BASE BUILDING SPLITS (PART 4)

BASE BUILDING SPLITS (PART 4)

CONDITIONING 

Unlike Powerlifting, strongman generally requires that you be in some semblance of shape, Cardio wise. You have a few options here, in my opinion.

Use circuit or medley style events to get in both conditioning AND event work, or just do some conditioning work on off days. Like sprints, prowler or car pushing, or sled work. I will say this. From talking with two very high-level strongmen competitors, they both agreed with me that a very optimal way to work in conditioning is to simply place it on the backend of a training cycle AS you de-load. Here are the reasons why.

It takes far longer to get stronger than it does to get into shape. Therefore you should be spending the bulk of your training cycle simply working on getting as strong as humanly possible, and not worrying about anything else. It does not take long to get in fairly good shape, Cardio wise. A few weeks at the most. You can set your training cycle up so that you run your base-building work for weeks/months at a time, then de-load the last couple of weeks before a competition, and then spend that time working on conditioning while you work in the weight room to just maintain that base level you had been working on. Essentially you just readjust your priorities, or how much effort goes into those things so that you show up as strong as possible and in as good a shape as possible.

AN EXAMPLE OF A 12 WEEK CYCLE FOR A COMPETITION: 

• Week 1 - Strength Work BBM 

• Week 2 - Strength Work BBM 

• Week 3 - Strength Work BBM 

• Week 4 - Strength Work BBM 

• Week 5 - Strength Work - Peaking strong-15 

• Week 6 - Strength Work - Peaking strong-15 

• Week 7 - Strength Work - Peaking strong-15 

• Week 8 - Strength Work - Peaking strong-15 

• Week 9 - Strength Work - Peaking strong-15 

• Week 10 - Strength Work Maintenance BBM Taper - Ramp Conditioning 

• Week 11 - Strength Work Maintenance BBM Taper - Ramp Conditioning 

• Week 12 - active rest, steady-state Cardio, total de-load 

• Week 13 - competition

The peaking work would simply be adjusting the overhead press, front squat, and deadlift to all use the peaking methods from the strong-15. At week 10 and 11 you would taper the BBM methods back to half the volume, and ramp the conditioning work over those two weeks. Whatever method you choose from that is fine. I think you can get into pretty solid condition by doing HIIT 3 times a week. The last week would be for complete rest, with only a couple of steady-state sessions throw in to aid in overall recovery.

FULL BODY SPLITS FOR BBM 

Full body training goes back to the genesis of weight lifting. In lifting, it was the most common way to train. It was this way for a very long time until some found that as they got stronger, or wanted to concentrate on improving specific areas, or movements, it has been often more efficient to work those on separate days.

Thus body part splits began. Full body training still has plenty of merits. Even for advanced guys.

From a base-building perspective, it can be very ideal as it forces you to narrow down your training in very simplistic terms and concentrate on the movements. This is all about what base building is. If you like full body splits, then I highly recommend using them during your base building cycles.

My personal preference for laying out a full body split is to squat three times a week, pull once a week, and press three times a week. I will also lay out a few variations of this where you squat twice a week, press twice a week, and deadlift once a week.

FULL BODY TEMPLATE 1 - SQUAT 3x week/PRESS 3x week/DEADLlIFT ONCE

DAY 1 - SQUAT/BENCH/ROW 

Squat - BBM 

Bench - BBM 

Row - 4x8 

Curl - 1x100

DAY2 - FRONT SQUAT/DEADLIFT/INCLINE

Front Squat - 5x5 @ 60% 

Deadlift - BBM 

Incline Press - 350 method 

Curl - 1x100

DAY 3 - SQUAT/BENCH/CHIN 

Squat - BBM 

Bench - BBM 

Chin - 5x AMAP 

Curl - 1x100

FULL BODY TEMPLATE 2 - SQUAT 2x week/PRESS 2x week/DEADLIFT ONCE 

This template is for guys who like whole bodywork, but may have trouble getting all the work in, or are a little stronger and need a bit more recovery. I’ve massaged around the movements a bit in order to lessen the workload of each training session.

