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The author disclaims any responsibility for conseuences resulting from the misapplication of the information in this book.
Consult a doctor before beginning any physical exercise regimen.
Cover artwork by Ken Hicks
Thank you to Dave and Traci Tate, and all of the staff at Elitefts.com, for always supporting supporting my projects projects and believing in my work. Thank you to Ken Hicks for the help with photos, editing and especially the cover of this book. book. Thank you to Greg, JP, Sin, Brandon, Paul, Jess, Emily, Sandy and the small handful of other true loyal friends friends I have- you know who you you are as well as those who know know they aren't.
It's easy to be against against things. things. Eventually you have have to be for things, things, as well.
In loving memory of the woman who taught me the true meaning of strength, Gretchen Lessig.
Three Methods - 6 Introduction - 7 The Most Sincere Form of Fattery - !" The #e Curve - !$ I%m &ettin' (eaker - !7 The )thSet MSM Se*uence System - ++ How to ,se the MSM Se*uence System - + The .ew /rotocos - $7 The 7)0 )thSet /rotoco - 1" The 7)0 Techni*ue /rotoco - 1$ +nd /ressin' 2ay- Choices - 1) /eakin'3 4evisited - )! The 5tended /eakin' Cyce - )1 Seectin' ttem8ts for the Meet - )6 &eared 9iftin': That Means Knee (ra8s .ow - 6+ #racin' - 66 4isk Factors For In;ury - 71 (ei'ht Cass Transitions - 1
y three methods we may learn wisdom! "irst, by reflection, which is noblest Second, by imitation, which is easiest $hird by e%perience, which is bitterest.
&'onfucius
( training year for a powerlifter should be looked at as a night of poker. )ou can play it smart, grind some, and leave with the mortgage payment you brought to the table, plus some spending money or you can press your luck, maybe win a big hand here and there, but more than likely hobble out with your pockets empty and a bunch of e%cuses about how things should*ve gone.
$he choice is yours, but I promise you this! the bar is going to call your bluff every single time. +now that going in.
5thSet is a movement. It*s a different outlook on training for powerlifting a new perspective from which to view progress in the sport, over the course of a competitive career rather than simply a meet preparation cycle.
ossibly the biggest misconception regarding strength in general is that if any given lifter would -ust do more work, or train heavier, they could get stronger than they are. $his overlooks at least one huge factor in the euation of progress! $he average lifter*s desire and willingness to train hard, and to do more work under the bar, are usually greater than their ability to recover and adapt in a given timeframe.
In most cases the issue is not that the lifter isn*t doing enough volume or intensity. It*s more likely that they are already spending too much of their recovery and adaptive resources on the wrong kind of work. Sometimes, even spending too much, too uickly, on the right kind. $he lesson here is that more is not always better.
So then, you*re probably asking yourself, what should I be doing, and how much/
5thSet has you covered. $he method itself is diagnostic and corrective, in real time. It is self& regulating and easily scalable for any level of recoverability.
$his is the methodology that allowed 0llen Stein, a si%ty four year old woman, to win her weight class against elite female lifters less than half her age at the 1234 ' (rnold 'lassic, with a 3222 pound 6 total at only 372 pounds body weight. 8She*s done more, since.9
:n that same stage, the heaviest raw total of the entire meet, 1152 pounds, was a huge 6 put together by none other than my ;idwest 5thSet 'erberus, <.. 'arroll. 8y the time you read this, he will probably have totaled 1722. $here was a lot left in the tank.9
$wo lifters, dramatically different in capacity, but strikingly similar in method.
:ne of the greatest lifters of all time, Greg anora, used 5thSet to build his heaviest raw bench press ever, 5=5 pounds. (nd he is currently using the methodology to rebuild his raw total after completely rupturing an I$ band and uadricep tendon. >e*s also been traveling the country with me to help spread the gospel of 5thSet in our seminars and using everything he*s learned to transition from one of the best lifters, across the board, to functioning as one of the most knowledgeable powerlifting coaches in the game.
Sin Leung added 322 pounds to her already elite total in two years, while at the same time improving body composition and making ?night and day@ technical improvements on every lift. So those 6s didn*t come at the e%pense of good techniue, which seems to be the current trend in powerlifting. 6ather, her techniue improved as she used the method and continues to do so.
(ll the lifters I mentioned mentioned above share another common denominator. $hey*ve all taken what the method has taught them, their own respective lessons learned in the trenches, and
they*ve handed them on to the ne%t generation of lifters& -ust getting started and struggling to find their way. $hat*s the only thing more impressive than their own progress and the reason I chose to include their stories, here.
e like them.
$he uote from 'onfucius, in the front of this book, comes into play here. $he three methods to acuire wisdom! reflection, imitation and e%perience. I would ask you to do one better, and go on to teach what you have learned to others one day. In my opinion the most effective way to apply these three methods in any specific pursuit, especially lifting, is as follows!
Ae should start with the easiest method! learning the things which have already been proven to work well and imitating them. them. $his will allow us to gain valuable e%perience , while at the same time minimiBing the bitterness 'onfucius refers to. It is important to learn from our own mistakes, but whenever possible, we should learn from the mistakes of those who came before us. (nd finally, once we have gained a wealth of e%perience by learning, imitating and and teaching the proven works of others, we will be ready for the noblest method! to reflect on on that e%perience and and what it has taught us. (t this point we can draw our conclusions and develop our own uniue methods to test and share with others. It*s important to note that this process will probably take many, many years.
Aith that said, I could write an entire book filled with 5thSet success stories, and more continue to pour in every weekend as lifters show and prove at their meets. I*ve seen newcomers to lifting use this method to become all&time greats, and lifters who were already legends use it to continue to progress when everything else had failed them. I*d love to see what it can do for you.
Cepending on who you ask, the most sincere form of flattery is either imitation or mutilation. Since the release of the first book, and widespread success of lifters using it, the 5thSet ;ethodology has seen plenty of both. Ae*ve seen a nice chunk of DprogrammingD being sent out from some big name coaches which, to put it gently, closely resembles 5thSet programming.
(nd I*m flattered, truly.
Some of it is laBiness, or a lack of e%perience, in coaches who are -ust copying what they see and know to be working. It*s really not a bad idea, I get that. ( lot of it is because people -ust love to modify e%isting training programs. I get that, too, and I knew it would happen.
I knew it before I wrote the first book and that was the reasoning behind including a thorough Dbuild your own programD section, detailing the rules which make 5thSet a true methodology. $hat did little to prevent lifters and coaches alike from maligning the system.
eople want to e%periment. It*s human nature. Ae see a good thing and, instantly, we think D>ow could I make this better/D
In order to make this 85thSet9 85thSet9 better, we*d have to have a good understanding of the variables at play and enough enough e%perience in training and competition to e%periment intelligently. It is possible. I*ve continued to do -ust that, in the three years since I finished the first book.
Sadly, most of us lack the reuisite skill&set to effectively modify a training system beyond the scope of what is outlined in a methodology. ut we all have google, and easy access to a sea of answers.
$he internet is like the ocean! full, but also empty.
Ahat we ended up with, in some lifters 8and coaches9 who wanted to run 5thSet without following the rules, were programs which were watered down, mishmash hybrids between a good thing and garbage. Some piss in the whiskey, as it were. It still worked, but with watered down results.
)ou*d do better without the piss, trust me on this. Something mi%ed is something weakened, almost always.
I realiBe that people want options and we can only get e%cited about doing the same thing for so long. $hat*s probably why so many who marry get divorced. Aithout getting too far into your love life 8that*s a topic for another book9, I*m here to provide you with a solid selection of new choices you can use to further your training, rather than steer it off the rails.
(nd to the coaches reading this! do not despair. I*ve already already begun work on the 5thSet 'oaching 'ertification course, which will only be offered in a seminar setting with a hands on clinic. )ou*ll learn everything you need to know to coach 5thSet effectively, including that Dreuisite skill&setD I mentioned above to modify it intelligently and meet the specific needs of individual lifters.
Lifter, coach or both you will never have to divorce 5thSet! it is a constantly evolving opus, with -ust enough moving parts to never stop improving upon itself. It*s been pro-ecting ideas through a keyhole in my mind for more than a decade and I do not imagine that ending any time soon. I am at peace with it. 'oaching and lifting are part of who I am. If you*re reading this, at least one of those is probably true for you.
)ou can go to school to learn about music and how to create it, but in order to create music that moves people, you have to be an artist.
In much the same way, you can learn about strength training in a college or grad school, theories and how to apply them, but putting together programming creating a system that moves a human being to improve on the long term! that is an art.
(s for me, I have a good balance of technical knowledge regarding powerlifting, but I*ve always been a battle between artist and technician. 'oaching, programming and writing are my mediums. 8)es, I included programming as an artistic medium.9 $hese are the ways I choose to communicate with you.
I take offense to the idea that developing a practical application for training ideas has to be anything less moving than a symphony. It*s music to me. It does move me makes my heart beat so I can feel it in my throat, when it all comes together on the platform.
It*s the way I connect with my lifters and that connection is often very profound.
;oBart composed his last three symphonies in the span of a few weeks, but some men are more gods than mortals. It took me ten years to be happy enough with 5thSet to allow the initial release. 0ven now, after critical acclaim and the widespread success of the methodology, as I present these thoroughly tested evolutions, I still would not consider it finished.
Aith that said, I ask you to keep an open mind toward, and a careful eye on, the things you read this book.
SystemiBing things is always about simplifying. Cue to their comple% nature, however, some things can only be made so simple. :verlooking the fact that there are many variables which can e%plain certain performance parameters is the main issue with genetic Dranking.D "or this reason, ranking things as multifactorial as intelligence, as a single uantity 8for e%ample IE or g factor9 factor9 presents a number of issues and is often a controversial topic.
>owever, when it comes to ranking potential for physical performance, the theory of normal distribution provides a very useful paradigm with the bell curve. :ne which can e%plain many discrepancies in the ability of individuals, across the board, to perform or improve.
So, any problems with a single value ranking for intelligence aside, there is a very simple bell curve for normal distribution of performance potential in any given sport. Ae can argue about the variables all day. ut when we are done, we must acknowledge that genetic predisposition plays the largest role in success in any athletic endeavor. 0ven things like Dwork ethicD and Dmental toughnessD are heavily influenced by a person*s genetics.
"or powerlifting it*s pretty straightforward. :n the far right of the bell curve, the 1F through the .23F will probably get stronger than everyone to the left of them no matter what they do, as long as it involves heavy, progressive training. $hey have much greater capacities for things like adaptability, recoverability, de%terity and motor potential. $hings which make someone good at powerlifting. 8$here aren*t so many factors, here, compared to uantifying intelligence, which leaves us with a clearer picture.9
>owever, we are presented with a problem when it comes to realiBing the potential of the most far&right, gifted powerlifters. $his is because in most cases, these lifters won*t last long enough to e%press their true potential. 0ven though, like I said, it is likely they will still go
much further than the lifters to their left on the bell curve 8everyone else9.
ecause anything works for them, these far&right lifters tend to do some of the most ridiculous shit you can imagine, when left to their own devices. $he result is a very short career. 8$hink! three to four years, in raw powerlifting, followed by a gradual or dramatic decline in performance due to in-uries from overuse.9 $here are uite a few e%ceptions here. Some instinctively know they should not do these imbecilic things in their training. :thers luck into good coaches or mentors and are not too overwhelmed by their own egos to take direction. $hese are the lifters who end up challenging what we believe to be possible for human beings. 8$hink! ;alanichev or Sarychev.9
So, a good coach or method of training will help even the best them 8maybe
the
best of them9 go further than they ever would on their own. >ow far that actually is! heavily
influenced by where that lifter falls on the bell curve.
0veryone knows that guy or girl who does everything right, inside and outside of the gym. $heir nutrition is on&point. $heir training is intelligent and practical. evertheless, they suck.
0ven if they use performance enhancing drugs, they still put up below average performances. $hese lifters fall on the far&left side of the bell curve and there is not much that can be done for them. $hey can improve over time, but even with everything in its right place, improvement will be slow and inconsistent.
$o use a popular metaphor, if you put a pit bull against a chihuahua, it doesn*t matter what kind of training or nutrition or drugs you give them. $hey are both trainable dogs, but the pit bull is probably going to win the fight every time. $he goal for any coach or methodology is to hopefully ma%imiBe the potential of each get the best performances from them and keep them healthy enough to eventually reach those respective potentials.
In review, for lifters on the far&left of the bell curve, nothing will work very well. Ahile for lifters on the far&right of the bell curve, almost anything will work well.
Ahen curating the data I collected from all of the testing I did for the protocols and formulas I used to make up the 5thSet methodology, I had to be very careful to separate and disregard all of that which came from lifters I believed fell on either e%treme end of the bell curve. $heir results were useless to me, because they had poor e%ternal validity and could not be generaliBed for other lifters.
$he vast ma-ority of lifters, let*s say about H4F, are going to fall somewhere on the ascending scale in between these two e%tremes. $heir results are what I considered valid data, and what worked for them on average I thought could more than likely be successfully applied also to
lifters on either e%treme end, given the failsafes I had in place in the system.
ased on results of the continued testing on a dramatically larger sample siBe, after the release of the first 5thSet book, I was correct in my thinking. It*s no secret at this point! 5thSet works.
$he bell curve also e%poses a tremendous myth in the world of powerlifting.
$he ;yth! erformance in the sport is an indicator of knowledge or coaching ability.
$his is a fallacy. nderstanding a lifter who ranks to the far right of the bell curve could perform at a very high level, even in spite of poor training methods, we know that performance is then not a good indicator for knowledge of what generally works.
$his is further proven by the fact that many elite lifters will attempt to market a program based around their own poorly formed style of training. $his is almost always met with with less than favorable results when used by lifters less gifted than they are 8everyone else9.
o, you*re not.
Aith the initial release of the 5thSet methodology, many lifters who didn*t know much about me were e%posed to my methods for the first time. Some were skeptical, which is usually a good thing, but a few allowed that skepticism to devolve into panic and a very shortsighted outlook on their progress in lifting. Ahen they tried the program for a mesocycle and didn*t see an immediate increase in training performance, they uit. I will use the e%ample of a youngster on an Internet forum who claimed he got weaker from running the program for a mesocycle, because it DdetrainedD him.
$his sort of thinking demonstrates a fundamental lack of understanding of the growth and decay of capacities, like strength for e%ample, and what it would take for a lifter to actually become weaker while still training regularly.
( randomiBed controlled trial, which I believe is valid in this conte%t 8J ickel et al., 12339, 1233 9, demonstrated younger lifters could maintain their current level of strength for an e%tended period of time 871 weeksK9, with their training volume reduced to
of what it had been
prior 8some even continued to increase their strength9 and another group was able to maintain it at only
of the original training volume for the same length of time.
Aith that said, performance on 5thSets can go down throughout the loading phase 8the first three mesocycles9, because of a disruption to the lifter*s functional state caused by the clusters of concentrated training volume this method uses. $his phenomenon does not always manifest, but it is possible and not a bad thing. I*ll e%plain how.
(s fatigue accumulates, performance will sometimes sometimes go down in training because our ability
to e%press strength, or other capacities, can be inhibited. $hat*s an important part of the process which results in the rebound we e%perience from 5thSet*s powerlifting&specific loading and peaking macrocycle model.
$he concept behind this macrocycle model, as it stands now, came from erkhoshansky*s Long&term Celayed $raining 0ffect 8LC$09 archetype, with some ma-or modifications, such as asymmetrical phase&length and very different parameters, allowing for concentrated clusters 85thSet mesocycles9 of loading and a more sustained displacement of the lifter*s functional state than his original e%periment caused, without ever reaching the point of overtraining. 8Ahether or not the displacement I mentioned ever even becomes detectable for a given lifter is another matter, altogether.9 $his was necessary for my system to be practically applied to the powerlifting population, but I didn*t always do things e%actly this way.
eople often ask about the origins of the methodology, so I*ll give you a little back story from before the evolution and perfection of my macrocycle. $welve years ago when I originally laid out how a mesocycle would look for 5thSet, with five progressive microcycles, followed by a deload microcycle, I only had one mesocycle in mind operating under the assumption if it worked once we could simply repeat it.
I was in prison with very limited means for training. 6epeating the mesocycle a few times would prove, on the long term, one microcycle was not enough of a break to make up for the loading in the prior five. +eep in mind we were using the 5thSet protocol for all three lifts at that time. $hough, in many cases, we were not able to go much above =2F of 36; for suat or deadlift. $here was not enough weight outside to do so.
