I’m starting OLAD next monday I would like to know what you think of my schedule. Also, Is training 3 days in a row too much. Thanks
OLAD shedule
Monday: Back squats (high bar, narrow stance)
Tuesday: Chins
Wednesday: Dips
Thursday
Friday: Deadlifts
Saturday: Clean&presses
Sunday
I switched the days/exercises a little bit here it is :
Monday : Chins
Tuesday : Back squats (oly)
Wednesday : Clean&presses
Thursday
Friday : Deadlifts
Saturday : Dips
Sunday
Hello,
I’m new to OLAD and I have just started my first week of it. Therefore I have a very basic question - so far my 7 x 5 workouts did not exceed 25 minutes in duration. Does it mean I’m not using enough weight in my exercises (and therefore I’m able to use breaks between sets lasting only up to 2 minutes during the first half and up to 3 minutes during the second half of the workout) ?
For instance, after warmup sets for my deadlifts I have been using the following wave (yeah, I know the weight is pathetic) :
200, 220, 242, 253, 242, 253, 265 (my new 5RM PR)
As I said, all in 25 minutes. Could you please advise whether the wave is correct. Also, shall I attempt to make rests between sets longer and to try to handle more weight ?
Also, would it be a good idea to do 2 sets of the following complex after the daily OLAD lift :
BB upright row x 6
BB snatch x 6
BB squat with press x 6
BB good morning x 6
BB bent over row x 6
All with no breaks and same weight chosen based on the exercise I’m the weakest at (upright row namely).
Thanks for your advice.
[quote]WRG wrote:
Hello,
I’m new to OLAD and I have just started my first week of it. Therefore I have a very basic question - so far my 7 x 5 workouts did not exceed 25 minutes in duration. Does it mean I’m not using enough weight in my exercises (and therefore I’m able to use breaks between sets lasting only up to 2 minutes during the first half and up to 3 minutes during the second half of the workout) ?
For instance, after warmup sets for my deadlifts I have been using the following wave (yeah, I know the weight is pathetic) :
200, 220, 242, 253, 242, 253, 265 (my new 5RM PR)
As I said, all in 25 minutes. Could you please advise whether the wave is correct. Also, shall I attempt to make rests between sets longer and to try to handle more weight ?
Also, would it be a good idea to do 2 sets of the following complex after the daily OLAD lift :
BB upright row x 6
BB snatch x 6
BB squat with press x 6
BB good morning x 6
BB bent over row x 6
All with no breaks and same weight chosen based on the exercise I’m the weakest at (upright row namely).
Thanks for your advice.[/quote]
(1) does it mean the weight is too low? ummm, no, why do sessions have to take an hour? and also no, the weight is not pathetic … ummm part II, hello, you hit a new 5RM PR! (i think the wave looks ok, but ask around … i’m a mountain dude, not a beach bum)
(2) with everything else you wrote: also NO! get through a basic unaltered three weeks, see how things go, and then adjust it
(3) i also advise dumping the lifting days in lieu of 5 jogging days, but that’s just me
whatever you do, get back on this thread in three weeks!
JOG
Many thanks for your reply.
I have asked about workout length because Dan in his article states that such workout usually takes 45 minutes, so I have had an impression that I’m doing soemthing wrong …
Well, the reason I wanted to add something on top of OLAD is that so far I feel … well … refreshed after these workouts 
But you are right, I and my body as well can change our mind during following weeks - so I will come back in 3 weeks then.
[quote]WRG wrote:
Many thanks for your reply.
I have asked about workout length because Dan in his article states that such workout usually takes 45 minutes, so I have had an impression that I’m doing soemthing wrong …
Well, the reason I wanted to add something on top of OLAD is that so far I feel … well … refreshed after these workouts But you are right, I and my body as well can change our mind during following weeks - so I will come back in 3 weeks then.[/quote]
Looks like you wanted to do a Javorek complex (or something close) in addition to your OLAD. You certainly can … I’d recommend you do it as a warm up (and get some overhead squats in there). I’d also recommend that you keep it light. Maybe do your 6 reps at about your 10RM for upright rows.