DAY 1 - SQUAT/BENCH/ROW 

Squat - BBM 

Bench - BBM 

Curl - 1x100

DAY 2 - DEADLIFT 

Deadlift - BBM 

Barbell Rows - 4x8 

Lat Pull Downs - 4x8

DAY 3 - SQUAT/BENCH/CHIN 

Squat - BBM 

Bench - BBM 

Chin - 5x AMAP

By no means is this anything revolutionary, nor am I pretending for it to be. Whole-body training most certainly has a time and place in training. Beginners can use it (though it personally is not my preference for beginners), and intermediates can definitely benefit from it. From an advanced guy standpoint, it can have its place. For example, a couple of times I came off of major surgery I used full-body training in order to get back into the swing of things. I felt like it was very productive in that regard.

It can also be a great change of pace for the guys that have been going balls out on split routines for a while. A whole-body routine will sort of force you back down a little bit because you’ll be aware you’ll need to keep some gas in the tank in order to get all of the prescribed work in for the day.

The drawbacks to whole-body training are that essentially you neglect a lot of the “gap” musculature that gets filled in well with more rounded training. By that I mean you don’t get in enough movement variation to either keep injuries at bay, or you don’t “fill out” enough from a muscular standpoint. I’ve heard guys balk at this, but without fail when a guy goes from a limited movement style of training using a wider variety of movements, his base of mass does increase. This is exactly why bodybuilders train this way. More complete development from a muscular standpoint.

That is not the goal when using full-body splits, you probably aren’t worried about that when partaking in one.

FINAL THOUGHTS ON SPLITS 

I wrote in these splits for this book as a “food for thought” type of thing. Most guys get way too bound up in the details of a split without the understanding that it is only a guideline or framework. It is NOT gospel. It is not infallible.

Reread those last two sentences 1,000 before you decide you need to ask a question about a particular training split.

BASE BUILDING SPLITS (PART 3)

BASE BUILDING SPLITS (PART 3)

THE MINIMALIST - 5-6 DAYS A WEEK 

This split is not something I have undertaken but can see myself doing if I am going to limit myself to JUST doing a single main lift. By that I mean, ZERO assistance work at all.

Essentially, this split has you doing upper body one day, and then lower body the next.

Day 1 - Squat BBM 

Day 2 - Bench BBM 

Day 3 - Front Squat BBM 

Day 4 - Incline BBM 

Day 5 - Deadlift BBM 

Day 6 - Overhead BBM 

Day 7 - Off

The shortcoming here would be that the back would not get the kind of direct work I feel it needs. This would only be a split I would advise a very advanced lifter use when he may be passed using a lot of assistance work, or really needs to just hammer home the basic work for an extended period.

This would be the kind of phase one might move into after he had been training in a mass phase for a few months, and needs to get back to just hammering the movements and the movements only. It does present a solid option for those pressed for time each day as well.

STRONGMAN SPLIT - TRAINING FOR STRONGMAN 

Though I’ve never competed in strongman, I’ve talked with and bounced around ideas with both amateur and professional strongman for many years now. And while I am no expert in strongman training, I’ve learned enough from guys that do compete in it, to offer up some ideas about how one would use the base building methods in order to implement them into a strongman scheme.

Because strongman competitions can have a wide variety of events you may have to perform, it is important for you to narrow down your barbell movements to ones that are going to give you as much carryover as possible.

You want your training to be as efficient and economic. The fact remains, you’re just NOT going to be able to become a badass on every single thing at the same time. No different than Powerlifting. It is only three lifts, in most training cycles you’re lucky if 2 are responding well. The third movement is often stubborn and resistant to progress.

My base building methods for strongman are to concentrate on the press, the pull, and a squat variation. The overhead press is a staple of strongman, and so is the pull. The squat is more of a leg “builder” for strongman, as generally if there is squatting at a competition it is with some sort of apparatus. The front squat should be the base squat for most of your squat training. Not the back squat.

FOR STRONGMAN BASE BUILDING 

OVERHEAD PRESS - 8x3 @ 80% @ 60 seconds between sets

FRONT SQUATS - 5x5 @ 70% using CAT @ 90 seconds rests between sets.

DEADLIFTS - Strongman Method Cycle

1 WEEK FROM 4” BLOCKS - 3x3 @ 80%

1 WEEK FROM THE FLOOR - Phase I, II, III (choose one) of the BBM

1 WEEK FROM BELOW THE KNEE - to a max triple

1 WEEK NO PULLS WITH 2 SQUAT VARIATIONS (recommended fronts with backs or fronts with an apparatus, maybe even the smith machine. Don’t cringe.)