Ae ended up running it like that for about si% months straight, or roughly three full mesocycles. 0veryone began to show signs of overuse and performance was going down on 5thSets by the third mesocycle. $his, combined with the fact that it was beginning to snow
outside regularly 8we trained under a pavilion9, made it clear we needed a break from either the volume of work or the intensity. $he cold was a magnifying glass which made every ache that much more crisp and devastating.
I made the decision to start ma%ing one lift every month until we*d tested all of them and to reduce the training volume on the weeks we didn*t ma% the idea being that this would keep us fresh and ready to perform. Ae could only get to the inside&gym, where there was enough weight to ma%, that often. So, for about three months, we would train all of the lifts for three weeks, doing five sets of three repetitions with around =2F of 36; and no (;6(. $hen, on the fourth week, we would ma% one lift and deload the rest. :nce we ma%ed, we repeated that cycle until all three lifts had been tested. 0ven the lifters who only started training with us a few months into 5thSet made tremendous strength gains.
$hose of us who*d been in it for the long haul seemed to get even better return on our investment, albeit, for reasons I did not fully understand at the time. Ae had done si% months of 5thset, followed by three months of reduced work. Aith this, the first incarnation of the 5thset macrocycle was born. y the end of the testing, everyone felt recovered and ready to do more work, which was reassuring. $hings went so well I ended up not changing anything structurally for awhile, and -ust repeated the entire process.
$his was all years before I had come up with the final structure of the macrocycle model and how it would function. Ae*ve progressed lightyears since then. I was -ust e%perimenting and passing time learning. Long story short, I*m well aware that the pattern of loading used in this system can have a temporary negative effect on a lifter*s ability to e%press strength. $hat*s part of how it works so well.
So, 5thSet is a model, or rather a solution, which allows for the concurrent loading of various capacities, in effect on the long term, increasing a powerlifter*s specific work capacity
8ma%imal strength9 on the platform, where it matters.
eural factors may cause e%pressible strength parameters to suffer when fatigue is high for the powerlifter 8MGabriel, et. al., 12239. $his is the DdisruptionD I was referring to earlier. :ther factors like hypertrophic adaptations 8muscle growth9, mitochondrial respiration 8($ production, etc.9 could continue to improve during that time, due to the nature of the more staggered clusters of concentrated loading, separated by short deloads.
$he regular deload microcycles help with fatigue management and mitigate other risk factors for in-ury, but they are not sufficient to manifest the LC$0. 8I*ll e%plain what that is in the ne%t chapter.9 $he net result is sometimes a slight reduction in performance 8less reps9 with the same weight on the 5thSet in a subseuent mesocycle, and sometimes an improvement in performance 8more reps9. evertheless, either case will translate into gains in e%pressible strength after fatigue is reduced during the final phase of the macrocycle, the peaking mesocycle. $his is beyond proven by now. Ahen I say beyond proven, I mean I have replicated the results I am describing, with a very small margin of deviation, in hundreds of lifters over thousands of performances. lease don*t try to convince yourself that you are e%ceptional, somehow.
Ahile rep 6s give you something to shoot for, and I want you to kill yourself trying 8as long as techniue does not degrade within the set9, I don*t care if you actually get them and it*s not a sign you*re doing better or worse either way. It*s simply a means to keep you spending everything you have in the tank and training intensely in a safe and effective range of volume at a given percentage. ever use what I*ve stated above as an e%cuse to not give your all on a 5thSet. I will know and I will be very disappointed.
+eep in mind calorie deficit increases the rate of fatigue accumulation. So that can be an aggravating factor, here, as well.
In short, spend everything you have on the 5thSets, without sacrificing techniue, and die bravely. Go into it with the goal of beating previous rep records at that weight, but don*t beat yourself up if it ends up not being a 6. >ave faith in process. $here are a lot of factors at play and performance on 5thSets is not always the best indicator of how you are doing.
ickel 'S, et al. ;ed Sci Sports 0%erc. 1233.
ickel 'S3, 'ross <;, amman ;;. 3
Cepartment of hysical $herapy, niversity of (labama at irmingham, irmingham, (L 751HN&2225, S(.
;ed Sci Sports 0%erc. 1233
August 2001 - Volume 33 - Issue 8 - pp 1354-1360
(LI0C S'I0'0S! S'I0'0S! iodynamics iodynamics iomechanics Laboratory, rock niversity, St. 'atharines, :ntario, '((C( L1S 7(3 and Cepartments of hysical ;edicine and 6ehabilitation and :rthopedics, ;ayo 'linic and ;ayo "oundation, 6ochester, ; 55H23
$he following te%t is not as much an evolution, or something new, as it is further revelation about the way I operate within the structure of the methodology when working with more advanced lifters. $he key takeaway from that last sentence is Dadvanced lifters.D I*ve hinted at this concept and given general recommendations in this direction, but now& after many reuests,
Aithout further ado, allow me to
e%plain and hopefully provide an interesting history lesson in the process.
In the 5thSet ;ethodology book, I provided the reader with framework and guidelines for assistance work when building a custom 5thSet for owerlifting program, as well as a good number of templates for specific applications, but didn*t delve too far into the way I prefer to seuence these protocols on a timeline, or why. $he main reason for avoiding the topic was part of a concerted effort to make a rather comple% system easy to use for the average lifter.
;ission accomplished, there, I*d say.
ow that I have everyone*s attention, I will reveal a layer of comple%ity in regard to the way I use the system for lifters whom already posses a very high level of training. $his same concept could easily be applied to less advanced competitors. I have e%perimented with doing so, but I don*t think it is absolutely necessary, nor do I believe it will provide a tremendous advantage to that population beyond the more basic way of running assistance work in the system. ovice lifters will progress very well, usually for years, some even to an elite level, -ust making minor changes to assistance work every other mesocycle or as needed.
It should be no secret at this point that my work is influenced by some of the early discoveries of rofessor )uri erkhoshansky. In fact, I e%perimented with the concept of supercompensation due to the Long&term Celayed $raining 0ffect 8LC$09 when developing
the 5thSet macrocycle model.
"or most of you to understand what e%actly LC$0 is, I will need to provide a little backstory. Ahen he first discovered it, sometime around 3HO2, rofessor erkhoshansky stumbled on the LC$0 by accident. "ortuitous circumstance would have one of his athletes become pregnant and need to discontinue training during an e%periment which involved a concentrated barbell strength training loading phase.
erkhoshansky was already dismayed prior to this point, because things were not going as he had e%pected with the e%periment at all. Levels of ma%imal and e%plosive strength were beginning to fall in all of the athletes involved. evertheless, he was determined to see things through, hoping to find an error in the testing procedure. )ou see, he was using a new piece of euipment called a niversal Cynamometric Stand, which would allow him to measure the strength parameters in the athletes.
So, as I mentioned before, one of his track and field -umpers became pregnant. She had to drop out of the e%periment and stop training. $he professor asked that she allow herself to continue to be evaluated, as a matter of due diligence on his part, and agreed that she should discontinue with the training.
"ate smiled at that idea.
Ahat happened ne%t changed the tra-ectory of erkhoshansky*s professional life a great deal. (fter her break from training, the pregnant athlete*s strength parameters began to to increase, une%pectedly and dramatically. pon confirming these unprecedented results, he ruled out pregnancy as the cause of the phenomenon by repeating the process with other athletes.
Long story, short! L.. ;atveev*s periodiBation concept, which was to that point the accepted
belief R that that a training process must assure a constant increase in an athlete*s physical preparedness in order to be considered effective R was about to go out the window. 8It 8It took awhile, but this was the beginning of the end of an era.9
erkhoshansky happened upon a way to reduce the total volume load of barbell e%ercises uniformly distributed in the previous year*s entire preparatory cycle, by concentrating them into a single, much shorter, phase which would bring about a temporary decrease in performance followed by a supercompensation effect in a subseuent phase, the likes of which had never been seen. It dramatically increased strength parameters in the athletes, far beyond what they*d ever been.
$his, along with some of his other discoveries helped to eventually solve the parado% created by the accepted paradigm at the time& that in order for an athlete to perform better, they needed to train more. 'learly an athlete*s ability to continue adding training volume is limited by their individual levels of recoverability and adaptability, and prior to this point, training volume loads of elite athletes had reached a level of absurdity. $here was nowhere left to go, until erkhoshansky found a better path. $hat*s why you should all know his name.
:ne of those other discoveries Ror rather DdevelopmentsDR was the 'on-ugate Seuence System. 8$his is not to be confused with Louie Simmons* 'on-ugate ;ethod, which is not really similar in any way other than name that I am aware of.9
erkhoshansky*s 'on-ugate Seuence System concept revolves around seuential integration of training means into a system over an e%tended period. asically the idea is to start with a training means that has a lower training potential and eventually, through the process of a seuence, replace it with training means which possess gradually higher training potentials.
•
•
is defined as any e%ercise performed according to a given system or protocol. is defined as the limit of efficacy for a given training means or system.
So, why not -ust start with the training means with the highest training potential and save some time/ >e figured that out the hard way, early on, when he introduced depth -umps to some of his athletes who were accustomed to heavy barbell work. $o them, the depth -umps didn*t seem like a big deal, so they did a whole bunch. $he ne%t day they couldn*t walk or perform any e%ercise at all.
Cepth -umps had a very high training potential, but they were likewise very high in impact. Cevastating, in fact. Like I always say& every effective thing has a cost eual to its efficacy. $hose athletes were not yet prepared to pay that cost.
0ventually the professor concluded that if training means with a lower training potential were used first and and then a gradual transition to training means with higher potentials was made, the athletes would be better prepared and the the training effect could be better e%pressed. "urther e%periments, with guidelines and limits to the volume of these means, confirmed his suspicions and this lead to the birth of the 'on-ugate Seuence System.
It*s important to understand that when training means are used for an e%tended period of time 8I*m not talking about three weeks or likely even three months, for a powerlifter9 the training potential of those means decreases. >owever, the potential of each training means will increase before it decreases. So then, if we change training means too freuently, we will never get the most effect we could from them. ut if we allow the potential of a training means to decrease, this can also present a problem. y rotating training means
,
motor function can continue to improve. $hat*s the bottom line. >owever, when a lifter reaches a certain level of development, there has to be some logic to the seuencing in order for further progress to be made.
In other words, you can go a long way -ust changing out training means when they stop working. $his is evidenced by the fact that lifters have been shown to make progress using methods that seem to rely entirely on arbitrariness 8even for the selection the main work9, as long as the total volume of training load is in an appropriate range. ut again, eventually there has to be some logic behind the way the means are seuenced or they will stop working. $hat is where my assistance work theorem comes into play.
$he optimal way for an advanced lifter to set up their assistance work can be planned out for an entire macrocycle, with respect for a sort of seuencing which allows positive, lasting effects from training means used for assistance work in each precedent mesocycle to enhance the effect of training means used for assistance work in subseuent mesocycles.
0%ercises with good to e%cellent dynamic correspondence R in R in the 5thSet ;ethodology these are referred to as ;echanically Similar ;ovements 8;S;9 R are the only type of assistance work which is sub-ect to this type of seuencing. $he remainder of all assistance movements or protocols can be rotated in the conventional manner, as needed.
0verything I outlined in the first book holds true.
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(ssistance work should should be performed performed in order from highest magnitude magnitude of of demand to lowest, within a given session.
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(fter the competition competition lift is trained, trained, ;S;s have the highest priority and should always always be the the first assistance work performed.
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:nly ;S; training means should be seuentially replaced with more intense and specific means in the mesocycles approaching competition.
$he application of this system is far less comple% than the theory behind it, but before we go any further, I want to say if this part seems too complicated for you, don*t worry about it. $he list of ;S; suggestions for weak points I selected for the first book can be used and switched when necessary, and progress can usually continue to be made like that for a long time. :nly advanced lifters really
this seuencing.
(nyone can benefit from the ;S; Seuencing System, but what I*m saying is it isn*t isn*t absolutely necessary for consistent improvement in most cases. So if you want to keep things simple, feel free to stick to the basic way of running assistance work with the original ;S; list for weak points. $his system will still be here down the road when it becomes necessary.
I will provide a specific e%ample of how this concept can be applied using bench press ;S; training means. $his seuence will be featured in four of the template variants I*ve included in this book. ut I will give you the tools to make customs seuences to suit each lift and level of training maturity.
;39 1 oard ress for 1 sets of 35, starting with N5&55F of full 6:; 36;, 5 pounds per microcycle when target reps are reached on both sets.
;19 3 oard ress for 1 sets of 35 reps, starting with N5&52F of full 6:; 36;, 5 pounds per microcycle when target reps are reached on both sets.
;79 3 oard ress for 1 sets of 5 reps, starting with =5&O2F of full 6:; 36;, 5 pounds per microcycle when target reps are reached on both sets.
;N9 TTench ress for 1 sets of 5 reps, starting with 42&41.5F 36; bar weight 12&15F 36; band tension, 5 pounds per microcycle when target reps are reached on both sets. and tension is removed during the O2F microcycle of peaking mesocycle.
TT$he lifter must strip the bar and do at least one DprimingD set with -ust the bands, plus a minimum of two additional progressive sets. $his may allow for potentiation, which can help prevent in-ury and improve performance.
;39 Start with a partial range of motion movement which is mechanically similar to the main lift and train it with the hypertrophy protocol. $his provides a training means that will allow the lifter to stimulate hypertrophic adaptations which will have good transfer to that main lift.
;19 $hen, in the ne%t mesocycle, alter that movement to include more range of motion, but maintain the hypertrophy protocol. $his will improve dynamic correspondence and provide a training means with increased training potential.
;79 (t this point the specificity becomes more important. Ae have to consider specificity in terms of neuromuscular, psychological and mechanical adaptations. (ll three are addressed to some degree by switching to the strength protocol. $his will increase the percentage of 36; used and reduce the number of repetitions per set, which further improves dynamic correspondence and provides a training means with even greater training potential.
;N9 "inally, as we begin the peaking mesocycle, we move for a short time into using the
some of the most intense assistance training means with the highest training potential. "or and advanced lifter that may look something like flattening the strength curve by using accommodating resistance in the form of band tension.
$he adaptations from the assistance training means used in ;esocycle 3 enhance the effect of the training means used in ;esocycle 1.
;3 and ;1 enhance ;7.
;3, ;1 and ;7, seuenced in this manner, enhance the effect of the means used in ;N and optimiBe the cumulative training effect, allowing for the best possible performance on the platform.
I have made this system as simple to use as possible. 0ven if you don*t understand any of the stuff I -ust e%plained, you can still use the 5thSet ;S; Seuence System effectively. >ere is how.
otice the lists for each lift for early mesocycles are training means which emphasiBe improving capacities 8hypertrophy for e%ample9 that will enhance the effect of the training means used in the final mesocycles leading to competition. (lso, the lifter has a wider variety of options in the mesocycles further out from the meet. $his is not a complete list by any means, but it provides a working model which allows anyone to use the system.
Cue to the fact both the hypertrophy and strength protocols are prescribed throughout the course of ;S; seuencing, I will provide some review from the first book here and define
them for convenience.
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T1&5 sets of O&35 repetitions, or a total of 72&52 ;S; repetitions per session.
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$he set and rep scheme selected for a training means should be maintained for a full mesocycle at least.
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(n 60 of 4 should be used for the first microcycle microcycle and from there the weight should be gradually increased throughout the course of the mesocycle.
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T1&5 sets of 7&5 repetitions, or a total of H&12 ;S; repetitions per session.
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$he set and rep scheme selected for a training means should be maintained for a full mesocycle at least.
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=2F of full 6:; 36; or of the individual ;S; 36; should be used for the first microcycle and from there the weight should be gradually increased throughout the course of the mesocycle.
TStart with the figures on the low end of the recommended range for total reps per session until the lifter*s recoverability and adaptability are established.
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arrow Stance >igh ar o% Suat 81D (bove Legal Cepth9
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SS o% Suat 81D (bove Legal Cepth9
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Aide Stance Low ar o% Suat 81D (bove Legal Cepth9
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N5 Cegree Leg ress
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>ack Suat ;achine 8or similar apparatus9
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"ront Suat
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SS Suat
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elt Suat or Aide Stance Low ar Suat
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'ompetition Stance o% Suat to Cepth
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"ront Suat
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SS Suat
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T'ompetition Suat! 42&41.5F 36; bar weight 12&15F 36; 1 sets of 7&5 reps. o band tension from O2F microcycle to the meet.
