First of all I would like to apologize for the extreme gap between this and the last post. I have been shifting to a new gym and have had several projects on the line. I will put up a separate post about all that.
Now if you have read part 1 of this series, you will understand the various kinds of plans, how to make a basic plan and training principles, components of a training program and how to balance things. You will have also seen the raw beginner program I gave.
Today, we will talk about exercise tools, exercise selection, the principle of specificity and the principle of accommodation. We will talk about the two factor model of training. We will also cover a basic beginner training model.
Two Factor Model
Now in training we get some benefits from each workout. These benefits are adaptations which last for a certain duration of time and they go away if the adaptations are not worked on within a certain amount of time, which depends upon the stress created by the workout and your adaptive ability etc.
Now from the same workouts you get certain fatigue. This is cost of the workout. This fatigue also lasts a certain amount of time dependent on various factors. On a very simple and logical level the gains your acquire from any workout is simply:
Benefits (adaptations) - Costs (Fatigue)
Therefore the less the fatigue caused by a certain workout for the same adaptations, the better the gains.
However there is a second point to consider. The duration of adaptations and fatigue. You have to repeat the stimuli before the previous adaptation fizzles out, but you also have to recover between workouts. You have to prevent fatigue from compounding. What does this mean?
Lets say the adaptations from a workout last 72 hours and your fatigue only lasts 24 hours. You workout every 48 hours. This is good as the adaptations compound but the fatigue does not. However let us say the fatigue lasts 48 hours. This means not only do your adaptations compound, but so does your fatigue. and remember that workouts are not your only source of fatigue- your daily life is as well. So fatigue will tend to compound more than adaptations.
Therefore this brings into play the principles of
1. Energy Conservation- Switching between antagonist movements, taking active rests between sets, performing breathing exercises before and after the workout. resting more in general and engaging in relaxing activities and avoiding stress.
2. Training Economy- You have to use the least amount of volume and exercises possible to get the adaptations you want. You have to learn how to make efficient training programs and learn how to get more from less.
3. Optimum training frequency, volume, intensity and tonnage- You have to figure out the combinations you respond to, because this will determine how you adapt (or don't). For example- high frequency low volume medium intensity training works. Low frequency high volume medium Intensity works. But high frequency and high volume medium intensity does not work.
Principle of Specificity
Many of the factors controlling the increases in strength are neural in nature. Because of this gains in strength are highly specific. Specific to the movement performed that is. What this means is if you get good at one variety of squatting, it will probably help your other squats in some way, but how much and how is very dependent on the circumstances, but leg pressing will not help your squatting. As an example of this, close stance raw squats will help your geared squats by giving you strength in the bottom but this improvement is probably negligible. On the other hand box squats will really help your geared squats. But leg pressing won't do squat for your squat.
Now admittedly there are ways around this and a lot of it is dependent upon performance. For example many lifters find their deadlift goes up by leg pressing. This makes little sense since the movements are so different, but upon closer inspection the guys who find this carry over leg press the weight exctly how they push with the legs during the start of the deadlift. In fact if you ask them they probably think of the same cues like push through the floor/plate, back arched etc. To sum up this line of thought Louie Simmons once said (I dont remember where) that it is not enough to do good mornings but one must see a deadlift in his head for it to be of any use to the deadlift.
There is also a "coordinate your strength" school of though which features people like Paul Anderson and Valentine Dikul. Basically if you train the assistance lift and the primary lift in close proximity, the strength from one will carry over better to the other.
The ultimate take away point from all this is- if you want to get good at something you have to train that specifically and for a long period of time.
Principle of Accommodation
When you do the same thing over and over again, the nervous system gets "bored" and stops responding to it. Adaptations stop and a plateau is reached unless something is done about it.
Balancing the principles of accommodation and specificity is probably the greatest problem of all training. Change too much and you will not gain anything useful, don't change anything and you will get stuck.
Ultimately you have to do things that are similar to what you are currently doing, but different enough to prevent accommodation. This is the art of strength training.
Accommodation can be prevented by varying the reps, sets, rest intervals, frequency of training, loads used and exercises.
