Rep Max Estimate Inaccurate

Alright, so you need to tell me if you can commit to training 6 days every week or if maybe 5 would be better. Also, you should start a training log on this site and start recording some of you work sets. Your first work set on the comp. lifts is the most important, you can also post videos of some of the volume work and other variations like close grip bench, front squats, etc, no need for a lat pulldown form check. I just need to make sure that your technique is OK and after that I would only be concerned with the top sets. If you have videos of some lifts then post them so I can see what’s going on.

To start off, for M-T-W you can work up to 80% for a set of 5 for squat, bench and deadlift. I would normally give a lower percentage for sets of 5 but it sounds like you can do a lot of reps at a high percentage. Based on how that looks, we might make some bigger jumps in weight from week to week, 80% is just a starting point. And don’t rush too much to get to your top set, give yourself a couple minutes after the last warmup. You want to set yourself up for the best performance possible, you will move faster with the lighter work.

On Monday, you can do 65%x5x5 with 90 sec. rest since it sounds like you can handle it. On everything else, rest is as needed. For high bar pause squats, start off with 60% and see if you can get two good sets of 8. Then move on to lat pulldowns, start with 3 sets of 12-15, stopping a couple reps short of failure (like RPE 7-8). I’m not really crazy about ab work, the main thing is that abs aren’t a weak link and you can brace properly but you can do ab work on lower body days. Don’t go crazy, limit yourself to 4 sets for now, and avoid spinal flexion movements like situps and crunches. I recommend stuff like ab wheel rollouts, hanging leg raises, McGill curl ups, and dead bugs. The last two are hard if you do them right, staying braced the whole time, and they directly carry over to bracing in the squat and deadlift.

Tuesday bench, you can do 5x5 with 60 sec rest. Pause all reps on wide grip bench and go about 3 fingers wider on each side, nothing crazy. 60% is probably a good starting point, if that’s too easy then increase the weight for the next set, just two sets for now. The rest of the details here will depend on whether you can train 5 0r 6 days a week.

Wednesday, start off with 90 sec. rest for deadlifts as well. Then three sets of barbell rows in the range of 10-12 reps, do these as strict as possible and control the eccentric. I recommend either not touching the floor at all (you can stand on a box or plate if necessary) or just lightly touching the floor, try to keep your muscles under tension. For Bulgarian split squats, do them whatever way you are used to, 3 sets 10-15 reps.

Thursday and Saturday will depend on your schedule. For Friday, you can do front squats but I’m leaning towards doing a bunch of lower rep sets with short breaks rather than high rep sets. The objective here is to build up your quads, once you start doing high reps with front squats you back becomes the limiting factor rather than your quads. If you have an estimate 1rm for front squat then let’s do 70%x5x5 with 90 sec. rest, if you don’t have a 1rm then just work up to a ā€œmoderately challengingā€ (like RPE 6-7 at most) set of 5 and do 5 sets. If you can do stiff leg deadlifts without rounding your back then that will be the plan, you can stand on a plate or box for extra ROM is flexibility allows, otherwise RDLs are fine. Start with 3 sets of 10-12. Then pick a rowing exercise of your choice, just not barbell rows or t-bar rows or anything that is going to put a lot of strain on your back. 3 sets 12-15.

Another thing, take note of how hard each workout felt and how you feel the next day. We want to push you hard but not so hard that you can’t recover. You should be able to increase weights or reps each week.

Do you normally use deloads? If so, how often? I would aim to get 4-6 weeks of hard training before deloading.

Thanks! I’ll get a log started on Monday
My gym doesn’t allow filming so, that may be a problem…
I can commit to 6x/week How long do I pause for the pause squats?
No, I’ve never really seriously followed a training plan, so I’ve never taken a planned deload. Usually my ā€œdeloadsā€ are when my family goes on vacation and all I have is a crappy hotel gym. During those periods, I just do crossfit/HIIT workouts
I hope this helps.

Another thing, do the workouts have to be done in the order listed? I’ll try my best to stick to order on the plan, but my gym is very busy and I won’t always have reliable access to the squat rack, bench or machines on the given day prescribed.

