I was a serial program hopper and hated all the accessory work… definitely my problem
isdatnutty,
Many people train the way you indicate, because these exercises build the strength and muscle of naturally aspiring amateur athletes. Now how they will be combined is a matter of preference and opportunity, just changing the protokol after some training. 10-12x1, 3x5, 5x5, 8x3, 3x3…DL, Squat, BP, Rows, OH press, chin up.They don’t even do isolation exercises because they think they are absolutely superfluous. And so they train for years and don’t even think about complex systems. They just try to lift weights.
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Hey just so you know, you have to either use “@” to tag someone or reply to their post for them to be notified. Like this:
@isdatnutty - see above reply to you
As for what you are saying though, I think some of the simpler approaches like that can work just as good as something more complicated. The reason that nobody is pushing that sort of training is that it basically eliminates the need for a coach. You could set up a training cycle like this:
5x5, add 5-15 lbs each week until you can’t get 5x5
then switch to 5x3 sets,
then 3x3,
then 2x2, and after a few weeks of that you should be able to pick your attempts based on that. Of course you will have to time things appropriately and increase the weight at a reasonable rate to progress properly, but it’s not half as complicated a Sheiko-style program.
I used to think that isolation work was a waste of time, but it’s a low-stress way to get some extra work for the muscles involved in the competition lifts rather than doing more volume or other heavy compound lifts. Seems like it’s working for me too.
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Friday, December 6 - Deadlift day
Deadlift
560x2 - failed the 3rd a few inches off the floor, the bar rolled away when I put it down after the 2nd rep and I pulled it back towards me but it was still out of position. I was way too bent over, my hips went straight up so I just dropped it. Seems like I have this problem a lot when I’m doing heavy rep sets. I’m thinking maybe a few heavier singles could be better instead, like 560x3-5 singles. Hard rep sets have been working so far, it’s just getting out of position is fucking annoying and disappointing. If I had cut it at 2 I would have said RPE 8.5. Anyway…
Down set: 505x4 - Not going for a rep PR or anything here. Also a bit out of position on the 3rd rep but this is kind of light so it’s not as big of a deal.
Barbell row
365x6x2 - Its been a few weeks since I did these, felt harder than I remembered. I also didn’t use a belt, maybe that’s part of it, but at least I can breathe.
Chin ups - close neutral grip
bw +50x6x2 - This is harder after deadlifts and rows than at the end of a bench workout, but somehow after benching it feels like the most tedious thing in the world so I will keep it here for now.
Barbell curls
95x18, 12, 10 - If anyone is wondering why I’m doing curls on a fairly minimalistic program, both Josh Bryant and Sergey Ponamarev have said that training the biceps will help the bench press (mostly as a stabilizer muscle) and also it prevent arm pain to some degree from squatting and wrapping my knees. No, I’m not secretly training for a bodybuilding show.
Another thing, I was thinking that maybe dropping my usual light squats before deadlifting would increase deadlift performance to some degree but that hasn’t happened at all. With this setup I’m trying out I thought that if anything it would be better for my deadlift and if something were to suffer it would be my squat or bench, but so far it looks like my deadlift is the one that isn’t doing what it’s supposed to.
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If it’s any consolation (to myself?) I took a look at the video of 570x2 I pulled a month ago, the first 2 reps with 560 today looked way easier. So while it wasn’t a PR by any means, I suppose it’s some sort of progress. I’m debating what to do next week, I could try to pull 580 for a double and even if I only get a single it’s still technically a PR. I was making some fast progress on my deadlift for a moment, it would have been nice if I could keep it going.
Anytime it looks/feel easier that is definitely a PR/Big Progress in my book!
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It’s just not enough progress for me to be happy.
Monday, December 9 - Squat day - easy session
Squat
435x2x2
That’s all
Save my energy for bench and deadlift later in the week.
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Wednesday, December 11 - Bench day
Bench press
380x1 - failed 2nd rep. I’m not pleased with this at all, seeing how 370 moved last week I expected this to be a fairly easy double. I’m also as recovered as I can possibly get, no benching since last Wednesday and only an easy squat workout so far this week, no aches or pains or anything. So I guess I will go back to benching twice a week like I was originally saying.
