The last thing I was concerned about in SS was squatting every single workout! What the helll! The experienced guys at the gym told me I was destroying my muscle, I was sore as hell the next time doing it and every book I read said not to work a muscle that is sore no matter what anyone tells you. Not to mention the extreme demand squatting puts on my nervous system... EVERY WORKOUT? Maybe I just needed to eat more.

And thanks again everyone, I'm taking all your advice to heart.

it depends on the degree of soreness really. if you're so sore you can barely move then you probably need an extra day off, but if the soreness is not too bad, work through it. one of biggest mistakes during my High intensity training days was waiting until soreness went away before training again, as a consequence i was never NOT sore after a workout because i never forced my body to adapt to the work and improve it's condition.

Hopper and Jeffo both gave excellent advice. Hopper and myself did really well with the SS program after both of us having failed to make any decent gains at all with High intensity training.

also am i correct in my understanding that you workout 3 days in a row then take the rest of the week off? if so, that is definitely not an optimal schedule.

skip that last part, i re-read your other post and i misunderstood about your workout and rest days example, sorry!

:arg:

Dark,

Squatting three times a week is fine for most people at your level. SS is for novices, and since you're a novice, it'll probably be fine for you (if you weren't a novice, you wouldn't be doing this program). If you find youself fried or sluggish or whatever, squatting at 70% of your Monday work weight on Wednesdays is an option.

As Riddick pointed out, waiting until you're not sore anymore to train again is a great way to guarantee being sore every time. :lame: Soreness says more about your conditioning than anything. Your first couple of weeks might leave you sore, but you'll adapt and be fine. As long as you're not crippled, work through it. Only worry if your performance is way down.

Cheers,
Jeff

I'll second that, lifting when sore is not a problem, but obviously if your so sore that you cant complete your lifts safely, then dont do them.

I'm not trying to be an asshole, but these experienced guys are telling you to stop destroying muscle? Thats how bigger, stronger muscle is built.

not destroying muscle would = no progress.


i love "experienced" gym guys.

So I should be squatting everday. I just don't feel right about starting up this "newbie" program. I'd like something more advanced and I can't help but feel after a YEAR of training squats / deadlifts / bench I never gained much, I'm assuming my muscles built up some extreme tolerance to these exercises or something, how can I switch this up to ensure maximum muscle stimulation? Some guy was telling me how he was doing the same barbell bicep curl for months and when he switched to hammer curls his forearms suddenly got huge! Isn't experimentation with different exercises crucial for me?

http://www.muscleoverload.com/max-ot/maxot.shtml

thoughts on this?

Thanks again all!

i know that everyone on this board is really high on the starting strength program (and for good reason, it is a great program), but if you aren't enjoying it and you aren't making progress doing it i think that it would be fine for you to try a program like max-ot. i've spent a lot of time looking at old threads and old training journals and there have been a number of people on this website who have tried the program. some have seemed to like it, while others have thought that it was a little too rough on the joints and things like that. if you are going to try max-ot i recommend that you look at some of the old threads and journals to see what other people's experiences with it were and what worked best while they were doing it so that you can maximize your success on the program.

I'm thinking about going back to SS but wouldn't a 4-day split be better, something like my original "program 2" routine? (on page one of the thread)

Or something like...

Day 1, Chest, Arms, Abs
Day 2, Legs, Abs
Day 3, Back, Arms
Day 4, Shoulders, Abs,

... confused. I'm about to start my routine hardcore extreme tomorrow. I'm off on the right foot, I consumed 4000 cals today. I feel like I got nutrition down STAT after reading up on everything yesterday. I'm just in the market for a good routine right now.

I'm ready to go hit up SS again for a month and see how it goes, sound good?