Stalled Progress and the Need for Variations

In order to determine if progress has stalled, we need to define what progress looks like. Progress comes down to three components: 1) the metric you are using, 2) exercise selection, and 3) the number of repetitions. For today’s blog, I will be using the 1RM squat as an example.

In the beginning, almost anything will work to increase your 1RM. The quickest way to get your squat stronger is to train the same squat variation week in and week out. You’ll become highly adapted to squatting. Then, you can enter a peak phase. A peak phase is a great way to test your 1RM, often involving 1-6 heavy training exposures with loads above 90%. Afterward, you test your 1RM.

However, peaking for a 1RM has its pitfalls. It can be incredibly stressful on the body and may take anywhere from 4 to 12 weeks, consuming a lot of training time. During a peak, training loads increase, and so does the risk of injury. If you peak too often, you lose time that could have been spent developing technique, general strength, and hypertrophy. Not to mention, there is a reduced focus on addressing muscular imbalances and developing optimal recovery strategies.

When a lifter has made significant progress, the law of diminishing returns begins to take effect. This means the more time you put in, the less you get out. The methods that once worked may no longer yield the same results. This isn’t just due to program staleness but also the accumulation of injuries and soft tissue limitations, which can prevent similar volumes, intensities, and squat styles from delivering the same gains as before.

The best way to prevent this is by incorporating different types of squats. For example, using a box squat or a cambered bar squat can have a novel effect, leading to quick gains in that variation. This is because the body rapidly develops new motor patterns. By rotating the exercise out before maximum adaptation occurs, the body becomes efficient enough to express strength close to, but not quite at, a true 1RM in that variation.

The genius of variation lies in the phrase “close to.” Because you are never truly expressing a "true" 1RM, you are able to recover far better than if you were to test a real 1RM. By rotating through different exercises over the course of a year, and not repeating any variation twice, you’ll have a year’s worth of variations. If done correctly, and barring any major training setbacks, you should be slightly stronger than when you last performed each variation. This approach spreads progress across many different types of 1RM squats. Don’t be surprised if some variations are close to or even exceed your regular squat.

But what about progress with my 1RM squat? After taking time to step back from the main lift, you can peak your regular squat again. Some people align this with a powerlifting meet or simply do it in the gym. Make sure you take the proper amount of time and exposures to train over 90% in preparation for your nervous system to handle and execute your 1RM squat.

GODSPEED.

Technical Mastery

This is an open-ended process of refinement, knowing where you are, addressing weakness and making adjustments. After a lifter learns the lifts with proper coaching instruction it’s time put them into practice. As they follow a strength program, while receiving feedback, experience is gained and it makes them more proficient at the lifts. The indicator is when reps start looking identical to each other. At that point the weight can be increased without much form degradation. After a certain point the lifter will need to take more ownership of their technique by actively paying attention, thinking about what they should be thinking about and sense what good technique “feels” like.

After 80% technical proficiency is reached the lifter should be lifting considerable heavier. This incurs a new set of problems that requiring more lifter autonomy while experimenting with different variations and setup up changes that target weaknesses within the lift and lifters psyche.   

Let’s take a look at the different levels of Technical Mastery

Level 1 – General Technical Model

A lifters movement patterns are consistent at low weights. If a lifter is struggling with consistency of the reps try changing the stance, grip width or bar placement. It is recommended at this stage to slow things down, using tempo work and pause variations. This helps create an environment for increased proception. Cueing from a coach should be minimal and concise with the goal of the lifter “feeling” what right feels like. This is also a good time to start getting use to rating the lifts. I use the rated perceived exertion (RPE) scale 1-10. 1 being super easy 10 being extremely difficult.  

Level 2 – Stabilize the Model

Lifter’s movement patterns are more consistent than level 1 with RPEs of 7. The lifter will notice form degradations and start to understand when they are compensating. The lifter should be placed in situations where they tend to struggle. Specific variations (example for a chest fall pattern in the squat use a safety squat bar or tempo variation) or at a specific intensity that is at the cusp of form breakdown so the lifter can be successful in overcoming the movement fault with good technique.

Level 3 – Refining the Model (80% Technical Efficiency)

The lifter will have much more control over lifts that are RPE 8-9. Here you’ll see very little form breakdown. You’ll see more sticking point and lack of force production issues. Here the lifter will “tweak” certain things like tucking the elbows more on the bench, or setting up with the hips a little bit lower on the deadlift or sit the hips back more on the squat for better hip drive.