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1 oard ress
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"loor ress
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lack Shoulder Saver ad from 0litefts
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Incline 1 oard ress
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Incline ;achine ress
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3 oard ress
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6ed Shoulder Saver ad from 0litefts
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'lose Grip 1 oard ress
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'lose Grip lack Shoulder Saver ad
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3D auses resses 85 Second ause9
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3 oard ress
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6ed Shoulder Saver ad from 0litefts
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T'ompetition ench ress! 42&41.5F 36; bar weight 12&15F 36; 1 sets of 7&5 reps. o band tension from O2F microcycle to the meet.
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6ack ulls 8(bove the +nee9
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lock ulls 8"rom N.5D9
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Cimel Ceadlift
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6ack ulls 8elow the +nee9
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lock ulls 8"rom 7D9
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Stiff Legged Ceadlifts
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6ack ulls 8elow the +nee9
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lock ulls 8"rom 7D9
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T'ompetition Ceadlift 42&41.5F 36; bar weight 12&15F 36; 5 singles. o band tension from O2F microcycle to the meet.
T$he lifter must strip the bar and do at least one DprimingD set with -ust the bands, plus a minimum of two additional progressive sets. $his may allow for potentiation, which can help prevent in-ury and improve performance.
"Progress in strength is not usually a linear thing and there are myriad reasons for that. This is a tough lesson for a lot of people to learn. I know it was for me. I wanted to train hard for a few weeks and then max on all the lifts and I wanted to lift more every time I maxed.
Unfortunately, in reality, thats not the way things work. It is very difficult for an experienced lifter to improve substantially on all three lifts during the same training cycle. It took me a long time to realie, however, that it is possible.
I always knew, almost instinctively, that doing a lot of high percentage work for both s!uat and deadlift, during the same training cycle, was ust not the best idea....
...The two movements are too similar, mechanically, and lifters run into overlap#overuse with too much high percentage volume for both. $ore times than not, especially with less than masterful lifters, pushing both movements in this manner will end in an overuse inury."
%&eyond the &eginning, 'th(et for Powerlifting
$he problem presented above was easily solved with the original $echniuePSpeed and 5thSet rotocols, used in accordance with the rules presented in the first 5thSet book. ot only did the methodology provide a solution to the parado% of overuse, but for the overwhelming ma-ority of lifters who committed to using it for an e%tended period, it allowed for consistent improvement in all three lifts. $he few lifters I know of who sustained training related in-uries using 5thSet 8myself included9, have admitted to going off the program immediately before or when the actual in-ury occurred. In other words, they did something
foolish which resulted in in-ury.
;eets are a different story and we go into competition knowing the risks. I have been uoted as saying that the goal of every powerlifter is to eventually get under weights that could kill them. ut to take that further, the ultimate goal is to not let them. I have included an e%tensive chapter in this book on the various risk factors for in-ury and how to mitigate them, and I believe doing so will further reduce the likelihood of in-ury in training and competition.
$he efficacy and safety of the :.G. protocols notwithstanding, I am probably not the only person who has spun the thought DAhat if we split the difference and tried =5F for both suat and deadlift/D sually I keep an ain*t broke, don*t fi% it policy policy when it comes to programming, but I didn*t come as far as I have by settling for a modest number of weapons in my arsenal.
Aorking with the wide variety of elite lifters I do demands attention to minute details, as well as solutions to uniue problems. (nd thus, e%perimenting with the new 5thSet protocols began. I started e%perimenting about three years ago. efore the release of the first book, in fact.
(t this point, I think think it*s safe to say we have their uses perfected to some degree, and they they are much more broad than I*d initially imagined. ;ore importantly, perhaps, I*ve developed solid set of rules to protect the users from themselves, making the these new protocols a welcome and permanent addition to the methodology.
>owever, before we discuss some of the reasons
to use these new protocols, it might be a good idea to cover
a lifter would want to use them. 'ontrary to popular belief, random
selection and arbitrariness have no legitimate role in strength training program design. If you like randomness, I*ve put together and thoroughly tested some awesome templates which are so fool&proof, even if you did randomly pick one you*d still do well. $hose are in the back of
the book.
:n the other hand, if you choose to design your own program and be your own coach! when someone asks you
you chose to use a certain training means or protocol or e%ercise, you
had better be able to present a thoughtful train of logic which carried you to that decision. :therwise, you have a fool for a client, and your client has a fool for a coach.
)es. I*m saying that would make you, twice, a fucking fool. So, if you choose to build your own program, avoid this outcome by using the cheat sheets provided in the ne%t section when deciding to select a protocol. (s always, never make structural changes to a program in the middle of a mesocycle.
"irst let*s discuss the new =5F 5thSet rotocol.
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$he lifter needs more Dmovement&specificD hypertrophy. 8;ovement&specific hypertrophy is defined as hypertrophy stimulated in the muscles involved in any movement, using that movement or something very similar.9
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$he lifter needs more Dstrength&specificD volume. 8Strength&specific volume is defined as the total volume of work performed in 3&5 rep range.9
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$he lifter is refining technical improvements.
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$he lifter has been identified as having low recoverability. UIn this case the protocol may only be used for bench press, plus either suat or deadlift, in place of the O2F 5thSet rotocol. $he remaining lift must be relegated to the =2F $echniuePSpeed rotocol.V
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$he lifter needs a variable in stimulus 8training means9.
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(ny combination of the needs listed above.
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(ny other logical motive within reason.
Ae don*t need to get too far into what does or doesn*t ualify as a Dneed.D Ae can use our own best -udgement, there. ( logical motive is enough. If we use even very base logic to select protocols and e%ercises, the program will work well, almost all of the time.
ack to the uote in the beginning of this book! reflection, imitation, e%perience. (ll of these are eually important steps to learning and improving as a lifter or a coach.
Imitate, gain e%perience, reflect.
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$his protocol is intended for the main lifts only! suat, bench press and deadlift.
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=5F of the lifter*s training ma% will be used for the first microcycle.
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N sets of 7 repetitions will be performed, followed by a 5thSet of (;6( 8(s ;any 6eps (s ossible9.
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5 pounds will be added to the bar, per cycle, for the first 5 microcycles, or until the lifter is unable to perform more than 7 reps on the 5thSet and ?fails&out@, which ever comes first. (t first. (t this point a deload microcycle is performed and we start a new training cycle 8mesocycle9. 8$his may be a sign the lifter*s training ma% is set too high.9
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(ll working sets should be filmed, reviewed and corrected each microcycle. $his is is especially true for novice lifters, but even the most e%perienced lifters should be doing it.
$he rules for integrating this protocol into a custom template for an athlete with normal or better recoverability are identical to those for the original $echniuePSpeed rotocol. $hat is
to say you can use it for any of the three lifts, or even all three. $he same rules still apply to the original protocols when using them in con-unction with the new.
If you found yourself to be of lower recoverability, and so had to use low recoverability templates from the first book, do not use this protocol for more than one lift between suat and deadlift. I mentioned that above, but it bears repeating.
can be useful as a replacement for the O2F 5thSet rotocol on either suat or deadlift, plus bench press 8the other lift remaining on techniuePspeed9 for () of the old template variants. In other words, pick any normal template from the first first book, replace the O2F protocols with this protocol, and it will work for a lower recoverability lifter.
;oving on, let*s go over the new =5F $echniue rotocol.
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$he lifter has not been identified as having low recoverability. In that case the original =2F $echniuePSpeed rotocol should be used, instead.
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$he lifter needs to put special focus on technical correction.
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$he lifter needs to allocate more recoverability or adaptability to other lifts for the time being.
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$he lifter needs a variable in stimulus 8training means9.
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(ny combination of the needs listed above.
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(ny logical motive within reason.
;ost of the time, I use this protocol for lifters who would normally be 5thSetting both suat and deadlift with the =5F 5thSet rotocol, but may need to allocate more recoverability or adaptability to one of them for a bit. $he other lift is then relegated to this protocol, while the first keeps the (;6(s.
It has also proven very useful in reinforcing technical corrections made in previous cycles which have begun to backslide.
$his protocol is intended for the main lifts only! suat, bench press and deadlift.
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=5F of the lifter*s training ma% will be used for all sets.
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5 sets of 7 repetitions will be performed.
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5 pounds will be added to the bar, per cycle, for the first 5 microcycles. $he 4th microcycle is a deload.
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(ll working sets should be filmed, reviewed and corrected each microcycle. Ae can*t get the most out of this protocol without video review.
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If the lifter is unable to complete the work prescribed on this protocol they Dfail&out,D the same as they would on a 5thSet and they have to deload. 8$his may be a sign the lifter*s training ma% is set too high.9
$his protocol is only contraindicated 8off limits9 for lifters with low recover ability. (gain, for those lifters, the original =2F $echniuePSpeed rotocol would do a better -ob of serving the same purpose.
;ost lifters I should say lifters who are still growing, who are still in the process of developing the necessary amount of muscularity to reach their own potential for strength, should stick with the very high rep protocol for their second pressing day, at least most of the time.
;ost all of these options can be repeated for multiple mesocycles, before progress will stall.
$his movement is the godfather of very high rep protocol e%ercises. I firmly believe that no other form of assistance work will yield more increase in muscle where you need it to eventually build your biggest possible bench press. >owever, like most effective things, using this movement to develop those gains will come at a cost. Aide grip presses can be brutal. "or this reason I highly recommend cycling back and forth between these and a dumbbell movement, such as neutral grip incline dumbbell presses, switching only when progress stalls. Ahen I refer to progress stalling, I mean when you fail to make progress in either weight or reps for a number of microcycles.
Grip should be two fingers wider than competition grip. So if your comp grip is Xpinkies on the rings,@ your wide grip would be Xmiddle fingers on the rings,@ and so on. $arget reps should remain at 15 for this movement. ( good rule of thumb is to start a training cycle working Y52F of 36;. $he idea is to be able to get 15 reps on both sets the first time through, at least, and add 5 pounds per cycle in the successive microcycles, whenever target reps are reached for both sets.
Sets of 35 reps seem to work best for warm ups, working up to the weight the lifter will use for the day.
$he second best e%ercise option with the very high rep protocol for lifters across the board will be neutral grip incline dumbbell, in my opinion. Like I mentioned above, leapfrogging between these and the wide grip barbell presses when they stall, can walk a lifter all the way from beginner to greatness, without ever even choosing another movement. I have watched it with my own eyes on more than one occasion.
72&75 reps 8pick a number and stick to it9 should be the target rep range for this movement. (gain, the idea is to select a starting starting weight which allows the lifter lifter to reach the target reps for both sets on the first microcycle, at least, and add 5 pounds per cycle in the successive microcycles, whenever target reps are reached for both sets.
I recommend at least 1&7 sets of 72&75 reps with light to medium weight, as a warm&up for these.
$hese are a good choice for lifters with a relatively wide grip competition bench press. "or those of you with healthy shoulders, who can stand to press heavy weights with your hands out wide, simply bringing the grip in to about a half of a thumb*s distance from the DsmoothD can provide an e%cellent stimulus variable for >6 protocol training, much the same a wide grip is a good choice for more moderate to narrow gripped benchers.
$arget reps should be kept in the 12&15 rep range 8pick a number9 for this movement, on this protocol. 'ycles for these start around 52F 36;, or a weight that allows the lifter to reach target reps on both sets for at least the first microcycle through. (gain, add 5 pounds per cycle in the successive microcycles, whenever target reps are reached for both sets.
$his e%ercise can be an option for a change in stimulus for -ust about any lifter. (s long as these are not causing shoulder or pec pain they can be used to safely and effectively develop the muscles needed for a huge bench press.
(s an alternative, a 3 or 1 board, or foam block could be be used in place of the shoulder saver pad, but those options can be a little unwieldy with the number of reps reuired for this protocol.
$arget reps should be kept in the 12&15 rep range 8pick a number9 for this movement, on this protocol. 'ycles for these should start with a weight that allows the lifter to reach target reps on both sets for at least the first microcycle through. (gain, add 5 pounds per cycle in the successive microcycles, whenever target reps are reached for both sets.
( speed work cycle for pressing can be a good choice, as a means for technical improvement, for any lifter who is at the upper limit of the weight class they want to compete in. "or lifters who could stand to add some muscle and have a 36; which is limited for
obvious reasons of physicality, a very high rep 1nd ressing Cay is a much better option.
"or all speed work cycle options three repetitions will be performed per set.
Gote! Speed work should never include paused reps.
"or women and weaker men who have a raw ma% of less than 722 pounds this is the only option for a speed work cycle. $hat is not to say it isn*t a good choice for much stronger lifters, as well.
>ere is how it works!
ar weight will be set at 55F of 36; throughout the mesocycle.
;icrocycle 3&4!
ar weight only will be used for every cycle and the figures will not be ad-usted throughout. 5 sets of 7 repetitions will be performed.
$his is by far the simplest speed work option. (s you can see not much changes e%cept, hopefully, bar speed. I have seen Dnight and dayD improvements in bar speed, across the board, using this protocol with many lifters, including Sin Leung who has used it to help add thirty pounds to her bench so far, with what looks like much more to come at her ne%t big meet in :ctober.
$his cycle is a good choice for lifters who have a raw ma% between 722 and N22 pounds.
ar weight will be set at N5F of 36; and band tension will be set in the area of 35F of 36;. $hese figures will not be ad-usted throughout. 5 sets of 7 repetitions will be performed.
$his is another very simple, but effective speed work option. (gain, the emphasis is put on improving bar speed, both on the descent and reversal to lockout.
(nother option for the 1nd ressing Cay is the Speed Aork with ndulating ndulating and $ension cycle. $his should be reserved for very strong bench pressers. ( N52 pound raw ma% is a good rule of thumb for how tall you need to be to ride this ride.
$hese are an e%cellent ad-unct for very strong, well developed raw bench pressers who struggle with a slow descent speed. $his protocol will teach the lifter to bring the bar down progressively more uickly, which will absolutely increase the amount of poundage he will be able to press. $his cycle helped me to press a bodyweight 6 in my most recent meet.
>ere is how it works !
ar weight should be set at N5F of 36; throughout the mesocycle.
;icrocycle #3!
;icro ;ini ands will be used for this cycle. O sets of 7 repetitions will be performed.
;icrocycle #1!
;ini ands will be used for this cycle. = sets of 7 repetitions will be performed.
;icrocycle #7!
;onster ;ini ands will be used for this cycle. 4 sets of 7 repetitions will be performed.
;icrocycle #N!
;icro ;ini ands will be used for this cycle. O sets of 7 repetitions will be performed.
;icrocycle #5!
;ini ands will be used for this cycle. = sets of 7 repetitions will be performed
;icrocycle #48Ceload9!
ar weight stays the same, but no band tension will be used for this microcycle. 5 sets of 7 repetitions will be performed.
$his cycle is a good choice for any lifter moving toward a peaking cycle for a meet, who meets the strength criteria I mentioned before, even if descent speed is not an issue for them.
I really shouldn*t have to point this part out, but the ob-ective of speed work is to maintain technical proficiency while moving the bar very uickly. If it looks like you are not able to do
that with the prescribed poundage and tensions, ad-ust them down until you can make the bar fly off your chest, while at the same time holding techniue together.
In the first book I covered the basics of how to perform the peaking cycle we had been testing and using for many years to that point. $he release and widespread success of 5thSet for owerlifting provided me with a Dholy shitD amount of new numbers to look at. (s is usually the case with data, collecting and analyBing more of it has led to some clearer pictures emerging.
$hese updates e%cluded, everything I said in the first book regarding the peaking cycle still holds true. $his is not the payoff for our work, it*s a death march. I can*t say that enough. $hese numbers are almost always significantly lower than what we will hit the meet. $his is because we are carrying fatigue from the precedent mesocycles of training. y moving into more competition&specific training and reducing our total volume load, throughout this cycle, we will drop the fatigue we are carrying and be prepared to accurately demonstrate our strength for the first time& on the platform, where it matters.
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(ttempt selections for the 322F microcycle should be no larger larger than =F of current training ma%, under any circumstance. Ae multiply current training ma% by .2= to establish that figure. Smaller -umps are fine and probably the best idea as we get closer to the top, but we never take greater than =F -umps with over O2F of the training ma%. ( good idea might be to take O=F, HNF and then attempt to 6 by the smallest possible increment with very small -umps after that.