My suggestion to find the movements that give you the most carryover to everything, and narrow it down to those.

My own personal suggestion is as follows...

DAY 1 - HEAVY PRESS AND UPPER BACK 

Heavy overhead - log/barbell/Viking whatever - BBM 

Incline - 350 method

Rows - any variation - 5x8-10 

Chins or Pulldowns - 5x8-10 

Barbell Curls - 1x100

DAY 2 - SQUATS AND DEADS 

Front Squats - BBM 

Deadlifts - Strongman Method Cycle 

1 week from 4” blocks - 3x3 @ 80% 

1 week from the floor - Phase I, II, III (choose one) of the BBM 

1 week from below the knee - to a max triple 

1 week no pulls with 2 squat variations Overhead Press - repetition work - 350 methods with any press

DAY 3 - EVENT WORK 

Whatever events you need to work on for the competition, you will do on this day. I personally would pick your best event and get even better at that, and pick your 2 worst events as well. The reason I say pick your best event and get better at that is that this always gives you a strength going into the competition. If you’re behind at some point, you know you can rely on this event to make up for a poor showing in regards to another one.

Pick the two you need the most work on and do those first. 

• Worst event - do work 

• 2nd worst event - do work 

• Best event - get even better

BASE BUILDING SPLITS (PART 2)

BASE BUILDING SPLITS (PART 2)

MONDAY- BENCH/INCLINE/OVERHEAD
Bench - BBM
PEC Deck/Incline Fly/Side Laterals - 4x10
Tricep Overhead - 4x10
Curl - 4x10

WEDNESDAY - SQUAT/PULL
Squat - BBM
Deficit Deadlift - BBM
Leg Press or Stiff Legs - 2x20

SATURDAY - BACK 
Barbell Row - 4x8
Lat Pulldowns/Chins - 4x8 / 4 X AMAP
Shrug - 5x20
Good Mornings - 4x10
Let me add a caveat to this. I can train 6 days a week, and sometimes even twice a day. IF the other workouts are “small sessions, (support or accessory work) things like upright rows, curls, triceps, calves, ABS, etc. If one were so inclined they could drop the support work on bench day, and move those types of movements to 2 or 3 other days a week. This works well for almost anyone, and these “small sessions” are obviously not hard to recover from.

day 1 - am 
• Lower body support
• Adductor machine - 4x10
• Abs - 4x20 • Calves - 4x10

day 1 - pm. 
• Heavy Bench - 3x3, 5x5
• Incline DB Press - 4x10

day 2 - a.m. UPPER BODY SUPPORT 
• Upright rows - 4x20
• Rope pushdowns - 4x20
• Curls - 1 x 100

day 3 - SQUAT AN DEADLIFTIFT ONLY

day 4 - am. LOWER BODY SUPPORT
• Leg curls - 4x10
• Leg Extension - 4x20
• Abductor machine - 4x10

day 4 - pm 
• Upper body support
• Side laterals - 4x10
• Bent laterals - 4x10
• Front raises - 1x100

day 5 - HEAVY BACK WORK 
• Barbell Rows - 4x8
• Shrugs - 5x10
• Good Mornings - 4x10 light

One of the things I like about this split is that you can follow up a brutally hard lower body session with some support work, and recover a bit faster. Same for the upper body.
This also allows you to fill in the muscular gaps a bit better than limiting yourself to just the big movements. It is very similar to how I structure training that is built around the mass gain. Both tend to have similar ideas in mind. And that is, train your big stuff in one session, and all of the smaller components in another that is not as taxing.

