advise appriciated

[TomoUK]

i was hoping i could get some opinions on this routine i am thinking of when i get back from a 3 week break, rather than the standard 5x5 i want to incorporate a higher rep day and a lower rep day, it would look something like this;

mon:
squat 3 x10
bench 3 x10
row 3 x10

wed:
front squats (when ive learnt them)
deadlift 1x5
ohp 3x5

fri:
squat 3 x5
bench 3x5
row 3x5

chins and dips alternate each session

is it worth trying the varied rep schemes or should i just go with one or the other,im just curious as to how my body reacts cus ive never really tried 5+ since ive been training properly and i would like a bit more size (focusing on major lifts). also is there enough volume on deads and ohp's, thought about making it a 4 day split to fit more in but wasnt sure how to arrange it.

thanks, tom

 

[BiggT]

There is nothing wrong with that at all.....just keep moving up the poundage progressively with both the 5's and 10's......another option would be to just include 2 sets of 8-12 as backoff sets to your 5's......but the 5's one day and 10's another should work well.

 

[Cynical Simian]

I assume you'll be doing it anyway since the other stuff on Wednesday is for 5 reps, but you should probably do 5s on the front squats rather than 10s, especially since you'll still be getting comfortable with the rack.

Ramping deads is what Rippetoe recommends. The load really adds up if you try to do more than a few work sets.

 

[TomoUK]

yes i was planning to 5's for the front squats, will probably be a while b4 im happy with the technique, having a few flexibilty problems at the moment.

cheers for the advice, cant wait to start it now.

 

[solarclimax]

What exactly are you aiming to get out of your planned routine ?

 

[theprofessor]

id be sad if all i did was one working set of deads... fuck that is my favorite lift... id do more...
i dont think you have to have a set number of sets everytime you walk in the gym... considering you know your body well... that is definately an important factor...

 

[TomoUK]

What exactly are you aiming to get out of your planned routine ?

iim hoping for a continuation of the strength gains ive been getting with working in the 5 rep range and idealy some increased hypertrophy from the higher rep stuff. im just experimenting really to see how my body responds and it makes a bit of a change from all the 5x5. tempted to try hst at some point due to its more varied rep ranges

 

[solarclimax]

Experimentation is probably not a bad thing short term. However i would be more tempted to just do a run of HST, i can't see how changing up 5x5 by doing wild varied rep ranges is going to be beneficial. You say you want a continuation of strength, well the friday's workout as you probably know is to set you up for mondays PR's, yet you are proposing sets of 10 reps on the monday. I just don't think going from the 3 reps range on fridays to 10 reps on monday is going to bennefit you. 1 reason is that the 3 rep range is mainly beneficial for strength and myofibrillar hypertrophy amongst outher things, where as 10 reps is going more towards sarcoplasmic hypertrophy, i just don't see how the 2 can bennefit each outher in the same routine especially if you want a continuation of strength. Would anyone like to elaborate on this ?

 

[BiggT]

Actually, the varied rep ranges are beneficial.....it would be something to do once your gains slowed in the traditional 5x5. The 5's are generally a rep range where you can keep adding weight weekly and you aren't in a neural range. The 3's work the connective tissues and the 10's provide muscular endurance work. Actually, in "The Strongest Shall Survive" Bill Starr recommends something like this for people looking to train for size/strength/endurance as best as they can with one routine.

I am not saying this would be my first choice of a routine, but it is legitimate and can work for a while at least. I would just recommend pushing lifts in the 3-6 rep range and then doing backoff sets in the 8-15 area, but sometimes the workouts become long and dreaded doing that.

 

[solarclimax]

Interesting, I just got the feeling that it is like training for a sprint and a marathon at the same time. I guess it will make a good change whilst still having some benefits.
Good post Biggt.

 

[BiggT]

Interesting, I just got the feeling that it is like training for a sprint and a marathon at the same time. I guess it will make a good change whilst still having some benefits.
Good post Biggt.

Like I said, it wouldn't be my first choice for 'optimal' training for size/strength/endurance, like you, I feel optimal requires specialization on something and sacrifice on other things.....but you can do it all to a degree of effectiveness, just most likely not to the best of your ability, and the more advanced you are, the more specialization becomes necessary.

 

[Jim Ouini]

This discussion kind of came up when I asked about Conjugate Periodization vs. Concurrent Periodization.

Coolcolj (and maybe BiggT?) basically said that it's hard to improve at everthing at the same time, unless you're a beginner.

 

[BiggT]

This discussion kind of came up when I asked about Conjugate Periodization vs. Concurrent Periodization.

Coolcolj (and maybe BiggT?) basically said that it's hard to improve at everthing at the same time, unless you're a beginner.

This becomes more and more true when 'crosstraining' or looking to get good at say deadlifting and sprinting at the same time.....if you want speed, sometimes you have to let pure strength training take a back seat. Kind of like how a track and field athlete would cycle their training.

For guys sprinting at 80-100% 3 times a week, they should probably shelve deadlifts and just look to coast through their squats. Olympic lifts can probably be pushed, things like that.

If you just got up off the couch and put the beer down, you probably will be able to improve your deadlift and your 100 meter time at once, but if you're a 600lb deadlifter who hasn't sprinted in 2 years, you'll have to shelve pushing the DL to train your sprints.....and if you're a sprinter looking to add 150lbs to your DL, the sprints may have to take a back seat.