•
Curing the 322F microcycle, the smallest possible increment of weight should be used to make the first training 6. "or e%ample, if the current training ma% is 522 pounds, the first 6 we would shoot for in this cycle is 525 pounds. $his is not optional. Ae can take more attempts, but this must be done first.
•
;eet 6s are not training 6s and vice versa. $here are many factors which can enhance performance in a meet compared to training. It*s best to look at these 6s as separate values.
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$he idea is to hit a minimum of H2F of the new ma% for at least 3 single. If the first single at H2F moves well, we can either take another with the same weight or add a small amount of weight 8Y5F9 and single that. Ae don*t want to risk missing a lift. $hat should be at the front of our minds when making this decision. $he reuirement is 3 lift at H2F, that*s all.
•
If something went wrong during our 322F microcycle, like we were sick or had a very DoffD day, preventing us from performing normally, we can take another shot at it here. In this case, after we take our H2F, we would take H=F. If that moves well, we can take as much as 32NF. $his figure would then be used as our 322F for the remainder of the cycle and for attempt selection in the meet. (gain, we don*t want to risk missing a lift and we should use this back up option sparingly.
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'ontinued testing suggests that performing 7 separate sets of 3 repetition, with full commands, may work better than the originally prescribed 3 set of 7 repetitions.
•
It may benefit lifters using the ery >igh 6ep rotocol 8>69 for the main lift on their Second ressing Cay to replace that with the appropriate speed work for that lifter, during the O2F cycle. Ae can find the appropriate speed work, based on strength range, in the Second ressing Cay chapter of this book.
•
It is very common for lifters to feel achey and generally beat up throughout this microcycle, even though the total work is dramatically reduced. $hat is par for the course, here. ot everyone will feel the same, but most people who run 5thSet start to understand why we refer to the peaking cycle as the Ddeath marchD around this point.
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$he best numbers a lifter gets in their peaking cycle will become training ma%es for the subseuent mesocycle, after their meet.
:
( small amount of lifters, lifters, it looks like about 32&12F, will have have a hard time transitioning from the percentages used throughout the course of a typical 5thSet mesocycle to the weights they will be e%pected to handle in their peaking cycle. $hat is, in order to perform optimally in a meet.
$his does not come as a surprise to many, considering the lifter will hopefully be handling weight he or she has never handled before or even come close to in the course of normal 5thSet training. In fact, it*s probably the biggest concern lifters new to 5thSet e%press, early on. $hose concerns notwithstanding, you can rest assured the vast ma-ority of people are not going to have a problem with the transition. ut some will, and there is an easy solution to that problem we*ve been testing for a few years now! the e%tended peaking cycle.
lease don*t skip over what I said above! O2&H2F of lifters do not need the e%tended peaking cycle. I would encourage you to try the standard peaking cycle before deciding you need the e%tended variant.
•
(ny lifter who has shown a difficulty in in the past with transitioning into the percentages used for peaking.
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$hese lifters are usually elite. 0ither the difference in poundage between training percentages and peaking percentage is dramatic, due to very high ma%es 8think!O52 pound suats or deadlifts9, or the difference between body weight and bar weight is
dramatic 8think! very strong, small lifters9.
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If the lifter fits into either of the categories listed above it may make sense to give them the benefit of the doubt and use the e%tended peaking cycle. :therwise, try the original peaking cycle first.
0ssentially, an e%tended peaking cycle consists of one additional microcycle, using H2&H5F of the lifters current training ma% for two singles. ( good way to handle this is to take a single at H2F and then, if it moves well, take H5F for a single. evertheless, two singles at H2F or better is the reuirement. erforming both singles at H2F is fine, but the lifter should probably not e%ceed H5F of the current training ma% on the second attempt and he or she should always start with H2F for the first. $his will be the first microcycle performed, making this e%tended peaking mesocycle NN days long, rather than the typical 72&75 we use for peaking. +eep in mind if the lifter is using a reduced training ma%, due to in-ury or another issue, percentages of that lower figure will not work correctly and must be ad-usted.
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;icrocycle 3& Lifter will take H2&H5F of current training ma% for two singles. "ull assistance work, =5F for ;S;*s for 7&5 reps
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;icrocycle 1& Lifter will find 322F ma% single for each lift. $his is the new training ma%. "ull assistance work, =5F for ;S;*s for 7&5 reps.
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;icrocycle 7& Lifter will take at least H2F of new training ma% for one to two singles, full
commands. "ull assistance work, =5F for ;S;*s for 7&5 reps.
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;icrocycle N& Lifter will take O2F of new ma% for three singles, full commands. Aeights used for assistance work will be reduced, but framework will remain the same 8sets, reps9.
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;icrocycle 5 84 Cays :ut9& Lifter will perform speed work with 55&42F of new ma%es! five doubles for suat, five triples for bench and five singles for deadlift. "or all lifts the focus should be on bar speed. (ll of this should be performed in one session with no assistance work, si% days out from the meet. o more lifting after this session. Light walking is recommended during this week.
If for any reason, the lifter*s current training ma% was lowered as a means of protection 8maybe after an in-ury9, that training ma% is not a good figure to figure to draw the H2F from for the first microcycle of an e%tended peaking cycle. In that case, special attention must be paid to all variables at play and the final decision of what weight to use should be made with all of those in mind.
!
In the original 5thSet book, we introduced the 5thSet attempt selection formula. $his was the first attempt selection formula of its kind, based off of numbers collected in a structured diagnostic peaking mesocycle. ;any such calculators have since popped up all over the internet, complete with feigned scientism from kids who*ve been lifting for three or four years
and no sign of how the formulas were developed.
Tcough, coughT
(s the person who, for over a decade, collected and interpreted the figures figures which were used to develop this system and formula, I*m willing to venture a guess that those calculators will probably change a bit now that I*ve made improvements and this second book has been released. Like I said before, more data leads to a clearer picture.
Aith a tsunami of meet results coming in each weekend from 5thSet lifters, I noticed a small but significant deviation in the success rate of third attempt bench presses emerging, when using the original formula. (fter a lot of testing, we have altered the original formula to correct for it. $he new formula effectively solves the problem and doesn*t interfere with the rest of the system. It*s hard to steal what I haven*t done yet, but now this cat is out of the bag, too.
(ll kidding aside, I didn*t do any of this stuff for recognition and I get plenty of that as it is. I*m -ust grateful to have so many people benefiting benefiting from my work. I*d rather everyone use the formula the way it was intended and not end up peaking a couple of weeks after their meets, fumbling to understand why renaming one of my puBBle puBBle pieces doesn*t make it to fit into their puBBle correctly. ut I digress.
$hings could have gone a very different direction for me. ( thought I keep toward the front of my mind, always. (nd anyway, when people see my stuff, they usually recogniBe where it came from. I cant tell you how many emails I get! XLook what this person stole from youK@ I must be doing something right.
$he new formula for bench press changes the third attempt, only. "irst and second attempts remain the same. $he original formula for suat and deadlift is still intact, with some thoughts
and warning about ma%imum third attempt selection, but I*ll get to that shortly.
$hird attempt bench press is now figured as 321F of the best peaking cycle lift, rather than 32NF. So in other words, where we would normally multiply our best peaking cycle lift by 3.2N, we now have to multiple it by 3.21 for our third attempt on bench press. (nd where before we had to round down the 32NF number, this new formula allows us to potentially round up the 321F, if the second attempt moved very uickly. Ae could even round up the second attempt, if we chose, without issue.
Ahether to round up or down on the third is a decision to be made by someone who has reviewed the second attempt on video, knows your lifting and has the e%perience to make the correct call. If you fit that profile, feel free to decide for yourself. If not, get some input from someone you trust. $hese things can be tough to be ob-ective about on the fly. (gain, there is no suitable replacement for an e%perienced coach.
Since I know e%amples can make things easier to absorb, let*s take a look at how this new formula would work in practice for someone who hits a 552 pound bench press in their peaking cycle. In this case we would multiply 552 % 2.H2 to calculate the opening attempt. 552 % 2.H2 Z NH5 so the lifter*s opener would be NH5 pounds. $o calculate the second attempt we would multiply 552 % 2.H=, which euals 577, rounded up, 575 pounds. othing has changed from the original formula until now. $o figure the third a ttempt, we will multiply 552 % 3.21, which gives us 543. ecause it*s so close, we would probably do best to round that figure down to 542 as this lifter*s third attempt for bench press.
In review, for this lifter*s bench attempts, we come up with!
3st attempt& 552 % 2.H2 Z NH5 pounds
1nd attempt& 552 % 2.H= Z 575 pounds 8rounded up from 5779
7rd attempt& 552 % 3.21 Z 542 pounds 8rounded down from 5439
I have to mentioned that I*ve changed the way I use the attempt selection formula, slightly for suat and deadlift, as well. $here was no deviation in success rate for either lift*s third attempts, not the way there was for bench press. $hat was not the issue here, but i have changed the way I select third attempts for these lifts. I never go over 32NF or the 3.2N coefficient for either, haven*t for a few years now.
ased on bar speed it*s usually possible to predict if a lifter is capable of 32N&325F on their third. redictability is not the only problem here. $he issue is two fold.
Ahen selecting 325F on a suat, we theoretically risk effecting performance on the bench press and deadlift for very little added return. Ae also increase the likelihood of in-ury. Aas that e%tra five pounds on suat worth missing the third bench press, if there was a twenty pound -ump from the last successful attempt for that lift/
o.
Ahen selecting 325F on the deadlift, we risk potentially in-uring a fatigued lifter for very little added return. Aas it worth missing the third attempt, costing the lifter thirty five pounds on their total and possibly an in-ury for a chance at five more pounds/
o.
( final point I want to touch on for attempt selection is number goals. I would strongly suggest all lifters make waste of preconceived notions they have about number goals for their meet. I am unable to calculate how many times I*ve seen a lifter throw away an awesome 6 total, and unnecessarily risk in-ury in the process, reaching for something which is currently beyond their grasp.
lease don*t think the appeal of round numbers is lost on me. ( 1222 pound raw total. ( 422 pound bench press. $hese are se%y numbers. I get it. I want you to hit all of the numbers you*ve dreamt about and worked toward. $he surest, uickest, safest path to doing that is following the formula. Ae have to function in reality here. )our wishes and goals should not be factors that influence the selection of your attempts.
$rusting the formula dramatically increases the likelihood of successfully completing the heaviest attempt possible for each lift, leaving you with the heaviest total you*re capable of. elieve me when I tell you that putting together the heaviest total you can is going to feel a lot better than missing unrealistic thirds which would have added up to some arbitrary figure you might have preferred.
Stay healthy and play intelligently with the hand you*ve been dealt. $here is time for more training, more meets and even bigger numbers down the road.
!
(fter calculating and rounding down your pro-ected attempts using the the formula, check to be certain the difference from attempt to attempt is no greater than =F of the peaking cycle ma%. )ou may have to round up the opener in order to reach 32NF on your third attempt, without taking a -ump much greater than =F.
:
$he meet&recovery protocol prescribed in the 5thSet methodology book has long since proven itself a game changer at this point. y getting right to it with the recovery microcycle, a smooth transition is possible and most capacities are preserved, our sanity included.
Something I did not touch on the first time through, which I probably should have, is how beneficial increasing the freuency of the bracingPactivation protocol can be during this phase. I recommend performing the bracing protocol in its entirety, three times per day, throughout the entire meet&recovery microcycle.
efore anyone gets all worked up, the title of this chapter is tongue in cheek. I am trying to bring some levity to an otherwise taut situation. 8CIC ): S00 A>($ I CIC $>060/9
$aut. (lright, smile. 0verything is going to be okay.
"irst, I love geared lifting and, though it has definitely had its ups and downs, and many of those downs could*ve been about si% inches lower, I*ve been a fan of multi&ply since its inception. ;any whom I*ve competed along side and held great respect for, over the years, lifted that way. (t one point in time it seemed like everyone did.
$hat time has passed, though. ;ulti&ply powerlifting died off, pretty dramatically, somewhere around the time Connie $hompson totaled 7222 pounds, maybe even a little before that. Im not sure why, but in my mind, that seems the turning point. ( few groups of soldiers are still hanging on, some performing very well, but only a handful of true competitors remain. If the second half of 123= matches the first, we will have less than N22 total multi&ply competitors for the year, combined, in all weight classes, including both male and female. ;aybe it will make a come back one day. I*m not sure what that would look like, but I*d be interested to see it.
Ae are left with single&ply and raw, which together make up appro%imately H=F of total active competitors in the sport of powerlifting as I write this. ut single&ply is gear, too, right/
It certainly is. >owever, single&ply only accounts for about 35F of all competitors at this point, down from about =2F at the peak of geared lifting*s popularity 8the other 72F were multi at that time9. If we are to accept reality, the vast ma-ority of the powerlifting world has gone raw.
;y first meet had around forty lifters and I was the only person who benched raw. $o give you some perspective, I was at a meet with my team recently which had over two hundred competitors spread over four sessions in two days and there was only one geared suatter.
$ake the title of this chapter for what it is! a -oke which is only funny because it*s kind of true. +nee wraps have effectively replaced the suat suits and bench shirts of yesteryear and transitioned into their current role as the main type of gear we rely on for carryover in the sport of powerlifting.
So then, being the fiercely competitive creatures we are, the uestion burning on our hearts and minds is! >ow can we ma%imiBe carryover from knee wraps/
(nd I, of course, have the answer.
In a mechanical system, the work done by the net force always shows up as kinetic energy. In the case of a suat, your loaded body in motion is the mechanical system. $he mechanical energy from the descent is briefly stored as elastic potential energy in the wraps and then converted to kinetic energy, which fires back as rebound from the knee wraps.
$he shortest version of my point without oversimplifying is!
( fast decent on the suat is necessary to ma%imiBe carryover from knee wraps.
$his is not up for debate. $here are a handful of really strong wrapped suatters who descend slowly, but they perform well in spite of that fact, not because of it.
(nd the important thing to understand is! even those lifters could get more from the wraps if they learned to descend uickly. ;ore mechanical energy 8via speed on the descent9 means
more rebound, assuming the lifter has the strength to stabiliBe and control the energy e%erted without crumbling or shooting forward during the reversal. nderstanding the point above, is understanding that, while it may take practice, the greatest modifiable factor which can influence our performance on game day is descent speed. It*s not some secret method of crisscrossing the wraps as they are applied or any other such trick.
I am persuaded the material , the length and and the tightness with with which they are applied& are the only important considerations regarding the wraps themselves.
It is possible to apply wraps too tightly, so that further deformation 8stretching9 of the material cannot occur. Ae should use caution to avoid that. It*s also conceivable that someone could not wrap tightly enough for the material to do its -ob, though this is far less common than most people think.
;ost of the time, the issue is speed. Ahen I hear someone say, DI need more weight to hit depth in these wraps,@ my first thought is they probably did not have enough speed on the descent. I routinely have lifters hit depth in training with 15F less weight than what they will hit in their meet with pretty much the same wrap -ob.
$hat is, first, how they learn proper techniue to suat in wraps and, second, how they will develop the Dspecial strengthD reuired to get the most out of the wraps. I am referring to the way knee wraps effect the strength curve of a suat. In order to build the specific skills and strength to accommodate this uniue strength curve, the lifter should do the ma-ority of their training in wraps.
So, there is skill to this. It*s not -ust about how uickly we move, but also how well we move uickly. I find it*s best to have the lifter start off training in wraps with a descent speed which allows them to maintain control and proper techniue. "rom there, the lifter should push the
speed as much as possible, each session, while making and effort to preserve that control and techniue. ideo review can be very helpful, in that regard. :nline training with an e%perienced coach reviewing your video can make all the difference. I*ve seen night and day transformations over time in the performance of my own online clients and I intend to train others to use my layered, systemiBed approach to online coaching so they can properly provide that service in the future.
sing either of the 5thSet protocols 8=5F or O2F9 will result in the greatest possible carryover from wraps in the long run. $his is because those protocols provide the lifter with enough practice in an appropriate percentage range to become proficient in the wraps, while at the same time stimulating specific strength and hypertrophic adaptations. "or these reasons, wrapped suatters should only ever use the 5thSet protocols for suat and never the original $echniuePSpeed protocol when training in wraps.
Ae should never allow the disparity in strength between a lifters raw and wrapped suat to become too great. $here is a fine line between ma%imiBing carryover and neglecting to continually develop the base of raw strength a wrapped suat is built on. I suggest most wrapped lifters take a full mesocycle out of wraps after each meet. $he gap between the two numbers will close uickly and allow the lifter to take the wrapped strength even further in subseuent cycles. I*ve had lifters leapfrog back and forth making continued progress in both for many years on end, without issue.
