I Officially Am the Worst

That’s vague, yes. You would be better off benching and squatting at least twice a week. If you did well with Blaine’s program and you can afford to hire a coach then why don’t you get in touch with him? He certainly knows what he is doing.

He’s $60 a week

I’m going to start a training log

You can find a real coach for that price.

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In my beginner year I squatted and benched heavy on Monday and Friday and Deadlifted heavy on Wednesday. Assistance was limited to leg curls, pulldowns, close grips, and bicep curls. There was no “light stuff”; there was no such thing as a deload.

My point is a beginner doing each lift once a week is doing NO work. Each week you recovering too much and going backwards instead of building on the previous week.

How about:

Monday: Squat 80-85%, Deadlift 60-70%
Leg curls, bentover rows

Tuesday: Bench 80 - 85%
Close grip, Side raises

Thursday: Squat 60-70%, Deadlift 90%
Leg curls, pulldowns

Friday: Bench 70-80%
Press - 50% high reps, tricep extension

Sunday: Bench 60%
Press 90%, side raises, curls

Keep the reps at 6 for bench, 5 for squat, 2-3 for deadlift
3-4 sets each

Assistance at 2-4sets of 6-15 reps

ya, its pretty expensive and I have loans to pay.

Or worse…God, I miss those types of gyms!

I started out at a place in Queens, NY called Zinns Gym. It was upstairs from an old boxing arena. It had no air conditioning, no fans, just windows front and back. There was no ladies locker room or separate ladies toilet. It was dark and dingy and the owner was a crusty fuck who was BRUTALLY honest. However it had a number of ex-cons, cops, powerlifters, pro bodybuilders (Harold Poole, Jose Guzman, Johnny Fuller, Mike and Ray Mentzer when they were in town), and a few actors and LOADS of atmosphere.

If anyone was performing a heavy lift whether 135 or 835 everyone in the gym would stop what they were doing and yell encourgement. If you didn’t make progress in there you were beyond hope. If you didn’t follow ettiquette you might get a plate thrown at you.

These gyms are why many of us old-timers laugh at the youngsters and break their balls.

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amen

Should I do greyskull lp?

So as I read I was told to run a trusted program and do it for a while. I found greyskull lp to be the one because I made great progress on it a while back. Can anyone let me know if the accessories I added are fine? and if it is ok to replace overhead press with close grip bench so therefore bench frequency will be 3x a week which I respond best to.

GreySkull LP for Powerlifting
Run after meet
Bench Press/ Close-grip bench (alternate each week) - 2 sets of 5, then last set AMRAP
Squat- 2 sets of 5, then last set AMRAP
Cable row 3x12
Dips 3x5
Leg extension 3x15
Plank- 3 sets of 1 minute (try and add weight)
Wednesday:
Bench Press/ Close-grip bench (alternate each week) - 2 sets of 5, then last set AMRAP
Deadlift- 1 set AMRAP
Pull-ups 2x5 last set amrap
Dips 3x5
Leg curl 3x15
Hyper-Extensions- 3 sets of 15-20
Friday:
Bench Press/ Close-grip bench (alternate each week) - 2 sets of 5, then last set AMRAP
Squat- 2 sets of 5, then last set AMRAP
Dumbbell Rows on incline bench 3x8
Dips 3x5
Leg Extension 3x15
Ab Wheel 3x6

Progress by 5 pounds on lower body lifts
Progress by 2.5 pounds on upper body lifts
Go down to sets of 3 once you can’t progress with 5s.
Start with 70-75%

This.

I’ll recommend a book to the OP. The Subtle Art Of Not Giving A Fuck. It’s a great read and a blueprint of how to prioritize things in your life to find happiness.

One of the things he writes, is those who become successful, are generally those who learn to embrace the grind. The activity you have to do over and over again to achieve the desired goal. This applies to powerlifting. The best, I will bet, have learned to enjoy the grind.

This may help as well.

Big He-Man fan eh?

It looks like a reasonable beginner program. The optimism associated with increasing the weights by a static amount each week amuses me because that’s not how life works unless you’re a beginner. Once you’re intermediate or advanced strength gains come in surges with months (or years) of frustration between the surges. The surges don’t occur due to jumping to a new program, or system, or the secret exercise taught to monks, it comes from grinding in the slow periods.

I’d personally say pick something with a better built in progression method like 5/3/1 or Westside, I’m a westside fan, always have been. Though if you read my log currently I’m doing rep work instead of speed work but I alternate that.

Still, hit that for 6-12 weeks if you want.

Whatever you do stay on it for a good length of time and KEEP A TRAINING LOG.

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You should do whatever program you feel like doing.

I’m gonna be honest with you man, at your age and size, literally ANY proven program should yield results. And even winging it in the gym most of the time should get the job done. If you’re at a point where you can’t make the slightest progress without being on ‘the perfect program’, then you’ve got a real problem on your hands. Don’t think of any program as ‘the one’.

Final note: don’t tweak programs. It’s extraordinarily irritating that you think you know better, at 18 years old, what works and what doesn’t. Run the goddamn program the way the author intended. OR run your version with tweaks, and don’t complain on the internet when you don’t get the results you want.

Other final note, because I want to say another thing: One of my biggest regrets about my early lifting career was doing what you want to do here, which is eliminating the overhead press in your programming. I thought powerlifting was everything when I was younger. I changed my mind years later, and I HATED that I had avoided overhead pressing when I was younger. It’s negatively affected my shoulder mobility, my ability to compete in strongman, and my life overall. Move in all directions. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. You can chase your world champion powerlifting dreams while still performing non-competition lifts like OHP. I can promise you that, in your life, you will benefit from this movement. Don’t take it out.

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Ok I’ll do this for 6-12 weeks I’ll see how I progress

I’ve been making progress it’s just that some things are more optimal for me. Like high frequency bench training for example. If I do greyskull then I’ll overhead press on Wednesday and not alternate it for the sake of bench frequency

Bill Kazmaier, Ed Coan, Ted Arcidi, Ken Lain, and looong list of others kept some form of overhead pressing in their programs throughout their careers.

Prettly good company to be in.

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With all respect, are you dense or just stubborn?

Multiple people here have told you to pick something and run with it. I’ve been in and out of gyms for 35 years and don’t know nearly everything. Damnit, Ed Coan even says he is still learning. This shit never ends.

You know what sucks? I’ll bet my bottom dollar that you’re like most people who think they work hard but don’t, then don’t listen when you offer help, and 5 years later they’re still bitching about not breaking a 315 squat. If you’re a beginner and eating and sleeping and not making progress you’re either dense or fucking lazy.

I’m done with you. No more comments from me and I suggest others do the same. Stop wasting everyone’s time.

Good luck at the world’s - LOL

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Why is bench first every day? That’s the main thing that sticks out.

It’s so that you can train your upper body first and you won’t get as fatigued and then you hit your lower body