Curious what people think about my training

[amn]

After writing this, I figure it's probably too long for anyone to read. But I'll see what happens. I have kind of a powerbuilder approach to training -- but I'm mostly hypertrophy oriented. I like benching and deadlifting heavy once a week though. Squatting, I could give two shits about heavy, but I still play around with a heavy double once a week, just to keep the technique fresh.

Day 1

Squat High Bar w/ belt (competition style)

• 2 reps at 8 RPE
• 8 reps at 8 RPE
• 2x6 reps at 6 RPE

Pin Squat with belt (3-1-0 tempo)

• 4x6 reps 6-7 RPE

Calf Raises (standing dumbbell)

• 4x20-30 8-9 RPE

Bent-over Trap Bar Row (with 2 inch deficit)

• 3-4x10-15 reps 8 RPE

superset with

Deficit Push-ups (4 inch)

• 3-4 sets to 8-9 RPE

"Easier Cardio" - 20 minutes at RPE 5 (very bottom of Zone 2/5)

Day 2

Bench Press 3-0-0 tempo

• 3x10-15 at 6-7 RPE

Ez-curl bar Curls

• 3x10-15 at 7-8 RPE

Lateral Raises

• 3x10-15 at 9 RPE

Modified Candlesticks

• 3 sets at 9 RPE

Vigorous Cardio - 25-30 minutes at RPE 8 (steady state, zone 4-ish)

Day 3

Competition Deadlift (w/ belt, straight bar)

• 5 or 6 sets of 4 reps at 6-7 RPE

Incline Bench Press (2-1-0 tempo)

• 3-4 sets 10-15 reps at 7 RPE

Bulgarian Split Squat

• 2-3 sets per side, 10-15 reps 7 RPE

"Easier Cardio" - 20 minutes RPE 5

Day 4

Single-arm Row (head on bench)

• 3-4 sets 10-15 at 8 RPE

Decline Dumbbell Pullover

• 3 sets 10-15 at 8

Lateral Raise

• 3-4 sets 15-25 at 9

Moderate Cardio - 25-30 minutes at RPE 6 (little harder than the Easy day, definitely in Zone 2/5)

Day 5

Split Squat (w/ open-ended trap bar) front-foot elevated ~2 inches

• 2-3 sets 10-15 at 7-8 RPE

Pin Squat without belt (3-0-0)

• 3x8-12 at 7 RPE

Calf Raises (standing dumbbell, exactly like Day 1)

• 4x20-30 at 8 RPE

Incline Dumbbell Curl

• 3-4x15-25 at 7-9 RPE

Weighted Situps

• 3x10-20 at 9 RPE

Easier Cardio - 20 minutes at RPE 5

Day 6

Competition Bench (1ct pause on chest)

• 2 reps at 8 RPE
• 5 reps at 8 RPE
• 2-4 backoff sets of 5 reps at 6 RPE

Stiff Leg Deadlift

• 3x10-15 at 7-8 RPE

Pull-up 3-0-3 tempo

• 4-6 sets (half underhand, half overhand) at 6-8 RPE

Ez-bar Skullcrushers

• 3 sets 10-15 at 8 RPE

Moderate Cardio - 25-30 minutes at RPE 6

The set ranges and RPE ranges are the typical range I float in between times I need to take a bit of deload. I don't proactively pre-plan deloads anymore, this way seems to let me get more productive training in for longer. In general though I'm probably on the lower end most of the time -- that seems to work better for recovery and fatigue management. Progress is slow for me in absolute terms, but I've been at this a while, so I don't know if there's a more productive paradigm that wouldn't require: 1. more time, 2. more equipment. I train at home now, so I don't routinely have access to machines anymore. I used to use a lot of leg curl / leg extension, leg press, belt squat, machine rows, pec deck -- those would be great. no doubt.

 

[mommajulesberry]

@amn this sounds based as fuck for the calibre of this sub ("hey im 18 and i want the best ab exercise to lose belly fat and get toned")

you are thinking about your own training in depth which means you will automatically be accountable for if things aren't going well and troubleshooting appropriately.

as a strength enthusiast i think sam shethar's channel (mostly his training questions series) is probably the most underrated gem as well as alex bromley (his fire your coach/FYC series is great) and bald omni man

general showerthoughts below:

TLDR: ideas for exc variety, skeptical of concentric tempo prescriptions, look at the longer term plan to address exercises going stale, thoughts on volume/rir

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- i personally would think that the only glaring hole is would be missing vertical pressing and being a bit sparse on tricep work

- you're obviously using a pretty low specificity/high exercise variety approach for hypertrophy. i like it most of the time but as a home gym enjoyer you will obviously have to either be creative and have some deep pockets of exercises/rep ranges/variations when things get stale

- ive seen someone use plates on a dip belt to load calf raises which might let you use your arms for stability and get a lot out of the weighted stretch at the bottom (which is really productive) and maybe even be able to train them in a bit of a heavier rep range