Co not skim through this chapter. 6ead every word and let it sink in. (long with a good activation warm up, proper bracing will not only have an immediate, positive effect on your performance, it will also help protect you from in-ury.
eginning each session with a protocol of activation warm ups, the way I recommend in the D>ow to Aarm pD chapter of the 5thSet methodology, can help DprimeD or prepare the muscles you will use to properly brace and perform the lifts. Some of the basic e%ercises I listed in my protocol, like catPcamels, bird&dogs, side bridges, planks and ab wheel roll outs are great. ut that was by no means a complete list of activation e%ercises which can be beneficial. I*m not sure a complete list would even be possible.
In my opinion, the importance of adeuate glute activation before loading the spine cannot be overstated. $he glutes are the main e%tensor muscle in the hip and play a huge role in stabiliBing the pelvis and torso effectively. ut there are more considerations than simply activating the glutes, here. (ll of the muscles of the torso should also ready to rock, firing in an efficient and coordinated manner.
(n activation warm up can be tailored to suit the individual needs of the lifter, lifter, but we are all more similar than we are uniue. So it*s a good idea for all of us to start with a base circuit of e%ercises and add or remove based on specific needs from there.
Ae should be critical about the amount of activation e%ercises we truly need to add.
e vigilant about what you select and the logic behind the decision, as well as how long you are spending on this stuff. $en minutes total should be more than adeuate time for an activationPbracing protocol. I*ve put together a very basic protocol which I recommend every lifter start with, in the beginning of each session. $he emphasis should be on performing these e%ercises perfectly, before adding repetitions or e%tending times. I like to do everything in this protocol for two rounds, but those rounds can be broken into groups of e%ercises where stretching is needed to assist with proper activation for the second group. I*ve used myself as an e%ample of how that can work.
erform this e%ercise with 35 second stretches in each direction. Co not force to the point of pain. "le%ibility will improve over time. 32 repetitions per round is sufficient.
I prefer a modified version of these. "rom Dhands and kneesD position on the floor, e%tend one arm and the contralateral leg, while keeping the others on the floor, the way you would normally for this e%ercise. :nce both are fully e%tended bring them back down and immediately e%tend them again without allowing them to touch the floor. Aorking up to 32 repetitions, followed by a 32 second static hold per side, per round is sufficient.
Aork up to 32 repetitions, followed by a 32 second static hold per side, per round, in the
same manner.
( 32 second static hold per round is sufficient for these. these. 8$hese can be replaced with the ab wheel for lifters strong enough to perform them correctly.9
Gote! $he aforementioned group of e%ercises is repeated twice, followed by some stretching, before moving on to the second group. I will cover the stretches I perform and why, specifically, in a bit. (fter that stretching is complete, I perform the second group of e%ercises for two rounds. Some individuals reuire different stretches or none at all. In the latter case, the second group of e%ercises would be performed for two rounds, immediately after both rounds are completed for the first group.
Aork up to 12 repetitions, followed by a 12 second static hold per side, per round.
;ost lifters can use an empty barbell for these. erforming 12 repetitions, with the emphasis on glutes, is sufficient for each round. $he idea here is to remain braced and keep the glutes active throughout the entire set.
Ahen I was young, a strength coach told me something about fle%ibility, which I didn*t fully appreciate until years later. >e said if an athlete was too fle%ible, they were more likely to get in-ured. (lso, if an athlete was not fle%ible enough, they were more likely to get in-ured. It sounds like a riddle, I know. So how fle%ible should an athlete be/
$he answer depends on the demands of the sport.
In powerlifting, the demands are fairly minimal, but the best of us still have trouble with even that. $he reason lies in the fact that being too fle%ible can cause instability. $his chases some of the strongest lifters away from the idea of stretching altogether. ut neglecting fle%ibility, consummately, can put us in danger of more potential issues than I can list, including imbalance and Rsurprise, surpriseR instability.
$his is not for everyone, but I am a good e%ample of how this is possible.
:ne issue which can result from a certain type of infle%ibility in lifters is (nterior elvic $ilt 8($9. $his condition changes the force loads at the SI -oint and is a common cause of pain in that region. It*s also know for causing e%cessive lumbar e%tension which can lead to spinal instability and in-uries when combined with heavy a%ial loading.
;ost lifters suffer from this already, to some degree, and performing certain stretches during our warm up in con-unction with the glute activation can be a good two pronged approach to preventing things from getting out of hand, especially for those of us who spend a good amount of time seated. 8I know I said not everyone, but basically everyone.9 "or me, this was a recurring issue. So, I began including these two stretches immediately after the first group
of e%ercises in my activationPbracing protocol, every time I train suat or deadlift. $his resolved the problem for me.
I do these for a 12 second hold for each leg, twice. I make sure to cue the glutes and brace before even initiating the stretch.
$hese are performed in the same manner, for a 12 second hold for each leg, twice. I cue the glutes and brace before initiating these, as well.
I believe throwing these stretches in before the Glute ridges and Cimel Ceadlifts has helped me get my glutes more involved in the main lifts and mitigated my (nterior elvic $ilt.
Logically, much the same as the activation e%ercises, you could add more, or do less, or use different stretches, based on individual needs. lease don*t go the way of the mobility guru. )ogis do not make the best powerlifters and hyper&mobility presents its own issues.
It is up to you to think critically and problem solve when it comes to the needs of the individual. If you are in-ured, see a medical professional. If you are coaching a lifter who is in-ured, refer them to a medical professional. Co what you can to prevent, but don*t play doctor.
I believe failing to prioritiBe activation and thereby coordination of the muscles involved in bracing will eventually result in dysfunction. Cysfunction in these muscles under a load will prevent you from bracing effectively and inevitably result in in-ury for a powerlifter.
It*s worth mentioning that without proper bracing, it is not possible to efficiently transfer or redistribute tension or mechanical energy throughout the body. )ou*re not going to suat, bench press or deadlift as much weight as you could, in that case.
In review, to lift as much as possible, as safely as possible! Start each session with the appropriate bracing and stretching 8when applicable9 and use proper bracing when performing the lifts.
ut, how do we actually brace/
$here are uite a few schools of thought when it comes to the best way to cue bracing. I*ve spent years playing with different cues, trying to find the easiest way to teach it effectively.
$he following is my current position on what that looks like!
3.9 I instruct the lifter to think about using their obliues to forcefully e%pire 8breathe out9 through pursed lips. It can be helpful to have the lifter use the inde% and middle finger of each hand to push on their obliues on both sides, below the ribs, as they do the pursed lips breathing.
$he pursed lips increase resistance to airflow, which, along with the pushing of the fingers, helps to activate the obliues. $his is because these muscles are responsible for assisting in forced e%piration 8breathing out9. e sure not to allow any fle%ion of the vertebral column 8no crunching forward9.
1.9 $he ne%t step is for the lifter to Dfill low.D +eeping the muscles of the abdomen moderately tense, attempt to fill and e%pand against those muscles, generating as much pressure as possible, billowing out the entire circumference of the lower abdomen with that pressure, including the lower back 8not -ust the stomach9.
7.9 :nce the lungs are full and the lower abdomen is fully pressuriBed, I have the lifter bear down and cue Dloading the spring.D "irst cue the glutes, then cue the obliues to pull the rib& cage down toward the hips as though the torso were a spring being loaded. It*s best to visualiBe the ribs being pulled down from the sides, which can help keep the pelvis and rib& cage neutral. $he spine should always remain neutral and the spring should always remain loaded when lifting.
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Dursed lipsDbreathing, pushing on obliues.
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D"ill low,D attempting to e%pand entire lower abdomen against active muscles.
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DLoad the spring,D cue glutes and pull neutral rib cage down toward neutral pelvis.
Ahen performing multiple repetitions in a set, it*s not the best idea for the lifter to hold their breathe the entire time. Instead, at lockout, the lifter can e%hale while remaining tight, then repeat steps 1 and 7 from above. Suat and deadlift should be reset, every single rep. $his is an opportunity to go through a mental checklist and reinforce bracing or lifting cues so techniue does not degrade throughout the set. 0ven on bench press, the lifter should only e%hale when the lift is locked out. $hough, on this lift, it*s easier to continue resetting and reinforcing cues without taking more air every time.
If we are going to talk about how to reduce the risk of in-uries, we should first take a look at some of the laundry list of potential causes for the myriad types of in-uries which lifters are likely to suffer. "or the purpose of this chapter I will cover some potential risk factors.
:verreaching is a necessary part of the euation in the math of effective strength training, but e%treme overuse can, of course, increase the likelihood of overuse related in-uries. $he neural conseuences of carrying e%cessive fatigue notwithstanding, we still have to consider the fact that connective tissue recovers from, and adapts to, stress at a slower rate than muscle does. $hat, in and of itself, should be reason enough to choose a method of training which incorporates deloads. Surprisingly, this logic falls on deaf ears in many cases.
"or those of you who may not be clear about e%actly what a deload is, allow me to offer some e%planation. ( deload technically is any e%tended period 8think a microcycle9 where work is greatly reduced or eliminated altogether, to allow for recovery.
$here are many schools of thought when it comes to how deloads should be employed 8or avoided9, in the course of a training program. (s I mentioned before, some people feel that no work should be done during a deload. I accept that deloads are a necessary and logical way to not only prevent overuse in-ury, but also to mitigate fatigue, allowing the lifter to remain in a state of overreaching for a long enough period to accrue significant gains. "or this reason they are an integral piece of the 5thSet ;ethodology puBBle.
In my programs, the framework is still followed during deload microcycles, e%cept that reduced percentages are used. $his prevents decay of most capacities and allows for some
connective tissue recovery, while sufficiently reducing fatigue.
Some others still believe that deloads should be avoided unless absolutely necessary. $he problem with waiting until symptomatic markers are present is that damage to tendons, for e%ample, is accumulated at a microscopic level, long before symptoms like pain arise.
Like anyone who has suffered from tendinitis will tell you, it seems to come from out of nowhere and once it hits, it takes a really long time to heal. $his is a result of limited blood flow to the tendons, as well as a few other factors.
(nd when it comes to overuse in-uries, tendinitis is the absolute best&case scenario. Let*s think for a second about which tendon you would least like to have ripped from the bone. )our ec/ icep/ Euad/
ow let*s pretend there was a way to dramatically reduce the chance of any of those tearing, without really messing your progress up. I am convinced that regular deloads can help reduce the disparity between tendon and muscle recovery, accomplishing that task.
ow, I have to point out that simply adding deloads isn*t going to help very much if your training volume is asinine, or if you*re competing in si% powerlifting meets per year. hysiological adaptation and recovery are finite things. $his means pushing them to the brink year&round is more than likely going to result catastrophe.
)ou could be training using the most thoughtful and effective methodology in the world 8that is 5thSet, by the way9, but if your techniue in e%ecuting the lifts is poor! not only are you limiting your potential progress in terms of strength, you are likely to end up in-ured as well. (s a coach, I have a layered approach to teaching or correcting techniue for each movement.
$he first thing I look at, are errors which could potentially put the lifter at risk for in-ury. $hat*s the first layer. $hese errors are many and so are the layers, and a topic for another book, altogether. Generally speaking, the pelvis and spine should be neutral and braced whenever the lifter is under an a%ial load. Scapulae should remain somewhat depressed throughout the course of most loaded movements, as well. Aith these things said, there is a lot of variance in what will be ideal from lifter to lifter as far as mechanics. (t some point, I will write a book and cover the sub-ect in detail. $his is not that book. >iring a coach for technical correction is the most sound course of action to find your ideal mechanical positioning for each lift, in my opinion. Learn from an e%pert.
;ost of you won*t, but you probably have some idea what a suat, bench press or deadlift should look like. I*ve said before and it bears repeating! if you choose to do things on your own, I suggest studying videos of many lifters who have a similar build to your own 8limb and torso length, siBe and level of development9. se your head here.
$here are a lot of really dumb things a lifter can allow to happen, techniue&wise, which can put them at risk. $hese are more commonly the issue than a lifter not knowing what their lift should look like when performed correctly.
( solid training partner or coach who will give you honest feedback can go a long way. ut even with neither of these, you can record your own sets and watch them. $ry to assess what you*re doing, honestly, and don*t let your ego make decisions for you about what is and isn*t
acceptable.
If you have to preface a 6 by saying Dtechniue wasn*t the bestD or Dbutt came off the bench a little,D that was probably not a legitimate 6. +eep your ego in check.
owerlifting is a sport of weight classes and coefficients. $he ob-ective is to lift the most weight at the lowest bodyweight possible. $hat seems simple enough.
$he rub here is that soft tissue and structural insufficiencies seem to increase the chances of all types of acute in-uries related to lifting. ;eagerness of body may very well improve your coefficient, and it is possible to develop impressive strength without much muscular development, but walking that tightrope can have a negative impact your longevity and thereby lower your ceiling of potential. )ou see, it takes a long time for a lifter to reach the upper limits of their best&case potential for development of strength. Some say it takes 35&12 years of effective strength training to reach that point. I tend to agree.
If this is the case, avoiding in-uries which could take you out of the game before you get there seems like it should be a top priority.
So then, if developing some hypertrophy in the often overlooked smaller, ancillary muscles for each lift can reduce the risk of acute lifting related in-uries, it would make a lot of sense to do that, even if it meant putting on a few pounds.
I believe that doing so does reduce that risk.
0nter! very high rep ;S;*s or ;echanically Similar ;ovements. $hese are intrinsic to the 5thSet methodology, but can easily be incorporated into any program. I accept that my e%perience has shown me, clearly, the best assistance e%ercise for a given lift is either the lift itself or a movement which is very similar to it. In other words, training the lift with a hypertrophy protocol will help to put muscle where you need it for that lift. (dditional assistance work for individual muscles as needed can be used to prevent imbalances, which is important because those can also increase the likelihood of in-uries. 5thSet takes care of that, but I*ll touch on it more in the ne%t section.
$here are many other ways to improve muscular development and most systemiBed training methods include their own approach, be it dedicated phases of training or what have you. I have my own protocol for muscular development, which I*ve found, through many years of meticulous record keeping, to be e%tremely effective. $hat is the 5thSet way. I have not found it*s eual in this regard.
(symmetries are part of the human condition. o human human is perfectly symmetrical. "rom your facial features down to the siBe of your feet, a little variance from side to side is normal. Aith that said, I would be remiss if I included a chapter about risk factors for in-uries in this book and didn*t mention muscular imbalances as one.
I have to start by stating clearly that I do not believe most lifters, or even a good percentage of lifters are walking around with pathological imbalances or muscles that Ddon*t fireD or any of the other such bullshit being peddled by the recent influ% of new age athletic snake oil salespeople.
If you believe you have an imbalance beyond what can be fi%ed with activation, stretching,
technical corrections and ad-ustments in assistance work! see a physician. $hat*s my final word on the sub-ect.
robably the most common of the muscle tears I run into are pec tears. $hese seem to always happen during bench press, or some other pressing variation which puts a stretch on the pecs, like dips or incline press.
I can*t speak to the freuency of sport related tears or ruptures in other disciplines and I don*t have a lot of faith that in-ury statistics, which are specific to other sports, will have much validity when it comes to powerlifting. owerlifters are a different breed, altogether. $his is especially true when it comes to how we destroy our bodies.
"or this reason, I conducted a survey 8on 1P3=P3=9 of NO powerlifters who have suffered at least one pec tear. $he ma-ority of respondents 8779 suffered tears to the belly of the muscle and not tendon tears or detachments. So this is an instance when it*s not -ust tendon health we need to concern ourselves with.
(lmost all 8N1PNO9 of the in-uries happened doing some variation variation of bench press. $hat does not include dips, which made up five of the remaining si% respondents.
$his is -ust one survey and there are a lot of variables at play, but it*s as specific to what we are talking about as you*re going to get and the results support my own e%perience over the last two decades as a competitor and coach. It seems like powerlifters are more likely to e%perience a pec belly tear than a tendon rupture and once we suffer a pec tear of any kind, the likelihood of re&in-uring that same area is high 8better than 52F according to the survey9. I
can attest to that, first hand, as I have dealt with three tears to my left pec and one to my right, with freuent adhesions and irritation subseuent to the tear to the right. It*s worth mentioning that some of the responders had -ust recently torn the pec for the first time. So they hadn*t even had a chance to re&in-ure, and still over 52F of the total surveyed had done so.
