started her as low as possible, I have reviewed her form (and judged it good enough for a beginner/novice to make gains), and the only thing I know to tell her is to keep at it and make sure she is eating properly (including 130-150g protein, 2000-2200 cal daily). It could be that she is failing to meet the protein recommendation, but I doubt that would be too big a factor for a beginner (<1 month experience). It has got to be pretty early for her to stall right? And would you agree or disagree with how I am setting up her programming/diet? I do want to add that she trained before about 9 months ago and had similar experience staying at 45 lb squat for a month. Also note that she stalls on other lifts too, but for simplicity I focused on the squat.
Thank you so much for your advice.
Hello! This is great to hear that your wife is training! Here’s the thing-we can’t know from here/this why she is struggling to squat. Are you saying that she successfully squats 45x5x3, yet has not been able to get 50? What happens at 50? And if she is generally stalling at this point, you need to alter her programming and/or get some additional coaching input.
You might be loading her too light and accidentally reenforcing that she is weak and reducing her confidence. I think that getting her an independent coach might be a good idea. Load her heavier or increase the volume. The LP as written has high intensity loading and it’s volume is very low. You could increase thes sets or use a program with more movement variation. But I would do a completely different program as it has failed twice.
Thank you Leah. I will continue to have her do what she is able, and remind her the importance of a high protein diet. If no progress is made in the next couple weeks, I might change up the volume/intensity or see if she responds better to high bar squat or other variation.
Update:
My wife managed to squat 50 lb for 3 sets of 5, and then today she successfully did 55 lb. Turns out, she was previously dropping way too fast on the descent, as well as pushing her knees out too far forward (like in a high bar squat). I instructed her to focus on a controlled descent, and look downward 6 feet in front of her to get a more horizontal torso.