Nice TrevorLPT. I am on week 5 of my second cycle, and although It hasn’t been as great as my first cycle, still hitting PR’s and improving faster than I have on other programs.
Week 6 is done. I decided at the beginning of week 6 to finish the program as-is instead of adding a week and then do a 3-week peaking cycle found here: Peaking for Powerlifting - YouTube
My reasons for this are that I was starting to feel beat up from the 3 days per week of squatting and bench and figured another week of it might make recovery before the meet tough, and I also wanted to give my deadlift a couple training days where it had priority, instead of being stuck at the end of a 120 minute long workout.
Here are my results:
Week 1 Hypertrophy Day:
Squat 225 x 5 x 8 (Felt like death – had to lay down for 5+ minutes between sets)
Bench 160 x 2 x 8, 135 x 3 x 8 (had to drop the weight in order to finish because I felt like such absolute shit.)
Week 6 Hypertrophy Day:
Squat 245 x 1 x 8, 250 x 2 x 8 (last set felt awesome and I probably could have gotten 2 more reps. Should’ve added another 5-10 lbs) Bench 170 x 1 x 8, 175 x 2 x 8
Week 1 Strength Day:
Squat 260 x 2 x 4, 260 x 1 x 5
Bench 185 x 3 x 5
Deadlift 355 x 3 x 3
Week 6 Strength Day:
Squat 290 x 1 x 3, 4, 5 (30 lb 5 rm PR)
Bench 205 x 2 x 3, 205 x 1 x 4 (Started pausing the first rep somewhere around week 3 or 4, so not a totally fair comparison between week 1 and 6. Still, this is a PR. Also matched my 6-rep PR of 195 that I hit several months ago on 5/3/1)
Deadlift 385 x 1 x 3 (Worked up to this set instead of doing several sets because when I attempted that in previous weeks my form either went to shit or the weights had to be lowered substantially. This is not a PR but it is about where I expected my dead to be at. Considering this was after 3 sets each of 95% squat and bench, including 2 PR sets, I’m okay with it)
Overall, this program was great. These are probably the best gains of my life for bench and squat, although I wish my deadlift got a bit more attention. Over the 6 weeks my bodyweight went from 184 to 187, at one point hitting a new high for me at 190. Body composition wise I think I look a tiny bit worse if anything, but at the gym I’ve been looking larger and started getting (positive) comments on it around week 4. Not quite sure whats going on there and I don’t really care either way. I feel confident for my upcoming meet and will definitely be returning to this program again.
Congrats with the great results Trevor 
Btw the 3 week peaking cycle, ??
My client finnished the 6 week, his bench went from 1x126 Lbs to 9x148 Lbs ( but this is newbie gains )
DotFender, didn’t realize the video didn’t post right.
Here it is:
Ive been trying something different for my off season (bodybuilding)
Ive been working with Chad Dolan, who is a graduate student of Dr. zourdous,
currently ive been squatting(front and back), benching and sumo deads 3x a week.
ive always sucked one rep maxing (never been a fan) and pure strength programming, but like i said, im trying something new now.
I beleive i am on week 6 now of the first training cycle, i will post results after i taper and test maxes.
I just finished my 2nd 6 week bench cycle last Thursday. For hypertrophy I hit 290 for 3 sets of 8, which is 10 lbs more than my previous best single set of 8. For my strength, I hit 335 for 3, 3, and 2. My previous best set of three was 325.
[quote]Ecchastang wrote:
I just finished my 2nd 6 week bench cycle last Thursday. For hypertrophy I hit 290 for 3 sets of 8, which is 10 lbs more than my previous best single set of 8. For my strength, I hit 335 for 3, 3, and 2. My previous best set of three was 325. [/quote]
Wow. Awesome results.
I want to start this program( might do a variation for the squats (or just let my knee recover) since i got a knee strain (lateral collateral ligament) from like a month ago but it’s still there… What accessory work did you do? for bench/deadlift? Thank you!
What do your entire training days look like? how much lifting do you do outside the bench/squat?
Holy fuck , all of a sudden my hips and lower body is tight as hell. Walked into the gym today and it was hard to squat the bar to depth, and then once I got to my work sets, they felt about 20 percent heavier than they should of. Barely made it thru the prescribed sets
[quote]TrevorLPT wrote:
Updates: On week 5 right now. 8 rm squat is up 25 lbs and 8 rm bench is up 15. Last week I added some speed pulls to power day and worked up to a triple on deads instead of the programmed numbers on strength day which weren’t working for me. Other than that I’ve followed the program as is, with the following assistance added:
Mon:
- 3-5 x 8 Chest supported rows (match with bench volume)
- 3 x 8-10 lateral raises SS with curls
Wed:
- 100 reps of band press downs
- 3 - 5 x 15 face pulls (match with bench volume)
Friday:
- 3 x 5 Neutral grip chins (weighted)
[/quote]
This is exactly what I did personally. Some saturdays when I felt up to it I ran some heavyish prowler sprints or did KB swings. Other than that it was this + lots of mobility and recovery.
