Re: Strength!!!

My prevailing thought is variety breeds adaptation.  But not repeating a skill often enough or practicing a skill related but altogether different leads to bad technique and injury.  Lack of variety leads to staleness and the loads and/ or volumes won't increase. If these things are true, and we look at the squat, deaDlift and overhead press as our lifts we test, they must be trained twice a week to improve. Measure improvement 2 ways; 1 Skill Mastery, 2 Improvement of 1RM or more importantly 5RM (more on that later..)

So, the BENCH MARK STRENGTH MEASURES (BMSM), are what we want to improve I believe mastery comes first. So most people air start, a la Rippatoe, w the 3 BMSM'S 3 times a week undulating intensity between 75%*5*3/ 65%*5*3/ 85%*3-5*5
Assistance lifts would be relegated to Chins and Hammer Curls to balance out OHP. This of course assumes joint health and good range of motion. Things to shore up inability of the shoulder blades to slide test into position for OHP, or maintain back arch in Sq and DL, etc. All must be resolved in this phase.
The only variety here is in intensity; a medium day, light skill day and a heavy day. The 85% load is important for many reasons. It takes into account the 2 energy systems we care most about in strength tests as it relates to time. Also, relative to time, it takes into account the longest length of time we can manage hard effort w maximal attention. Further, it allows one to move at a fairly high rate of speed without a huge loss of technical problem. As we move toward 100% efforts, I think energy begins to escape through our various weak links. So in the mastering skill phase, 5RM's & 85% heavy days make the most sense. Some people could follow this program for years w good result. Some would have to make changes after as few as 10-12 weeks depending on where they are starting from.

As far as it relates to speed, I think it should always be our intention to move quickly and accelerate our implements as much as possible. If that tenant is true, then do you need a speed day? Every day, to me, is a speed day. Period. The other trap with the Louis Simmons method is that I think one can end up performing at a higher intensity then one perceives and that leads quickly to overtraining.  Many of his athletes don't last as I understand it.

As one progresses, I think specific assistance exercises could be added or rotated in w 5RM's not being tested but approximated from BMSM'S. Jim Wendler, who I went to school with, has a good workout of this type w 10 reps on his assistance lifts.  It's called the 5 3 1 workout.

My assistance movements would include; front squats, box squats, hack squats, box jumps, depth jumps, BB step ups, RDLs, power cleans, clean pulls, BB lunges, GHD, chins, hammer curls, grippers, push presses, dips, OH triceps ext., push ups, handstand push ups and trunk work.

One could move to a push pull set up; OHP, squats, push ups one day. The next day power cleans, deadlift, chins. After a rest day, squat and OHP again w different assistance movement. And pulls w dif assistance movement the next. In this scenario, there would be 2 medium (light) days and 2 harder days. Still oscillating between 65%-85% and occasionally 90-95%.

So, as the law of diminishing returns tells us, modify plan when things are going great for a little bit (measured in weeks or months.) Makes sure you work each skill minimum 2 times a week.  Include assistance work w some variety at moderate intensity. Keep the bars moving as fast as possible. Keep working toward skill mastery. And where possible, keep workouts short and focused on the goal! You get stronger when you LEAVE the gym. Everything else is so highly variable and person specific.

The answer is start small, shore up the ways that you move inefficiently and be mostly consistent w your core movements, use 5RM as your guide for training and have a layer of variety in your assistance movements, schedule, intensity and frequency (over 2).


Joshua Peters sent this.