Post: #26

@intuitive - his OHP gains I think are perfectly inline with the rest. 40 lbs to squat, 40 lbs to DL, 35 lbs to bench and 20 lbs to OHP. All pretty even progressive respective of every lift. The less/smaller muscles used in a lift the smaller jumps.you will.make in progress. 20lbs on your strict overhead press in 4 mos is awesome.

Those newbie gains are really flying at you. Good stuff and enjoy the progress. Keep it up!

Post: #27

The change in OHP seems normal but the OHP weight is a little low compared to the Bench Press weight. It could be a technique issue. Try reviewing the technique and be sure to keep your core tight and squeeze your glutes. That could give you an extra 5 or 10 pounds immediately.

It also depends on the style of OHP. If you are doing Rippetoe's olympic style OHP then the numbers are definitely low.

I could do a datasheet on the different variations of OHP and push press and maybe some information on shoulder health and mobility. Anyone interested?

The numbers that stand out the most are the 30 pounds in weight gain. Ideally you should be able to make bigger increases in strength without so much body weight gain.

Post: #28

(02-27-2018 01:21 PM)birthday cat Wrote:  The change in OHP seems normal but the OHP weight is a little low compared to the Bench Press weight.

This is what I was referring to. With those bench numbers I would expect the OHP to be 25-30lbs higher. Was curious if there was a reason. Perhaps OHP is something he just naturally lags on. I'm the same way with bench. Certainly not diminishing OP's gains as strong and steady linear progress is being attained across the board.

Post: #29

The interesting thing about the OHP is that it doesn't really follow the same progression as the other lifts. You have to accumulate a certain amount of musculature to stabilise things, and then after that the OHP tends to start progressing a little more quickly. It's like once the shoulder fills out a good bit, it can handle a lot more.

I've said it before, I feel like the standing overhead press is inferior to the seated overhead press for shoulder hypertrophy. You lose some ability to isolate the contraction to the deltoids.

Post: #30

@steelex - true you are working more to stabalize while standing OHP vs seated. I prefer to stand because it is harder.

My bench max is over 100lbs higher than my OHP max...

Post: #31

Thanks for the words of encouragement everyone. My OHP is done in strict form, I hold the bar just a hair outside of shoulder width, with no pushing off the ground, straight posture, while fully extending the bar and fully lowering it to my collarbone with a brief pause inbetween each rep. I do not tighten my core much or squeeze my glutes so maybe that would help a bit to do more weight. I think the main problem is that this program only has me doing OHP once a week.

Post: #32

Also in case anyone was wondering - I do think the 30lbs in weight gain was probably unnecessary. But I was sick of stalling, not making any progress on my lifts, feeling exhausted after every workout, and not actually gaining any weight...it can be very demoralizing to continually make no progress over a long period of time - I figured I'd rather be a bit pudgy and strong over being frustrated and weak. It is very motivating to continually improve and see the results of your efforts accrue sooner rather than later.

Post: #33

So here's an overview of what happened:


At the beginning of this thread I was 180lbs with the following 5RMs:

Bench - 180
Squat - 245
DL - 275
OHP - 105
Row- 170


At the end of the bulk I was 220lbs with the following 5RMs:

Bench - 225
Squat - 295
Deadlift - 345
OHP - 135
Row - 215

Despite getting quite stronger, I had gained wayyy too much fat. I mean I was benching 225 for reps sure but it was my own bodyweight. I ended up doing a keto cut for about 6 months and lost 40 lbs back to my original weight of 180lbs.

I became quite lean at that point but my 5RMs were about the same as they were when I started bulking, although that may have had more to do with the fact that fat is a shitty fuel source for explosive workouts and thus my nervous system just wasn't well adapted for it.

I quit the keto diet about 5 months ago and ive basically had no workout/diet plan this whole time. Strangest thing - I've lost a bit of definition/leanness, gained strength, but remained at the same weight. Not sure what to make of that.

Now my 5RMs (still strict forms) are roughly:

Bench - 190
Squat - 255
Deadlift - 315
OHP - 120
Row - 185



For now my goal is to get leaner while maintaining or improving my strength/endurance.

If someone has a suggestion for a good workout program I'm all ears. I need to fuckin pick something. Might just give madcow another shot. This program by Layne Norton also looks excellent, but it seems better suited for bulking.

Post: #34

I'd switch to a strength program with autoregulation. I'd do the bridge by barbell medicine. It's free. You can google it. That Layne Norton program doesn't seem to discuss intensity. I would rule it out just for that. I don't like it.

Post: #35

I personnally think that you stayed to much time on that madcow program, you should have been getting stronger. Volume was too low for you. The bridge has a bit more volume, periodization and autoregulation; it lasts two months. You might need more volume after that.