THE ZENITH – THE ULTIMATE BASE BUILDING SPLIT
One of the issues with traditional splits is that they generally have you trained the lifts and body parts equally across the week. When in reality, localized and movement recovery needs to be taken into account for optimal progress. Across the span of multiple weeks, everything should be getting equal attention. On just a week to week basis, there should be more of an emphasis on some things, while other movements and muscle groups get a break.
With the Zenith, I addressed these issues by giving attention to certain movements and muscle groups one week, then a different movement or muscle group the next week. I’ve done rotational splits before. This one is a little different in that I woke up to the fact that your upper back should be treated with equal importance as anything in your training. Your bench foundation sits on your back and is supported by yours. Your back supports weight in heavy squats, and of course, the back is primarily involved in the deadlift.
Giving the upper back and as much attention as possible is paramount. To echo a common quote about building a big back, “I’ve seen weak guys with big chests, big arms, big shoulders, and big legs. I’ve never seen a weak guy that had a big back.”
To add to that is the need for big arms. This is not just because curls are for the girls, but also because virtually every big bencher I’ve ever known had serious pipes. If you want to press big, well, the arms need some attention as well. The bicep is also responsible for stabilizing the shoulder and elbow joint in benching, so it is a good idea to have strong biceps as part of the support structure in your pressing.

day 1 - BENCH
Bench - BBM
Incline - 350 method
Dips - 5x AMAP

day 2 - SQUAT/PULL 
Squat - BBM
Deadlift - BBM
Front Squat/Stiff Leg (alternate week to week) - 5x5 / 4x8

day 3 - OVERHEAD/SHOULDERS/TRICEPS 
Press Behind the neck/Military - 4x8
Bent Laterals/Rear Delts - 5x20
Upright Rows - 4x12-15
Triceps - 4x25

day 4 - Back/BICEPS 
Barbell Rows - 4x8
Shrugs - 4x20
Chins/Wide Grip Pulldowns - 4 X A MAP/4x8-10
Curls - 1x100
As you can see, on the first two days, it is the big-3 plus incline, fronts, and stiff legs. The way I generally work this out is, one week you do two squats (backs and fronts) with one deadlift, and then the next week you just back squat, and then do dead-lifts with stiff legs. One week is a little more squat dominant, and the next week deadlift dominant. A great way for an advanced guy to work this along with the BBM for those pulling over 600, is to make sure to base the weeks you don’t pull around squatting twice.

• Week 1 - squat, front squat, deadlift
• Week 2 - squat, deadlift heavy, stiff legs
• Week 3 - squat, front squat, (optional leg press or split squats), no dead-lifts

If I were going to train 4 days a week, this would absolutely be how I would do it.
This allows you to essentially pour all of your energy into the main lifts on one day, then situate all of the supportive work on the other days. For guys who really lack shoulder and back development, which are both critical in support the squat, bench, and deadlift, this is a great way to spend the off-season essentially cruising on the big lifts, and bringing the lagging areas up to speed.
Don’t mistake my term there “cruising” as taking it easy. Often times guys find when they back off of going heavy, and work to “maintain” (as I’ve already written about) they actually end up getting stronger. This is VERY common.
This is a great split for guys who really need to bring up their upper body, the extra back work will also carry over to the squat and pull as well. Make no mistake, the back is the most important part of the entire body in my opinion, in terms of lifting big weights in every facet. If you believe your back strength is not up to par, you need to place a strong emphasis on it (yes, this is a repeating theme here).

BASE BUILDING SPLITS (PART 1)

BASE BUILDING SPLITS 

2 DAYS A WEEK

Some people fret that training twice a week just is not enough, but the fact is most training splits have you squatting, pressing, and pulling once a week and work very well with that amount of frequency, especially for guys that need a little more recovery or are more advanced. If anything, a twice a week routine would be more ideal for an advanced guy that needs more recovery and already has a decent foundation that he’s trying to build upon, rather than a novice.

Twice a week barbell work can also be ideal for a strongman who wants to train his events on the third day.

One of the benefits of training only twice a week is generally the ability to never take a break. You should be getting plenty of recoveries. I always split the squat and pull up, so that you squat one week and pull the next. If you’re a novice guy that is not as qualified (meaning, you’re not that strong yet) I would not recommend this. I’d stay with keeping the squat and deadlift together every week.