Down set - t&g: 345x4 - this was hard, RPE 10
Floor pause DB flys
65’s x14, 11
Front raise
55x13, 9
superset with:
Side raise
20’s x13, 11
W external rotation
mini band x 3 sets
So Saturday is going to be my 2nd bench day for now, I’m going to do some slingshot bench and JM press and maybe some pushups. I’m going to keep volume per session low so I don’t have to constantly have easy sessions. Another option would be to have one heavy day and one light day, but a light bench day kind of seems like a waste of time to me, although it might work better than only benching once a week.
The only thing left to be determined is whether I will bring back my light squat session. So far my squat feels fine with only squatting one a week and I would like to keep it that way. I get the feeling that the light squats are too light to really do anything more than some technique practice anyway, and I’m going to do most of my heavy squatting in wraps plus 200+ lbs heavier so the carryover would be minimal. Anyway, we will see. However, light squats before deadlifting seem to have no negative effect on deadlift performance, they just add a bit of time, so I will do whatever seems to work best.
Do you have any tips for self wrapping for squats. I am competing in wraps, but I really suck at self wrapping. I just can’t get them tight enough. I feel like I am losing kilos off the bar.
I train at an old school boxing gym so no other powerlifters to help.
Any tips?
Mostly it just takes practice to get good at wrapping, but the kind of wraps you use can make a difference. I find that stretchy wraps are harder to wrap because there is so much slack to pull out of them and if you don’t get them real tight then you barely get anything out of them, with stiffer wraps even if they aren’t as tight as possible you will still get some decent rebound and it seems like it is easier to get them tight as well. Less slack, less total revolutions.
What sort of wraps are you using?
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Eleiko wraps 2.5m
I have never heard of any powerlifters using those so I really don’t know how they compare to other wraps, but it wouldn’t hurt to try a few different ones to figure out what you like better. How many revolutions do you get out of those?
5 then a cross on front of knee
Ok, sounds like those are probably on the stiffer side, I can get 7 (including the cross over the knee) with the Kraits, maybe even 8, and I’m bigger than you. How much lbs do you think you are getting out of them?
Honestly, I can’t do them tight enough doing it myself. Can still bend my knee. I feel like I’m loosing alot of kg off the bar
Maybe I should just invest in the Titan signature gold’s?
My girl is learning to do it for my meet. Then they are much tighter
Kraits are the tits, I’ve been using Kraits for several years now. I do have the all blacks I eventually want to break out.
@weightliftingwithoutlimits
For self wrapping I’ve found you can get them super tight BUT you’re going to have to work for it. If you’re not winded from wrapping ( either yourself or someone else ) it’s definitely not going to be tight enough.
Also a big problem is people can’t ever get that last revolution so they tie off with a lot of slack left.
I personally don’t tie off for this reason, I do the pull through method ( never the pull out, I’m terrible at that one )
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It’s hard to really recommend anything in particular because I have no idea what the Eleiko wraps are like, but it should be pretty much impossible to bend your knees more than a couple degrees without a bar on your back. Signature golds are decent, I used them for my last meet, but if anything they might be too stiff because they are probably the stiffest wraps out there. Really the only thing you can do is get a few different pairs and see what works best. You are in Europe so Strengthshop and Metal might be cheaper and easier to get.
What I started doing is before I do the last revolution I put a looped shoelace on my knee and wrap over that then put the end of the wrap through the shoelace and use that to pull it through. And if there is a bit of slack then you can set a “quick release” if you know what I mean, after you squat you just pull the end and the wraps come off.
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What do you think of the Super Heavies? I got a 2.5 and 3m pair of those when they were on sale, I might try them at some point but I can only get 6 revolutions out of the 3m so I can only use them in certain meets. I can imagine hitting depth could be an issue.
Kraits are similar to Signature golds, they just have a softer feel and a bit more stretch. I think I prefer the Kraits, that’s probably what I will use for now.