Here the lifter should be doing special exercises that rewards or punishes movement. I tend to think of heavy dead bench press or dead squats (dead variations are pin variations that starts on the pins with no stretch reflex). You must be in the correct position in order to get the lift started. The adjustments to technique are often minimal body movements using variations that are usually set up to build strength at the sticking points.

Level 4 – Making Technique Changes

Lifter will have technical degradations and these happen to be clues into which technique is will produce the strongest result. Here the lifter needs very little cueing and is very in tuned to their bodies.  

For example, lifter who shifts forward in the squat, (if hips and shoulder structures permit) taking a wider stance and placing the bar lower on the shoulder may prove to be a better option. This should allow the lifter to stay more balanced. Other examples include taking a wider grip position on bench press or even switching the primary deadlift variation to sumo due to better leverages.  These changes in setup usually take some time to build. What comes with this, usually from a lifter’s perspective, are feelings demotivation due to going backwards for some time before they can go forward. The body needs to build the technical proficiency in the newer setups. I recommend when implement set up changes to only make slight changes at first when transitioning to a different style of technique. This does two things 1) allows the lifter to retain most of their pervious technique and 2) allows tendons, ligaments, bones and cartilage to slowly adapt to the new loading angles. During this process it’s important for a lifter to keep an objective mindset not allowing rumination of “weight lifted” is what” defines progress”.   

Conclusion

This model is just an outline and doesn’t mean an athlete is fixed into one level. It's common to be further along with one lift than the other but you mustn’t treat all lifts equally. Furthermore, this model isn’t a linear path towards level 4. It’s ever changing with new variations, when there are outside stressors, missing training sessions, not being mentally focused during training, or there is a physical or mental setbacks. There is merit in understanding where you are on this scale. That should help prioritize what needs to be worked on and what are the indicators of increased technical proficiency. In the long-term finding the most optimal technique is the goal and takes time and some trial and error. It must be thought as a long-term investment to keep your strength potential ceiling as high as possible.  

Novice Linear Progression (LP)

This style of programming takes advantage of the Novice Effect, which was popularized by the Starting Strength. The Novice Effect is when untrain people being to lift weights, they quickly get strong.

The reason this is three-fold

1)      New motor skill development. Barring any major psychological and physical barriers, when learn a new skill in an encouraging environment, it’s can be easy to get good at it pretty quickly because you get the well needed time under the bar.   

2)      Novel stimulus. Doing something new excites the mind and body. The lifter is more engaged, willing to try and in addition the body is being loaded in a way it’s never been before. This leads to a rapid adaptation.

3)      Fast recovery rate. Due to inefficiency of the lift the lifter will not be able to truly express strength yet. This means that the lifter will not be able to lift a lot of weight therefor systemic fatigue will be low until a level of technical proficiency has been achieved. When that has occurred the lifter will be able to safely lift more weight which in turn taxes the lifter far more.

The Novice LP uses the 4 main barbell lifts with 2 alternating workouts done on a three x per week schedule.

Workout A

Squat – 3x5

Bench press – 3x5

Deadlift – 1x5

Workout B

Squat – 3x5

Overhead press – 3x5

Deadlift – 1x5

Typical novice LP bi weekly structure, adding weight to the bar every training session

Fast track

Working with a professional strength coach, this is the quickest, safest and most effective way to get as strong as possible. It is cautioned, this style of programming WITHOUT MAKING ADJUSTMENTS is not a long-term solution to getting stronger. The coach will be able to identify movement errors, and prioritize movement quality over weight progressions. The coach also may implement programming changes to match where the client is at physically and psychologically.

A Perfect World

Each workout the weight should increase and look something like this

projected increases in bar weight using Novice LP

 It is evident that the linear progress model will allow you to add a lot of weight to the bar in a short amount of time. In real life this doesn’t go on forever. If that was the case everyone would be deadlifting 500lbs in less than 4 months!

The law of diminishing returns

The stronger you become the more time it takes to put more weight on the bar. At the point the lifter can no longer add weight to the bar every workout they have ventured into late novice/early intermediate phase. Here is where programming change MUST CHANGE.  

Adjustments

This could include reducing intense or work volume per week. Implement light days for recovery for light day with special developmental exercises that address poor movement patterns, ones that do not get fixed with specific cuing. Keeping weight, the same and working on increase intra set work density (IG: 7x2 to 5x3 to 4x4 to 3x5) or changing over to a 4 day a week intermediate style programming where you would .

Final words

Novice LP program is a straight forward way to get strong but it is just one way. Through my experience coaching I’ve found that some lifters take very well to this approach and progress may last up to 6 months while others, I will need to make adjustments to the program the very next week. Each person will have their own path to strength gain, it’s my duty to sense the right programming changes to allow the environment for skill development, injury prevention and strength develop to all occur.