TRAINING TWICE A WEEK OPTION 1

DAY 1 – Squat – BBM Deadlift – BBM Split squats – 4x20

DAY 2 – Bench Press – BBM Incline Press – 350 Method Barbell Rows – 4x8 Chins – 4 X AMAP 

TRAINING TWICE A WEEK OPTION 2 – ALTERNATING SQUAT AND DEADLIFT PER WEEK

DAY 1 – Squat/Deadlift (alternate week to week) – BBM Good Mornings/Front Squats (alternate week to week) – 4x10 light/5x5 @ 60% Split Squats – 4x20

DAY 2 – Bench Press – BBM Incline Press – 350 Method Barbell Rows – 4x8 Chins – 4 X AMAP

TRAINING TWICE A WEEK OPTION 3 – PRESSING TWICE A WEEK/SQUATTINg TWICE A WEEK

DAY 1 – Squat – BBM 138

Bench - BBM Barbell Row – 4x10 Curl – 1x100

DAY 2 – Front Squat – 5x5 @ 60% Deadlift – BBM Incline Press – 350 Method

TRAINING THREE TIMES A WEEK 

Training three times a week has long been a solid standard for training efficiently. There are two main splits I’ve always used for training three times a week. One is the “man maker” which I now just call my “standard” split, where you squat and pull on the same day. The other is the traditional split where you simply bench, squat, and pull on separate days.

TRADITIONAL SPLIT

Day 1 - Bench Bench - BBM Incline - 3x8 Side Laterals - 4x10 Triceps - 4x20

Day 2 - SquaT Squat - BBM Leg Press - 4x10 Lunges - 4x20

Day 3 - DEADLIFT AND BACK 

DEADLIFT - BBM Barbell Rows - 3x8 Chins - 5x7 Curls - 1x100

THE STANDARD

 This has been the way I have settled on training more times than not. I feel like this split, for me, gives me the best balance of being able to get a lot of work in, but allow for adequate recovery. A lot of guys can recover very quickly, either because they are not strong enough to tax recovery reserves hard enough, or because their “supplement” stacks allow them to recover better.

Obviously, I’m not pointing fingers or disparaging anyone here. I’m just pointing out why some guys can train with more frequency than others. For me, every time I’ve tried to add in the 4th day of “big work” (meaning, big compound movements) I find that I’m fatigued more through the day, need more sleep, and overall don’t feel like training as much. When I scale it back to three days a week, my enthusiasm always returns.

BEGINNER BASE BUILDING

BEGINNER BASE BUILDING 

Unlike most beginner training models, I do not recommend learning the squat, bench press, and deadlift all at the same time. I have my own reasons for that. 

• The squat is the most technical of the three lifts to learn, it is best the beginner put his/her time in the squat first since it also has carryover to the deadlift. Squatting should be done twice a week early on when the trainee doesn’t have a large amount of muscle mass, thus recovery needs are easily met. 
• I prefer the incline press because you simply lie down, and press. There is no setup to worry about, and people tend to get their wrist and elbow alignment more naturally than in bench pressing. Plus the incline press gives carry over to both the standing press and flat press. That’s win/win right out of the gate. 
• I prefer that guys/gals concentrate on and spend a lot of time developing back mass and strength early. Two movements that are easy to learn and progress on,   rows and chins 
•  Progression tends to make training fun, and when training is fun people tend to stay with it. 
• Trying to get a novice to learn all the nuances of three lifts can cause frustration and the cessation of training because of it. 
• Training should be hard AND fun.

I don’t have beginners do programming in training because their rate of progress tends to be very quick at first. It is too much of a moving target, also because it is far more important to focus on just learning the movements than loading weight on the bar.

Often times the things we learn early in our lifting can be the things that cause us to get stuck at a later point. Poor technique is usually the primary one. It is vitally important to establish good habits early, and learn right out of the gate that constantly perfecting technique is going to be an ongoing process for your ENTIRE LIFTING LIFE.

After 25 years I still have days where I am out of sync, don’t set up correctly, mis-groove a bench, get on my toes during a squat, etc. It is annoying, but it is part of lifting. It is vitally important that you start developing good technique early, and come to an understanding that reinforcing technique is something that never goes away. You will constantly be trying to get better in this regard. As long as you train, this will be the case. It is best to get in the practice of this early.

Another reason why it is important to come to terms with this, is because as a beginner if you rush to get weight on the bar too early, you will end up developing bad habits to move heavier weights, that will get reinforced over and over again. At some point down the line, these bad habits will end up being handicapped or something that causes an imbalance muscularly that gets/keeps you injured.

Either way, what you want to focus on early is developing a solid technique, and reinforcing good technique over and over for as long as possible before you really start worrying about loading up the bar.