- you could try doing some sort of landmine belt squat as a leg accessory

- you could also look into plate loaded pulleys which would open up literally anything you could do with a cable (

alex leonidas ghetto pulldown setup), as well as weight plate pin versions of belt squats (

alex leonidas diy setup)

- again with this pretty maximalist exercise selection and 6 days a week something will have to give whether its keeping reps in the tank or sets per exercise. id personally skew in favour of taking back/arms/splitsquats a little bit closer to failure as my adhd brain doesn't really like tracking progression on too many exercises with too many RIR but i imagine you have a decent idea of what you're doing

- obviously higher volume and higher intensity approaches to the hypertrophy stuff have their time and place. as a dr mike fan i cant really be bothered to implement his formalized escalating rpe/volume approach but i would probably just make sure whatever im doing im somewhere between mev and mrv using rep strength and stimulus proxies ie. that i'm doing enough but not too much (

)

- milking eccentrics is fantastic but i don't personally see the value in using tempo for the concentric because i dont see the value in time under tension except as a byproduct of lifting close enough to failure

- gymnastic rings also open up a buttload of cool hypertrophy stuff like ring dips and even ring hamstring curls and sissy squat variations (i'm personally a fan of crazy hamstrings to help the deadlift) which i read about thru geoffrey verity schofields ring training ebook

 

[amn]

@mommajulesberry Yes thanks for the thorough rundown. Lots of good ideas I'll steal here.

Sorry for the confusion, I think I use a different tempo notation from the standard. In my mind 3-0-0 (means 3 second eccentric, no pause, concentric as fast as possible), (3-1-0) (3-sec eccentric with 1ct pause at the bottom, etc). The only concentric tempo I use is on pull-ups right now, and that's mostly temporary due to some elbow bullshit going on.

I routinely bring in true vertical pressing. I'm a little limited on ceiling height, so it's seated, and I don't like it as much. But I'll do it about half the time.

Yeah, light on triceps, certainly direct triceps. I do quite a bit of pressing though. Triceps are certainly not set on priority right now, that's true.

You are right to question the variety of RIRs. This is partly me dealing with some joint issues, and working back up. Gradually flirting with a little bit more relative intensity. I have tried the Dr Mike approach of pre-planned RIR decreases, and volume increases, it always seemed to burn me out way too fast. Perhaps I could start with even less volume to work it up, but I think that just creates a smaller area under the stimulus curve when you look at the whole meso. Instead I'm trying this more low-ish fatigue / slightly lower average intensity approach and cruising for a lot longer before needing a deload. This is an approach espoused more recently by folks like Austin Baraki, and Jordan Feigenbaum.

You're definitely right about needing to get creative with other exercises. I've been looking at sissy squat benches, maybe a belt squat machine (bells of steel makes a decent one with a small footprint), and maybe really doubling down, another 3-4k to get a cable machine. My REP rack can technically have an athena cable system installed in the back, but I think it would be a bad tradeoff to lose the plate storage. So many attachments, so little time. I have PR-5000 rack, so it can handle a lot of different attachements from other makers too.

Huh- ring hamstring curls -- sounds brutal and amazing.

 

[mommajulesberry]

@amn - id think landmine belt squats and plate loaded cables would again probably be the most practical at the moment

- i guess lower rpe approaches i'd ideally have some sort of "tracking metric" lift that you can take to the cleaners if need be. love the barbell medicine guys as well.

- on the question of elbow bullshit, you could maybe try the old john meadows trick of doing a buttload of pushdowns first to get blood into the area.

- obviously tris get a bunch of indirect work but i'm personally a believer in direct work for PL (even though my credentials are benching 1/2 of what i can squat) and you can probably just superset a few extra sets literally anywhere in your program at the moment

 

[amn]

@mommajulesberry Yeah, I’ve looked at some landmine belt squat setups, they seem ok, just a bit cumbersome to setup and hit a good depth. The cheap plate pin cable systems are an affordable option as well.

Tracking : I do have my “competition” style lifts, different rep ranges but a top set @8, except on deadlift right now, which I’ll probably add back in, so 4@8, then 4-5 sets of 4@6.

The pressdowns are a nice idea, I can do banded variations. And that could actually work nicely for sprinkling in extra work set volume as well. Honestly cable pressdowns were a staple for me when I was attending a commercial gym, and they rarely bothered me. Skullcrushers and overhead extensions don’t seem as reliable. I tried dips a number of times, not great at all on the elbows.

It seems like my long term development is mostly hampered by my ability to find the right mix of exercises, intensity and volume, that doesn’t irritate something. Although I think my progress is OK. I don’t think my weekly volume and average intensity is too high at all. And much higher workload seems to have negative outcomes. So it seems like exploring new exercise variations is a necessary next step. Maybe new variations will be enough to drive hypertrophy, and maybe these variations will let me use a bit more volume or intensity.

Getting a training partner to yell at me might help too, but I don’t think that’s going to happen.