Conjugate Method, Explained

Conjugate Method, popularized by Louie Simmons, is a training systems that uses consistently varying exercises to develop, strength, power and athleticism

In conjugate system barbell training will only make up 20% of your exercise volume. While 80% will be dedicated to special exercises, accessories and increasing general physical preparedness (work capacity).

There are three methods of traing in which conjugate is structed around

Max effort (90%+) – recruits high threshold motor units, teaches lifters to grind and adapt with near maximum weights.

Dynamic effort (75-85% or 50-60% bar weight with bands or chains making up about 25% of total resistance) - Due to the high levels of acceleration, this method builds power (Power = Force x Distance ÷ Time). It forces the body to recruit high threshold motor units and develops rate of force production. Using only straight weight, even if maximum intent is used the barbell will naturally decelerate. This is due to inherent increased mechanical advantage after a sticking point is passed. To combat deceleration, accommodating resistance is used to reflectively increase force production past the sticking point up to peak contraction (fully locked out).

Repetition method – builds hypertrophy, glycolic and aerobic energy system helping increase GPP. Sets are taken to failure, only when this happens will this recruit maximum motor units.

Workout Structure

Each workout should look something similar to this

• Max effort or Dynamic effort

• Supplemental or secondary Dynamic effort

• Accessory

• Accessory

• Accessory

Weekly Structure

The micro cycle (weekly plan) structure should look something similar to this

Day 1 – (ME) Max effort upper

Day 2 – (ME) Max effort lower

Day 3 – (DE) Dynamic effort upper

Day 4 – (DE) Dynamic effort lower

Example Week

Here is what an example micro cycle (week) may look like…

Day 1 - Max Effort Lower

• (ME) - high bar low box squat

• Cambered bar wide stance good morning – 4x5

• Single arm dumbbell rows – 4x12

• Reverse hypers 4x20

• Standing banded crunch – 100 reps AFAP

Day 2 - Max Effort Upper

• (ME) Upper - Floor press

• Close grip Bench press with 40lb chains – 5x5

• Laying dumbbell triceps extensions – 4x12

• Dumbbell pull over – 4x12

• Front + laterals raise – 3x12

Day 3 -Dynamic Effort Lower

• (DE) Squat - 80lbchain squats 10x2 @ 55%, 60 seconds rest

• (DE) - 2” banded sumo deficit deadlifts – 10x1 @ 55%, EMOM (every minute on the minute)

• GHR – 4x10

• Chest supported row – 4x10

• Side bends -4x20

• Banded hamstring curls – 100 reps AFAP

Day 4 – Dynamic Effort Upper

• (DE) 3 grip bench press with bands 9x3 @ 55%, 30-45 seconds rest

• Dumbbell press – 5x5

• Dumbbell rollbacks – 3x12

• Seated cable rows – 4x10

• Straight arm pulldown – 4x20

• Band pull apart – 100 AFAP

*Make sure there is at least 72 hours between dynamic effort work and Max effort.

A Deeper Dive

Note: on all days use different assortments of variations, special bars, changes in stance or grip, addition of accommodating resistance or manipulating range of motion (making it a longer or shorter distance than normal).

Max Effort Should be a 1-3 rep max

These should not be the primary competition lifts something that may resemble them.

Max Effort Lower example

Week 1 – High bar Narrow stance low box squat

Week 2 – Cambered bar 80lb chain squat

Week 3 – 2” deficit deadlift with 1” bands

Max Effort Upper example

Week 1 – 2 board press

Week 2 – Dead pin bench press with 100lb chains

Week 3 – Wide grip legless Buffalo Bar Bench press

Dynamic Effort should be same exercise done in 3-week waves 50-60% bar weight and with 25% accommodating resistance.

Dynamic Lower Squat Example

Wide stance 12” box squat + 80lbs in chains

Week 1 – 12x2 @50%

week 2 – 10x2 @ 55%

week 3 – 8x2 @ 60%

Dynamic Lower Deadlift Example

2” Deficit + 1” Banded Sumo deadlift

Week 1 – 12x1 @50%

week 2 – 10x1 @ 55%

week 3 – 8x1 @ 60%

Dynamic Upper Bench Example

Swiss Bar 40lb Chain Floor press

Week 1 – 9x3 @50%

week 2 – 9x3 @ 55%

week 3 – 9x3 @ 60%

Supplement lifts

These lifts should be lifts a weak area. For squat and deadlifts good mornings are a good place to start and for Bench close grip bench press is a good starting point. Usually done for sets of 3-6 reps.

