Technically he doesn’t prohibit, either. He just says to do some pulling stuff and I think that could include a lot of variety.
I could use them for rows! 
One of the things I don’t have. I have a set of the tube style bands with handles but they don’t work well when you loop them to make them short. I’ve done single arm rows with a barbell in the past but I’m ready for a regular barbell row again.
Bands are not great for back exercises anyway when hypertrophy is the aim, they make it harder at the part where you are weakest (shortened position) and add little to no extra resistance in the lengthened position where you are strongest. All they will do is make the set come to an end premeturly due to being unable to complete the top portion. Unless you then drop the band and follow it with normal reps and then partials in the lengthened position.
Do you not like the idea of just pushing to higher rep ranges? edit just seen you are sick of doing them also
I prefer to keep the reps under 10-12. I’d rather do a double rest/pause set of 8+4+3 instead of one set of 15.
I dropped a line in CT’s section about running SGSS with sets of 10, 8, and 6 instead of the written 8, 5, and 3. My reason was to reduced the stress on my shoulder for a bit. CT responded by saying that was fine, but not better than his reps. If those lower reps work for what I want then that’s what I’ll do.
Despite my injury history, lifting doesn’t bother my joints as long as I don’t do stupid ROMs with my hip.
My goals are still to grow or maintain muscle so fatigue is important. Research shows that low to moderate reps work as well as high reps so I prefer the former.
Again, I have a history of injuries, but my shoulder and hip issues weren’t the direct result of lifting. The shoulder was a fluke and the hip was a slow onset of an unknown chronic issue.
This is probably the case for most of us. I think we all have to figure out how to work around injuries/ do what we can do vs just hoping it will heal or all these “I can’t put 12 lbs on the bar until my form is perfect” posts. We all have our anatomy and histories and we’re probably going to get hurt just being alive outside the gym. Not that you need that speech, I just needed to vomit it.
It’s all personal preference buddy. I’m a higher rep range guy for sure, especially for back.
You know what’s really crazy? I’m finally, after 20 years of lifting, figuring out that I like different approaches for different body parts and lifts. I’ve always adopted one style and program at a time. All 5/3/1. All SGSS. All straight sets. The Best Damn Program.
I’ve somehow found my sweet spot in 2020. I like SGSS for deads and pressing. I like intensification techniques like rest/pause for back work, arms, and shoulders. I like 5/3/1 Training Maximally’s approach of hitting your TM for a single on squats.
It’s been quite glorious discovering these things. I don’t know if I could write and explain my training for someone else but I’m loving it.
That’s why we all have to experiment. It’s the counter-intuitive reason for why we tell someone new to go full bore on following a program exactly as written - it’s so you can learn a bunch of different approaches and which are interchangeable
How can you hate dips? They are just sitting there minding their own business.
Why do you hate burpees?
Because I am a human. Our species is programmed to hate burpees.
I can’t argue with that but at the same time: I hate dips. I just do, they suck, they’re ridiculously uncomfortable and I hate them.
But dips have so much to offer us as a species.
So does broccoli, but it still sucks.
Broccoli is also great. You know what’s even better? Dipping. Broccoli.
I have to say I agree with this. I like Low to medium rep range for deadlifts and barbel rows but for any dumbell or cable work, higher reps and minimal rest between sets works a treat.
Dont get me wrong sometimes it’s nice to power up some heavy rows and work on being explosive for a change, but when I do that I never actually feel my lats/upper back. T bar rows I do lower reps (still 8-10 reps) but i do those for the whole posterior chain so dont mind it being less targeted.
You could have picked on a veg that deserved it like artichokes or okra, leave the broccoli alone (I’d argue with you on the dips, bit I’m fairly indifferent to them, they float in and out of my program and I don’t miss them when they’re gone or dread them when they’re in - I don’t find they do much for me at all).
Okra is awful, but luckily I never feel compelled to eat it. Same with artichokes, don’t think I’d be able to get hold of one if I wanted.
SQUAT
135 x 5
185 x 5
225 x 5
255 x 3
280 x 2
305 x 1
DEADLIFT
275 x 3
365 x 5
385 x 4
Called it. My back has been a little off for several weeks now. It’s not injured or anything, but it doesn’t feel right. I’ve been bragging about how I know my body and I had to make the smart call today and stop after that 385 set. Hopefully, I’ll be able to finish this portion of the workout on Friday. Another option is to start lighter and make bigger jumps. I’m supposed to be a set of 3 with 415 and choose the other weights based on that. I was only planning to do 405 for 3 today.
HANG POWER CLEAN
185 x 3
205 x 3
215 x 3
225 x 2
235 x 1
RFESS
125 x 5 ea x 3 sets
Time: 31 minutes
Good to see you listening to your body. Something we all need to be reminded of from time to time.