It will take some time to figure out how your rest interval and loading parameters effect each other. For now, be content with a new 5RM PR.
I’ll be posting on my “definitely not”-OLAD variation tomorrow.
Regards,
Mark
Yes, that is exactly Yavorek’s barbell complex 1 , and of course done with light weight.
Hi all,
Here’s my “Definitely Not” OLAD, OLAD routine that I did over the last
three weeks. Some might recognize it as kind of, sort of “Two Lifts a
Day” but it wasn’t that either. I have what I planned on doing, what
I did end up doing (with lots of details), and finally, some notes and
thoughts.
Here’s what I had planned on doing (way back after Test Fest):
The plan
Got my training laid out for the next 8 or so weeks (until my
quarterly testing at the last week of March-first week of April). My
program is influenced by OLAD, but isn’t OLAD.
Sunday: killer day, long workout, DL or SQ variation, hvy chins, fst
bench, supplemental press (overhead), play with sandbags
MWF: Lighter Olympic work (goblet squats/OHS/RDL, bunch of SN / C+J singles)
Tu Morn: Hvy Bench, Hvy Row
Tu Even: C + J
Thur Morn: Hvy Military, Rep Chins
Thur Even: Sn, dips
Tu/Thur I go into teach at about 6:00 Am. Gym from 7-8:45 or so
… play some racketball and hit two lifts. At home (after a nap),
I’ll do the evening session.
Sat: Play
Weekly loads will follow OLAD more or less. I’m looking at:
7x5
6x3
5-3-2 (plus warm up)
The reality
Here’s what I did. No snickering at the weights.
Week 1:
***Sunday:
Trap DL: 7@135, 5@185, 5@240, 5@275, 5@320, 5@255, 5@300, 5@315
Speed Bench Work
Seated Viking Press Supplemental
Did a Max Weighted Chin Test
(got 1@bw+45 on a chin bar)
Did some sand bag fun and some grip work with grip toys
***Monday:
30 minutes of goblet squats, overhead squats, and RDLs
***Tuesday AM:
Bench: 7@45, 7@80, 5@95, 5@120, 5@135, 5@160, 5@125, 5@145, 5@155
Close Cable Rows: 7@30, 5@60, 5@75, 5@90, 5@105, 5@120, 5@95, 5@105, 5@120
GHR: 5x5 @ bw
***Tuesday PM:
Pwr Cl + J: 5@65, 5@85 (push p),
5@95, 5@115, 5@135, 3@155, 5@125, 5@140, 5@145 (ouch)
Chins: HA!
***Thursday AM:
Mil Press: 7@45, 7@45, 5@60, 5@75, 5@85, 5@100, 5@75, 5@85, 5@95 (ugh)
Rep Chins (bw): 6, 6, 5, 4, 4, 3, 3
ATG Fr Sq (with goblets): 5@95, 5@120, 5@140, 5@90, 5@105, 5@120, 5@135
***Thursday PM:
HA!
Week 2 (6x3 … reps unless otherwise noted):
***Sunday:
Trap DL: 7@135, 5@185, 200, 265, 330, 280, 305, 3@335
Speed Bench Work (8 sets)
Speed Squat (8 sets)
Face Pulls
Seated Viking Press Supplemental: 5x8@80
Chins on Eagle Loops Thingies: 5, 5, 5, 5, 4
Did some sand bag fun and some grip work with grip toys
***Tuesday AM:
Bench: 7@45, 7@85, 100, 135, 170, 145, 155, 170
Close Cable Rows: 7@35, 7@65, 80, 105, 130, 110, 120, 2+1@135
Auxiliiary GMs
***Tuesday PM:
HA!
Wednesday:
Pwr Cl + 2 Fr Sq + J: 3@65, 3@85 (push p)
95, 125
Pwr Cl + 1 Fr Sq + J: 2@155 (missed jerk on 3), 125, 135, 145
***Thursday AM:
***Thursday PM:
Ring Chins: 5 @ 6ct neg, 5@ 4ct neg, bw 4ct neg, bw, bw+25, bw, bw, bw+25
Mil Press: 6@45, 5@55, 85, 100, 110, 90, 100, 110
***Week 3 (5-3-2) ****
***Sunday:
Trap DL: 5@135, 5@185, 3@225
5@275, 3@315, 2@365
(!!! Not enough warm up !!!)