In this context I have attached a copy of preplin's table- which is a summation of soviet research on the optimum sets and reps at various intensity levels. You can use it to vary sets, reps and loads with proven results. Please bear in mind that it was made for the clean and jerk, snatch, squats and press so you will have to adjust it a bit for other exercises.
Exercise Tools
There are various tools that have been used through history to develop strength. Right from things like anvils and logs to rocks and carts have been productively used in the quest for strength. It is important that the correct tools be used for the correct purposes in order to get best results. Of course a large consideration is the availability and logistical convenience of the tools as well. Due to this I have covered only those exercise tools which can be used by most people.
1. Barbells
This are the most basic piece of equipment available in any gym in the planet. The greatest advantage of the barbell is that you can load enormous amounts of weight on it and make increments of whatever degree you want. Due to this the systemic effect that the barbell causes on the entire body is incredible. In my opinion the barbell is the greatest maximal effort training tool known to man, bar none. It is versatile, can be used to produce all the useful compound movements and can be programmed very easily due to easy adjustments in load.
I however think the barbell is a terrible repetition effort tool, for the same reasons it is a great maximal effort tool- it causes too much systemic strain. In repetition effort work you want to target certain movements and practice it. Using a barbell for this will invariably beat you up, as not only is the load placed on the working muscles and joints, but on the spine as well. Plus many motions are open chain kinetic motions. While this is a good thing for heavy lifting I find that it is too strenuous to do this for repetitions. Only the genetically gifted can barbell squat, deadlift and bench press with high frequency, volume and intensity and get away with it. That is why periodization exists- you cannot train all out all the time with the barbell.
On the other hand no one got truly huge without significant volume on the basic barbell lifts, so you will have to consider how to use your barbell volume efficiently. You have to learn how to use the most basic exercises and get the most out of them with barbell training rather than doing mindless sets and reps and beating your body up for no particular reason.
If you want my advice if you pick up a barbell never cross 7 reps, I find volume is the issue with barbell training, not intensity. Load away as long you know how to program things. If you keep the volume per session low, you can train very heavy with fair frequency. If you really need more volume add sets not reps- preplin's table is a good guide of this. But be aware that the more volume you do on these lifts, the more back off and light sessions you will need.
I think the barbell is a great Dynamic tool as well, as loads can be regulated and it forces you to catch as well as throw during explosive movements.
2. Bodyweight
I think bodyweight is the greatest repetition tool known to man. You can do a great amount of volume with bodyweight work and really drive the body parts you are working into the ground without much systemic fatigue. This is because all bodyweight movements are closed chain kinetic motions and there is no spinal loading. I am not saying that is is impossible to overtrain using bodyweight, but it is certainly a lot harder. Imagine the kind of volumes gymnasts or military personall will regularly do with bodyweight movements and try to think what such routines would do to a man doing the same with a barbell. 100 pull ups a day for 15 days straight? The armstrong pull up routine? The 100 pistol squats a day 3 days a week program? The closest thing to this in the barbell world is the Smolov Squat program and this will leave most people crying for mercy in 3 weeks. Yet these programs are used as long term training routines by many bodyweight athletes without 50% of the side effects of the smolov. Again I am not saying this is a good way to train but the point is bodyweight work is a good way to perform higher volume training.
Anyone who has read this blog knows how bodyweight exercises can be made more progressive.
Bodyweight work is an absolutely terrible way to perform maximal Effort training for the same reasons it is a great repetition tool- closed chain kinetic movements and no spinal loading. Also you cant make jumps in small increments. For proper maximal effort training your body needs to feel the weight, your nervous system has to be extremely excited. You need to handle as much load as possible and use tools and exercises that allow you to do this. That is why if you keep doing good mornings and bulgarian split squats but no squats or deadlifts, no matter how much you train the split squat, your max strength in hip extension in general will not improve the way your weightlifting buddy's does. With a little practice a 500lb squatter will always split squat more than the 300lb squatter, but it does not work the other way.
