Creating My Own Program

Phill,

Well done! 10-15% is a huge increase. It must be satisfying to see a program you have made up yourself give such great results. I can’t wait myself to start on the program I posted above, it will be at least another few weeks away yet before I begin.

Ben

bg100,

Hell yes it feels great to be progressing so nicely on this program. Hope the same for you and really evereyone.

The 10-15% raise was amazing and felt easy in comparison to the previous same w/o 5 weeks prior.

Though I dont expect the same increases to show across the board. This was the 20 rep day and I was pleasantly surprised at the increase and I think it is more of endurance than pure strength gains, but still it was nice.

I just hope to make some progress across the board on the 10 and 5 reps days. Well see. I am confident it will. Tomorrow brings the first 10 rep day, and wednesday the first five rep… The great thing is the program how set up has me itching to get in the gym for every w/o. Very fresh, With the 5x5 day being the real killer, which I also enjoy in a weird way and receive the reward of two days recovery.

Anyway, I’ll keep you all informed as I progress through this and cant wait to read you alss progress as well. It should be a great way for all of us and everyone to learn from the varied programs.

Ltr,
Phill

Do you guys have any comments or suggestions about the program that I posted above? I realise that I won’t know if it works until I actually start but are there any glaring omissions or mistakes I might have made? I’m especially curious about the volume per muscle group I have selected, is it too little or is it sufficient by if I go really heavy each set?

Cheers,

Ben

bg100,

A few thing I notice are:

The reasoning behind the changes in the in reps and loads of other total body programs are not really to avoid maximal strength gains but to avoid over loading one single attribute. Keeping you fresh, aiding recovery etc., but still letting you work hard every w/o.

With your choice all w/o’s will essentially be attacking the same area. Which is an area that is Very CNS intensive. But with the lower volume and such you may be able to keep it up. Tough to say.

I think its doable, but maybe not the best choice. Like you said no sure way to know without doing it. You may consider not only dropping the volume on the 3x5 but also the loads and work on Speed. Then again though it is just a BLAST to move the heavier weights. LOL But will the extra work reward you with gains???

The second thing I notice is the short time you are on each stage/type of w/o. Yes one must make changes in there program fequently, but, you also need to give specific parameters appropriate time to be effective and make REAL progress. For the first few weeks you will simply be adapting to this type of workout. Then the next two you will be setting up to make some real gains.

As you have it set out you then change parameters. I would say do your weeks 1&2 for 3 cycles and then change it up. A total of 6 weeks before the change.

By this time you will (HOPEFULLY) have made progress and began to actually get used to the program. This will make the big change of your “Shock Week” more of an actual SHOCK to your body and will have greater potential of gains/growth.

Those are the two things that jump out at me.

If something else comes to mind I will throw it at you when I have a sec.

Hope this is some food for thought>

Phill

Phill,

Thanks for the reply, you have given me some food for thought! I thought I had better explain my thought process behind the program a bit better. I’ll answer your questions below to do this.

[quote]Phill wrote:
bg100,

A few thing I notice are:

The reasoning behind the changes in the in reps and loads of other total body programs are not really to avoid maximal strength gains but to avoid over loading one single attribute. Keeping you fresh, aiding recovery etc., but still letting you work hard every w/o.

With your choice all w/o’s will essentially be attacking the same area. Which is an area that is Very CNS intensive. But with the lower volume and such you may be able to keep it up. Tough to say.

I based the volume and intensity on CT’s Functional vs Structural article, also called “Different Destinations, Different Journies”. As my goal is functional/limit strength I need to keep the reps between 30-75/week. Along with the 10x3 exercise if I add two 3x5 exercises that totals 60 reps for a muscle group, which falls nicely into the required rep range. Most of these exercises would be at about 80-90% of max load.

I think its doable, but maybe not the best choice. Like you said no sure way to know without doing it. You may consider not only dropping the volume on the 3x5 but also the loads and work on Speed. Then again though it is just a BLAST to move the heavier weights. LOL But will the extra work reward you with gains???

The second thing I notice is the short time you are on each stage/type of w/o. Yes one must make changes in there program fequently, but, you also need to give specific parameters appropriate time to be effective and make REAL progress. For the first few weeks you will simply be adapting to this type of workout. Then the next two you will be setting up to make some real gains.