Speed Bench Work (5 sets)
Speed Squat (5 sets)
Seated Viking Press Supplemental: 6x9@80
Chins on Eagle Loops Thingies: 6x5
Did some sand bag fun and some grip work with grip toys
***Tuesday AM:
Bench: 7@45, 5@95, 5@125, 5@140, 5@155, 3@170, 2@185
Close Cable Rows: 7@30, 5@60, 5@80, 3@100, 5@120, 3@135, 1.75@150
Wednesday:
Pwr Cl + J: 5@65, 5@85, 5@95, 3@120,
5@135, 3@155, (miss, miss)@175, 2@160 (flew up)
***Thursday AM:
<played racquetball … definitely hurting from the Pwr Cls>
***Friday
Mil Press: 5@45, 5@65, 5@85, 5@100, 3@110, 2@120
Ring Chins: 3@bw, 3@bw, 3@bw, 5@bw+10, 3@bw+25, 2-@bw+45 (1/2 inch)
I ended up playing on most Fridays (bouldering at an indoor gym
… definitely effected my chins … for good and bad). I’ve learned
quite a bit about what I need to do in weight selection … and in
what I need to do for warm ups on the 5-3-2 week. If you are doing a literal OLAD, you should use a pretty steep progression on you 7x5 and 6x3 days. High percents of your 5RM and 3RM respectively. If you doing what I did with more than one lift, a slightly more conservative progression is in order … in any case, I’d recommend you start above 60% of your 1RM for your “counted” work sets.
Plug: I have a weight calculator for OLAD that I made. It’s available at:
http://www.cs.pitt.edu/~fenner/personal/lifting/olad.html
I need to update it with my new found wisdom.
Also, by the number
of “HAs!” and missing workout days, you can tell that the workload I
planned on was too much. Dan Fouts had the same experience … he
just didn’t think he needed the extra work. Heck, I couldn’t do the
extra work at this point.
A few other notes. My Sunday lifting is at a friend’s house. He has
many cool toys that I feel obligated to use. I’m not doing any sports
training or competition right now, so I look at that as my weekly
“competition” that happens to include a few lifts. Also, I needed
more leg work. I’ll get that next time around. However, my
shoulder’s have gotten noticably bigger … as have my lats. My wife
is quite happy. Incidentally, she’s on her 6x3 week and moving to
5-3-2 this weekend. She’s doing much closer to a Two Lift a Day
variation … but she also overdoes it on Sundays. We’re addicts.
For next time: post my plan for the next couple weeks … followed by
a week of rest (1/2 of which I’ll be skiing) … followed by another
NOLAD cycle. After that a week of 3x3 on my personal testing lifts
followed by a testing week. Fun fun!!
Regards,
Mark
Impressive workout cycle. Thanks for posting it.
I’m at the end of week one and I have already forgotten how “refreshing” first days of OLAD have seemed to be. DOMS have set in and I’m really glad that today is a day off. I’ll do some light GPP today only.
Thanks for calculator, I’ll try to stick to the “heavy” side in this cycle.
[quote]Feanor76 wrote:
my “Definitely Not” OLAD, OLAD routine[/quote]
Mark,
Man. I got overwhelmed just reading that thing … holy shnikies!
It just looks to complicated to me. IMHO, it is too far from OLAD to warrant any OLAD tag. To me OLAD is ONE big lift. Add some aux stuff up to moderate intensities and volumes ok. Anything more is just too much.
I guess NOLAD is a good name
Sure, frquency is good. But high frequency AND high intensity for those of us in the real world (basically, non athletes) is too much.
So I didn’t even decipher if you made gains here or not. Looking forward to the next plan.
A few more nutbags like you and I posting around here, and surely we can trial and error (mostly error) our way through every perfect program design.
My guess, we will determine that 5x5, 3x10, and 10x3 are pretty good.