Bodyweight is the best and the most basic dynamic effort tool in my opinion. It is what speed training means, to move yourself fast, and if you are not doing dynamic speed work you are leaving a lot on the table. Nothing too fancy just basic jumps and sprints will be enough to make a huge difference for most people.
3. Dumbells
I think dumbells are like bodyweight in the sense that they are great repetition tools but bad maximal effort ones. Also they are different from bodyweight work because they put more stress on the larger muscles, whereas in bodyweight work the load shifts to the extremities as you progress to harder variations. Because of this I feel dumbell and bodyweight work complement each other very nicely as repetition tools. Almost all my athletes use dumbells and bodyweight for repetition work, specially the ones involved in sports where extra size could be a disadvantage.
Dynamic work with dumbells is just stupid when kettlebells exist. If I have to justify this you have not been training very long.
4. Kettlebells
I think kettlebells are the best way to train for dynamic endurance, strength endurance, cardiovascular endurance and strength flexibility. If you have heavy enough kettlebells or something like the hungarian core blaster, it is an excellent dynamic effort training method as well, beating barbells.
5. Cable Machines
Great precision training tools. While I don't like isolation exercises, if you want to do them use cables. They give you a good constant resistance, don't beat up the joint and deliver a pump in record time. You can change the angle and setting to target exact areas of the muscle you want to feel. useful for the advanced bodybuilder, or someone who wants to look good and has paid his dues with the barbell, the chin up bar and dumbells.
6. Resistance Bands and chains
Useful for an advanced person trying to increase acceleration. Also very useful for rehabbing the joints and working out mobility issues, but people who say that you can get stronger just with resistance bands are lying (and I meet 5 of these idiots every day). Not something you cannot do without.
7. Sandbags, Logs, barrels, farmer's implements and other awkward objects
I truly believe that systematic awkward object lifting and carrying is the greatest secret to strength that we are not using. Logistically a great hassle but well worth it. They will build the skeletal strength of the body and forge ligaments of steel.
In my gym we perform loaded carries twice a week and use awkward objects for it. We have a heavy barrel that goes up to 500lbs, farmer's implements, 2 sandbags weighing 50 and 70kgs and a big rock weighing 150kgs.
8. Other Isolation Machines
I honestly think that most of them are redundant if you have an adjustable cable stack and dumbells.
9. Specialty Machines and equipment
These are just stuff I think is useful- 45 degree and 90 degree hyper extensions, reverse hyper extensions, t-bar units, leg press, hack squat, ham glute raise, roman chair, incline sit up boards, hip belt squat and of course the all powerful power rack.
Exercise Selection
First of all lets talk about the stuff you have to find exercises for-
1. hip hinge- both maximal effort and repetition
2. Squat- Ditto
3. Pressing- Ditto
4. Pulling- Repetition though some heavy training wont hurt
5. Loaded Carries
6. Full body explosive extension
7. Abdominal and lower back work
If you are missing out on any one of those things, you are leaving a lot on the table. You may or may not select more exercises.
While selecting exercises the basic things you have to keep in your mind are-
1. Can I perform it safely and conveniently, either as it is or by modifying it?
2. Can I change the exercise repeatedly over time to prevent accommodation and overuse injuries?
3. Is my exercise selection balanced or does it fix my weaknesses?
4. Is my selection efficient and not repeating the same thing for no reason?
Basic Beginner Training Model
This is for someone who has completed the raw beginner training template in the previous post. The primary objective of this template is to get seriously strong- that is all. It should be used for not more than 16 weeks.
Three days per week. Each Cycle is 2 weeks long or 6 workouts.
Actual maxes do not need to be used, an estimate is sufficent. After each cycle is over, add 4kgs to the max of the deadlift and squat and 2-3kgs to the max of the bench press.
At this stage you may squat first and deadlift later or deadlift first and squat later. Just make sure the bench press is between them and base your max for the second lift on what you think you can do after being quite fatigued. Don't over estimate your maxes, it will be a painful mistake. As a rule do something much easier than what you think you can confidently do.
