Linear Progression

[Gary Gibson]

98.5% sure I'm going to do a linear progression for a few weeks after the meet. Justin and his friends got to work sets in the mid-400s with it.

I'd like to hear some details about your experience with linear progression. Where'd you start? Where'd you get stuck? I'm planning mine out a little more meticulously because a) I need a light week after the meet and b) I know where my limit is for work sets of five. Pretty sure I know when I'll have to switch to 5-lb jumps. Starting very light (315x5x3) and making 20-lb jumps in week one. The goal is 405x5x3 (or more!). I would be delightfully amazed if this took me further than one of beloved Russian protocols have.

[KONG]

Gary, you are one strong person and you will make this linear progression look like cake. My 1st attempt at linear progression on squats looked like this 225-245-265-285-305-315-325-335-345-355-365-stuck. I totally destroyed my left elbow at that point. I squatted with a safety squat bar for four weeks to allow the elbow to "heal" while I continued pressing, benching, and deadlifting.

I started up again not too long ago with a light day in the middle of the week to allow the elbow to recover between workouts since it still hurts but just not as bad following squats. So far its been 320-255-325-330-265-335-340-snowday-345-350-285.

I know you don't have the elbow issue and you have already been under 405 for multiple reps so I have NO DOUBT that you will reach and surpass 405X5X3...which is actually the goal for me as well. I just know I probably won't reach it as fast as you will given it is still unchartered territory for me.

I want to reach the 500 squat this year too and I'll be rooting you along!

[Alex Bond]

I started at 265# for sets and am now at 355#. The only time I missed reps was when I was trying to increase 10# per workout too long. I went up 10# per until 335#, missed reps here, went back down to 325#, and have been doing 5# since. I think that squatting so often, you can get away with erring on the side of a smaller increase - if you are going up 5# per workout, 3 times a week, that will get you from 315# to 405# in 6 weeks, which isn't very long at all, all things considered. I know that going up too fast was not good for me, and that the 5# per feels pretty easy and automatic. At this point, I am usually resting 5-7 minutes between set 1 and 2 and 7-8 minutes between set 2 and 3. I have also been doing front squats on Wednesdays - I don't think I necessarily need to take a day off from back squatting, but I just think front squats are fun, and I have been making linear progression with them as well, for 3 sets of 3. I am happy with only putting 10# a week on the squat, since this feels like a pace I can keep up for another 6-8 weeks at the least, which would get me into the low 400s for work sets. Slow and steady is my linear progression motto.

[Mr.City]

And here I feel silly programming light days at a 315 squat and a bw of 230 lbs.

[milesdyson]

And here I feel silly programming light days at a 315 squat and a bw of 230 lbs.
i switched to intermediate programming not too far beyond that and have made much better progress on the texas method than i would have made trying 3x5 workouts even twice a week.

[METAL VIPER]

I ran linear progression post open-heart surgery last year. Pre surgery, I was 5'7" 165lbs. After, I was tipping the scales at 140lbs. I had to start everything super light after 3 months, so I went with 115lbs on squat in April of 09 and by October, I got to 315 for 3x5 @ 185. After running 5x5, I feel like I can milk a bit more out, so I'm running it again, trying to get way past 315, since my squat is shit in comparison with my bench; the deadlift isn't disgraceful, but I want to get it up by way of squatting.

[cjangelo]

Starting very light (315x5x3) and making 20-lb jumps in week one. The goal is 405x5x3 (or more!).

My understanding has been that you'll progress for longer if you make smaller jumps. With that in mind, what about starting with only 10lb jumps? Are you sure you aren't getting over-eager?

I do not claim to know what is best for Gary Gibson, I am posing a question because what you're doing seems at-odds with what I've learned through reading and lifting. I'd like to hear your thoughts.

[cervicornis]

Metal Viper - that is inspirational. Jesus. How old are you, if you don't mind my asking?

[METAL VIPER]

Metal Viper - that is inspirational. Jesus. How old are you, if you don't mind my asking?
23. Born with congenital aortic stenosis. Told by doctors both pre and post surgery I could never lift anything over 150lbs. How they came up with that arbitrary number that is an absolute no matter the demographic is beyond me. I appreciate the kind words, but it's not a big deal; I love to lift and nothing was going to take that away

[AidenBloodaxe]

Go for it, mang!

Started SS weighing 124lbs @ 5'5", Squatting 110lbs. My last SS workout was Monday 28/12/09. It looked like:
5'5" @ 190lbs
Squat 160kg / 352lbs x 5,5,3
Bench 85kg / 187lbs x 5,3,5,2
Deadlift 170kg / 375lbs x 4.
The session after that was even worse & that was when I incorporated a light day on the Wednesday, which I'm not sure counts as SS? But I didn't get much further after that, it only lasted about 2weeks before I switched to TM.

I often wonder whether I could squeeze much more out of SS. If I ever lock down a consistent 7,000kcal a day I will certainly give it another go.

[jacob cloud]

I'd like to hear some details about your experience with linear progression. Where'd you start? Where'd you get stuck? ...and making 20-lb jumps in week one. The goal is 405x5x3 (or more!). I would be delightfully amazed if this took me further than one of beloved Russian protocols have.


Good call on trying linear progression, especially if you're going to be eating yourself to man-dom.

When I first attempted "SS" it was a couple years ago, before I even had the book and I screwed up plenty of things as most noobs do. I took my squat from 225 3x5 to (IIRC) 375 3x5. DL went from 225 1x5 to 385 1x5. This was with gaining less than 5lbs overall mass, though I was a chubby fella at around 6'1", 240. Bench sets went from 185 3x5 to 230-235 before I finally started missing reps (every set was hard, but the reps kept coming - note that I also did 2 sets of dips after bench...). Press went from like nothing (95?) to about 140-145 3x5. The only reason I stopped was a wakeboarding injury to my shoulder that required surgery. Otherwise I feel like low to mid 400's in the squat/dead would have been easy, and like I said, I didn't even really know what I was doing at the time. Nor was I naturally strong, recovering lost strength, etc.

I've used linear progression several times since after injuries, etc, though my true noob gains are pretty much over. Had I done it correctly, I really think I would have squatted/DL'd 500 at least a year earlier than I did - possibly within a year of starting to lift at all.

I will also say that I think doing 20lb jumps at all is a poor idea for anyone with any experience. Only a noob starting to DL with the bar is in that realm. Slow progress is key. Don't get greedy and don't hesitate to start taking smaller jumps. Kittensmash started doing 2.5lb jumps on his squat (still 3x/wk!) and got up to 410 3x5 (IIRC) before getting injured outside of the gym. Smaller jumps may take a couple more weeks to get where you want, but in the big picture, what's a couple weeks?