Accessories

These are specific muscle groups that need strengthening. Squat and deadlift that is hips, glutes, low back, hamstrings, upper back, core. For the Bench is triceps, lats, upper back and shoulders. These accessories should be taken to failure on most accounts.

80% of Your Training Volume

The bulk of the training program comes from everything that is not the main lift. Being smart about where you are putting your energy will produce long term results. The base of performance is development a larger work capacity thought increasing GPP. That is done over years not weeks. Focusing on “smaller” exercises come at a much lower recovery cost meaning you can and should push the accessories hard. Because they are far less demanding on the nervous system, they need to be train to failure to reap the benefits.

In addition to increase GPP because you are rotating through different exercises on an annual time scale you place the body in slightly different positions. You are forced to apply maximum effort to overcome the slightly different variances in torso, limb and joint angles. Taking a conjugate approach over time will help prevent over use injury, makes you more robust, makes you more adaptable to changes in the environment and allow you to break through plateaus.

As training age increases, you’ll notice weaknesses that pop up. This information is crucial because it should help guide you into choosing exercises that target your weaknesses. For example, if your back rounds in conventional deadlift having something like front squats in the program will force the upper back to work hard. You may want to emphasis lot of upper back work you be able to keep the torso upright during the pull.

Cons to Conjugate

It can be really hard to see what progress looks like. If there is more weight on the bar than last time you are getting stronger, right? The problem is, some variations place you in such an inefficient position it can reveal a glaring weakness preventing you from expressing how strong your regular barbell lifts are. If you’ve never done a specific variation before it can be an entirely new learning process. Due to the consistently varying movements the body doesn’t really get a chance for skill accusation to occur allowing proper technique to develop. The argument against this that we pick variations that will force proper from to occur. For example, using a box squat with proper form. In my coach experience however, it can take 3-8 weeks of practice with a lift for enough skill development to occur to truly express maximum strength in that variation.

Low recovery cost or more dangerous?

In a way because of the lifters lack of skill they can’t life a lot of weight which can come at very low recovery cost. On the contrary it also can be more dangerous if a lifter is injury prone, isn’t good at adaptability or has low bodily awareness.

If form needs lots of improve, I recommend to keep them doing the regular version of the barbell lift until a baseline level of skill and strength are developed. For most beginners it takes time to master the regular lifts. By changing them on a weekly basis this may cause even more confusion between the lifter and the body. This could possibly lead to lack of interest from the lifter in forms of not able to see progress and never really feeling confident in feeling that they know what they are doing.

The lifter must spend the time to learn how to lift, create the necessary movement patterns for technical mastery and build confidence. I say when a lifter can do that then let the variations begin!

Last words

In the real world there is always a blend of elements the teacher uses to guide the student. There is not one specific way that will work for everyone. There are generalized paths that usually work for most and that’s usually where to start. The paths taken is guided by the student’s skill, adaptability, attention detail, engagement, previous experiences, age, maturity level, willingness and drive. The teacher must encompass all those elements. Through the process the student should learn their own body, limitations (physical and mental), strengths and motivations. The cognate system, done correctly should teach all that. Getting there can be a whole other story.

Programming Hack

This post is intended for a lifter who…

-is not a novice

-is proficient in the barbell lifts (squat, bench press, deadlift, overhead press, snatch and clean and jerk)

-has a previously established max

Good metrics for strength are…

5x5 @ 75% On the strength lifts (Squat, Bench Press, Deadlift, Overhead Press)

5x3 @ 75% on the weightlifting lifts (Snatch, Clean and Jerk)

In my opinion you SHOULD NOT BE TOUCHING weights 90% and above unless you have a solid amount of submaximal work under your belt for at least 3-4 weeks

On with the show

Follow this tree diagnostic tree. this should take a minimum of 2 weeks or a maximum of 6 weeks

Take this with a grain of salt

• Lapse in training or you have been out of it for a while, take 90% of your regular max and use that as your training max. 

• Take your time building to 5x5 @ 75%. If 60% is a struggle for 5 reps, take the time to build that up. Plan out 4-8 week to even get you back to baseline. 

• Bench press and Overhead press will require more volume, 30 total reps may be better to do

• If your squat and deadlift max is high, over 500lbs  you may want to lower the intensity to 70%. Aim to hit 5x5 on the volume days but 6x4 or 8x3 will suffice.

• On the Snatch and the Clean and Jerk 5x3 @ 75% or 3x3 @ 80% can suffice for the volume work.

