My lifts:
Bench - 110kg x 3
Squat - 140kg x 3
Deadlift - 150 x 3
Not the best numbers but considering my time lifting I’m pretty happy with them.
I’m currently on a ‘cut’ as it’s coming to summer here in Australia, and am after a program. For the past year I’ve been doing WS4SB and saw some great size gains as well as strength.
I’m after something a little different though, I know I react well to volume training, however I also like to use powerlifting style progression techniques as well as training the big 3… I have looked at PHAT and it’s probably a little too out of my range at the moment.
If WS4SB has been working well for you, keep doing it. Only change when it stops working. If you absolutely must change - and again, I highly recommend against this - try 5/3/1 simply because of how good its track record is.
If you want to do a cut, I’d really recommend initially just cleaning your diet up and if possible not cutting your calories and see how that works. If you’re working hard, you’ll still lose fat but shouldn’t miss out of on increasing size and strenth if you get it right. You could implement intermittent fasting on rest days once or twice a week - that’s worked really well for me. Something like an 8-12 hour fast (lots of hydration, but no food) between breakfast and dinner works. The main advantage I’ve found is that it lets you pack in the calories on training days so your recovery is good. Doing a bunch of brisk walking on your rest days may also help. That and IF are what’s worked nicely for me over the nine months or so (around 10 kg added weight and about 2-3% decrease in bodyfat with decent strength increases: ~40 kg on my squat and DL, ~15 kg on my bench).
For your weight and age, your numbers aren’t at all bad. Definitely a good base to work from. Just stay consistent and don’t overthink things. Stay with what works and only change if it stops working and even then, change as little as possible.
[quote]MarkKO wrote:
If WS4SB has been working well for you, keep doing it. Only change when it stops working. If you absolutely must change - and again, I highly recommend against this - try 5/3/1 simply because of how good its track record is.
If you want to do a cut, I’d really recommend initially just cleaning your diet up and if possible not cutting your calories and see how that works. If you’re working hard, you’ll still lose fat but shouldn’t miss out of on increasing size and strenth if you get it right. You could implement intermittent fasting on rest days once or twice a week - that’s worked really well for me. Something like an 8-12 hour fast (lots of hydration, but no food) between breakfast and dinner works. The main advantage I’ve found is that it lets you pack in the calories on training days so your recovery is good. Doing a bunch of brisk walking on your rest days may also help. That and IF are what’s worked nicely for me over the nine months or so (around 10 kg added weight and about 2-3% decrease in bodyfat with decent strength increases: ~40 kg on my squat and DL, ~15 kg on my bench).
For your weight and age, your numbers aren’t at all bad. Definitely a good base to work from. Just stay consistent and don’t overthink things. Stay with what works and only change if it stops working and even then, change as little as possible. [/quote]
Hey, thanks for your response, I appreciate it.
Yeah I sort of just got a bit bored with Westside, great program none the less. My cut diet wise is going fine that’s not really my problem although i appreciate your advice, it was more just the program aspect.
I don’t think 5/3/1 has the sort of volume I’m after though… Unless you mix it with BBB which is what I’ve heard is an option?
[quote]MarkKO wrote:
If WS4SB has been working well for you, keep doing it. Only change when it stops working. If you absolutely must change - and again, I highly recommend against this - try 5/3/1 simply because of how good its track record is.
If you want to do a cut, I’d really recommend initially just cleaning your diet up and if possible not cutting your calories and see how that works. If you’re working hard, you’ll still lose fat but shouldn’t miss out of on increasing size and strenth if you get it right. You could implement intermittent fasting on rest days once or twice a week - that’s worked really well for me. Something like an 8-12 hour fast (lots of hydration, but no food) between breakfast and dinner works. The main advantage I’ve found is that it lets you pack in the calories on training days so your recovery is good. Doing a bunch of brisk walking on your rest days may also help. That and IF are what’s worked nicely for me over the nine months or so (around 10 kg added weight and about 2-3% decrease in bodyfat with decent strength increases: ~40 kg on my squat and DL, ~15 kg on my bench).
For your weight and age, your numbers aren’t at all bad. Definitely a good base to work from. Just stay consistent and don’t overthink things. Stay with what works and only change if it stops working and even then, change as little as possible. [/quote]
Hey, thanks for your response, I appreciate it.
Yeah I sort of just got a bit bored with Westside, great program none the less. My cut diet wise is going fine that’s not really my problem although i appreciate your advice, it was more just the program aspect.
I don’t think 5/3/1 has the sort of volume I’m after though… Unless you mix it with BBB which is what I’ve heard is an option?
[/quote]
Why are you sure you need volume? I’m not saying you’re wrong, I’m just interested in your reasoning.
5/3/1 can have as much or as little volume as you want, as long as you stick to the principles involved. I’m not doing Jack shit template is one end of the spectrum, Spinal tap training is the other and it comes in all shades inbetween.
[quote]dagill2 wrote:
Why are you sure you need volume? I’m not saying you’re wrong, I’m just interested in your reasoning.
[/quote]
That’s a really good question. I think it’s also worth noting different lifts can respond to different volume for different people. My understanding is that usually bench and other pressing tends to do better with a bunch more volume; squatting can benefit from high volume, but not necessarily; and deadlifting often needs a lot less volume.
[quote]MarkKO wrote:
If WS4SB has been working well for you, keep doing it. Only change when it stops working. If you absolutely must change - and again, I highly recommend against this - try 5/3/1 simply because of how good its track record is.
If you want to do a cut, I’d really recommend initially just cleaning your diet up and if possible not cutting your calories and see how that works. If you’re working hard, you’ll still lose fat but shouldn’t miss out of on increasing size and strenth if you get it right. You could implement intermittent fasting on rest days once or twice a week - that’s worked really well for me. Something like an 8-12 hour fast (lots of hydration, but no food) between breakfast and dinner works. The main advantage I’ve found is that it lets you pack in the calories on training days so your recovery is good. Doing a bunch of brisk walking on your rest days may also help. That and IF are what’s worked nicely for me over the nine months or so (around 10 kg added weight and about 2-3% decrease in bodyfat with decent strength increases: ~40 kg on my squat and DL, ~15 kg on my bench).
For your weight and age, your numbers aren’t at all bad. Definitely a good base to work from. Just stay consistent and don’t overthink things. Stay with what works and only change if it stops working and even then, change as little as possible. [/quote]
Hey, thanks for your response, I appreciate it.
Yeah I sort of just got a bit bored with Westside, great program none the less. My cut diet wise is going fine that’s not really my problem although i appreciate your advice, it was more just the program aspect.
I don’t think 5/3/1 has the sort of volume I’m after though… Unless you mix it with BBB which is what I’ve heard is an option?
[/quote]
I definitely think BBB would give you the volume, but I have a suspicion doing it in a cut is a dumb idea. Just to recover you’d need to eat a ton, let alone to get good results out of it.