As you have it set out you then change parameters. I would say do your weeks 1&2 for 3 cycles and then change it up. A total of 6 weeks before the change.

By this time you will (HOPEFULLY) have made progress and began to actually get used to the program. This will make the big change of your “Shock Week” more of an actual SHOCK to your body and will have greater potential of gains/growth.

Another point in CT’s article was to incorporate 10-25% ballistic reps, which is why I use Olympic lifts in the “shock” week. I’ve only just started using the Olympic lift variations and enjoy using them. As a result I want to use them more often and thought this would be a good way of doing that.

I also like the pendulum training approach where different strength qualities are worked each week, and that is why this week comes in at week 5 and not at week 7. I could throw some of these exercises in to the “normal” weeks but these weeks are sort of based around The Waterbury Method with slightly lower reps/higher intensity (for the limit strength focus) and no isolation exercises, and I wanted to keep it that way

I hope that clears things up a bit more. I think that by keeping the volume low and using a modified pendulum training approach with the recovery week I should be able to keep the CNS fresh and really increase the intensity. My plan at the moment is to do the cycle twice so the second time around should be more beneficial. It is a bit of an experiment as I am finding my way back into training after a 2 year break that finally ended in July last year. Before that I never had the knowledge found here on T-nation to guide me so I’m trying to work out what my body responds to best when working out on a “properly thought out” program. The last 6 months have been all about getting re-aquainted with the gym and getting my basic strength levels up to a level where I can tackle a program like this

Phill[/quote]

Feel free to add any more comments to my explanation above, I appreciate the advice you have already given.

Ben

Guys
I would reccomend front squats to rid yourselves of the lower back pain. I feel that the back pain comes form the fact that many of us let our backs do the lifting, i.e. bending the torso froward as you decend to the “bottom” position of the squat, then using the back to lift the weight out of the “bottom” instead of pressing up with the legs. If you bend forward with the front squat, put on a face mask 'cause you’re gonna do a headder into the floor. I avoided front squats for the longest time because they were mechanically tough, but now that I have shoulders big enough for the bar to “rest” on, I’ve built myself up to 260+ lbs for a 5x5 set/rep workout. And my back pain has been greatly reduced.

Quick update after my first repeat of a 10 rep day. Progress is much like th 20 rep day. Increase right arond the 10% range.

Hopefully it will continue into the 5 rep days and allow me to finish out the 5 sets of 5 on sets I came short in the first round.

Ltr,
Phill

[quote]Papa wrote:
I avoided front squats for the longest time because they were mechanically tough, but now that I have shoulders big enough for the bar to “rest” on, I’ve built myself up to 260+ lbs for a 5x5 set/rep workout. And my back pain has been greatly reduced.[/quote]

Hopefully you are using the clean grip rather than the arms-crossed version.

Hey Everybody,
talking about TBT, I would like to know your opinion concerning Mahler’s “Customized Volume Training”.
Mike says:
Mistake #1: Too Much, Too Often
The first mistake is doing too much work too often. You can’t do fifteen sets for legs on Monday and expect to be able to hit legs again on Wednesday. Chances are high that you’ll need three to five days off between each muscle group depending on the intensity of the workout and your recovery abilities.
This doesn’t mean you hit legs on Monday and don’t train again until Friday. It means that you don’t work legs again until Friday. Do some other muscle groups on Tuesday and Wednesday.
There’s an inverse relationship between frequency of training and volume of training. In other words, the more work you do in the gym, the less often you can go to the gym. High volume requires a lower frequency of training and a higher frequency of rest days.
Thanks
Luca

Luca thats just a different progam in and out. Both can be effective.

Chads TBT doesnt call for 15 sets on one body part such as legs. It is more in the 2-4 range. It is about stimulating them not inhiliating them. This allows you to work them out sooner. Also you are attcking different fibers and various movements.

So yes both are right, both can be effective and both can be and probably should be included into a yearly training cycle at some point.

Thats my take anyway, in a breif description.

Phill

Phill,
thanks for your clear explanation.
Have you read “Back off and Grow” by Jack Reape and comments? Interesting isn’it ?
Any comments ?
Luca

Luca,

No problem I was hoping my short little chicken scratch of an explaination was clear enough.

