Neurotype 2A- Main Lift Scheme

[Henri.10]

Hi CT,
I’m currently following a Westside/Conjugate program template completing waves for my main lifts ie
Week 1: 7/5/3
Week 2: 5/3/2
Week 3: 3/2/1
*3 Phases

I’ve quickly come to the realisation after completing week 3, that I just don’t respond well to waves, the concept of going back in weight just kills my motivation mentally, not sure if this is a normal reaction for some but I just didn’t connect at all to it compared to say a 5/4/3/2/1 scheme where the weight continues to increase each set. That’s ok, good to learn from the experience.

On that I have decided to implement a main lift scheme using methods that I do respond highly well to that motivate me to train hard:

New Cycle
2A Adapted
Week 1-
Rest-Pause
Intensity Zone: 80-87.5%
Sets: 3
Initial Reps: 4-6 (1.5-2 x initial reps)
Rest Between Micro-Sets: 10-15 seconds

Week 2-
Clusters
Intensity Zone: 86-91%
Sets: 3
Reps: 4-6
Rest Between Reps: 10-15 seconds

Week 3-
Countdown to Strength
Intensity Zone: 85-100%
5/4/3/2/1/1+
5 (85%)
4 (87.5%)
3 (90%)
2 (95%)
1 (100%)
1+ (105%+) *Only push it when I’m honestly sure I’ll hit something big.

Repeat for 3 Phases.

What are your thoughts on this 3 week main lift progression?

Thanks for the help appreciate it,
HL

[Christian_Thibaudeau]

If you have a progression in intensity from week to week (which you seem to have), it will work.

Sorry about your experience with waves. But you are correct, some methods are not neurologically/psychologically suited for some people. And at the end of the day, even if a method is awesome on paper, if it doesn’t motivate you it likely will not work.

Just one theory though. It is possible that you went to hard/heavy on the first wave and your nervous system was trashed on the second wave. The first wave should be a an RPE of 8. mayyyyyybe 8.5 (so 2 reps in the tank) and the last wave is almost a max effort.

Another possibility is trying a double pyramid. For example doing 6-4-2-2-4-6 instead of 6-4-2-6-4-2