Dan
Simple is good.
Not simple is not good.
Generally.
Below is a program that I have come up with that is “loosely” based on OLAD principles i.e. I am keeping the lifts the same and increasing the intensity over the course of the cycle.
Due to my current work schedule it is impossible for me to go to the gym 5-6 times per week to do a true OLAD program, the maximum I usually can do is 4.
Another program was posted on Dan’s locker room thread where the guy wanted to do the O-lift’s each day with one “assistance” lift per day tacked on to the end. I liked this idea. I’m also a fan on undulating periodisation where the parameters alternate each workout.
I also need to make sure my shoulders remain healthy and really need to bring my abs up to speed, so I’ve added in some light prehab exercises and ab work at the end.
So here it is:
Week 1:
Workout 1
A: OHS 3x8
B: Snatch 6x4
C: Front Squat 5x10
D: GHR 3x15
E: Cable Crunches 3x15
Workout 2
A: OHS 3x8
B: C&J 5x3
C: Flat DB Bench 8x3
D: External cable rotations 3x15
E: DB Side Bends 3x15
Workout 3
A: OHS 3x8
B: Snatch 6x4
C: Good Mornings 5x10
D: Bulgarian Squats 3x15
E: Weighted Swissball Crunches 3x15
Workout 4
A: OHS 3x8
B: C&J 5x3
C: Bent Over BB Row 8x3
D: Side Lying DB Abductions 3x15
E: Woodchops 3x15
Week 2:
Workout 1
A: OHS 3x8
B: Snatch 5x3
C: Front Squat 8x3
D: GHR 3x15
E: Cable Crunches 3x15
Workout 2
A: OHS 3x8
B: C&J 6x4
C: Flat DB Bench 5x10
D: External cable rotations 3x15
E: DB Side Bends 3x15
Workout 3
A: OHS 3x8
B: Snatch 5x3
C: Good Mornings 8x3
D: Bulgarian Squats 3x15
E: Weighted Swissball Crunches 3x15
Workout 4
A: OHS 3x8
B: C&J 6x4
C: Bent Over BB Row 5x10
D: Side Lying DB Abductions 3x15
E: Woodchops 3x15
Week 3:
Workout 1
A: OHS 3x3
B: Snatch 10x1
C: Front Squat 5/3/2/5/3/2
D: GHR 3x8
E: Cable Crunches 3x8
Workout 2
A: OHS 3x3
B: C&J 5x1
C: Flat DB Bench 3x3
D: External cable rotations 3x8
E: DB Side Bends 3x8
Workout 3
A: OHS 3x3
B: Snatch 10x1
C: Good Mornings 5/3/2/5/3/2
D: Bulgarian Squats 3x8
E: Weighted Swissball Crunches 3x8
Workout 4
A: OHS 3x3
B: C&J 5x1
C: Bent Over BB Row 3x3
D: Side Lying DB Abductions 3x8
E: Woodchops 3x8
Week 4:
Workout 1
A: OHS 3x3
B: Snatch 5x1
C: Front Squat 3x3
D: GHR 3x8
E: Cable Crunches 3x8
Workout 2
A: OHS 3x3
B: C&J 10x1
C: Flat DB Bench 5/3/2/5/3/2
D: External cable rotations 3x8
E: DB Side Bends 3x8
Workout 3
A: OHS 3x3
B: Snatch 5x1
C: Good Mornings 3x3
D: Bulgarian Squats 3x8
E: Weighted Swissball Crunches 3x8
Workout 4
A: OHS 3x3
B: C&J 10x1
C: Bent Over BB Row 5/3/2/5/3/2
D: Side Lying DB Abductions 3x8
E: Woodchops 3x8
Thoughts/comments?
Ben
[quote]Dan Fouts wrote:
Feanor76 wrote:
my “Definitely Not” OLAD, OLAD routine
Mark,
Man. I got overwhelmed just reading that thing … holy shnikies!
It just looks to complicated to me.
[snip]
I guess NOLAD is a good name
[snip]
Dan[/quote]
Dan,
Yeah, NOLAD is sort of like NORAD … it blows stuff up!