For example a particular trainee of mine started this program after 4 months of raw beginner training with an estimated deadlift max of 120kgs. The percentages used were all based off a training max of only 100kgs. At the end of 16 weeks when we tested his max single he performed a deadlift with 185kgs. At this time the training max we had used for the last cycle was only 156. While I did jump the training max by more than how much I ought to have, it was still a lot lesser than what he was capable of.
For the repetition ranges, just start with a weight you can do the bottom reps with for all sets. Keep adding reps till you get all 3 sets with the higher end. Increase the weight and repeat.
Day 1-
Warm up
Deadlift- 4X6 (setsXreps) with 65%
Bench Press- 5X6 with 65%
Squat- 4X6 with 65%
Weighted hyper Extensions- 3 sets of 10-15
Pull ups- ladders
Weighted Sit ups- 2 Sets of 10-15
Day 2
Deadlift- 3X4 with 85%
Bench Press- 4X4 with 85%
Squat- 3X4 with 85%
Dumbell Military Press- 3 sets of 10-15
Pull ups- 5 sets of as many reps as possible
Weighted Sit ups- 2 sets of 10-15
Day 3
Deadlift- 4X5 with 70%
Bench press- 4X6 with 70%
Squat- 4X5 with 70%
One legged squat progression- 3 sets
Pull ups- 2 sets of 7-10 with added weight
Weighted Situps- 2 sets of 10-15
Day 4
Deadlift- 4X2 (setsXreps) with 90%
Bench Press- 4X3 with 90%
Squat- 4X2 with 90%
Weighted hyper Extensions- 3 sets of 10-15
Pull ups- ladders
Weighted Sit ups- 2 Sets of 10-15
Day 5
Deadlift- 4X4 with 75%
Bench Press- 5X5 with 75%
Squat- 4X4 with 75%
Dumbell Military Press- 3 sets of 10-15
Pull ups- 5 sets of as many reps as possible
Weighted Sit ups- 2 sets of 10-15
Day 6
Deadlift- 4X1 with 95%
Bench press- 3X2 with 95%
Squat- 4X1 with 95%
One legged squat progression- 3 sets
Pull ups- 2 sets of 7-10 with added weight
Weighted Situps- 2 sets of 10-15
Now if you have read part 1 of this series, you will understand the various kinds of plans, how to make a basic plan and training principles, components of a training program and how to balance things. You will have also seen the raw beginner program I gave.
Today, we will talk about exercise tools, exercise selection, the principle of specificity and the principle of accommodation. We will talk about the two factor model of training. We will also cover a basic beginner training model.
Two Factor Model
Now in training we get some benefits from each workout. These benefits are adaptations which last for a certain duration of time and they go away if the adaptations are not worked on within a certain amount of time, which depends upon the stress created by the workout and your adaptive ability etc.
Now from the same workouts you get certain fatigue. This is cost of the workout. This fatigue also lasts a certain amount of time dependent on various factors. On a very simple and logical level the gains your acquire from any workout is simply:
Benefits (adaptations) - Costs (Fatigue)
Therefore the less the fatigue caused by a certain workout for the same adaptations, the better the gains.
However there is a second point to consider. The duration of adaptations and fatigue. You have to repeat the stimuli before the previous adaptation fizzles out, but you also have to recover between workouts. You have to prevent fatigue from compounding. What does this mean?
Lets say the adaptations from a workout last 72 hours and your fatigue only lasts 24 hours. You workout every 48 hours. This is good as the adaptations compound but the fatigue does not. However let us say the fatigue lasts 48 hours. This means not only do your adaptations compound, but so does your fatigue. and remember that workouts are not your only source of fatigue- your daily life is as well. So fatigue will tend to compound more than adaptations.
Therefore this brings into play the principles of
1. Energy Conservation- Switching between antagonist movements, taking active rests between sets, performing breathing exercises before and after the workout. resting more in general and engaging in relaxing activities and avoiding stress.
2. Training Economy- You have to use the least amount of volume and exercises possible to get the adaptations you want. You have to learn how to make efficient training programs and learn how to get more from less.