• Pick only one lower body strength lift per training block (squat or deadlift focus)

• Do not run this for too long. Only allow 3, 90%+ exposures, over the course of 6 weeks. After three exposures strength and technique will start to deteriorate.

Reflection

Usually everything works until it doesn’t, this is no different. You want to eventually fail because that shines light on weaknesses. This information is valuable. It’s lumped into two technique failure or a strength failure. If technique is sound increasing work capacity and GPP (General Physical Preparation), will help. If technique needs improvement technique specific exercises like pause reps, positions work in addition to building overall more GPP will help.

Pain

Pain

At some point in time, we all experience some sort of road block. This could be an injury or general pain.

A diagnosis does not have to be a death sentence. The beauty of the body is that it will adapt the best it can. The right mind set is imperative to view this bump in the road as an opportunity to work on our weak areas; physical and mental.

Getting muscles stronger around painful joint is proven to decrease pain and improves the function of the joint. This blog post is not a cure for pain. If you have pain or restrictions seek a competent professional in the medical and rehabilitation fields helping you clarify the limits at which you should train in. Whether you decide to do it on your own or work with a coach, you must proceed with bodily awareness and open mind.   

If you are working with a coach an open communication loop between the lifter and the client is essential. The process can help the lifter create more awareness of their pain triggers allowing desensitizing the affected area. This in turn will help reduce inflammation promoting healing of the affected tissues.

The top goals for the strength coach are: to create a non-threating environment for the lifter, do not exacerbate the pain, strengthen muscles around the joint by retaining as much as the main lifts as possible.

The following is an example of squat progressions with a lifter who has knee pain.

Scenario 1 – Knee pain squatting at 100lbs but not at 85lb

Example 1  - Working up to 100lbs after two weeks

Week 1 – 3x5 @ 85lb

Week 2 – 3x5 @ 90lbs

Week 3 – 3x5 @ 95lbs

Week 4 – 3x5 @ 100lbs

Example 2  Starting at 5 reps and building to 15 total reps then adding weight 

Week 1 – 1x5 @ 85lbs

Week 2 – 2x5 @ 85lbs

Week 3 – 3x5 @ 85lbs

Week 4 – 1x5 @ 90lbs or 3x5 @ 90lbs

 

Scenario 2 – Knee pain squatting at the bottom of the squat

Exercise variation - Pin squat

Example 1: Increase Range of motion

Training Block 1 - Pin height 5

Week1 – 3x5 @ 85

Week 2 – 3x5 @ 90

Week 3 – 3x5 @ 95

Training Block 2 Height 4 (1” lower)

Week1 – 3x5 @ 85

Week 2 – 3x5 @ 90

Week 3 – 3x5 @ 95

Training Block 3 Pin height 3 (this is depth)

Week1 – 3x5 @ 85

Week 2 – 3x5 @ 90

Week 3 – 3x5 @ 95

Training Block 4 no pins, full range squats.

Week1 – 3x5 @ 85

Week 2 – 3x5 @ 90

Week 3 – 3x5 @ 95

Example 2: Increasing Intensity and wave loading volume  

Training Block 1 Pin height 5

Week1 – 3x5 @ 85

Week 2 – 4x5 @ 85

Week 3 – 5x5 @ 85

Training Block 2 Height 5

Week1 – 3x5 @ 90

Week 2 – 4x5 @ 90

Week 3 – 5x5 @ 90

Training Block 3 Pin height 5

Week1 – 3x5 @ 95

Week 2 – 4x5 @ 95

Week 3 – 5x5 @ 95

Training Block 4 Pin height 5

Week1 – 3x5 @ 100

Week 2 – 4x5 @ 100

Week 3 – 5x5 @ 100

In both cases we can retest the full range squat to see if the pain is still present.

Scenario 3 - Any sort of squatting with regular stance hurts and the client cringing just thinking about the lift.

Here’s a limited list with exercise substitutions for the squat. The goal is to find a pain free squat variation.  

1.     Wide stance Squat

2.     Box squat

3.     High bar squat

4.     Front squat

5.     Cambered bar squat

6.     Safety bar squat

7.     Hex bar deadlift

8.     Belt Squat

9.     Leg press

10.   Deadlift 

11.   Good morning

12.   RDL

Once you find a variation that can work. Keep it in the program and progress it. Slowly testing the waters on the regular squat after 4-8 weeks.  

Variables to keep in mind:

Speed of the repetition - Slowing the lift down allows for micro adjustments inherently increasing joint stability. This is because it increases time under tension and allows you to be more aware of your balance and joint positions during the lift.

Volume – You may find that you can only tolerate squatting 1 x per week. If that’s that case that where you start. In my strength and coaching journey, I’ve had plenty of success performing a lift 1x per week.