Assuming I’m just programming the squat/bench press as DUP
Day 1 hypertrophy: ~70-75%
Leg curls 1x20
Squat 3x12-15
Bench press 3x12-15
Pullups
abs
Day 2 Power
leg curls 1x20
squat 6x3 ~60% 1rm
Bench 6x3 ~60% 1 rm
deadlift 10x1
Band pull aparts
abs
Day 3 strength ~85-95%
leg curls 1x20
Squat 6x3-5
Bench press 6x3-5
rows
abs
Day 4 Glory:
4x lateral delts
4x rear delts
3x8 bicep
3x12 bicep
3x20 single arm tricep
2x10 tricep
2x20 tricep
[quote]zephead4747 wrote:
Assuming I’m just programming the squat/bench press as DUP
Day 1 hypertrophy: ~70-75%
Leg curls 1x20
Squat 3x12-15
Bench press 3x12-15
Pullups
abs
Day 2 Power
leg curls 1x20
squat 6x3 ~60% 1rm
Bench 6x3 ~60% 1 rm
deadlift 10x1
Band pull aparts
abs
Day 3 strength ~85-95%
leg curls 1x20
Squat 6x3-5
Bench press 6x3-5
rows
abs
Day 4 Glory:
4x lateral delts
4x rear delts
3x8 bicep
3x12 bicep
3x20 single arm tricep
2x10 tricep
2x20 tricep[/quote]
No heavy deadlift work?
[quote]TrevorLPT wrote:
[quote]zephead4747 wrote:
Assuming I’m just programming the squat/bench press as DUP
Day 1 hypertrophy: ~70-75%
Leg curls 1x20
Squat 3x12-15
Bench press 3x12-15
Pullups
abs
Day 2 Power
leg curls 1x20
squat 6x3 ~60% 1rm
Bench 6x3 ~60% 1 rm
deadlift 10x1
Band pull aparts
abs
Day 3 strength ~85-95%
leg curls 1x20
Squat 6x3-5
Bench press 6x3-5
rows
abs
Day 4 Glory:
4x lateral delts
4x rear delts
3x8 bicep
3x12 bicep
3x20 single arm tricep
2x10 tricep
2x20 tricep[/quote]
No heavy deadlift work?[/quote]
I have pulling 10x1 on Wednesday. I dont want to jump into pulling and squatting 3x a week right away. I want to see how I’m recovering with this first. I’ve squatted 3x a week in the past but I’ve never done it with deadlifts included.
A thought here.
Day 1 - (Strength) Work up to a RM (3,2,1)
Day 2 - (Power) 55% of RM - 8x2
Day 3 - (Hypertrophy) 70% of RM - 4-5 x 8
Could do this for any movement. And Autoregulate.
[quote]Ecchastang wrote:
Two more weeks in the books.
Week 3 Sun 4x8 at 260
Tues 4x1 at 285
Thurs 3x5 at 300 (max reps each set)
Week 4 Sun 4x8 at 265
Tues 4x1 at 285
Thurs 3x5 at 305 (max reps each set)
Up to bodyweight 158, so 2 more pounds or so.
[/quote]
Could I ask you how long you are resting between sets on strength days or if you’re decreasing weight for each set? Because when I do a max reps set (which I interpret as to failure or to the point where I can’t do another rep), I would have to rest a long time before I could get the same number of reps with the same weight. And I’m not sure if there’s a rest period shorter than 10 minutes where I’d be able to get the same amount of reps with the same weight after two previous max rep sets.
Maybe I’m just a wuss.
Usually on something like that, most people should be able to replenish enough of their ATP within 3-5 min. It’s a typical rest period for max effort style work, otherwise the underlying rule is when you are ready.
Though if it is taking you an extended amount of time and dragging out your workouts, you are worrying too much about being ready or your work capacity needs some work capacity.
Basically, do the sets when you are ready. Just don’t let yourself cool down too much either.
I might add, if you have read Dr. Zourdos’ research, programs like this should not be used till you are a solid or upper intermediate lifter. There has been no research studies that show a significant difference in gains between the use of DUP vs standard linear periodization/progression in untrained/beginning lifters. Sometimes it has been worse in the untrained/beginners.
In fact at earlier points in your lifting life, you are probably better off sticking to linear progression, then linear periodization, then moving on to something like DUP.
Then again, there are very successful lifters who have never done anything but progression, and many more doing simple linear periodization.
[quote]Pantherhare wrote:
[quote]Ecchastang wrote:
Two more weeks in the books.
Week 3 Sun 4x8 at 260
Tues 4x1 at 285
Thurs 3x5 at 300 (max reps each set)
Week 4 Sun 4x8 at 265
Tues 4x1 at 285
Thurs 3x5 at 305 (max reps each set)
Up to bodyweight 158, so 2 more pounds or so.
[/quote]
Could I ask you how long you are resting between sets on strength days or if you’re decreasing weight for each set? Because when I do a max reps set (which I interpret as to failure or to the point where I can’t do another rep), I would have to rest a long time before I could get the same number of reps with the same weight. And I’m not sure if there’s a rest period shorter than 10 minutes where I’d be able to get the same amount of reps with the same weight after two previous max rep sets.
Maybe I’m just a wuss.
[/quote]
I would rest about 7-8 minutes. This last cycle I would generally get less reps on later sets. For instance I did 320x5, x4, x4. I did 335x3, x3, x2.
[quote]Ecchastang wrote:
I would rest about 7-8 minutes. This last cycle I would generally get less reps on later sets. For instance I did 320x5, x4, x4. I did 335x3, x3, x2. [/quote]
Okay, that makes sense. Is there a reason why you chose this rest interval, as opposed to the 3-5 minutes that Zourdos mentions?
I assume you rested less for the hypertrophy sets? Something like 2 minutes?