To run Cube you really need the book. It explains how to use the various bench and deadlift variations and what specific assistance and supplementary exercises are recommended and why; plus it sets out the fourth bodybuilding day as well. You can be smart with money and still spare the 10 dollars or so for the book.
Youâre right about buying the books. At the moment, Iâm running 5/3/1, and Iâm also being told to buy that book too. And to be honest, I think I will due to the fact that the 5/3/1 protocol seems to be my level of powerlifting. Whereas the cube method seems to be more for more advanced?
Do you know which 5/3/1 book to purchase? There seems to be quite a few of them
If you want to train abs every day you can, but first of all donât do too much volume in any one session. Second, you would want your template to be lower body day, upper body day, rest. If you train abs hard the day before squatting or deadlifting then you are going to have a bad day.
Well, Iâll be training approx 4x a week. So, I could do the abs on the squat and deadlift days which will give me a 2x a week frequency. Nothing too strenuous, just enough to start damaging the muscle fibres without making myself struggling to get out of bed every morning because of doms or something.
I heard there is a new one coming out, but otherwise âBeyond 5/3/1â is probably the best choice. 5/3/1 for powerlifting gives you a setup for peaking for a meet, but all you really have to do is add progressively heavier singles and that is in âBeyond 5/3/1â as well.
About your bench, hereâs an idea for you: rest pause sets. Those are in the âBeyondâ book and Josh Bryant recommends them as well, I have recently started implementing them myself.
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What are your initial thoughts with the rest pause sets then? Or is it too early to tell?
The new one is 5/3/1 forever, and seems to look really like a really good reading
That should work fine. I honestly donât believe that ab work makes a big difference, lifting heavy while bracing hard is the most specific ab work you can do for powerlifting. Look up some of Chris Duffinâs videos and such, he says the same thing.
Chris Duffin is probably one of my favourite lifters at the moment. He does seem to have personal opinions on things alot, like for example he believes that the reverse hyper isnât a very good exercise to have. But then someone like Louis Simmons believes theyâre the exact opposite and every lifter/athlete should be doing them
I have done them before though, when I was doing 5/3/1. Thatâs probably the only reason my bench made any progress at all, as little as it was.
Itâs not really such a black and white argument with reverse hypers. Chris Duffin gets a lot of his information from Stuart McGill, who is the worldâs leading specialist in spinal issues. McGill says that the reverse hyper works for some people, but for a lot of people it can cause problems such as degeneration of spinal discs. Contrary to what Louie says, it actually does place compressive force on the spine, in addition to shear forces. Just like round back deadlifting, some people can get away with it but others will eventually injure themselves. The reverse hyper itself might not cause the actual disc herniation, but it can damage the discs and make them more susceptible to herniation. So if you are deadlifting over 700, have no back pain and have never injured your back, and have been using the reverse hyper for years then it probably works for you. If you have never used it before it might not be a good choice, and the only way to find out is to use it until you blow out you back. Itâs totally individual and largely related to anatomical differences in the spine.
I suppose its like anything in being a strength athlete (or any athlete for that matter), some things work for some, and some things dont. Theres never a cookie cutter thing in this sport
Ab Pushouts are probably the only âabâ exercise I would recommend. Youâre pushing out against weight with your ab muscles. Great for bracing.
Would also say at least 1 thing for your obliques but I have zero recommendations for that since I am still personally experimenting with which ones I like and think are effective.
I was thinking the landmine barbell things i mentioned earlier, Youâre still bracing, but in a vertical orientation and in a more dynamic and explosive way. Figured itâs a good combo to have
Cube and 5/3/1 arenât overly different in terms of basic principles, but Cube is a dyed in the wool PL program while 5/3/1 is an overall strength training system. Itâs much more versatile, and can easily be used for powerlifting. Also, Cube is quite heavily influenced by Westside training while 5/3/1 isnât.
Its ok either way, many people work abs most workouts, but like I said all thats necessary is abs once a week
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Chris Duffin does the ab wheel and has been for years man. Also, just train brother. Try things and see what works. Find a program, eat and train for a year. Donât miss a workout, tweak it when things donât feel right or something feels better. No forum is going to help to that degree because everyone is different.
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