As for this

[quote]Phill,
thanks for your clear explanation.
Have you read “Back off and Grow” by Jack Reape and comments? Interesting isn’it ?
Any comments ?
Luca[/quote]

Yes it is very interesting.
I have been thinking a lot about it.

I do agree most of us dont take enough rest weeks and such, and that his plan is/could be solid. I also feel that it isnt set in stone as something needed every 3 weeks in every situation.

For example: TBT or the Total body variation that I am doing above.

I think that by mixing in the higher rep lower weight days, medium rep moderate weight, and then the kick your butt 5x5 days that you/I can extend this a bit. Say every 5 weeks. Finish a complete cycle and then take a week off.

This thinking comes from trying to dig in his mind a little and seemingly his thoughts on higher rep work. He states that it is essentially not needed for strenght and size that is and seemingly more for recovery and such. Thats how I take it atleast.

While I am not in total agreement on the whole l=not needed / growth of the higher rep work. I do think it allows nme to have a tough w/o, three days a week, and still stay fresh and I am ready to get in the gym every time my w/o rolls around.

So kind of by his thinking I am taking rest days every weeks in a way. By using sub maximal loads on my 20 rep days, even though These are TOUGH, w/o’s let me tell you. They do create a soreness and stimulus of there own at times but I think also lead to faster recovery and are more for building endurance.

Then I have the moderate weights at ten reps, another tough w/o, but I am concentrating on making small progress every week and staying JUST short of failure. Leaving then gym with just a tad left in the tank. Not that I didnt give it my all to do what I did. But I am generally not limping out of the gym. If I had to I could do more and many times would like to.

Then I have the 5X5 day. I which I am moving as much weight as I can for the sadi reps or fail trying. For instance I may get say 5,5,4,3,3, with a set load one week. failing on the last three sets and giving it EVERYTHING I have. Then I have two full days rest before doing the twenty rep day again that really gets the blood flowing aids recovery (possibly). The next time that same 5X5 day rolls around it is the goal again to shoot for 5 sets of 5 at the same load since I didnt make it last time. This time lets say I get 5,5,5,4,4, well I progressed, got 3 more total reps at the same load, netter yet lets say I get all 5 sets for 5 reps. This means next time I raise the load and start again.

So this one is much longer than I hoped and probably contains a Lot more than is needed but yes his article has me thinking, I cant wait for the other article he mentioned on higher rep work.

I may be way off in my thinking, of his thinking. LOL, But seems to be working for me.

I will admit though that I do need to take more rest days/weeks they are far and few between and would most likely find me getting better results.

Hope that helps,
Phill

Well, this week went very well. Strangely, with the reduced load I’ve been hungry all week and have put on some weight. Since I’m bulking, working out, eating clean, I guess I have to be happy with that.

Over a two week period, depending on the lift, I’ve been able to add 2.5’s or 5’s on each end… so the weights are slowly going up.

As before, hopefully I can continue to report good things next week. I’m getting the idea that I respond better to a slightly reduced overall volume within the total body paradigm…

If I stall I’ll try an off week as per the recent article.

Well 1 week and 1 more 20 rep day down here. While I am still not totally convnced on this lighter but higher reps day stuff the #'s cant lie I guess.

Up on lifts every day.

Even the 5X5 where I completed all reps on all 5 sets in every excercise except the Hack squats came up one clean rep short. I did manage to go ahead and rest pause and get it but it wasn’t clean.

The 20 rep days are starting to become seemingly VERY easy in comparison. The first few week the were killers with me gasping for breath. Now even with the extra weight I am flying thorugh the sets and feel fresh when I leave the gym.

So I will keep it up and finish the second five week cycle and then will probably return to moving some higher loads more often. Most likely total body but keep the reps no higher than 12 and usually 8 and lower. Also have some spanking new Bands that I have to incorporate in my next cycle. But wont ignore the higher rep stuff for such an extended period as I did.

Hopefully the progressions will keep up, I’ll let you know.
Ltr,
Phill

Guys,

I’ve been doing some more thinking about the program I posted above and have come up with the exercises I will be using for abs, rotator cuff and forearms. I’ve also changed the order of exercises in Week 5 so that the ballistic style lifts are first, I read somewhere that this should be the case before going on to the heavier “normal” exercises. So here it is with only a week and a half to go until I start!