Intensity - Be okay with doing a lot less weight than you typically do. Changing the mindset from “I need to lift X amount of weight because otherwise I’m getting weaker” to “the goal is to lift as pain free possible” makes the process of healing a lot more achievable.  

Final thoughts

Be conservatively and frequently check in with your body before trying to follow a plan. Keep a journal to help you become more aware of your pain triggers during exercise. Keep note of pain during daily movements like walking, cooking, sleeping, picking things up and working and look to build strategies to reduce pain during them. Work with professionals who specialize in these fields. There may be things that may always cause pain like fathom pain (from a previous injury), arthritis, joint problems, fibromyalgia, nerve damage, this is just to name a few, so have the right expectations and keep positive mindset towards what progress looks like.

The more you can build your awareness the better able you’ll be to learn the boundaries that you can safely thrive in. throughout this process hopefully you will find variations and strategies that help. Use a conservative approach. Inflammation takes longer to subside and will exceed the length of time it takes muscles to adapt to an overloading stimulus.

If keep your expectations realistic and you’ll always succeeD

What to do when you have a lapse in training?

Have you ever taken a week or two off from training, or more weeks off because of vacation, being sick or other erroneous circumstances preventing you from strength training?

Here are some guidelines that can help.

My best advice be patient; be open to taking longer than you want to get back into regular training. I’ve hurt myself aggressively jumping back into training. This forced me to take an even longer time to get back to regular training.

Adjust your psyche

The lifts will feel off. You’re not going to magically feel like a million bucks and set some PRs. Get that thought out of your head from the start. Taking time completely off is not a deload. A deload is a reduction in training volume or intensity to help with recovery. When you stop training or get sick you remove all the accumulated fatigue produced by training needed to drive adaption. So much that when you come back to training sessions lifts may feel hard even with weights that previously felt easy.

As you get older, you’re not going to be able to pick up where you left off. And feeling like this is normal. Accept it and turn your energy on the process. That is making time for training, not judging yourself during the process and being as present as possible.

Why does the program need to be adjusted?  

Motor pathways get “rusty” and the protein metabolic functions are no long in high demand. The goal of adjusting the program is to build work capacity back up  and reestablish movement patterns by “clearing the rust”.

Here are examples of programming adjustments.  

Example 1 – Novice Lifter - Last squat session 225x5x3

Scenario 1 - 1 week off

~10% reduction in intensity - take 1 week to build back up to previous weight they lifted 

Week 1

Day 1 – 210x5x3

Day 2 – 215x5x3

Day 3 – 225x5x3 * last squat session before the break

Week 2

Back to regular programming

Scenario 2 - 2 weeks off

~20% reduction in intensity – take 2 weeks to build back up 

Week 1

Day 1 – 175x5x3

Day 2 – 185x5x3

Day 3 – 195x5x3

Week 2

Day 1 – 205x5x3

Day 2 – 215x5x3

Day 3 – 225x5x3 * last squat session before the break

Week 3

Back to regular programming

Example 2 – Intermediate Lifter - Squat 1 RM = 405lbs

Scenario 1 - 1 week off

Start at 75% Build work capacity back up to 5x5 

Week 1

Day 1 – 5x3 @ 75% (305lbs)

Day 2 - rest

Day 3 – 8x3 @ 75% (305lbs)

Week 2

Day 1 – 6x4 @ 75% (305lbs)

Day 2 - rest

Day 3 – 5x5 @ 75% (305lbs)

Week 3

Continue regular programming

Scenario 2 - 2 weeks off

Start at 65% Build work capacity back up to 5x5 @ 75%  

Week 1

Day 1 – 5x3 @ 65%

Day 2 - rest

Day 3 – 5x3 @ 70%

Week 2

Day 1 – 5x3 @ 75%

Day 2 - rest

Day 3 – 8x3 @ 75%

Week 3

Day 1 – 6x4 @ 75%

Day 2 - rest

Day 3 – 5x5 @ 75%

Week 4

Continue regular programming

Make adjustments as necessary

These are just a few recommended procedures for lapse in training. You may find that you progress quicker or slower than this. I always err on the side of caution. You may want to start as low as 55-65% of your max and take longer to build back up to previous training programming.

If the lapse in training is 2 or more weeks the reaccumulating process may extend out 2-3 weeks. With longer lapse in training expect to take 4-8 weeks to ease into your old numbers. It’s important you go slow. Do not go too fast unless you’ve developed a keen intuitiveness with your body and lifting otherwise you increase the risk of injury.