It stands to reason that knots and adhesions are a risk factor for belly tears, at least to some degree, as many of the lifters who responded to the survey indicated these were present when the in-uries occurred. $he same was true for myself, in every case.
$his is where manual therapy comes into play as a means for mitigating one of the many potential risk factors for in-ury that a powerlifter faces. If you know me, you know I tend to stay in my lane. (rguably my greatest virtue, is a solid sense of self awareness. I know where my e%pertise lies, but that*s not very impressive in itself. ;ost people know what they are good at. :ne thing I don*t mind patting myself on the back for 8of the many, many things I don*t mind patting myself on the back for9 is knowing when to hand off the ball to someone better suited for a particular task.
Ahen the topic of manual therapy rears its head, like multiple "L and C3 collegiate football players and coaches, my Dgo&toD guy is Connie $hompson. I have seen his ody $empering work wonders for both myself and many of my lifters and I have been fortunate enough to test some of his products while they were still in the development phase. amely, the ow&$ie. It*s a useful device, but if you are too cheap to buy one 8like those of you reading a copy of this book you didn*t pay for9, he has free tutorial videos on his )ou$ube, demonstrating how to do a makeshift ow&$ie using a knee wrap.
I used Connie $hompson*s ow&$ie during my rehab of my most recent pec tear, in 1234. Curing my si% month progressive return to full 5thSet training, I*d put the device on for 5 min
after my bench specific warm up, before the main work, which was all light and very high repetition. $hen I*d throw it on again during my breaks between each set, while the muscles were full of blood. I*ve continued this protocol on my second pressing days, ever since, performing some tempering to the pec at the end of the session when needed. I attribute the pec healing as well as it has to that fact.
I believe this protocol has completely eliminated the fascial adhesions in my pecs, which 8one could assume9 have contributed to the myriad pec in-uries I*ve suffered over the last two decades. Like I mentioned above, beyond the four tears, I*ve had multiple minor pec strains throughout my career.
I believe that everything I*ve mentioned in this section could be reasonable applied to every muscle group and not -ust the pecs and I do so whenever it*s called for.
It*s a good idea to stay on top of maintenance in terms of knots and adhesions. I*m talking about all over the body, but specifically pecs, biceps, shoulders, triceps, lats, the muscles of the scapula, low back, glutes, hips, hamstrings, uads and even the muscles of the calves and ankles. I prefer to do tempering at the end of a session or after the main work. ;ost of this stuff can be done on an Das neededD basis, in my opinion, and general maintenance can be knocked out in around ten minutes per session. Con*t turn into a mobilityPpreparation douche and let this stuff become half of your workout.
It is a fairly well accepted hypothesis that warming up properly can help prevent in-uries, and logically so.
$he scientific -ury may still be out on this 8like many things strength related9, but I am happy to tell you that in my e%perience, lifters who take the time to perform both general and movement&specific warm ups, the way I recommend in the first 5thSet book, seem to be less likely to in-ure themselves and certainly perform better than those who do not. I would suggest treating a proper warm up as a necessary part of your training.
Cehydration can effect performance. It is possible that prior dehydration leading to a loss of only 1.5F of bodyweight has the potential to reduce the capacity to perform high intensity e%ercise by as much as N5F 8J
erformance aside, dehydration may lead to muscle cramps. 'ramps can cause damage to the effected muscle, including tears. If you are serious about lifting, I would strongly recommend putting together a regular hydration schedule, especially around the times you will be training.
;y dear friend, Cr. $revor +ashey 8hC9 had the following to offer on the sub-ect.
D2.=5 oB per pound of body weight will keep a lifter topped off without fluid logging them. $ea, coffee, and water in food 8like rice and oats9 will also count toward this number >ell, even light beer would do the trick.D
$here are more potential causes for in-uries than we could ever go over and sometimes freak, unfortunate things do happen but usually every in-ury is caused by a combination of at least one of the factors I listed above and a nice dose of bad luck 8bad timing regarding the specific catalyst9. "or this reason it*s impossible to truly prevent in-uries with any real efficacy. $he best we can hope for is to mitigate the issues which we know can be risk factors. I strongly recommend you that you take an honest look at the risk factors mentioned above and make an effort to do that.
(sker
Aeight class transition is a process. ( lifter does not typically -ust drop a weight class over the course of a few months and hit the same number they did in the heavier class. $hat*s typically speaking. $hough, they will probably hit numbers which are very close.
$here are always e%ceptions. "or e%ample, if a lifter was walking around at a weight within striking distance of the ne%t lower class and the first time this lifter tried a water cut, they were able to get back up to their normal meet&day weight by the time they hit the platform. $hat lifter should be able to hit the same number, maybe even 6 in the new, lighter class.
"or someone who is already ma%ing out the class they are in, however, that*s -ust not going to happen. Ahen I say Dma%ing out,D I am referring to lifters who already depend on a water cut to make weight in the class where currently compete.
( male who competes in the 1N1 pound weight class and walks around at 152&155 is in the neighborhood of what I would consider ma%ing out his class. I realiBe people make larger cuts and I have, myself, but for the sake of argument! let*s go with these figures.
If this lifter should want to drop down a full weight class to 112, the first order of business would be to train in calorie deficit for however long it took him to reach a bodyweight within the realm of a water cut to 112. Let*s say for him that bodyweight is 172 or so pounds. ( calorie deficit is defined as any length of time where more calories are burned than consumed, causing a loss in body weight.
:nce he brings his body weight down into that 172 area, I would strongly recommend this lifter train at his new meet&day body weight for awhile hopefully long enough to regain any
strength lost from the changes in leverages. "or the upper echelon, in terms of nearness to their potential, that may take awhile, if it*s even possible at all.
"or the average lifter, it*s going to take a mesocycle or two at most. 0ven without this ad-ustment period, many lifters can still perform very well.
UGote! ( loss much greater than ten percent of total the lifter*s bodyweight will likely have a significant impact on the his or her leverages and increase the amount of training time reuired to perform at the same level.V
ut, to play the devil*s advocate, I will give another e%ample. I recently had an elite female lifter I was coaching decide she wanted to transition to a lower weight class for her ne%t meet. (fter setting up a meal plan, which which kept her in a calorie deficit, she continued to run 5thSet for the last 32 weeks going into her meet, including her peaking cycle. erformance on her 5thSets suffered a bit, but they are meant to work as a stop gap in situations like this, where fatigue is enhanced for whatever reason. Ahen it came time do a water cut for the meet, she was 12 pounds down from her normal weight.
$hat*s right, twenty pounds in ten weeks. )ou would think she probably lost a ton of strength in that time, right/ ot really. She went nine for nine with third attempts set -ust slightly below her 6s in the higher weight class and they all moved very uickly. It*s reasonable to assume she could*ve hit her best numbers ever, if we had not played it safe, even though she didn*t take advantage of the ad-ustment period I typically recommend. >owever, it*s important to understand that performance is only one of the two main considerations in situations like this.
$he second is the fact that recovery is compromised during e%tended periods of calorie deficit and fatigue is high. $he ability to perform well aside, compromised recovery is a risk factor for in-ury. I have seen a lot of lifters get in-ured, either while in calorie deficit or immediately after.
"or this reason it*s not advisable to go all&out in a meet, immediately after a fat loss diet, even if the lifter*s strength is only marginally effected.
I recommend a period of training while on maintenance calories of at least one mesocycle, after any e%tended calorie deficit. 'onsuming Dmaintenance caloriesD would mean eating roughly the same amount of calories per day or week as are being burned, so body weight is maintained and not lost or increased. $he idea would be to eat the largest amount of calories possible, without gaining weight.
It*s worth mentioning, this lifter I mentioned in my devil*s advocate e%ample! she has above average recoverability and adaptability. )our mileage may vary. evertheless, the loss of strength during a fat loss diet is usually overstated. $hat is my point.
It is a consideration, like I said before, -ust not as much as most people think. It may be more difficult for the lifter to e%press their current level of strength, in training, due to increased fatigue accumulation, but that is another issue, altogether. "atigue is managed during the peaking cycle in such a way that strength can be accurately e%pressed on the platform, where it counts.
(s long as things are done within reason, in terms of calorie deficit, and an intelligent method method of training is employed, it does not take long to get the DlostD strength back for lifters who are not already very near to their potential. $raining for a mesocycle on maintenance calories will take care of both considerations in most cases.
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"at Loss hase& Curing this phase the lifter would train in a calorie deficit for long enough to reach the desired meet day body weight.
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;aintenanceP6ecovery hase& $hroughout this phase, the lifter would keep calories set for maintenance and run 5thSet for 3&1 full mesocycles of training 8roughly O&34 weeks9
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'ompetition hase& (t this point, the lifter would run a peaking cycle and compete as usual, e%cept now in a lower weight class.
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(ttention hase 8optional9& ow that the lifter lifter has successfully reduced their body fat, competed in their new weight class and improved their coefficient, the stage is set for some social media posting. ics of the lifter in their underwearPrevealing swimsuits or even fully nude shots with some kind of emo-i barely covering the lady or man parts, captioned with inspirational uotes or bible verses about selflessness or overcoming hardships seem to garner the most likes. :r you could not. )eah, maybe don*t do that.
$he weight does not respect what you have going on outside of your training. $hat*s the first thing. It does not respond to e%cuses of any kind. I*m grateful for that, because it has hardened and sharpened me more than any other single thing in my lifetime, and that is saying something.
( barbell can be our adversary. (t times, it can be our partner or our friend. Ahatever role it is currently filling, we should treat it with respect. Ae should treat our training the same way because, in doing so, we are showing respect for ourselves and for the process.
$here are no shortcuts, there are only standards which must be met! levels of e%pectation that we have to set for ourselves. (nd there is no way to circumnavigate the dicey waters between weakness and strength.
o one can drive us there or carry us on their back. :ur parents can*t bail us out or pay our way. Ae have to go that distance and sometimes go it alone. ;any people, like coaches and mentors, may help us along the way, but ultimately it will be up to us to finish the course.
$ruly talented lifters can skate by for many years, doing the bare minimum or an insane amount and make unbelievable progress either way, while others will have their resolve tested early on. ut no matter where our level of giftedness or predisposition or development lies, our resolve will be tested eventually, and there will be times we need to prove ourselves R to ourselves. $hat is a very individual thing. (lmost (lmost all of us suffer with the the same issues, but how we press through them is similar, at best.
(s a coach, it*s a beautiful thing to see a lifter find out they are made of of harder stuff than they thought, and -ust as disappointing to see someone with talent throw in the towel when faced
with adversity. I*ve seen a lot of that, too.
I could spit any number of cliches here, but I think it*s sufficient to say that you don*t really know what you*re made of until you*ve been tried by fire. ntil life shows up and your problems outside the gym rear their head in a way that can*t be ignored, or you get in-ured, or suffer illness or loss. ntil your metal is tested. $he vast ma-ority of the time, these DtestsD or obstacles are going to be psychological and emotional in nature. $here are a couple of other types, like physical issues, and environmental, but even those will come back to psychological or emotional struggle.
;y intention in writing this chapter is to speak from my own e%perience as a lifter who has survived and improved for decades, and also as a coach to countless successful lifters. Like I often do when I am writing, I brought a uestion to those of my readers who follow my social media. Ahat happened ne%t completely reaffirmed the need for this this to be written. ot as much to provide solutions though, I will offer some strategies, but more to -ust acknowledge that almost everyone who makes the commitment to get under a barbell on a regular basisR from world record holder to absolute beginnerRwill deal with many of the same issues.
$he uestion I posed was directed to Dall lifters.D I didn*t want to be e%clusionary and I figured it better to let people decide if they considered themselves lifters than provide any other criteria. I knew that some people would not be willing to post about their struggles publicly, so I noted that anyone who wasn*t comfortable doing so could message me privately.
$he Euestion!
ow, I e%pected to get some feedback. I already had this chapter outlined and was hoping to confirm that I wasn*t missing anything in regard to the most common issues. I knew some elite people would be confident enough to share on the post and thought maybe some newbies would see that even the best people struggle with the same stuff they do. So, I thought that would be pretty cool.
Ahat I didn*t e%pect was the outpouring that followed. :ver ninety lifters shared their stories with me, between the comments and private messages, giving detailed responses, some going over 522 words in length. $he post was shared and spin&off threads took on a life of their own. $he result was a very cathartic sort of group therapy session where people -ust typed out what they had e%perienced and most noted how much better they felt -ust acknowledging these things.
(ll of this was -ust a serendipitous side side effect of asking the right uestion. >ow awesome this part actually was notwithstanding, all of this data gave me a clear picture of the obstacles in uestion. Ae will get to that in a minute, but there were no ma-or surprises.
;y own greatest gift, beyond any doubt, is my grim, intractable nature. Intractability is a character trait which starts off as a vice, but can be harnessed and coached to become the greatest virtue a lifter can possess. $hat same obstinance that makes someone really hard to work with, in the long run, can make them e%tremely resilient and difficult to defeat. So a big part of going the distance is mindset, or for lack of a better term, refusing to accept failure.
Seems logical.
>owever, there are some things you will run into which, although you may have the strongest will, might be impossible to overcome. +nowing how common some of these issues are is a huge part of dealing with them. (nd like I said, I won*t leave you without some advice.
So, in this chapter I am going to outline some of the more common obstacles, or tests, you will face as a lifter, as well as some strategies to overcome them when you do. $he most important thing is to acknowledge that this is shit almost everyone deals with and you*re probably not a uniue snowflake.
$here are differences from person to person. $hey are usually marginal, but that can make a big difference in some cases. 0veryone doesn*t deal with all of these, but almost everyone deals with some. "or our purposes, I am going to generaliBe, because I can*t let this turn into a novel.
$he obstacles I*m going to address can be broken down into three groups and these are the ones I mentioned in the uestion.
Let*s call them sychological 8or 0motional9, hysical and 0nvironmental.
$he most common barriers we face as lifter*s 8probably O2F9 stem from two overarching subgroups which can split off into a million tiny issues. Ae are going to look at broad strokes here rather than minutiae.
$he first subgroup is the most common and contains barriers and obstacles which are rooted in issues of priorities and balance.
$his group includes issues like!
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Guilt over time spent away from our significant other, family or our children. 8$his is probably the single largest obstacle I hear about people struggling with.9
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Euestioning ourselves and the value we place on our training and competition, when the reward seems so small in comparison to the sacrifices we make. 8Internal conflict9
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Cifficulty -ustifying or e%plaining the importance of our training or competition to significant others, family or friends resulting in repetitive arguments and emotional stress. 80%ternal conflict9
Lifting probably doesn*t come first for most people, but for many it*s still a Dtop threeD priority. In coaching, I teach my lifters that the proper hierarchy for priorities and balance goes like this! familyPworkPlifting. "amily should always be priority number one.
I don*t think there will be much opposition there, but acknowledging and actually saying out loud that your family is your first priority and meaning it can be a helpful e%ercise. Ae all know that this is the order things should be in, but all three of these things are important to us, so it can be confusing sometimes, making the right calls without some sort of rigid structure. Aork is the second priority, because without a profession, you can*t take care of priority number one. Ahether we acknowledge it or not, priority three 8lifting9 should really be about our own well being. I*m not saying it always is, but it should be.
If we weigh out the pros and cons of losing some time with our kids, family, or significant others, it paints a slightly different picture than that which causes the guilt we feel over the perceived selfishness of training. Ae should consider that training, while it may cost us some time, might also make us better partners, fathers or mothers, and generally a lot fucking easier to be around.
$o touch on the issue of -ustifying ourselves in our relationships, a significant other or even a close friend should value the things which are important to us or at very least respect them. If they do not, we won*t have to worry about it for long, because the relationshipPfriendship is not going to last.
ow, moving on to the second subgroup of psychological or emotional obstacles, we will look at issues which stem from feelings of self doubt or performance an%iety.
$his group includes issues like!
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ecoming discouraged by constantly comparing our current level of development or level of talent to that of better lifters.
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Euestioning our own level of talent or ability, even when it has already been proven.
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eing hypercritical of ourselves and always dissatisfied with our performance or rate of improvement. 8Inability to set realistic goals.9
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ody dysmorphic issues feeling too small when cutting, feeling too fat when bulking.
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Aomen struggling with body changes which feel less socially acceptable than their male counterparts.
It*s normal to want to compare ourselves, in regards to ability, to others who do the same activities. Lifting is certainly no e%ception. $here is no cookie&cutter solution for this one. I can tell you to not do it, but you will anyway.
