Hello all
I was hoping any users of Ian King’s “White Men Can Jump” program could answer a few questions for me. I posted a few days ago, but have some more detailed questions now. Basically, I was wondering if we’re supposed to do the same workout (I’m on phase one) twice per week, split it up into two workouts, or do the workout once per week and another leg workout of your own making for the second workout that week. I’m asking because although I’ve started it out doing the same workout twice per week and it’s almost impossible. King doesn’t mention, for example, how much of your one-rep maximum you should be lifting, and, during the 2x6 squat for example, I’ve been doing about 80%. This gives me a really intense workout, but makes it really hard to do the other exercises (particularly the multiple sets of one-legged body weight squat variations) and I’ve been really struggling to get even halfway through the second day of that week. The way I see it, I can either split up the workout, do my own (relatively low-volume) workout on the second day, lower the percentage I’m lifting, or suck it up and deal with it. The latter seems tempting, but although I’ve got some pretty strong legs and have a pretty good ability to tough it out, this seems pretty intense. Anyway, any suggestions would be much appreciated.
Many thanks
I’ve done the program twice in the past and did it once a week and did a light posterior chain/upper body workout another day of the week (with positive results).
If you’re having difficulty finishing the workout I suspect it’s because of your frequency.
For the percentages, I’d arbirtarily start about 10% below my max poundage for a given number of reps (i.e. if my 6rm is 200, I’d use 180) the first week then tweak it by feel for the following two workouts (making sure to really max your shit out on the third/final workout of each phase) before progressing on.
Ideally you’d want to use less-than-maximal weights for the first workout of each phase so you could both master the new lift before loading on the plates and also to recover from maxing the previous workout.
Deinabolic
Thanks for the response. I have another question, though. Later on in the program, the set/rep scheme for the squats gets a little more elaborate. I don’t have the article in front of me, but if memory serves, at some point it’s back squat 1x5, 1x1, 1x5, 1x1, or something like this. Should we use the same weight from set to set, or increase it for the one rep set? I presume the latter, but wanted to see what you had to say.
You increase it with each set, ex:
225 x 1
200 x 5
235 x 1
210 x 5
245 x 1
200 x 10
The point is to use the increased neural activity from the 1 rep set to “trick” the CNS into banging out more reps than you normally could in the 5 rep sets, i.e. you normally couldn’t manage a set of 5 reps w/210lbs from the get-go using the example above, but after a heavier 1 rep set you can knock it out.