I am coming back from injury and have had a looooooong lay off, so I can be considered a beginner.
I have decided on a program that I am going to use, 3 days a week. Unfortunately, the program does not make provision for progression, deloading, waving and the like.
Are there general guidelines that I can make use of to make amendments to the original program so that I can progress and not overtrain / stagnate?
Badger, I hear you…would like to use the program that I have but “improve” it by adding the progression / undulation / progression modifications…I would really not want to become involved in a “this program is better than that etc” Hope you understand?
Bulldog: This is the thing, I train for about 6 - 8 weeks at a shot, then I either get sick, get injured or some work deadline pop’s up. So whilst cumulatively, I probably have about 2 years of training under my belt, I have never trained consistently enough to consider myself able to move from beginner lifter to intermediate lifter (does that make sense). Case in point, this current injury (micro tear of bicep & forearm muscle) from high pulls has kept me out of action for 2 months, but luckily that coincided with my preparations for my exams, so two birds with one stone so to speak.
BTW, I am 44 in August and am on (75mg Test E + 250 IU HcG) * 2 / week for the last year for TRT…
I suppose I could just go linear progression with a deload week in the 4th week?
Instead of Deloading week 4, just go back to Week 1. Then do that workout a little better. Then repeat Week 2, only do it a little better/harder than the first time. Continue. The “6th” week will be a slightly tougher repeat of your first Week 3. Then, reduce intensity again. Go back to Week 1/Week 4, just do it a little better.
Every set/rep range has a “perfect” weight range (percentage of 1 rep max that works best for that set/rep range.) With Linear Progressions, you start out cool. Weights are good for the sets/reps you are doing. Then you add weight. At some point, you add too much, and the bar is too heavy for the sets/reps you are doing.
With the wave load, you stay in the gain zone. You add a little weight, then wave back before the weights get too heavy. You stay in the productive range and slowly get stronger.
You could steal Wendler’s 5’s Progression to get started.
FlatsFarmer, I think you and I are on the same wavelength! So, if I understand your graph and explanation correctly, I would start with, for example, 50 Kg’s on the bench week one, 55 Kg’s week 2, 58 Kg’s week 3, 53 Kg’s week 4, 55 Kg’s week 5, 60 Kg’s week 6, 63 Kg’s week 7, 58 Kg’s week 8 ad infinitum? (The loadings look wonky but those are the increments I have available in my garage gym…and I should be able to carry on like this until strength gains become stagnant? I would really like to stick to one solid program for a while…
Thanks for the input Flats, I think that this can work…I knew what I wanted to do, was just not sure how to go about it…
The lower you start, the longer you will be able to go.
After a few 3 week cycles, you can develop a good “feel” for how much work you need for steady progress. From there, you can adjust the amount of assistance work and other stuff you do. If your workouts feel Stronger and Better, you are on the right track. If you do too much, and suddenly sessions get really difficult, you can dial it back.