Really, this is what I did in reality:
Sun: Trap Bar DL + screwing around
Tue: Bench + Rows
Wed: Pwr Cl + J (as one exercise)
Thur: Mil Press + Chins
Well then … why didn’t I just say that!
The rest of what I wrote was basically details about things I tried and failed with … as well as some other stuff I had going on. This was for my record, as well as for others.
What I wrote above was the meat and potatoes (and beer) of the program. The rest was a light dessert (lemon sorbet?). I 100% agree that complex is usually not worthwhile. Since I can tell you what I really did in four lines, I don’t think it was that complex!
Regards,
Mark
[quote]Feanor76 wrote:
Really, this is what I did in reality:
Sun: Trap Bar DL + screwing around
Tue: Bench + Rows
Wed: Pwr Cl + J (as one exercise)
Thur: Mil Press + Chins
Well then … why didn’t I just say that![/quote]
I dunno … why DIDN’T you just say it
In case anyone has failed to notice, I’m not a details guy. Wow. I can almost not believe that I wrote that. I used to be the most anal retentive guy on the planet. Annoyingly so. Rigid. Structured. Everything perfect. Now, the older I get, the more REALISTIC I become.
So, now I can see the forest … a few things …
I would not personally want to military press the day after jerking.
Just me?
I don’t know. I am a big proponent of symmetry and balance.
Here is what I would do:
Sun: (hip) Trap Bar DL + screwing around
Mon: (vert) Mil Press + Chins
Tue: off
Wed: (oly) P Cl + J (as one exercise)
Thu: off
Fri: (hor) Bench + Rows
sat: off
… maybe …
On a related note, I like to pair hip dominant with upper body vertical and quad dominant with upper body horizontal. (Did I steal that from CW?) So if doing them on consecutive days, it would look like:
hip
vert
quad
horiz
Etc … prime example … rowing the day after deadlifting sucks … deadlifting the day after rowing sucks … pullups or chins the day after deadlifting is ok … deadlifting after pu/chins is kinda ok.
I think my response is now longer than the orignal post that spurred this thing.
Thoughts anyone?
danny need sleepy,
Dan
[quote]bg100 wrote:
Below is a program … [/quote]
Ben,
At first glance I was like, woah. A day later my brain has processed it. It looks “perfect”.
No, really, I think it looks pretty good. The only thing I might change would be … be more flexible and go by feel on the OHS and oly lift as well as the aux D and E lifts … do not forget the MEAT in the middle … you know, the OLAD part!
As always, try it and get back to us … remember to adjust on the fly if you ain’t!
Dan
[quote]Dan Fouts wrote:
bg100 wrote:
Below is a program …
Ben,
At first glance I was like, woah. A day later my brain has processed it. It looks “perfect”.
No, really, I think it looks pretty good. The only thing I might change would be … be more flexible and go by feel on the OHS and oly lift as well as the aux D and E lifts … do not forget the MEAT in the middle … you know, the OLAD part!
As always, try it and get back to us … remember to adjust on the fly if you ain’t!
Dan[/quote]
Thanks mate, glad you like it! This is just the plan at the moment, like DJ says we have to try things to see if it works and then change what doesn’t.
I really want to get on top of the O-lifts, hence the reason for doing them every workout. I’m interested to see if the “OLAD part”, lift C, works with the undulating parameters.
Also, if anyone is wondering why I chose DB bench instead of BB, I’ve been rehabbing my “clunky” shoulders with AC and CW’s Monster Shoulders Routine and haven’t benched since early October, so I think the DB version will be a better way to ease back into pressing exercises.
And I will update on this thread regularly.
Ben
[quote]Dan Fouts wrote:
I would not personally want to military press the day after jerking.
[snip]
Etc … prime example … rowing the day after deadlifting sucks … deadlifting the day after rowing sucks … pullups or chins the day after deadlifting is ok … deadlifting after pu/chins is kinda ok.
[snip]
Thoughts anyone?
danny need sleepy,
Dan[/quote]
Dan,
Good talking to you.