3. Optimum training frequency, volume, intensity and tonnage- You have to figure out the combinations you respond to, because this will determine how you adapt (or don't). For example- high frequency low volume medium intensity training works. Low frequency high volume medium Intensity works. But high frequency and high volume medium intensity does not work.
Principle of Specificity
Many of the factors controlling the increases in strength are neural in nature. Because of this gains in strength are highly specific. Specific to the movement performed that is. What this means is if you get good at one variety of squatting, it will probably help your other squats in some way, but how much and how is very dependent on the circumstances, but leg pressing will not help your squatting. As an example of this, close stance raw squats will help your geared squats by giving you strength in the bottom but this improvement is probably negligible. On the other hand box squats will really help your geared squats. But leg pressing won't do squat for your squat.
Now admittedly there are ways around this and a lot of it is dependent upon performance. For example many lifters find their deadlift goes up by leg pressing. This makes little sense since the movements are so different, but upon closer inspection the guys who find this carry over leg press the weight exctly how they push with the legs during the start of the deadlift. In fact if you ask them they probably think of the same cues like push through the floor/plate, back arched etc. To sum up this line of thought Louie Simmons once said (I dont remember where) that it is not enough to do good mornings but one must see a deadlift in his head for it to be of any use to the deadlift.
There is also a "coordinate your strength" school of though which features people like Paul Anderson and Valentine Dikul. Basically if you train the assistance lift and the primary lift in close proximity, the strength from one will carry over better to the other.
The ultimate take away point from all this is- if you want to get good at something you have to train that specifically and for a long period of time.
Principle of Accommodation
When you do the same thing over and over again, the nervous system gets "bored" and stops responding to it. Adaptations stop and a plateau is reached unless something is done about it.
Balancing the principles of accommodation and specificity is probably the greatest problem of all training. Change too much and you will not gain anything useful, don't change anything and you will get stuck.
Ultimately you have to do things that are similar to what you are currently doing, but different enough to prevent accommodation. This is the art of strength training.
Accommodation can be prevented by varying the reps, sets, rest intervals, frequency of training, loads used and exercises.
In this context I have attached a copy of preplin's table- which is a summation of soviet research on the optimum sets and reps at various intensity levels. You can use it to vary sets, reps and loads with proven results. Please bear in mind that it was made for the clean and jerk, snatch, squats and press so you will have to adjust it a bit for other exercises.
Exercise Tools
There are various tools that have been used through history to develop strength. Right from things like anvils and logs to rocks and carts have been productively used in the quest for strength. It is important that the correct tools be used for the correct purposes in order to get best results. Of course a large consideration is the availability and logistical convenience of the tools as well. Due to this I have covered only those exercise tools which can be used by most people.
1. Barbells
This are the most basic piece of equipment available in any gym in the planet. The greatest advantage of the barbell is that you can load enormous amounts of weight on it and make increments of whatever degree you want. Due to this the systemic effect that the barbell causes on the entire body is incredible. In my opinion the barbell is the greatest maximal effort training tool known to man, bar none. It is versatile, can be used to produce all the useful compound movements and can be programmed very easily due to easy adjustments in load.
I however think the barbell is a terrible repetition effort tool, for the same reasons it is a great maximal effort tool- it causes too much systemic strain. In repetition effort work you want to target certain movements and practice it. Using a barbell for this will invariably beat you up, as not only is the load placed on the working muscles and joints, but on the spine as well. Plus many motions are open chain kinetic motions. While this is a good thing for heavy lifting I find that it is too strenuous to do this for repetitions. Only the genetically gifted can barbell squat, deadlift and bench press with high frequency, volume and intensity and get away with it. That is why periodization exists- you cannot train all out all the time with the barbell.
On the other hand no one got truly huge without significant volume on the basic barbell lifts, so you will have to consider how to use your barbell volume efficiently. You have to learn how to use the most basic exercises and get the most out of them with barbell training rather than doing mindless sets and reps and beating your body up for no particular reason.