That sucks if you can’t record work sets, the next best thing would be someone in person to check your form. Be honest with yourself, do you think your technique is OK or does it need some major improvements?

For pause squats, just come to a full stop for a moment, you can go ā€œone, two, upā€ in your head or something like that. Pausing too long will make you have to reduce the weight too much.

You’re young and in good shape so we can try to go 6 weeks before deloading. You don’t want to keep pushing yourself when performance is dropping, it’s OK if towards the last week before you deload you aren’t 100% but being chronically burnt out is no good.

Since you can train 6 days a week, here’s the plan for upper body days:

Tuesday: Bench press (paused) - 80%x5, then 65%x5x5 with 1 minute rest between sets. Then wide grip paused bench for 2 sets 8-10, start with 60% and if that’s too easy you can increase the weight for the 2nd set. Then do 3 sets of dips for 8-12 reps, add weight if bodyweight dips are too easy. And last, 3 sets of face pulls, 15-25 reps.

Thursday: Close grip bench - 3 sets of 8-10 - If you happen to have a 10rm then take about 10 off that, otherwise just work up to a set of 10 about 2 reps short of failure (@8RPE) and repeat for two sets. Close grip should be no more than a hand’s width closer than your regular grip, too close and it can hurt your wrists and won’t carry over as well. Then do the same sets/reps for overhead press, I also recommend doing this seated if possible to save your lower back. After that, do 3 sets of skull crushers for 12-15 reps and that will be it for this day.

Saturday: Touch and go bench - work up to a set of 10, about 2 reps short of failure, repeat for two sets. Then same thing for close grip incline. After that, 3 sets of dumbbell flys, 12-15 reps, do them as strict as possible. Last will be 3 sets of rear delt flys, 12-15 reps.

The only thing I’m not too sure about is the upper back work (rows, chins, face pulls, etc.), in theory you can do a bit of upper back work every day but I don’t want to give you too much either. You will have to let me know how this is going, if your upper back feels beat up then we can change things around.

Do you use pound or kilo plates? Does your gym have 0.5kg or 1-1/4lb plates? Those would be useful for bench since increasing 5lbs every week won’t work for long, let me know.

Do you pull sumo or conventional? Does your back round when you pull heavy weights?

We have pound plates but the lightest is 2.5lbs.
I pull sumo. My back tends to round a bit once I get above 80-85%. Am I allowed to use a belt for the heavier squats and deadlifts?
I can’t incline bench at my gym. It’s a fixed rack and even the lowest hook thing is too high for me. Can I do dumbbell incline?

We will see how far we can get you with 5lb jumps on bench each week, there are a few different options - either aim to get more reps or just drop the weights down and work back up, basically. It’s not a big deal.

Use a belt for all competition squats and deadlifts (I know you don’t compete yet, but the actual competition movements. When exactly you want to put the belt on is up to you, you could work up to 60% or so and put it on from that point on or start earlier if you prefer. Belts don’t make you weaker unless you are using it in place of bracing, it is supposed to actually increase muscle activation. You can do pause squats and SLDLs beltless if you are OK with that, otherwise put on a belt. Consider using the belt for barbell rows too. You can also use straps for SLDLs and barbell rows, you don’t want to be limited by grip. If you think grip might be an issue for you then you can add overhand holds on your deadlift day as the last exercise. Put 50% of your DL max on the bar and hold for 15 seconds, rest about 2 minutes and repeat. Add 5lbs each week.

Unless you intentionally round your back because you pull more that way (and I assume that is not the situation here) then you should try to avoid it as much as possible, you don’t want to round more than how you set up at any point in the lift. Work on bracing and engaging your lats.

That’s not a big deal, dumbbell incline is fine. If anything I might add more tricep work. At what point in the bench press do you tend to get stuck?

Watch these videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZjDb9dGX_I&t=141s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dm7ZbgjZklE&t=29s

Okay, sounds good
I tend to get stuck at the lockout.