WEEK 1

Workout 1:

  • Deadlift (10x3, 60-70s rest)
  • Front Squat (3x5, 120s rest)
  • Pull-ups (pronated grip) (3x5, 120s rest)
  • Seated DB Military Press (3x5, 120s rest)
  • Normal/Reverse Wrist Curls (3x6-8 S/Set, 30s rest between exercises))
  • Weighted Incline Situps (3x6-8, 60s rest)

Workout 2:

  • Bench Press (10x3, 60-70s rest)
  • Seated Cable Row (pronated grip) (3x5, 120s rest)
  • Step-ups (3x5, 120s rest)
  • Glute-ham raise (3x5, 120s rest)
  • Cuban Press/L-raises (3x6-8 S/Set, no rest between exercises, 120s rest between S/sets)
  • Saxon Side Bends (3x6-8, 60s rest)

Workout 3:

  • Back Squat (10x3, 60-70s rest)
  • Good Mornings (3x5, 120s rest)
  • Rack Pulls (3x5, 120s rest)
  • Decline DB Bench Press (3x5, 120s rest)
  • Incline Wrist Adduction (3x6-8, 60s rest)
  • Hanging Pikes (3x6-8, 60s rest)

WEEK 2

Workout 1:

  • Chin-ups (supinated grip) (10x3, 60-70s rest)
  • Dips (3x5, 120s rest)
  • Romanian Deadlift (3x5, 120s rest)
  • Barbell Hack Squat (3x5, 120s rest)
  • 45? Side Lying Abduction/Low Pulley Rotations (3x6-8 S/Set, no rest between exercises, alternate arms)
  • Russian Twists on Swissball (3x12-16 full rotations, 60s rest)

Workout 2:

  • Sumo Deadlift (10x3, 60-70s rest)
  • Back Squat (3x5, 120s rest)
  • Snatch high pull from blocks (3x5, 120s rest)
  • Standing BB Military Press (3x5, 120s rest)
  • Wrist Roll-ups (3x6-8, 60s rest)
  • Standing Cable Crunches (3x6-8, 60s rest)

Workout 3:

  • Bench Press (10x3, 60-70s rest)
  • BB Bent Over Row (3x5, 120s rest)
  • Lunges (3x5, 120s rest)
  • Back Extensions (3x5, 120s rest)
  • Poor Man?s Shoulder Horn (3x6-8, 120s rest)
  • Weighted Incline Twist Situps (3x6-8 per side, 60s rest)

WEEK 5 (“Shock” week)

Workout 1:

  • Push Jerk (5x3, 120s rest)
  • Deadlift (5/3/2/5/3/2 wave load with an increase of weight on second wave, 120s rest)
  • Front Squat (5/4/3/2/1 pyramid load increase, 120s rest)

Workout 2:

  • Power Clean (5x3, 120s rest)
  • Bench Press (5/3/2/5/3/2 wave load with an increase of weight on second wave, 120s rest)
  • BB Bent Over Row (5/4/3/2/1 pyramid load increase, 120s rest)

Workout 3:

  • Power Snatch from blocks/hang (5x3, 120s rest)
  • Back Squat (5/3/2/5/3/2 wave load with an increase of weight on second wave, 120s rest)
  • Romanian Deadlift (5/4/3/2/1 pyramid load increase, 120s rest)

Cheers,

Ben

bg100,

Just curious about your rest times. I notice the longer rests for sets with less volume (higher intensity). Have you found that to work better for you than the other way around?

I’ve spent a long time reducing my rest times, such that only squats and deads leave me heaving and sometimes require more than say 60s of breathing on later parts of 10x3 or 3x5 group.

I believe I’m working towards Chad’s timing recommendations and so on… simply because (unless I remember incorrectly) he has suggested this in his rest time discussions.

By the way, I’ll post another weekly report on friday, but I’m finding my TBT style program to be pretty effective…

[quote]vroom wrote:
bg100,

Just curious about your rest times. I notice the longer rests for sets with less volume (higher intensity). Have you found that to work better for you than the other way around?

I’ve spent a long time reducing my rest times, such that only squats and deads leave me heaving and sometimes require more than say 60s of breathing on later parts of 10x3 or 3x5 group.

