I’ll give my 2 cents of your workout.
This is your first week of 8 reps, meaning you have two more weeks coming up.
This is on point, you have to up the weight every week and not miss a single rep.
This is to heavy I don’t think you can up the weight next week and based on your own comment you HOPE to get it.
I would lower the weight here to may 130 if you feel sure you can do 5x8 by the third week.
Depending on how light up the weight with maybe just 10 lbs and see how it is.
This is not part of the program, but you know your body and know what volume you can recover from.
This should have been 5 sets of 8 and over the next two weeks you’re supposed to up the weight.
You do it for all four lifts bench, OHP, rows and chins.
Close grip is not part of the program, If you want to do them, do it for the triceps pump and 3 sets of 12 like the curl.
Lower body follows the same rep scheme 3 and 5 x 8 reps for the first week with the same weight.
@mortdk is dropping some SGSS knowledge! And he’s right. Plan for week three of each phase. You want the weight to feel like an RPE of 9 or 10. With any luck it will actually feel like a 7 or 8 by the time you get there.
Example:
On my test day I did 95 x 8 x 3 sets on RFESS. I got all the reps but I only had about 1 more in me. I didn’t think I’d get 5 sets of 8, let alone be able to add weight for two consecutive weeks.
I started with 85 and got back to 95 for week 3. By then 95 felt like an RPE of 7-8 for all 5 sets.
I’m planning on 220 next week then 225. Small jumps, but still will be volume PRs.
My thinking is that I’ll receive a little supercompensation and be able to get 135 next week. But if you think I should lower the weight then I will.
The 5x8 is part of the program. I was whipping 185 around and was resting for what felt like 30-45 seconds between sets with no problem. 205 felt a little tougher, but not bad. It was partly to challenge myself, and partly to see where I should be at next week. I’m thinking 195.
This was just extra. Not one of the 4 main lifts (bench, OHP, row, close grip bench). I was walking by the pull-up bar and just hopped on on my way to the dumbbells. When I was reading the article, (correct me if I’m wrong) it sounded like CT pretty much just said ‘bench and OHP + 2 random assistance exercises.’ I believe that my triceps are the strong point in my bench so I feel like the stronger those get, the stronger my bench will be.
That’s interesting. I think the way I have my program laid out, the 8s phase is one of the harder phases. I don’t think I’ll have any trouble benching 260 for 3x3. Or squatting 355 for 5x3. What WILL be a challenge is squatting 305 for 5x8 with at least 3 of those sets beltless. lol. I’m glad you guys are giving input. It makes this whole thing much more cerebral which doubles how much I can get out of running this program; half mental, half physical. So, let me know what you think of my reasoning from the rebuttals to Mort. Let me know if it makes sense or not
26 October 2018 - Lower Body W1D2 Bodyweight: 216.0lbs
Warmup: the usual
High Bar 5x12 255lbs (first 3 sets beltless) (LSRPE 6)
Good Mornings 3x8 (owwww)
Trap Bar Holds 40sec, 30sec, 20sec 225lbs
Notes
Again, the volume of the back squats gave me a crippling lower back pump and I wasn’t able to do anything. I’m not used to beltless squats OR high volume on squats, and I think combining them will be helpful in the long run, but right now it’s really limiting what I can do on leg days. Maybe I should modify the program and do deadlifts on a separate day? Maybe I should do deads first? I don’t know.
Good mornings felt very risky with my lower back feeling compromised. Even with a belt I didn’t feel secure doing 5 sets.
The trap bar holds were the silver lining today. I’ve been wanting to work on grip strength for a long time and now I have an easy way to do it. My forearms were PUMPED because I haven’t held anything over 185lbs without straps for more than a few seconds at a time (see: barbell rows).
Then I’ll correct you the 4 mains are bench, OHP, squat and DL
for upper body the two other exercises are 2 free weight pulling exercises among them are BB rows, DB rows, chins and pull ups. + one assistance non taxing exercise like curl.
Lower body the two other exercises are a squat variation and a hip hinge variation + a carry.
I am doing the back squat first (the most technical demanding) then DL followed by front squat and RDL. I think GM is a very low back demanding exercise.
You could do squat (btw why are you doing 12 reps?) DL something like bulgarian split squat or lunges and KB swings.
I would certainly lower the weight on OHP. I would keep the squat weight and do 8 reps It isn’t much weight for you, but it might save your lower back a bit.
Then I would do BB rows and chin ups.
If you like the CGBP do it as assistance for 3 sets of 12 reps and superset it with a curl all programs must contain a curl. Otherwise your arm will fall off
This is my suggestion and how I interpret the program.
You can of course do it your way, I’m sure it’ll work just as good or at least close.
splitting the days up I think would be a bad idea it would turn into a 6 day program.
What you could do is day one do 5 sets of DL and 3 VERY light sets of squat (front squats maybe) and for the second day do 5 sets of back squats, and 3 very light sets of DL (maybe opposite stance). On both days do unilateral quad work and KB swings or maybe SG high pulls or cleans.
They help me a ton. I don’t even use weight and have to do them hanging off a bench or table. I can’t imagine what they would be if I had the equipment
Yep, @mortdk already hit it. CT gave categories of movements with suggestions. Mort’s suggestions are spot on. I did squat, deadlift, RDL’s and walking lunges (because I wanted some unilateral work in there and I’m done with front squats). My upper body was OHP, Pull ups (Lat Pull Downs the 2nd time I ran it), bench, and pendlay rows.