;ost novice lifters become discouraged by this. "or an elite lifter, this can go one of two ways. It either motivates us to continue to improve or it discourages us, much the same way it does the novice. Ahatever level we are at, there is a decision in that thought process where we either choose to accept that we are not as good as others or we choose to do everything in our power to rise above. (gain, this is very individual.
$his leads us to the topic of performance an%iety or -ust fear in general and how it effects us as lifters. $he best advice I have there is to learn to embrace it. I*ve learned to channel and use it to my advantage. Ahen harnessed, fear is yet another vice that can become virtue.
Ahatever an%iety I may deal with going into a meet, and I do deal with it, I step onto the platform as a god, supremely confident. I*m definitely not alone in feeling this way. Can ell told me that learning to embrace his fear has been the biggest part of success in lifting for him. 8I*m paraphrasing, but that was the gist of what he shared with me.9
'oming from a guy who suats around a grand, raw, that means a lot.
$o the ne%t point, I have noticed an influ% of men beginning to discuss body dysmorphic issues in powerlifting. art of me wants to tell them to man the fuck up and stick to whatever plan they are currently following, but if I am being honest, I have struggled with some of it myself after the transition from powerlifting to bodybuilding and back. I definitely don*t cry about it, but I have e%perienced it and that might be helpful for some people to know.
:n the sub-ect of females and the lack of social acceptance for physical changes caused by powerlifting, I won*t pretend to know what it*s like to be a woman. I know how it feels to be -udged, and I know what women have shared with me from their own stories, but I*ve never e%perienced that dynamic.
:ne thing I can tell you for sure is that no one can hold any sway over the decisions you make regarding your own body e%cept that which you give them. Co what gives you peace, in lifting and every other aspect of your life. )ou*ll never please everyone. "ocus on doing the things that make you proud of who you are, and do so shamelessly.
0verything else will fall into place.
$hese last two groups are very small in comparison the first and, as I pointed out, most of the struggles with these things come back to psychological and emotional stresses. ut for the sake of thoroughness, I will touch on them, as well.
>ere we have issues like!
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In-uries we suffer or physical limitations we face.
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>ealth issues like hypertension or diabetes.
If anyone knows about struggling with in-uries and physical limitations, it*s me. I have all of my arms and legs, which I am very grateful for, so I know it could always be worse, but I had a catastrophic spinal in-ury a couple of years ago and needed surgery to be able to stand or walk.
"or me, getting through that was about belief in myself and a complete and utter refusal to accept defeat.
I took things slowly and followed medical advice, but I did not let myself believe for a second that the outcome would be anything other than victorious. It was humbling and the road back has been long, but I am a motherfucker and I truly believe I can overcome any obstacle set before me. I suggest you do the same.
Ahen it comes to matters of health like the ones I mentioned above, they need to take a priority over our training. )ou can*t lift if you*re dead! something to consider.
0nvironmental obstacles include!
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ariable training schedule due to swing shift, long work hours or inconsistent availability for other reasons, resulting in no spotters or similar issues.
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Less than ideal euipment and environment due to being stuck at a commercial facility or -ust a shitty gym in general.
Some people run into issues as a result of the time of day they are forced to train, like not having spotters available and things of that nature. Ae cannot allow that to become an e%cuse. I trained alone for many years and would -ust set the safety pins in a power rack to suat and bench.
Ahen I hear people complaining about having to train in a commercial gym, or whining about the available euipment, the first uestion I ask is DCo you have access to barbells there/D $hey probably do. I*m willing to bet there is a bench and a suat rack, also. 'hampions have been made from -ust those three things. $hink about that. I*m not saying it isn*t awesome to have all of the best euipment, -ust that you can still be great without it.
Ahile there are a few things I was not able to touch on here, I feel like I*ve covered the most common barriers and obstacles we face as lifters. >opefully you were able to glean some strategy for how to deal with them. (t very least, you can rest assured you*re not alone in struggling with these issues.
I*ve always been very results&oriented. I might not always en-oy the means that bring me to a desired end, but I will suffer through -ust about anything to get what I want. $hat holds true for business, personal relationships, and absolutely for training.
Ahen it comes to a training means, it is important to me that I understand the mechanisms a certain protocol works on, but only because that can help me refine and perfect it, according to whatever I am trying to accomplish. Aith that said, there have been times throughout my career when I was convinced that a type of training was effective based merely on my own e%periments and observations of what others had tried, but I was really unable to offer anything more than educated guesses as to how and why it was working.
ery high rep training is a good e%ample of one of those times. Aith the widespread success of lifters employing the 5thSet ;ethodology, I*d say I was right to be convinced.
eing one of the 8if not the9 first in my field to incorporate these protocols into a systemiBed method of training, it makes sense that I get a lot of uestions about how this type of stimulus is causing the hypertrophic 8and other9 adaptations that it does. (s far as the stimulus mechanisms, the best logical answer I can offer is that they are probably a combination of mechanical and metabolic stresses. $hat, in my opinion, is the least interesting aspect of this type of training.
Ahat is far more interesting is it seems to be at least as effective 8if not more effective9 than training in traditional rep ranges, while at the same time remaining far less e%pensive in terms of recoverability.
I am speaking about the tried and true Dery >igh 6epD protocol, which is to be used on the
second pressing day of the 5thSet method, when I say that. ut both of these factors appear to remain true, possibly even more so, when it comes to the new D(;6( for $imeD 8as many rounds as possible, not reps9 protocols I have been e%perimenting with over the last year at +eyhole arbell and with online clients. $here are some caveats regarding the new protocols, but we will get into that in a bit.
$he uestion which is almost definitely ringing in your mind right now is! D>ow can something stimulate more adaptation and reuire less recovery/D
$he answer! I do not know.
Ahen it come to the (;6( for time protocols, my notion is the combination of metabolic and mechanical stresses, which I mentioned earlier, are able to stimulate further hypertrophy without taking the damage much further, at the end of a training session. $here may even be something about the process which aids in the early stages of recovery. ut, like I said, I don*t know. I will continue to test and play with protocols. $hat*s all I can do on my end.
6esearch follows practice and the uest to discover why and how this stuff works has already begun in the scientific community. I believe rad Schoenfeld 8among others9 is trying to put together some research which will hopefully suggest the most likely mechanisms behind what is going on with this, but I stay in my lane and that is not it.
Ahat I need to know is what works and how to practically apply it. I have arguably the largest and most valid set of data to determine those things for my purposes. So until I have reason to believe otherwise, I*m going to go with what the information I have tells me. I keep meticulous records of everything and have a larger sample siBe to play with than maybe anyone.
'onfirmation bias is a consideration, of course. It*s possible that I am -ust finding what I am looking for. I do my best to remain neutral and go with what my e%periments suggest. Sometimes that means ditching a protocol entirely. :ther times things look really good and the more I run them with different lifters, the more I learn, and the better they begin to look.
I think we can all agree that if someone figured out a cohesive protocol which allowed a lifter to integrate this type of training 8rounds for time9 into a powerlifting template, that would be pretty cool. I*ve tested and developed a few, actually, and I am going to share one with you in this chapter.
lease take note that this is Donus ;aterial.D
$his D(;6( for $imeD protocol is not truly a part of the 5thSet ;ethodology. (t least, not at this point. $he fact that I would not use this protocol on anyone but advanced lifters has been an obstacle in regard to the number of people I have been able to test it on. $o give you an idea, I*m in the high 72*s as I write this and I*d like to have feedback from at least 322 lifters using this with 5thSet before I am willing to recommend it on anything other than a Dmight be worth a tryD basis.
If you meet the reuirements, and you decide to try this, and you stick with it for a full mesocycle or more, please feel free to contact me with your results. I*ll send you a uestionnaire. I*ve been documenting what I*ve been up to on my column on 0litefts.com, all 0litefts.com, all along, and I will continue to do so in the future.
D(;6( for $imeD probably sounds familiar to some of you. I won*t say names 8rhymes with Snakeit9, but this concept is used in another type of training which is riddled with overuse in-uries. In my opinion, that phenomena is due purely to a ham&handed application of otherwise useful concepts the whole Dhow to practically apply itD thing I am always harping on
about.
Aait for the caveats, they are coming.
It*s interesting, the fact that this nameless discipline is full to the hilt with e%tremely -acked females, who have inherently less adaptability in terms of hypertrophy than their male counterparts. I*m not drawing any conclusions, but it supports my argument for this type of training stimulating hypertrophy while being less ta%ing on recoverability. It*s noteworthy.
I know first hand that bodybuilders like 'raig $itus were using similar training protocols to build champion physiues twenty years ago. >is e%planation of how it worked was almost certainly not correct. )et, it did work.
Ae have known that this stuff works for a long time. $hat*s not really in uestion. $o argue that would be silly, I think. $he uestion is again! how do we apply it/
I*ve played with uite a few variations on this protocol. $he incarnation I am sharing with you here is one of my favorites and has been shown to be among the most effective.
$he results among those of us at keyhole and around the country who have applied it/ I*m generaliBing here but, our arms got a lot bigger. $his seems to work okay for leg e%tensions, as well. $his has not worked out well for leg curls or hamstring&isolation movements at all. If you*re insane enough to try this on a calf e%ercise, you probably won*t be walking for awhile. :r driving. :r doing anything else that reuires dorsi or plantar fle%ion.
I chose to go with single -oint arm movements to initially test these protocols for a number of reasons, not the least of which being that we started the testing with compound movements and the results were less than favorable, across the board.
(nd allow me to suggest that you not be be one of the people who makes less of arm training. I can picture some geeks out there rolling their eyes about now.
I mean who really doesn*t want big arms/ o one. It*s always people with skinny arms and heads shaped like penises who get mad about arm training and espouse some platitude about how suats fi% everything. (nd usually they can*t suat for shit. ut I digress.
Instead of getting mad, maybe try doing what I*m telling you here. It will serve as a life lesson and you*ll probably end up looking like less of a wiener.
;oving on, the caveats!
3. $his protocol should probably be reserved for single&-oint movements, with few e%ceptions.
1. $his protocol should only be performed as the last movement in a training session and in order to add it in, you must take something else away from what you are already doing for the target muscle in uestion. "or e%ample if you are running a 5thSet template, you could replace the isolation movement on either pressing day with this protocol. I*ve included them on some templates to demonstrate the way I have applied them to my lifter*s training.
I recommend starting by including these only one day per body part, per microcycle.
$here are some e%ceptions, but stick to the script here if you*re going to try this out. It*s for your own good.
7. eginners 8[3&7 years lifting9! $his is not intended, nor is it necessary, for you. )ou will respond to and benefit from standard hypertrophy protocols for a long time. If you stick with lifting for enough years, you will reach a point where that stuff alone no longer cuts it. Save this for then.
N. Co not use this protocol during a peaking cycle for a powerlifting meet.
(nd without further ado, the protocol!
T
(s I said before, there are a bunch of these we have been testing testing for the last year and are still using where they are appropriate. $his particular protocol can be used for any type of triceps e%tension, bicep curl. 'ables and constant tension devices seem to work best, but we have also done cycles with dumbbells, 0\ curl bars and bodyweight with vests or chains for sissy suats.
•
Start with a weight that is an 60 of around 4 for 15 reps. So, some burning, but pretty easy.
•
(fter 72&N5 seconds rest, or if working with a partner, immediately immediately after the partner finishes, add a measure of weight which brings the 60 into the = range for 15 more.
•
(fter another 72&N5 seconds break, or after your partner does another round, add a final measure of weight which brings the 60 to a solid O. $his is the first real working
set and it is when the clock starts for ten minutes of misery. •
6epeat with the same weight for as many sets as possible in ten minutes. se a stop watch with an alarm if possible. If you are unable to continue performing for the full ten minutes, lower the working weight for the ne%t session.
•
Irrespective of how long it takes to complete the 15 reps, or if you are even able to complete them without taking a break, take the least amount of time possible to rest between sets.
If you are working with a partner, push them to finish each set uickly. $he psychological component of working with someone on these should not be undervalued. I don*t know about you, but I am not going to let someone outperform me, if I can help it. :bviously the partner should be in the area of your level of strength.
It*s a good idea to change the devices and grips you use on these often because it provides a stimulus variable and specificity is not a consideration for this type of movement. (n interesting phenomenon I*ve noticed with these is is that sometimes lifters will start to fail completely, before reaching their 15 reps for a few sets, about half way through the ten minutes. $hen, out of nowhere, they will rally and start increasing the number of repetitions they are able to complete per set and eventually get all 15 again. I*ve seen this same thing with a good portion of the total lifters I have using this protocol.
So, let*s review.
15 reps at 60 4
6est 72&N5 seconds or duration of partner*s set.
15 reps at 60 =
6est 72&N5 seconds or duration of partner*s set.
'lock starts, then 15 reps at 66 O
6est 72&N5 seconds or duration of partner*s set and repeat with the same weight for ten minutes straight.
Aho is going to benefit from this/
$his is intended for e%pert level lifters. I said earlier in the provisos, anyone beyond their first few years of training can try it, but I would stick with -ust the Dvery high repD protocol on the second pressing day in the original book, until you need this. $hat protocol is great for beginner through e%pert.
>ow much of a difference will it make/
If I had to guess, I would say it seems like maybe an e%tra 5F of stimulus, for advanced lifters already using conventional means of hypertrophy training.
So, nothing tremendous. $hat*s an estimate. Cepending on where you are in the bell curve, you*re results may be different, but probably not much more than that.
$hese four templates will carry the lifter through a full, nearly optimiBed, macrocycle of training, leading directly into competition. If the lifter has to compete sooner than this progression would allow, trim as many of the earlier mesocycles as necessary. ever deload before beginning the eaking ;esocycle.
O2F 36;, N sets of 1 repetitions, followed by 5th set of (;6(.
Start with 55F of full 6:; 36; for 1 sets of 35 reps. (dd 5 lbs the following cycle, every time time you get all of your target reps.
1 progressive sets of 32 reps, start light and move up each cycle until you are near a 326;, then maintain the weight as this will become static volume. $ry to slow down the negative portion of each rep.
Same directions and volume as Side 6aises, e%cept you will shoot for 31 reps and focus on maintaining tension, not allowing the dumbbells to come all of the way down.
=5F 36;, N sets of 7 repetitions, followed by 5thSet of (;6(. (dd 5 pounds per microcycle.
42F of SS 36; for 7 sets of 31 reps. (dd 5 pounds per microcycle.
5 sets of 32 reps.
1 progressive sets of 31 reps, start with medium weight and add to the second set the following cycle whenever target reps are achieved.
1 sets of 35 reps, move up ne%t cycle whenever target reps are achieved.
1 progressive sets of 35, same rules.
5 sets of 32 reps.
start medium weight for 1 sets of 72 reps. Ahenever you get 72 reps on both sets, move up 5 pounds the following cycle.
1 sets of 32 reps. "irst cycle should be very easy. $he first cycle do 32 reps, the ne%t cycle 31, 35 reps, ne%t 3O, ne%t 12, ne%t! 5lbs % 32 reps, repeat.
1 sets of 15 overhand, 1 sets underhand.
7 sets of 72&75 reps, 42 seconds rest between sets. ;ove down to N5 seconds rest after 1 cycles, then up the reps to 75 with 42 seconds, then 75 reps with N5 seconds, then add a Nth set and follow that pattern. Co not go above 5 sets.
=5F 36;, 5 sets of 7 repetitions. (dd 5 pounds per microcycle. $he emphasis is going to be on techniue and speed off the floor.
42F deadlift 36;, 1 sets of 35 reps. (dd 5 pounds per microcycle.
5=.5F Sumo 36;, 1 sets of 32 reps. (dd 5 pounds per microcycle.
7 sets of 32 repetitions, 7 count eccentric, fast concentric. "irst set of 32 should be 60 around =. "oot position should mimic conventional deadlift. (dd 5 pounds per microcycle.
7 sets of 35 reps.
Aarm up first with 1 sets of light pulldowns. If you don*t have a pull down machine, use a band to warm up by choking it around the top of a suat rack and doing pull downs on your knees. erform 1 sets with body weight for (;6(. 3 set of (;6(, pronated. 3 sets of (;6(, supinated. If you get shoulder pain when pronated, do all sets supinated. :r whichever way doesn*t bother elbows or shoulders, if they are becoming an issue. Ahen you are able to get 12 reps on both sets, add 5 pounds the following cycle.
1 sets of 31&35 reps.
O2F 36;, N sets of 1 repetitions, followed by 5th set of (;6(.
