Are you doing the 30 rep squats for mass made simple? I’m a bit confused with the article here at t-nation, I guess you have to figure out the weights you’ll be using?
I have the ebook in which the progression is laid out very clearly. It’s a little different to the tnation article in that 531 isn’t used, and complexes aren’t optional. It also lays everything out very, very clearly, its “made simple”. I’m going to use a mix of the two:
Strength: 531 as per article (maybe Kroc program for deadlift)
High Rep squats: probably follow ebook, although it starts too easy and gets too hard from memory.
Complexes: as per book.
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I would just do 531 BBB but 2 days a week. Would take longer, but still get plenty of quality work in.
DAY 1
Squat 531 (ss: Abs)
Squat BBB (ss: Abs, GHR)
Bench Press 531 (ss: Rows)
Bench Press BBB (ss: Rows, Curls)
DAY 2
OH Press 531 (ss: Chin-Ups)
OH Press BBB (ss: Chin-Ups, Lunges)
Deadlift 531 (ss: Abs)
Deadlift BBB (ss: Abs, Dips)
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Think the book says 50%. If you are doing an amrap 531 set then I would stay at 50% for the first cycle and see how you go. You can always go up to 60 or more over time.
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For 531 stuff, my favorites have been:
-
DC challenge
-
upper/lower two day:
Day 1
531 dead/squat
Squat supplemental
Deadlift supplemental
Day 2
531 bench/press
Press/bench supplemental
Rows
BUT I’ve come to realize that training two days per week and being in the gym two days a week are very different things.
I’m running a sort of Brian Alshrue-inspired Westside for skinny bastards, “train” 3-4 days per week but am only in the gym twice per week for the max effort upper, and max effort lower days respectively. If you can log 200+ push-ups while you mow the lawn, or work in some hill sprints while walking the dog, that’s 100% a training day in my book.
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I intend to make this a priority myself in the new year. Probably after mass made simple though
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Man it’s been a game changer for me. I feel like I’m sneakily stealing back time from myself.
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What’s your thoughts on doing this during MMS? It specifically says not to do anything else, but I’d like to ignore that and do my own thing. So if you could greenlight it, that would be great.
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Ha man, I really would love to but unfortunately have never run MMS so I can’t sign off in good faith.
EDIT
That being said, I’ll do a little appeal to authority and paraphrase Wendler in that if 50 push ups screws your bench up, you should probably be doing 50 push ups before you bench lol
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Thanks man. Do you usually plan your “training” days outside the gym or just wing it?
Thanks Nutty. Figured this takes about 1.5 hrs?
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Do you usually do your pressing before deadlifts?
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I plan it within the context of the program, but am pretty liberal with execution. My most recent outdoor workout I did rock wall climbs, rock deadlifts and hill sprints, which seem random but the program called for jumps, single leg work and posterior chain work. As long as I “check the boxes” I do what I want
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Yeah I would say 1.5-2 hours. But hey you only in the gym 2x a week.
I usually don’t (I have in certain sessions), but I would do it this way because after doing deadlift 531 and then deadlift 5x10 you are not going to have energy to do anything else, so it makes sense to keep it after the OH pressing.
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Really? Maybe I’m weak, but that looks like about 45mins work to me.
Squat 531 (ss: Abs) - 10ish minutes
Squat BBB (ss: Abs, GHR) - 20ish minutes
Bench Press 531 (ss: Rows) - 10ish minutes
Bench Press BBB (ss: Rows, Curls) - 20ish minutes
So 60 minutes if you are go go go. But with warming up, actually working up to the top sets, the supersets and the rest needed I can easily seeing it being 1.5-2hours. For a regular BBB sessions it’s probably 45 min, so double up and you got 1.5 hours for sure.
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I might be misjudging how quickly I work. I’ll have to pay more attention next time I do a session.
I know only my times because I’m a “clock watcher” when I workout. Rest periods are strict and doing as much as I can within an hour matters. But with BBB I always set the timer for 20 minutes to get that supplemental work done. I usually finish in 15 or less, but still gives me some breathing room.
I have no clue how long I rest normally. I think probably not very long, unless it’s a really unpleasant set. I rest a long time before 20 rep squats.
I think you have to also take into consideration what your working weighs are. If @isdatnutty is squating with a top set of 400+ vs our 275 he will need a few more working sets to get up to weight before he does his first set. Also 10 mins for 3 sets when one set is an amrap is not a lot, 1 min per set plus 2 mins rest is a good pace to keep. I can easily see this getting over 1 hour
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