I am 205lbs, 5’10", a good amount of bodyfat. I mostly want to gain muscle and strength and to do a powerlifting meet before the end of the year. These are my estimated 1RMs, but I have never tested them. I have been doing Stronglifts 5x5, and I haven’t stalled much yet. I have reset my weights a few times when I noticed something odd in my form, and build back up with better control.
I was adding chin-ups and dips, but the squats in particular have gotten heavy and the long rests needed between sets are causing sessions to drag on and leave me exhausted, so I’ve cut back on the bodyweight accessories, but I feel like more volume on my upper body could be beneficial. The bench press is the weakest lift, my squats feel great. I have started failing deadlifts due to grip. I am trying to switch to mixed grip but so far it’s been an awkward adjustment. I can get a couple reps in before my grip starts coming apart in double overhand. I eat ranging from 3500-4000 calories a day and 200g protein, mostly decent foods since I don’t like many sweets or fried foods, but I’ll do burgers, pizzas, etc.
Squat 355
Bench 225
Deadlift 385
I bought all the 531 books and read them. I like the idea of focusing on one major lift for the day, hammering high reps on accessories and maybe a second major lift, like 3x5 squats on 531 deadlift days. The only problem is that I would really like to bench heavy more often, and squat twice a week. This could be done with accessories though. I also train at home with only a barbell and rack with a flat bench, which limits the accessories I could do.
The other options I’ve been reading about are the Jonnie Candito LP, which splits into U/L, has some high-rep accessories of my choice, and lets me add weight every week. It has me doing PRs one day and then a control or hypertrophy day in the other day each week.
I like the idea of a Texas Method 4-day spit as described in Practical Programming. I do high volume on one day and work towards a heavy set on the second day for each lift. I would stagger the lifts so that my PR day for squats is on deadlift volume day, etc. It doesn’t have much accessory work though, but maybe that’s unneccesary since I’m still a beginner.
The other option I really like is Sheiko. I’m not talking about the translated number programs, but the new Sheiko app program. I really like using the SL app to make training dummyproof, I log my numbers and move on. Although it’s not a problem to use a spreadsheet or pen and paper either. The programs in the Sheiko app are higher volume, 3-day a week, but not every day is a PR, so the volume should be manageable. There are varying rep ranges instead of constant 5s, and it’s focused on the main lifts so it’s very specific. It hasn’t been around long enough to get any reviews, but it looks solid to me. It does have incline bench and block pulls which I can’t do with my current equipment, but might be worth investing in an adjustable bench and some blocks.
Anyways, they all look like good options so perhaps I should choose one and run with it. I was trying to stay in Stronglifts for as long as possible, but it’s really slowing down and I’m not as excited to train as I was before. A PR on squats makes the deadlifts, rows, and bench PRs in the same session brutal.
Is there any reason to choose one of these over the other? I have never done anything but Stronglifts because dicking around on some machines between sets. Should I keep trucking on Stronglifts and quit being a bitch? I don’t do any supplements except whey, maybe a preworkout could let me power through the sessions. I don’t drink caffeine often so a preworkout would probably hit me hard.