I believe I’m working towards Chad’s timing recommendations and so on… simply because (unless I remember incorrectly) he has suggested this in his rest time discussions.

By the way, I’ll post another weekly report on friday, but I’m finding my TBT style program to be pretty effective…[/quote]

Vroom,

The 10x3 rest periods follow Chad’s parameters from his program. The longer rest periods for the 3x5 sets are just following the normal guidelines for max strength training so that the CNS can recover. As I mentioned in a previous post I based a lot of the stuff on the parts of CT’s “Different Destinations, Different Journeys” article relating to functional strength. I did a 5x5 program July-August last year when I got back into the gym after 2 years off and found that the 3 minute rest periods I used then really worked well. But with the 10x3 sets I need to cut down the workout time a bit, plus the shorter rest might have a slightly more hypertrophic effect than a pure max strength program, which I don’t really mind. Anyway, I won’t know if it works until I try it!

Glad to hear your program is progressing well.

Ben

Heh, this may be my final post in this particular thread. So, those of you that see this thing keep popping up and are getting tired of it, take heart.

On the good side the core lifts are going up still. I was benching my previous PR for 3x5 this evening and attempting to squat my previous PR for a 10x3.

On the bad side I only got through 7x3 on the squat before I failed to get back up and had to set the bar on the rack. Hmm, one of these days I’m going to feel foolish when I push the bench too far and have to call out for help with the bar sitting on my chest. Oh well.

So, now, I’m either going to take a backoff week entirely, or perhaps just a backoff week on squats and deads. Those two lifts represent most of the volume and worked muscle mass anyway. I’m tempted, since that would let me bump the bench and go for a 10x3 with a new PR on monday.

One thing I really like, and perhaps I should extend this next time I design something, is the switch from 3x5 to 10x3. This is a “magic progression” for me. Whatever I did in the last 10x3 I can do in this 3x5. Whenever I drop from 5 reps to 3, I can up the weight a smidgeon. This may not go on forever, but it’s “magic” while it works and it has been working for me. The unanswered question is can I find some magic progressions to go between 10x3 to the 3x5 – right now I was using a 3x8 in there. Would a back off day or a high rep day be good in there? Do I need more than one middle workout? I just don’t know.

Anyhow, obviously, I haven’t gone for PR’s in quite a while and have simply caught up to them during the last couple months of total body style training.

Finally, while I’m blabbling, it’s getting really close to cutting season and so on, so I won’t be able to judge progress fairly while backing off or restricting carbs or whatever. Hence the probability of no more posts in here.

I hope someone out there found this a worthwhile read.

[quote]vroom wrote:

Finally, while I’m blabbling, it’s getting really close to cutting season and so on, so I won’t be able to judge progress fairly while backing off or restricting carbs or whatever. Hence the probability of no more posts in here.

I hope someone out there found this a worthwhile read.[/quote]

Vroom,

While you are cutting I’ll be progressing through my program and probably keeping this thread ticking over until you are back into “normal” workouts again.

BTW, good stuff with your lift increases, that’s exactly what I am hoping to see myself. As i explained previously I am currently doing CT’s Part Time Beast program, which uses 10 sets of a major exercise e.g. bench, squats, deads, in each of the workouts. You do 10 reps the first set then up the weight and do 9 reps etc until you get to a 1 rep set. I’ve been having major trouble getting through the 7-5 rep range, and often have to stay on the same weight instead of increasing it each set, but as soon as I hit 4 reps I seem to be able to increase the weight significantly, it must be some sort of pyschological thing where if I know that I don’t have many reps to do I can handle the weight. So it is for this reason that I am really looking forward to doing 10x3.

Ben

Well, I finally started my strength-focuesd program today. The 10x3 exercise was deadlifts and I got through it OK. I felt really good leaving the gym and 6-7 hours later my muscles haven’t stiffened up, I can feel though that I have done a good, hard workout. Things might feel different tomorrow morning though…lol! I probably went a bit light on some exercises because there were some that I hadn’t done for a while and I went conservative to ensure good form and that I would be able to get all the reps done, so I guess it will take a week or so to get the right weight.

I’ll keep you posted at the end of the first week.

Ben