what ive been doin the past few months

[TheOak84]

after doin 2 cycles of 5x5 and liking it alot, ive decied to do a custom routine using what ive learned. so ive been doin this:

training each muscle 2x a week, except for quads, because some inflamation, and delts (using one pressing movment) which i do once a week

major movements

week 1 - 5x5
week 2 - 3x5 (adding 10-20 pounds from last week)
week 3 - 3x3 (adding 10 20 pounds from last week)
week 4 - 2-3x8 (using the weight from week 1)

week 5 - repeat adding 5-10 pounds from week 1

1-2 more movements 2-3x8-10 (adding weight as needed)

smaller muscles

2-3 movements usually, 5x5, then 2-3x8, then 1-2x15

and thats about it...

my compound movements have been goin up nicely...

i have not yet failed to hit my goals, which is good.

every 6-8 weeks, ill test a max or incorporate speed work.

im sure this isnt a complecated routine and has been done before...
just giving some ideas to anyone who is lost

 

[Guinness5.0]

So where's week 1 in terms of PR's? Is the idea that you use ltos of intensity and gruadually cut volume?

It's nice to see someone deviating form the cookie cutters a bit.

 

[Madcow2]

Only one thing that you may have already accounted for but I'm not sure so I'm going to mention it anyway:

Take 5x5 in the squat with 100lbs, that's 25 reps and a total of 2500lbs lifted in week 1 (just assume 1 session 1 exercise to make it easy). Week 2 is 3x5 or 15 reps with say 120lbs so 1800lbs. Week 3 is 3x3 or 9 reps at 140lbs (I'm using your max increase number) or 1260lbs. Essentially workload in a core lift is dropping by over 50% since the increase in weight isn't enough to compensate for the decrease in volume (this is why 5x5 goes to 3x3 for deloading). Also 20lbs and 40lbs on 100lbs is 20% and 40% that's probably a lot more than you would normally use for your lifts so the difference is likely to be a bit bigger.

If you are going for a loading phase without accounting for this it might not turn out how you like. If you want to move around in rep ranges but keep relatively constant workloads or increase them try keeping the total number of reps constant or at least not dropping to such a big degree, that will allow the weight increase to compensate. So 5x5 = 25 reps, 8x3 = 24 reps.

Just some ideas to help you better account for loading and structure. This post is pretty relevant and contains a good link at the top that will cover the parameters better than I have here: http://www.elitefitness.com/forum/showpost.php?p=5017744&postcount=686

 

[Anthrax Invasion]

That's a very good point, and a great post, Madcow. I was thinking something similar, but I don't really feel up to doing the elementary math right now. 'sides, it was only a matter of time before you chimed in, anyway.

 

[TheOak84]

i see what ur saying.. keep the volume sustained for a certain amount of week, rather then random volume?

like 23-25 for 3 weeks, 15-17 reps for 3 weeks, etc, cutting down, deloading, then starting over?

so if i were to go about it like this

week 1 - 5x5
week 2 - 6x4 - adding weight
week 3 - 8x3 - adding weight

week 4 - 3x5 - same weight as week 3
week 5 - 5x3 - adding weight
week 6 - 7x2 - adding weight

week 7 - deload

week 8 - 3x3 etc...

i only wanted to change the number of sets and reps just for the sake of doin something different...

or doin 3-4 week mini cycles and deloading in between?

 

[TheOak84]

That's a very good point, and a great post, Madcow. I was thinking something similar, but I don't really feel up to doing the elementary math right now. 'sides, it was only a matter of time before you chimed in, anyway.

hey tom, u bastard

 

[seizer]

hey tom, u bastard

Treutlein? lol, that guy is a bastard.

 

[TheOak84]

Treutlein? lol, that guy is a bastard.

hes kool... i like him.. not in a gay way though...

 

[Anthrax Invasion]

Word, they banned my old account. I was supposed to be on "timeout" but no. It's all good, though. I'm rather fond of this name.

 

[TheOak84]

bump for madcow