The supplemental/assistance exercise on lower body day is loaded carries. The supplemental/assistance exercise on upper body day is whatever you want and you can change it week to week.
I know you’re trying this all beltless but occasionally I was getting bad lower back pumps from RFESS which was before my box squats. Throwing the belt on helped with that and allowed me to finish strong. Try to deadlift first and see if it helps too. You just might have to decrease your squat weights a bit to account for the extra fatigue.
Why in the hell would you want to do good mornings if you felt like you couldn’t deadlift due to your lower back pump?
Mort, I think he was doing a couple workouts with the higher reps just like you
Right, I got that part. So I guess I can keep close grip bench as long as I’m adding in pullups/chinups? So my upper body would be pause bench, close grip bench, OHP, barbell rows, and pullups.
Following you and @Frank_C’s advice on starting with a few weeks of higher reps!!! Lol
That’s true. I can see how it would lose some effectiveness if I didn’t adhere to the prescribed split.
Do you have someone hold your legs?
So this is when my close grip bench comes in
Idk what it is about beltless training. It just hits the lower back viciously. I threw the belt on for my last two squat sets yesterday and they were easier than any of my first three lol.
To hit my hamstrings…
27 October 2018 Bodyweight: 215.6lbs
Work today. Gotta leave in 3 min. Working about 10 hours. My legs are fairly sore so standing for 8-9 of those 10 hours is gonna be a BITCH. I’ll definitely be more sore tomorrow than I am today.
Bench day tomorrow. 3x8 220lbs pause bench, 3x8 195 barbell rows, 3x8 130lbs OHP, 3x8 pullups (bodyweight), and 3x8 close grip bench 195lbs. And rectus abdominis work. Have a great Saturday y’all, I’ll either check in later tonight at work when I’m bored or tomorrow
Reverse hypers the torso is on the bench and the legs move out and under
I did Nordic curls today instead of GHR with a guy holding my legs and I worked the negative part of the movement and will continue until I can do both…
I would leave this for the last exercise and superset it with abs.
Go for the pump with light weight and 3 sets of 12 reps and not going for 5 sets on the second day.
Think of it as a bodybuilding thing and not a performance thing.
Don’t know if it can be done, but I’ve seen a video of someone using a well loaded barbell to hold the legs instead of another guy.
Lay on your stomach and slide forward (if I’m picturing this correctly…)
The only BAD use of the bar pad that I can think of in the context of a weight room is for squats honestly. Hip thrusts can be easier with the pad as well
I am planning on leaving it at 3x8 for the rest of the 12 weeks. From here on out I’ll probably just be doing 3x8, increasing the weight by 5lbs each week regardless of phase or anything.
Agreed. If I do hip thrusters then I use the same pad I’ve been using for my knees on RFESS. It’s square and about 2.5 inches thick.
There’s a progression for the supplemental lift too. It’s 12 reps in phase one, 10 reps in phase two, 8 reps in phase three, and 8 reps in phase four.
Phases one through three has you do three sets and five sets like everything else. I don’t remember if phase four specified the sets but I only did three sets on each day.
Pause Bench: 3x8 220lbs (LSRPE 6.5/7)
Barbell Rows 3x8 195lbs
OHP 3x8 130lbs (LSRPE 7)
Pull-ups 3x8 bodyweight (LSRPE 10)
Close Grip Bench 3x8 195lbs (LSRPE 6)
Face Pulls 3x25 32.5lbs + Decline Sit Ups 3x12 bodyweight (no rest between sets or after sets)
Notes
Another great day on the bench. I’m a huge fan of eating in a surplus and getting some decent volume in. Today was a volume PR with 220 on the bench and Wednesday will be another volume PR. Again, I was able to catch a beautiful chest and arm pump. My back was kind of pumped but I think I might switch the pull-ups out for some DB rows.
Close grip, rows, and pause bench all went pretty well today. No complaints. Pull-ups are still a weak point for me. Barbell rows are feeling better every time I tweak my form which is promising. Apparently I AM strong, my form was just subpar. My OHP was feeling fine. I should be able to get my 5x8 on Wednesday for that.
Squats tomorrow. 3x10 265lbs. I think I’ll do the first 1-2 sets beltless, then use a belt for the last one. I’ll do some good mornings 3x8, then the rest of my shit. My glutes are a little sore today (actually a great sign b/c I was trying to engage them more than I ever have on Friday while squatting). It shouldn’t be a problem. I can squat tomorrow, and then next squat day isn’t until Friday, so I’ll have 3 full days to recover and get ready for a 5x10 squat marathon. I’m really looking forward to getting to 8, 5, and 3 reps for squats. BUTTTTTT I need to build quad strength first. That’s just how it goes.
So did I because the terminology was a bit odd for me. I posted a question on the ThibArmy forum but read the article one last time before actually posting. I finally figured it out and I was happy I didn’t present myself as an idiot to CT.
Hahaha. Well, that’s good to know. I guess I’ll drop the weight for close grip and my other supplemental lifts and go to 3-5x12s for the rest of phase 1. Thanks for catching that. I want to run this program just about as closely as I possibly can to what he laid out.
I laugh because I realize how simple terminology can mean different things to different people.
I thought CGBP was your “extra” upper body lift.
I think your main movements are bench, rows, OHP, and pull ups. You do 3 x 8 and 5 x 8 on those (5s and 3s in the following phases). You’ll do 3 x 12 and 5 x 12 on CGBP in phase one.
You keep your main four lifts for the whole program but you can change out the supplemental lift. In your case it’s CGBP.
the 4 mains are bench, OHP, squat and DL
