Every block training plan I’ve ever seen says something like this:
Week 1 - 3 x 5 @ 70%
Week 2 - 5 x 5 @ 75%
Week 3 - 4 x 4 @ 80%
Week 4 - 3 x 3 @ 85%
But I don’t want to do that because I will never know if I’m improving or not until I use that same weight again. Like if I start week 1 squatting 3 x 5 @ 100lbs I will never see improvement until I test my max or squat with 100lbs again, both of which will be a month later.
The thing I like about simply adding reps and sets with the basic progression model is that you SEE that you’re getting stronger every workout. If I bench press 100lbs x 5, 5, 3, the next workout I get 100lbs x 5, 5, 5 and a month later I’m benching 100lbs x 10, 10, 8 I KNOW I’ve gotten stronger.
Is it possible to do block periodization with that basic rep-adding progression scheme like this:
Month 1 - start at 3 sets of 10 and keep adding reps until I’m doing 3-5 sets of 15 reps
Month 2 - start at 3 x 5 with a heavier weight and keep adding reps until I’m doing 3-5 x 8
Month 3 - start at 3 x 2 with an even heavier weight and keep adding sets until I’m doing 6-8 x 2
Can I do block periodization this way? I hate not knowing if my workouts are productive or not and really like to see myself adding reps and sets.