Hi CT. I’ve been reading your articles lately and I think they’re great. I was thinking of utilizing heavy doubles into my programming to increase my deadlift and bench press. Is there a specific way you prefer to warm up? Is it similar to ramping up to a 2RM (start at 60%, then increase slowly) then just doing 5 x 2 heavy doubles? Is this something I can be doing more than once a week or should I just keep all of my big lifts seperate? (Squat, Deadlift, Bench Press, Overhead Press).
[quote]ma70 wrote:
Hi CT. I’ve been reading your articles lately and I think they’re great. I was thinking of utilizing heavy doubles into my programming to increase my deadlift and bench press. Is there a specific way you prefer to warm up? Is it similar to ramping up to a 2RM (start at 60%, then increase slowly) then just doing 5 x 2 heavy doubles? Is this something I can be doing more than once a week or should I just keep all of my big lifts seperate? (Squat, Deadlift, Bench Press, Overhead Press).[/quote]
If you are doing heavy doubles (and not working toward a 2RM) we will assume a load of 90-92% of your max for your doubles (at least for the first few sets).
In that case I recommend the following:
50% x 4
60% x 3
70% x 2
80% x 2
85% x 1
Then your work sets. You don’t need the same activation level as during a 2RM ramp. And because you have 5 heavy sets, you have less preparation sets to invest in.
I often recommend training a main lift twice a week when training to maximize strength. The number of big lifts per day will depend on your training frequency and what the rest of the program looks like
I see. Thanks for that! I was thinking of sort of doing a hybrid program of strength training followed by assistance (or sort of a bodybuilding style template). Are there any recommendations that you suggest for training frequency/specific assistance? My training days at this point is usually at 4 days a week, but I can actually afford to go more if necessary. (maximum of 6 days)
For assistance, I have been thinking of face pulls (just because they are great for my rotator cuffs) and pull ups, but other than that, nothing really particularly sticks out at me.