Be smart, conservative and wise

Progressive Overload

Progressive overload

Disclaimer

The first time I learned about linear progression, I had already been training for 5 years and I was both amazed and terrified. The first thought was “this will bury me”. Sure, enough it led to PR’s and substantial injuries to the low back and knees all of which I still need to be conscious during and outside of training.

Based off my personal experiences as a coach and lifter here are my two biggest tips for apply linear progression.

1)      Be more conservative than you want. The law of diminishing returns is a real thing. It aggressively slows down when the novice phase is over. Although it can be an empowering to extrapolate out what your strength gains will be in 1 month, 6 months or even a year, strength adaption does not work that way. There will be bumps in the road prepare just yourself for them and be willing to take steps back.

2)      Have a high standard on your form. Use that as your indication to change the program to address issues that will not get fixed by simple cueing.

On With The Program

Progressive overload is a gradual increase of the stress and workload on the body. This concept takes advantage of the general adaption syndrome stimulating muscle growth and nervous system efficiency to increase strength and performance.

The progressive overload method was first developed by Milo of Croton. He was a six-time Olympic champion who lived in the 6th century B.C. and grew his strength by carrying a calf on his shoulders every day until the calf matured into a full-grown ox. As the calf grew larger, so too did Milo’s strength increase. When he could no longer lift it, he ate it.  

A few fun facts to consider...

Full grown oxen can be anywhere from 1500-3000lbs

Oxen grow on average 50lbs per month

The strongest strongman yoke walk is 1300-1600lbs

I digress. Back to Progressive Overload

Example 1

You squat 3 x per week…

Week 1

Day 1 - 100lbs for 3 sets of 5 reps

Day 2 - 105lbs for 3 sets of 5 reps

Day 3 - 110lbs for 3 sets of 5 reps

Week 2

Day 1 - 115lbs for 3 sets of 5 reps

Day 2 - 120lbs for 3 sets of 5 reps

Day 3 - 125lbs for 3 sets of 5 reps

In that example we added 5lbs to the bar every workout. That is 15lb per week. this hypothetical scenario the lifter will would put on 60lbs on the squat in 4 weeks.

Example 2

You squat 3 x per week…

Week 1

Day 1 - 100lbs 1 set of 5 reps

Day 2 – 60% of day 1 - 2 sets of 5 reps

Day 3 – 90% of day 1 - 5 sets of 5 reps

Week 2

Day 1 - 105lbs 1 set of 5 reps

Day 2 – 60% of day 1 - 2 sets of 5 reps

Day 3 – 90% of day 1 - 5 sets of 5 reps

In the second example we add 5lbs to the bar only on day 1 of each week. In this hypothetical scenario the lifter will put on 20lbs on the squat in 4 weeks.

In The Real World

As the lifter gets more experienced the frequency at which we can put more weight on the bar goes down becoming a primary of function of fatigue management manipulation the body to stimulate a supercompensation effect. Done correctly this will minimize the risk of injury and maximizing strength gain potential.

General Adaptation Syndrome

According to the GAS (general adaption syndrome) an organism will respond to stress in stages.

For simplicity, we’ll use a novice lifter as an example.

Stage 1 – Alarm/shock phase - During a squat session a novice lifter squats 3 sets of 5 reps at 100lb. To overcome the weight on the bar the body releases the hormone cortisol. Muscle fibers tear, bones, tendons and ligaments are stressed and the body’s nervous system is requested to recruit higher threshold motor units. This acute episode shocks the body.

Stage 2 – Resistance phase - This stage is known as the recovery stage and it produces changes in hormonal production, increasing structural protein (cross sectional with of the muscle fiber), increasing in metabolic protein (the creation and break down of specific proteins) and increasing neuromuscular efficiency (creating a new motor skill). A mixture of physical growth, physiological adaption and movement efficiency are the premises for this supercompensation effect. The novice is now capable to lift 3x5 @ 105lbs. When the novice does so and the process starts over again.

This stress/recover/adapt cycle processes differently under different conditions. For a novice lifter this entire process can happen after a single episode of weight training. For an advanced athlete who is already strong and has accumulated years of adaption this process is much slower requiring increase the stressor over a month or longer to force a training adaptation.

Stage 3 – Exhaustion phase - This is classified as over training. This is when the lifter exceeds the capacity to recover. Signs that a lifter is in this phase are a drop in performance, chronic soreness, injury, depression, mood swings, trouble sleeping, and elevated heart rate (its not limited to this list). Avoid this stage at all costs. A novice lifter can recover from this training debt in less than a week in contrast to an advance lifter who may require upwards of 4 weeks of reduced training loads to restore homeostatic equilibrium.