If you want my advice if you pick up a barbell never cross 7 reps, I find volume is the issue with barbell training, not intensity. Load away as long you know how to program things. If you keep the volume per session low, you can train very heavy with fair frequency. If you really need more volume add sets not reps- preplin's table is a good guide of this. But be aware that the more volume you do on these lifts, the more back off and light sessions you will need.
I think the barbell is a great Dynamic tool as well, as loads can be regulated and it forces you to catch as well as throw during explosive movements.
2. Bodyweight
I think bodyweight is the greatest repetition tool known to man. You can do a great amount of volume with bodyweight work and really drive the body parts you are working into the ground without much systemic fatigue. This is because all bodyweight movements are closed chain kinetic motions and there is no spinal loading. I am not saying that is is impossible to overtrain using bodyweight, but it is certainly a lot harder. Imagine the kind of volumes gymnasts or military personall will regularly do with bodyweight movements and try to think what such routines would do to a man doing the same with a barbell. 100 pull ups a day for 15 days straight? The armstrong pull up routine? The 100 pistol squats a day 3 days a week program? The closest thing to this in the barbell world is the Smolov Squat program and this will leave most people crying for mercy in 3 weeks. Yet these programs are used as long term training routines by many bodyweight athletes without 50% of the side effects of the smolov. Again I am not saying this is a good way to train but the point is bodyweight work is a good way to perform higher volume training.
Anyone who has read this blog knows how bodyweight exercises can be made more progressive.
Bodyweight work is an absolutely terrible way to perform maximal Effort training for the same reasons it is a great repetition tool- closed chain kinetic movements and no spinal loading. Also you cant make jumps in small increments. For proper maximal effort training your body needs to feel the weight, your nervous system has to be extremely excited. You need to handle as much load as possible and use tools and exercises that allow you to do this. That is why if you keep doing good mornings and bulgarian split squats but no squats or deadlifts, no matter how much you train the split squat, your max strength in hip extension in general will not improve the way your weightlifting buddy's does. With a little practice a 500lb squatter will always split squat more than the 300lb squatter, but it does not work the other way.
Bodyweight is the best and the most basic dynamic effort tool in my opinion. It is what speed training means, to move yourself fast, and if you are not doing dynamic speed work you are leaving a lot on the table. Nothing too fancy just basic jumps and sprints will be enough to make a huge difference for most people.
3. Dumbells
I think dumbells are like bodyweight in the sense that they are great repetition tools but bad maximal effort ones. Also they are different from bodyweight work because they put more stress on the larger muscles, whereas in bodyweight work the load shifts to the extremities as you progress to harder variations. Because of this I feel dumbell and bodyweight work complement each other very nicely as repetition tools. Almost all my athletes use dumbells and bodyweight for repetition work, specially the ones involved in sports where extra size could be a disadvantage.
Dynamic work with dumbells is just stupid when kettlebells exist. If I have to justify this you have not been training very long.
4. Kettlebells
I think kettlebells are the best way to train for dynamic endurance, strength endurance, cardiovascular endurance and strength flexibility. If you have heavy enough kettlebells or something like the hungarian core blaster, it is an excellent dynamic effort training method as well, beating barbells.
5. Cable Machines
Great precision training tools. While I don't like isolation exercises, if you want to do them use cables. They give you a good constant resistance, don't beat up the joint and deliver a pump in record time. You can change the angle and setting to target exact areas of the muscle you want to feel. useful for the advanced bodybuilder, or someone who wants to look good and has paid his dues with the barbell, the chin up bar and dumbells.
6. Resistance Bands and chains
Useful for an advanced person trying to increase acceleration. Also very useful for rehabbing the joints and working out mobility issues, but people who say that you can get stronger just with resistance bands are lying (and I meet 5 of these idiots every day). Not something you cannot do without.
7. Sandbags, Logs, barrels, farmer's implements and other awkward objects
I truly believe that systematic awkward object lifting and carrying is the greatest secret to strength that we are not using. Logistically a great hassle but well worth it. They will build the skeletal strength of the body and forge ligaments of steel.