As far as militaries the day after jerks, my jerks are mostly legs and form. The arms are along for the ride. With a bit more practice, I think I will be out-jerking my power clean (I may be there already … so, I need to bring up my RDL and finally get around to mastering a Full Clean).
On the larger issue of “muscle freshness”, I think there are a few considerations:
It’s great that you know what pairs/combinations will do to you. That is something everyone should figure out.
Sometimes you should shy away from beating up your muscles in the worst possible way … i.e. you should rotate exercises that don’t pair well to opposite ends of the week.
Some — other — times, you should put those painful pairs back to back … let’s say it’s for spiritual development.
With two lifts a day (sorry for the abuse of OLAD), you can actually get “high frequency” for some of your body parts. Heck, if you did the original OLAD (in Get Up! before the TMag OLAD, with snatch, clean, jerk, front squat, and press I think), how many times are you working your quads a week? Your spinal erectors? Your shoulders? Your posterior chain? Geez.
Regards,
Mark
[edit]
P.S.
Also, I did like your split. I have some other concerns though … I lift three different places: home, friend’s house, and university gym. I have different equipment available and pick where I want to do something based on the equipment as well as what else I’ve done.
So, my most recent week has been a bit of a “layoff” … and I’ve really (almost) been doing just one lift … for the whole week: overhead squats!
I realized that my previous “overhead squat like thing” … looked much less like a well-practiced Olympian after a snatch, and more like … an old man, bent over, with weight above his head (a cane?), fighting for air and his life.
The remedy:
To get my lower body in order … goblet squats like the dickens. I must have done 250 this week. I stopped at the bottom … looked around at the scenery (my furnace), and whistled a tune (When Johnny Comes Marching Home?).
I discovered that I can goblet squat a bit (two inches) more narrow with a goblet than an overhead. With this trusty knowledge, I must have done about 150 overheads as well. Again, I was pausing at the bottom for full effect (i.e. convincing my body that this position is “OK”).
When the overheads started feeling “good”, I threw in some “drop snatches” or “snatch balances” depending on your terminology … regardless, they add a nice dynamic component to your bottom-position, overhead work.
Up next week: integrating my newly perfected (heh) overhead abilities into bottom position snatching.
Regards,
Mark
PS Yes, I admit it, I did some RDLs. sigh So complex! laugh Also, I realize this isn’t perfectly OLAD material, but it is my “off” week on my “NOLAD” routine, so it factors in nicely.
[quote]Dan Fouts wrote:
bg100 wrote:
Below is a program …
Ben,
At first glance I was like, woah. A day later my brain has processed it. It looks “perfect”.
No, really, I think it looks pretty good. The only thing I might change would be … be more flexible and go by feel on the OHS and oly lift as well as the aux D and E lifts … do not forget the MEAT in the middle … you know, the OLAD part!
As always, try it and get back to us … remember to adjust on the fly if you ain’t!
Dan[/quote]
I did the first workout yesterday and decided that 6x4 snatches are hard! Especially after 3 months off O-lifts, however I was pleased with how I went, even if I ended up mostly power snatching in the last few sets.
Program adaptation is already occurring, I found that 5x10 for the “meat” exercise was a little ambitious considering the fact that for the past year I’ve mostly lived in the less than 6 reps range, my strength endurance is very low, so I am going to change to 3x10, at least just for this cycle to get used to higher reps again.
My upper back, hams and quads are not liking me very much today, but they’ll get used to it, tomorrow it’s the pecs and shoulders’ turn to complain!
Ben
[quote]bg100 wrote:
I did the first workout yesterday and decided that 6x4 snatches are hard! Especially after 3 months off O-lifts, however I was pleased with how I went, even if I ended up mostly power snatching in the last few sets.
Ben[/quote]
Ben,
I looked back over your OLAD+Oly+pre/aux/ab set up. As Dan Fouts said, “It looks perfect”. grin
Just an idea, you might alternate “drop snatches”/“snatch balances” with OHS for a bit of variety. Of course, everything else is pretty varied, so you might need the straight OHSs as your stability!
Regards,
Mark