We all have the ability to adapt. The overload event(s) must be enough to disrupt hemostasis and cannot cause more damage than the body is capable of recovering from. As the body gets good at healing it accumulates fatigue. Over time this accumulation builds and must be dissipated appropriately to avoid overtraining and allow for strength to increase.  

Strength and Specificity

Strength is defined as the ability to produce force to overcome an external resistance. I use the barbell lifts as my metrics for strength. If your squat is going up, that means you are getting stronger. Fact. Plain and simple. To get stronger at squatting, you must squat.

Although physical activity in general will produce small strength increases the transference from non-specific to specific movement are disjointed. On the contrary if your squat improves your running will improve. This is because now you can produce more force per stride potentially allowing you to run faster.

Getting stronger requires that we pick exercises that use the most muscle mass, train the appropriate energy systems and has the greatest transference to all other physical attributes.

We live in this world by physically interacting with our environment. When we are strong life becomes easier; almost everything physical requires strength. Use the barbell lifts to build strength because it uses the most muscle mass, over the largest range of motion with the most weight possible.

Teaching the body to do the strength lifts while progressively overloading the system forces the body to build the necessary architectural structures (thickening and strengthen of the bones, muscle fibers, tendons, ligaments, cartilage) simultaneous to creating physiological adaptions (mitochondrial density improving ATP-CP regeneration rates, glycolytic storage and to a lesser extent aerobic conditioning) within the cell to increase efficiency of the body’s energy system production.

As the body adapts it becomes capable of producing more force. The evidence of strength is simple, how much weight is on the bar. If the weight on the bar is going up over time, we are therefore producing more force.

Why do should we focus on strength and use the barbell lifts? Because having the ability to produce more force makes life physically easier to live. 

Voluntary Hardship

Strength training makes you a better person.  Here’s why. Barbells not only build character it also builds physical strength.  Whether you want to or not, you’re faced with getting under the barbell every week, and the weight gets heavier. Overcoming external resistance builds discipline, resiliency and dependability.

Is hardship really hardship if we choose it? Begin forced to do something is different that choosing to do something. What lies in the way is our ability to make something non-negotiable. Have you ever tried to create a habit? What usually gets in the way? “I don’t have time for this”, “it’s just too hard” or “It’s not fun anymore”.  The ability to stop makes it an optional hardship.

When your faced with a life-or-death situation, with a gun to your head or a doctor telling you have 3 months to live, quitting is no longer an option.

In non-life-threatening situations, WE DECIDE, to keep going or not. A common trait with successful people is persistence; giving up is not an option. Rainbows? Sunshine? Forget about it. It takes reflection to troubleshoot the reasons we want to giving up. Lower the bar instead of becoming a victim of our ambition.

We need not to feel happy about every decision we make. Making the decision is far more important than feeling happy about it. Operate in an environment that encourages strength training and choose to love the process. It is by embracing the process that which bring fulfillment.

Happiness isn’t a by produce of success, success comes from happiness. And happiness is derived from aligning your actions with what you want to accomplish. What you want to accomplish comes from a purpose. Overcoming voluntary hardship produces purpose.

To get stronger, physically and mentally, put in your time and overcome hardship.

Motivation

Are you intrinsically or extrinsically motivated? Does the thought of beating someone else drive your actions? Or does being the best version of yourself keep you going? Motivation starts from somewhere, that somewhere is action and, in my opinion, when you start, it doesn’t matter what it looks like.

In most cases there is a turning point in a person’s life that gets the ball rolling. Sometimes… it a we are just sick of lying to ourselves, experience a traumatic injury, lose someone we loved, have a midlife crisis, are inspired by someone, or just been thinking about change for a long time.

In all my years of coaching, lifting and life experiences I’ve found that the ego is a great source of energy but it if we don’t realize it becomes your enemy. It drives us to push but at some point, the PR’s, the 1st place victories, the drive to challenge yourself, it all runs out.

In most cases there is a blend of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, this provides you with a stream of consistent effort. Balancing the two can be tricky; with consistent conscious efforts you can tame it and apply it as needed.

Too much intrinsic motivation you may be stuck in your own world. The risk of complacency may set in and you may have less of a drive to push yourself to improve.

Too much extrinsic motivation you may be just turning a blind eye to a deeper problem. No matter how much weight you can move, how many first-place victories earn, getting a pro-card you will be enough for yourself.

If the only way you think you can be successful is achieving an accolade, punching a time card, beating someone else, or being comfortable where you are at, I ask you, what will you do when you no longer have that validation?