Start with 51.5F of full 6:; 36; for 1 sets of 31 reps. (dd 5 lbs the following cycle, every time time you get all of your target reps.
1 progressive sets of 32 reps, start light and move up each cycle until you are near a 326;, then maintain the weight as this will become static volume. $ry to slow down the negative portion of each rep.
Same directions and volume as Side 6aises, e%cept you will shoot for 31 reps and focus on maintaining tension, not allowing the dumbbells to come all of the way down.
=5F 36;, N sets of 7 repetitions, followed by 5thSet of (;6(. (dd 5 pounds per microcycle.
5=.5F 36; for 7 sets of O reps. (dd 5 pounds per microcycle.
5 sets of 32 reps.
1 progressive sets of 31 reps, start with medium weight and add to the second set the following cycle whenever target8319 reps are achieved.
1 sets of 35 reps, move up ne%t cycle whenever target reps are achieved.
1 progressive sets of 35, same rules.
5 sets of 32 reps.
start medium weight for 1 sets of 72 reps. Ahenever you get 72 reps on both sets, move up 5 pounds the following cycle.
1 sets of 32 reps. "irst cycle should be very easy. $he first cycle do 32 reps, the ne%t cycle 31, 35 reps, ne%t 3O, ne%t 12, ne%t! 5lbs % 32 reps, repeat.
1 sets of 15 overhand, 1 sets underhand.
7 sets of 72&75 reps, 42 seconds rest between sets. ;ove down to N5 seconds rest after 1 cycles, then up the reps to 75 with 42 seconds, then 75 reps with N5 seconds, then add a Nth set and follow that pattern. Co not go above 5 sets.
=5F 36;, 5 sets of 7 repetitions. (dd 5 pounds per microcycle. $he emphasis is going to be on techniue and speed off the floor.
5=.5F deadlift 36;, 1 sets of 31 reps. (dd 5 pounds per microcycle.
5=.5F Sumo 36;, 1 sets of 32 reps. (dd 5 pounds per microcycle.
7 sets of 32 repetitions, 7 count eccentric, fast concentric. "irst set of 32 should be 60 around =. "oot position should mimic conventional deadlift. (dd 5 pounds per microcycle.
7 sets of 35 reps.
Aarm up first with 1 sets of light pulldowns. If you don*t have a pull down machine, use a band to warm up by choking it around the top of a suat rack and doing pull downs on your knees. erform 1 sets with body weight for (;6(. 3 set of (;6(, pronated. 3 sets of (;6(, supinated. If you get shoulder pain when pronated, do all sets supinated. :r whichever way doesn*t bother elbows or shoulders, if they are becoming an issue. Ahen you are able to get 12 reps on both sets, add 5 pounds the following cycle.
1 sets of 31&35 reps.
O2F 36;, N sets of 1 repetitions, followed by 5th set of (;6(.
1 sets of 5 reps, start with =5F full 6:; 36;. (dd 5 lbs the following cycle, every time you get all of your target reps.
1 progressive sets of 32 reps, start light and move up each cycle until you are near a 326;, then maintain the weight as this will become static volume. $ry to slow down the negative portion of each rep.
Same directions and volume as Side 6aises, e%cept you will shoot for 31 reps and focus on maintaining tension, not allowing the dumbbells to come all of the way down.
=5F 36;, N sets of 7 repetitions, followed by 5thSet of (;6(. (dd 5 pounds per microcycle.
=2F 36; for 7 sets of 7 reps. (dd 5 pounds per microcycle.
5 sets of 32 reps.
1 progressive sets of 31 reps, start with medium weight and add to the second set the following cycle whenever target reps are achieved.
1 sets of 35 reps, move up ne%t cycle whenever target reps are achieved.
1 progressive sets of 35, same rules.
5 sets of 32 reps.
start 51.5F of 36; for two sets. Ahenever you get 15 on both sets, move up 5 lbs the following cycle.
1 sets of 32 reps. "irst cycle should be very easy. $he first cycle do 32 reps, the ne%t cycle 31, 35 reps, ne%t 3O, ne%t 12, ne%t! 5lbs % 32 reps, repeat.
1 sets of 15 overhand, 1 sets underhand.
7 sets of 72&75 reps, 42 seconds rest between sets. ;ove down tp N5 seconds rest after 1 cycles, then up the reps to 75 with 42 seconds, then 75 reps with N5 seconds, then add a Nth set and follow that pattern. Co not go above 5 sets.
=5F 36;, N sets of 7 repetitions, followed by a 5thSet of (;6(. (dd 5 pounds per microcycle. $he emphasis is going to be on techniue and speed off the floor.
=2F deadlift 36;, 7 sets of 7 reps. (dd 5 pounds per microcycle.
=2F Sumo 36;, 1 sets of 5 reps. (dd 5 pounds per microcycle.
7 sets of 32 repetitions, 7 count eccentric, fast concentric. "irst set of 32 should be 60 around =. "oot position should mimic conventional deadlift. (dd 5 pounds per microcycle.
7 sets of 35 reps.
Aarm up first with 1 sets of light pulldowns. If you don*t have a pull down machine, use a band to warm up by choking it around the top of a suat rack and doing pull downs on your knees. erform 5 sets with body weight for no more than 32 reps per set. 1 sets of as many as 32 reps, pronated. 7 sets of as many as 32 reps, supinated. Stagger the sets. If you get shoulder pain when pronated, do all sets supinated. :r whichever way doesn*t bother elbows or shoulders, if they are becoming an issue. Ahen you are able to get 32 reps on all 5 sets, add 5 pounds the following cycle.
1 sets of 31&35 reps.
rescribed protocol for each microcycle, outlined in peaking chapter.
42&41.5F 36; bar weight 12&15F 36; 1 sets of 7&5 reps. o band tension from O2F microcycle to the meet.
1 progressive sets of 32 reps, start light and move up each cycle until you are near a 326;, then maintain the weight as this will become static volume. $ry to slow down the negative portion of each rep.
Same directions and volume as Side 6aises, e%cept you will shoot for 31 reps and focus on maintaining tension, not allowing the dumbbells to come all of the way down.
rescribed protocol for each microcycle, outlined in peaking chapter.
42&41.5F 36; bar weight 12&15F 36; 1 sets of 7&5 reps. o band tension from O2F microcycle to the meet.
5 sets of 32 reps.
1 progressive sets of 31 reps, start with medium weight and add to
the second set the following cycle whenever target reps are achieved.
start 51.5F of 36; for two sets. Ahenever you get 15 on both sets, move up 5 lbs the following cycle. 6educe weight during O2F peaking microcycle.
1 sets of 32 reps. "irst cycle should be very easy. $he first cycle do 32 reps, the ne%t cycle 31, 35 reps, ne%t 3O, ne%t 12, ne%t! 5lbs % 32 reps, repeat.
1 sets of 15 overhand, 1 sets underhand.
7 sets of 72&75 reps, 42 seconds rest between sets. ;ove down to N5 seconds rest after 1 cycles, then up the reps to 75 with 42 seconds, then 75 reps with N5 seconds, then add a Nth set and follow that pattern. Co not go above 5 sets.
rescribed protocol for each microcycle, outlined in peaking chapter.
42&41.5F 36; bar weight 12&15F 36; 5 singles. o band tension from O2F microcycle to the meet.
=2F Sumo 36;, 1 sets of 5 reps. (dd 5 pounds per microcycle.
7 sets of 32 repetitions, 7 count eccentric, fast concentric. "irst set of 32 should be 60 around =. "oot position should mimic conventional deadlift. (dd 5 pounds per microcycle.
7 sets of 35 reps.
Aarm up first with 1 sets of light pulldowns. If you don*t have a pull down machine, use a band to warm up by choking it around the top of a suat rack and doing pull downs on your knees. erform 5 sets with body weight for no more than 32 reps per set. 1 sets of as many as 32 reps, pronated. 7 sets of as many as 32 reps, supinated. Stagger the sets. If you get shoulder pain when pronated, do all sets supinated. :r whichever way doesn*t bother elbows or shoulders, if they are becoming an issue. Ahen you are able to get 32 reps on all 5 sets, add 5 pounds the following cycle.
1 sets of 31&35 reps.
T$he lifter must strip the bar and do at least one DprimingD set with -ust the bands, plus a minimum of two additional progressive sets. $his may allow for potentiation, which can help prevent in-ury and improve performance.
$hese templates will allow the lifter to train using a seven day microcycle. I do not believe this approach is optimal for many lifters, but good advice that won*t get followed is bad advice. So, for those who have continually reuested this as an option, these templates are the best way to run mesocycles with seven day microcycles 8rather than the standard nine9.
O2F 36;, N sets of 1 repetitions, followed by 5th set of (;6(.
Start with 51.5F of full 6:; 36; for 1 sets of 31 reps. (dd 5 lbs the following cycle, every time time you get all of your target reps.
1 progressive sets of 32 reps, start light and move up each cycle until you are near a 326;, then maintain the weight as this will become static volume. $ry to slow down the negative portion of each rep.
Same directions and volume as Side 6aises, e%cept you will shoot for 31 reps and focus on maintaining tension, not allowing the dumbbells to come all of the way down.
=5F 36;, N sets of 7 repetitions, followed by 5thSet of (;6(. (dd 5 pounds per microcycle.
=2F 36; for 7 sets of 7 reps. (dd 5 pounds per microcycle.
=5F 36;, 5 sets of 7 repetitions. (dd 5 pounds per microcycle. $he
emphasis is going to be on techniue and speed off the floor.
5=.5F deadlift 36;, 1 sets of 31 reps. (dd 5 pounds per microcycle.
5=.5F Sumo 36;, 1 sets of 32 reps. (dd 5 pounds per microcycle.
7 sets of 35 reps.
1 progressive sets of 31 reps, start with medium weight and add to the second set the following cycle whenever target8319 reps are achieved.
1 progressive sets of 35, same rules.
Aarm up first with 1 sets of light pulldowns. If you don*t have a pull down machine, use a band to warm up by choking it around the top of a suat rack and doing pull downs on your knees. erform 1 sets with body weight for (;6(. 3 set of (;6(, pronated. 3 sets of (;6(, supinated. If you get shoulder pain when pronated, do all sets supinated. :r whichever way doesn*t bother elbows or shoulders, if they are becoming an issue. Ahen you are able to get 12 reps on both sets, add 5 pounds the following cycle.
1 sets of 31&35 reps.
7 sets of 32 reps.
Start medium weight for 1 sets of 72 reps. Ahenever you get 72 reps on both sets, move up 5 pounds the following cycle.
1 sets of 32 reps. "irst cycle should be very easy. $he first cycle do 32 reps, the ne%t cycle 31, 35 reps, ne%t 3O, ne%t 12, ne%t! 5lbs % 32 reps, repeat.
1 sets of 15 overhand, 1 sets underhand.
7 sets of 72&75 reps, 42 seconds rest between sets. ;ove down to N5 seconds rest after 1 cycles, then up the reps to 75 with 42 seconds, then 75 reps with N5 seconds, then add a Nth set and follow that pattern. Co not go above 5 sets.
O2F 36;, N sets of 1 repetitions, followed by 5th set of (;6(.
Start with 51.5F of full 6:; 36; for 1 sets of 31 reps. (dd 5 lbs the following cycle, every time time you get all of your target reps.
1 progressive sets of 32 reps, start light and move up each cycle until you are near a 326;, then maintain the weight as this will become static volume. $ry to slow down the negative portion of each rep.
Same directions and volume as Side 6aises, e%cept you will shoot for 31 reps and focus on maintaining tension, not allowing the dumbbells to come all of the way down.
=5F 36;, N sets of 7 repetitions, followed by 5thSet of (;6(. (dd 5 pounds per microcycle.
5=.5F deadlift 36;, 1 sets of 31 reps. (dd 5 pounds per microcycle.
5=.5F Sumo 36;, 1 sets of 32 reps. (dd 5 pounds per microcycle.
=5F 36;, 5 sets of 7 repetitions. (dd 5 pounds per microcycle. =2F 36; for 7 sets of 7 reps. (dd 5 pounds per microcycle.
7 sets of 35 reps.
1 progressive sets of 31 reps, start with medium weight and add to the second set the following cycle whenever target8319 reps are achieved.
1 progressive sets of 35, same rules.
Aarm up first with 1 sets of light pulldowns. If you don*t have a pull down machine, use a band to warm up by choking it around the top of a suat rack and doing pull downs on your knees. erform 1 sets with body weight for (;6(. 3 set of (;6(, pronated. 3 sets of (;6(, supinated. If you get shoulder pain when pronated, do all sets supinated. :r whichever way doesn*t bother elbows or shoulders, if they are becoming an issue. Ahen you are able to get 12 reps on both sets, add 5 pounds the following cycle.
1 sets of 31&35 reps.
7 sets of 32 reps.
Start medium weight for 1 sets of 72 reps. Ahenever you get 72 reps on both sets, move up 5 pounds the following cycle.
1 sets of 32 reps. "irst cycle should be very easy. $he first cycle do 32 reps, the ne%t cycle 31, 35 reps, ne%t 3O, ne%t 12, ne%t! 5lbs % 32 reps, repeat.
1 sets of 15 overhand, 1 sets underhand.
7 sets of 72&75 reps, 42 seconds rest between sets. ;ove down to N5 seconds rest after 1 cycles, then up the reps to 75 with 42 seconds, then 75 reps with N5 seconds, then add a Nth set and follow that pattern. Co not go above 5 sets.
$his is a template which incorporates the new =5F techniue protocol for both deadlift and suat. Coing so allows for ma%imal progress to be made on the bench press, without a loss of strength in the suat or deadlift. 1nd ressing Cay main movement and all ;S;*s can be rotated or seuenced as needed.
O2F 36;, N sets of 1 repetitions, followed by 5th set of (;6(.
1 sets of 5 reps, start with =5F full 6:; 36;. (dd 5 lbs the following cycle, every time you get all of your target reps.
1 progressive sets of 32 reps, start light and move up each cycle until you are near a 326;, then maintain the weight as this will become static volume. $ry to slow down the negative portion of each rep.
Same directions and volume as Side 6aises, e%cept you will shoot for 31 reps and focus on maintaining tension, not allowing the dumbbells to come all of the way down.
=5F 36;, 5 sets of 7 repetitions. (dd 5 pounds per microcycle.
=2F 36; for 7 sets of 7 reps. (dd 5 pounds per microcycle.
5 sets of 32 reps.
1 progressive sets of 31 reps, start with medium weight and add to the second set the following cycle whenever target reps are achieved.
1 sets of 35 reps, move up ne%t cycle whenever target reps are achieved.
1 progressive sets of 35, same rules.
5 sets of 32 reps.
start 51.5F of 36; for two sets. Ahenever you get 15 on both sets, move up 5 lbs the following cycle.
1 sets of 32 reps. "irst cycle should be very easy. $he first cycle do 32 reps, the ne%t cycle 31, 35 reps, ne%t 3O, ne%t 12, ne%t! 5lbs % 32 reps, repeat.
1 sets of 15 overhand, 1 sets underhand.
7 sets of 72&75 reps, 42 seconds rest between sets. ;ove down tp N5 seconds rest after 1 cycles, then up the reps to 75 with 42 seconds, then 75 reps with N5 seconds, then add a Nth set and follow that pattern. Co not go above 5 sets.
=5F 36;, 5 sets of 7 repetitions. (dd 5 pounds per microcycle. $he emphasis is going to be on techniue and speed off the floor.
=2F deadlift 36;, 7 sets of 7 reps. (dd 5 pounds per microcycle.
=2F Sumo 36;, 1 sets of 5 reps. (dd 5 pounds per microcycle.
7 sets of 35 reps.
Aarm up first with 1 sets of light pulldowns. If you don*t have a pull down machine, use a band to warm up by choking it around the top of a suat rack and doing pull downs on your knees. erform 5 sets with body weight for no more than 32 reps per set. 1 sets of as many as 32 reps, pronated. 7 sets of as many as 32 reps, supinated. Stagger the sets. If you get shoulder pain when pronated, do all sets supinated. :r whichever way doesn*t bother elbows or shoulders, if they are becoming an issue. Ahen you are able to get 32 reps on all 5 sets, add 5 pounds the following cycle.
1 sets of 31&35 reps.
"or XLow 6ecoverability@ options, read the ew rotocols section to see how any template can be easily modified to suit low recoverability.
(ny template can be easily modified to to suit training in a home or garage gym, which is part of the beauty in simplicity that is 5thSet.
