New Scheme - Actually following a program for once!

[VeganEssentials]

Well, not for ALL lifts, but for the 3 key lifts I wish to improve on most I finally decided it was time to try and go with a bit of structure for 6 weeks. Nothing too incredibly fancy, but since I do want to get my squat, deadlift and clean & press up considerably I figure that I'll put these first and go from there. In addition to these exercises listed I'll likely do one secondary exercise if I feel up to it / have time, no more than 2-3 sets for one more movement for the same body part. Here's a quick outline for your review:

Deadlift workout progression

Week 1 – Heavy Singles
1x5 @ 225
1x3 @ 315
1x10 singles @ 440

Week 2 – Endurance
1x10 @ 225
10x5 @ 325

Week 3 – Max Attempt
1x5 @ 225
1x3 @ 315
1x1 @ 405
1x1 @ 450
1x1 @ 485

Week 4 – Heavy Singles
1x5 @ 225
1x3 @ 315
1x10 singles @ 445

Week 5 – Endurance
1x10 @ 225
10x5 @ 335

Week 6 – Max Attempt
1x5 @ 225
1x3 @ 315
1x1 @ 405
1x1 @ 450
1x1 @ 490

Goal is to get the 'ol DL up 10 lbs. for my max in this time - nothing huge, but enough to eclipse my old PR by enough to make me happy and edge my way up to 500.

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Squat Progression Workout

Week 1 – Higher Rep Work
1x5 @ 135
1x5 @ 225
3x8 @ 275

Week 2 – Lower Rep Work
1x5 @ 135
1x3 @ 225
3x3 @ 330

Week 3 - Higher Rep Work
1x5 @ 135
1x5 @ 225
3x8 @ 280

Week 4 - Lower Rep Work
1x5 @ 135
1x3 @ 225
3x3 @ 335

Week 5 - Higher Rep Work
1x5 @ 135
1x5 @ 225
3x8 @ 285

Week 6 - Lower Rep Work
1x5 @ 135
1x3 @ 225
3x3 @ 340

For squatting, I'm focusing on 2 aspects - first, my endurance, for lack of a better word, sucks, and I need to work on it in the squat department. Second, I need to keep working on my form as I get heavier - I find that if I jump too quickly my form breaks really easlily so I don't like to go for a 1RM but rather what I can manage for 3 reps without getting sloppy.

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Clean and Press Progression Workout

Week 1 – Low Rep Work
1x5 @ 135
1x3 @ 185
3x4 @ 230

Week 2 – Low Rep Work
1x5 @ 135
1x3 @ 185
3x3 @ 240

Week 3 – Max Attempt Day
1x5 @ 135
1x3 @ 185
1x1 @ 235
1x1 @ 260


Week 4 – Low Rep Work
1x5 @ 135
1x3 @ 185
3x4 @ 235

Week 5 – Low Rep Work
1x5 @ 135
1x3 @ 185
3x3 @ 245

Week 6 – Heavy Singles Work / Max Lift
1x5 @ 135
1x3 @ 185
1x1 @ 230
2x1 @ 265

For my clean and press...well...I just want to keep it going up with frequency. This will add 10 lbs. to my max if it works and get my endurance with heavy sets bumped up.


I'll have 2 separate days for my back workout (focus on barbell rows) and I'll try and get a chest workout (dumbbell incline press) in at least every 10-12 days now since I feel it is a terribly weak spot for me, and other than that I can't think of anything else for now. I'll be lifting most likely 4 days each week, offering a bit of extra rest time in between workouts. I'm also working on a planned grip routine that I'll post sometime soon as well, probably later this week. Any thoughts/questions/comments or whatever, I'm happy to hear them!

Ryan
www.VeganEssentials.com

[JP]

solid stuff mate.

So you are doing these as your main exercise on each session? Thats a lot of pulling, especially if you do stings like 1 arm DL or rack pulls on your squatting day.

Sounds like you have been cycling your maxes before and therefore were able to make estimates on how things go. Thing about these approaches is that sometimes we all have our off days and things don't quite go as planned and you miss your targets. What would you do then? Would you keep the same target for next week?

I think your squat might be tad bit low compared to your DL and clean & press, do you think? What do you think holds you back in squats? Are you doing any special assistance exercises to support your squats?

All the best of luck for your 6 week stab mate - you would be so close to that elusive 500 lbs mark with deads, damn, i'll be celebrating on the day when i can pull even close to that

[VeganEssentials]

JP -

My squats suffer for numerous reasons. First, I stopped doing them entirely for nearly 4 years due to knee problems and have only been training them with some seriousness for about 8 months total for the past year. My form was really, really bad and I've had to put a lot of work into it to keep from losing my steam and giving up on them again. I'm going for the slow and steady progression with them in hopes that if I take it at a very workable pace I'll eventually hit my goal of 500 in the next 2 years. Haven't done much special assistance for the squats, but I know that I need to do some work on my hamstrings as I'm still quite quad dominant. Perhaps I'm going to go back to leg presses with just the lower half of my foot on the plate - more of a simulation of pushing out of the hole on a squat and forcing the hams to do the brunt of the work (it helped me considerably last time I supplemented with them.)

I'm going to be slowing down on the 1/4 DLs and 1 Hand versions a bit for a while, reducing the pulling that I do on these days. Not sure yet what they'll be replaced with, but it'll definitely be something a bit less strenuous. I plan on making some big changes to my training again in spring and then they'll be re-introduced as more of main movements than as before where I was just throwing them in for fun.

For the DL in general, I'm not sure what it is but for some reason I've made better gains in this movement over the past few years than anything else. Hated them at first, but they've progressed so well and I'm getting so close to 500 that they're still my main focus. Definitely a fun lift, and since I've already tied my PR I plan on adding that last 20 lbs. by summer at the latest to finally break the barrier. If this program works I'll only be 10 lbs. shy, so hopefully it'll do well for me. Wish me luck!

Finally, if I have an off day I'm planning on doing as I have been - if it is a sub-maximal workout I'll add additional rest and complete the reps as intended, and if it is a max effort day for trying to set a new PR that doesn't go right I'll just have to extend the program a bit and add 2 more weeks on course with the sub-max workouts increasing a bit to try and break past it. Been so long since I haven't just trained on instinct, so this will definitely be a new experience for me. I'll definitely be keeping my log updated with how this goes!

Ryan

[VeganEssentials]

All the best of luck for your 6 week stab mate - you would be so close to that elusive 500 lbs mark with deads, damn, i'll be celebrating on the day when i can pull even close to that

You'll get it soon enough. Funny thing is, I jumped so quickly from 405 to 455 after a long DL layoff some time ago that I almost swear it gets easier as you go heavier! By the way, do you pull sumo or conventional style? Can't remember if you mentioned that before at one point or not.

Ryan

[JP]

i pull conventional, I talked about perhaps starting sumo, but it really doesn't fit my anatomy or something

I'm at 175kg/385lbs at the moment, aim is to climb to about 220 during this year - loads of work ahead!!!

And just for the record, i don't believe you one bit when you say it gets easier when it gets heavier