Training Every Day for a Type 3?

Hello Coach!

Which/What program can a type 3 utilize to train everyday or rather how can a type 3 adapt, lets say one of your existing programs? My first thought goes to the 20 minute muscle builder, but I would love to hear your thoughts.

I don’t really see any of my T-nation programs as being good for a Type 3. The one that would comethe closest would be HP mass but some modifications would still need to be made.

But honestly a Type 3 should not train 6 days a week. Normally we are talking 3, maybe 4 days a week. Otherwise they will just get worse gains from elevated cortisol levels.

As a Type 3, I can agree with CT that training 6 weeks will not work. I have tried so many variations, and found that 3 days/week is the best for feeling good and strong, making gains, and all around wellness. You can certainly add in sports/conditioning/yoga to fill in your week.

For CT’s program, something that worked well was the 6 weeks to Superhero, but running it for 3 days/week and extending your week.

So:
Monday: OHP and Squat complexes
Wednesday: Bench and DL complexes
Friday: OHP and Squat complexes
Monday: Bench and DL complexes
etc… so you run a 9 day “week”.

Trust me, you will see much better results and progress if you do this. It’s mentally hard at first because you’ll think “this isn’t enough days in the gym”… but if you get three strong workouts in a week for a sustained period of time, you’ll see awesome results.

Also, a find 531 programs to be great for Type 3’s. Lots of 3 and 4 days a week templates, and the set up is very conducive to the Type 3 neuro type.

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Thanks, basically what you said is nothing new and just reaffirmed everything I have had as experience so far.

A side question of sorts if I may. I have started working from home and can move my chin/dip station near to my work station and I will be basically be able to do a set of chins and dips every hour(to remain fresh ), which will amount to something like 8 supersets in the end of the day. The question is, is this way of training any good for type 3 and if so, how would one best structure his training week?

That can only work with type 3 if…

  1. The chin-ups/dips are very submaximal (go going anywhere close to failure), seeing it more like technique practice than training

  2. You DO NOT superset both

  3. Do minimal volume at any given time

Type 3 overproduce cortisol, the last thing you want is to increase it even more by training too much.

Establish your rep max for both exercises (let’s say 8 on pull-ups and 20 on dips), with perfect form.

You might be able to do 2-3 sets, 2-3 times a day with 50-70% of your rep max (so in our example 4-5 for chin-ups, 10-14 on dips). But honestly, with a type 3 I would be VERY carefull with adding work in.

Hi,

I consider myself as a type 3.

If i do to much work or add training days i can only do it for a short time, after 2 weeks i get anxious over comming training sesions and i start to go backwards in my performance on the “big” basic lifts. I train 3 Days a week most of the time.

Dont know why i get so anxious, its “only” training. But i think its because i feel that i cant perform good and i feel weak.

I tried to add 50 chin-ups on days i didnt go to the gym, but could not hold it for long. I tried to do them i as few sets as possible and going close to fail.

Regards Robert

Try a paul carter program for type 3

Thank you Coach! So basically the so called grease the groove method. You are a treasure on these forums!

Thanks for sharing man.

Any specific one in mind?

Yes, but that doesn’t mean that I recommend it. In fact i don’t for a type3. It’s the only way to MAYBE pull-it off, but I would not have a type 3 client risk it

Type 3 and I agree 100% with this. I’ve been running 5/3/1 all year with good results on both 2x/week and 3x/week protocols. I’ve also successfully modified CT’s strength-skill programs to do them 2x or 3x/week, as well. (I do Brazilian Jiujitsu 2-3x/week for conditioning, mobility, fun etc.)

5/3/1 is actually a good way for an intermiate/experienced Type 3 to train if strength is the main goal.

Here are elements of 5/3/1 that works well for a type 3

  • Repetitive (you do the same exercises week in and week out for months or even years if you want)

  • Planned in advance (you know the weights you will be using a month or morte in advance)

  • “Logical” progression model

  • Very gradual/conservative progression

  • Few exercises/sticking to the same exercises

*A lot of rest days

The elements that are not ideal for a Type 3 are:

  • The low reps

  • The small number of progressively heavier warm-up sets

While I HATE to do this, here are suggestions for a type 3 using 5/3/1:

  • Instead of doing 5/3/1, you can try 8/6/4 using a 78%/82%/87% instead of 85/90/95% base

  • Doing 3-4 gradually heavier warm-ups instead of 2

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Traditionally, 5/3/1 involves going for a rep PR on the top set. Do you think that’s the way to go for type 3 lifters?

Yes and no…you can go for max reps… but “max reps” meaning the max number of reps you can do with perfect form

Thanks for the suggestions. As a type 3 who has run several 531 programs, I’ll also add:

Choose the programs using “boring but big” (which is 5x10) as the supplement after you do the 531 progression. This way, you get your higher reps in and these are all done at the same weight (which, as a type 3, a really prefer).

Make sure you add in the “warm ups”, which are done at 40%, 50% and then 60% prior to even the lightest of the 531 main sets. This gives you a much higher number of progressively heavy warm up sets.

Most current 531 programs (the program has evolved over the years) don’t have PR sets except for the “anchor”. So, typically, you go 6 weeks with no PR sets (the leader), take a deload, and then do 3 weeks with PR sets (the anchor). So, a typical template will last 10 weeks, and only 3 of these weeks have you doing PR sets. This works well for a type 3.

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Re. the warmups.

I’ve often done 10 reps at 40%, 8 reps at 50%, and 6 reps at 60% focusing on solid technique and feeling the right muscles work on each rep. Sometimes, I even do a single at the top set before doing that same weight for the AMRAP. Things have felt a lot better for me doing both those things.

Yeah I’m not a type 3 but I can’t fathom how people can only do like 1-2 warmup sets before doing their heavy work of squat, bench etc…

Very good suggestions for type 3

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In your other forum, you said your neurotype 3 program would work well for a type 3 with the ACTN3 gene, except for the first phase. So would you recommend buying that program and just omitting phase one?