In my gym we perform loaded carries twice a week and use awkward objects for it. We have a heavy barrel that goes up to 500lbs, farmer's implements, 2 sandbags weighing 50 and 70kgs and a big rock weighing 150kgs.
8. Other Isolation Machines
I honestly think that most of them are redundant if you have an adjustable cable stack and dumbells.
9. Specialty Machines and equipment
These are just stuff I think is useful- 45 degree and 90 degree hyper extensions, reverse hyper extensions, t-bar units, leg press, hack squat, ham glute raise, roman chair, incline sit up boards, hip belt squat and of course the all powerful power rack.
Exercise Selection
First of all lets talk about the stuff you have to find exercises for-
1. hip hinge- both maximal effort and repetition
2. Squat- Ditto
3. Pressing- Ditto
4. Pulling- Repetition though some heavy training wont hurt
5. Loaded Carries
6. Full body explosive extension
7. Abdominal and lower back work
If you are missing out on any one of those things, you are leaving a lot on the table. You may or may not select more exercises.
While selecting exercises the basic things you have to keep in your mind are-
1. Can I perform it safely and conveniently, either as it is or by modifying it?
2. Can I change the exercise repeatedly over time to prevent accommodation and overuse injuries?
3. Is my exercise selection balanced or does it fix my weaknesses?
4. Is my selection efficient and not repeating the same thing for no reason?
Basic Beginner Training Model
Three days per week. Each Cycle is 2 weeks long or 6 workouts.
Actual maxes do not need to be used, an estimate is sufficent. After each cycle is over, add 4kgs to the max of the deadlift and squat and 2-3kgs to the max of the bench press.
At this stage you may squat first and deadlift later or deadlift first and squat later. Just make sure the bench press is between them and base your max for the second lift on what you think you can do after being quite fatigued. Don't over estimate your maxes, it will be a painful mistake. As a rule do something much easier than what you think you can confidently do.
For example a particular trainee of mine started this program after 4 months of raw beginner training with an estimated deadlift max of 120kgs. The percentages used were all based off a training max of only 100kgs. At the end of 16 weeks when we tested his max single he performed a deadlift with 185kgs. At this time the training max we had used for the last cycle was only 156. While I did jump the training max by more than how much I ought to have, it was still a lot lesser than what he was capable of.
For the repetition ranges, just start with a weight you can do the bottom reps with for all sets. Keep adding reps till you get all 3 sets with the higher end. Increase the weight and repeat.
Day 1-
Warm up
Deadlift- 4X6 (setsXreps) with 65%
Bench Press- 5X6 with 65%
Squat- 4X6 with 65%
Weighted hyper Extensions- 3 sets of 10-15
Pull ups- ladders
Weighted Sit ups- 2 Sets of 10-15
Day 2
Deadlift- 3X4 with 85%
Bench Press- 4X4 with 85%
Squat- 3X4 with 85%
Dumbell Military Press- 3 sets of 10-15
Pull ups- 5 sets of as many reps as possible
Weighted Sit ups- 2 sets of 10-15
Day 3
Deadlift- 4X5 with 70%
Bench press- 4X6 with 70%
Squat- 4X5 with 70%
One legged squat progression- 3 sets
Pull ups- 2 sets of 7-10 with added weight
Weighted Situps- 2 sets of 10-15
Day 4
Deadlift- 4X2 (setsXreps) with 90%
Bench Press- 4X3 with 90%
Squat- 4X2 with 90%
Weighted hyper Extensions- 3 sets of 10-15
Pull ups- ladders
Weighted Sit ups- 2 Sets of 10-15
Day 5
Deadlift- 4X4 with 75%
Bench Press- 5X5 with 75%
Squat- 4X4 with 75%
Dumbell Military Press- 3 sets of 10-15
Pull ups- 5 sets of as many reps as possible
Weighted Sit ups- 2 sets of 10-15
Day 6
Deadlift- 4X1 with 95%
Bench press- 3X2 with 95%
Squat- 4X1 with 95%
One legged squat progression- 3 sets
Pull ups- 2 sets of 7-10 with added weight
Weighted Situps- 2 sets of 10-15
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