BEGINNER FREQUENCY AND VOLUME 

Lots of programs have beginners training only three times a week; however, I honestly feel like because beginners aren’t very qualified as lifting or strength athletes, they should probably do more, and train more.

I generally have beginners train 4 days a week. Beginners aren’t strong enough or technical enough to cause a real dent into the fatigue zone. Training more often tends to speed up progress quite dramatically for beginners. They get more chances to squat, press, and row. Subsequently, they learn the movements faster, get stronger at a more rapid rate, and training enthusiasm stays high.

Of course, as the trainee becomes more qualified he will need to take rest and recovery into account; however, until the start pressing 300, squatting 400, and deadlifting 500 on a semi-regular basis, there’s no reason not to train 4-6 times a week.

BEGINNER ROUTINE IN DETAIL 

There are two squat days. Both entail a 10,8,5,4,3,2,1 warm-up. This means warm up to a nice, crisp top single. After that, you do your “work”. On day 1 it is 3x10 and on day 2, it is 5x5. Just pick a weight that moves smoothly. You should feel “worked” after those sets; however, your form should not be crumbling under the load of it.

AN EXAMPLE MIGHT BE 

BARX 10, 95x8, 115x5, 135x4, 155x3, 175x2, 195x1, 135x3x10 ON The 5x5 DAY YOU MIGHT DO 155x5x5

LUNGES AND 1 LEGGED WORK

 Lunges and 1-legged work is great for everyone, but especially beginners because it can keep imbalances at bay, or correct them, and helps with balance. It is good for a beginner to start using one-legged work right away, and to understand the importance of it. Most guys don’t do enough one-legged work.

DECLINE SIT-UPS AND AB WHEEL 

Having strong Abs is very important. Abs are what “brace” your torso, and gives stability to your entire body during close chained standing movements like squats, and dead-lifts. Training them is important as well. If you cannot get all 3 sets of 20 for the decline sit-ups, that’s ok. Stick with it until you can. Same applies for the Ab wheel. It will be hard at first, but eventually, you’ll be knocking them out like Mike Tyson did tomato cans.

INCLINE PRESS 

I love the incline press. I think it is the most underrated of all the presses. For most guys, it gives carry over to both the overhead press, and flat press. However, guys tend to get locked into only doing overhead and flat press when training for strength. They are missing out, because the incline press allows for heavy, but less technical, pressing work. Bring the bar down high on the chest, and press. That’s about it. I will add that I do not bring the bar all the way down. I stop it about an inch above the chest. This has been far more shoulder-friendly to me than bringing it all the way down to the chest. When I did that in the past, my shoulders complained very loudly to me about it. I cut the ROM slightly short, and never had any more issues in that regard.

ROWS, 

In my opinion, the three best rows are the dumbbell, barbell, and cable row. I like T-bar rows, however, I have found that more often than not, guys stand almost upright with them, essentially turning it into a trap movement, and fail to use the row what It is meant for, building a strong, thick back.

Lots of guys cheat too much on the barbell row as well, and while you can get a little sloppy with the barbell row, I mainly advise that you keep it fairly strict, and not be in a rush to add weight while sacrificing form.

Cable rows are awesome in that you can really concentrate on squeezing the mid-back together, and you don’t have to worry a lot about positioning or technique. Think of it as the incline press of rowing. Stretch it out, and then pull the elbows back and squeeze it all together, it is pretty simple.

I actually am not a huge fan of the dumbbell row because for me personally, it never felt like it was working my back and as well as the other two movements, but for the majority of guys I know that is not the case. Rather than use my own bias in picking the movements, I’ll defer to the masses this time.

GENERAL OUTLINE FOR BEGINNERS 

day 1 Squats - 10,8,5,4,3,2,1 - 3x10 Lunges - 3x10 Decline Sit Ups - 3x20

day 2 Incline Press - 8x8 DB/T-Bar/Cable Row - 8x8 Chins - 5x AMAP

day 3 -OFF

day 4 Squats - 10,8,5,4,3,2,1 - 5x5 1-Legged Squats - 5x10 Ab Wheel - 3x10

day 5 Incline Press - 5x5 DB/T-bar/Cable Row - 5x10 Chins - 5x AMAP

day 6 - OFF

day 7 - OFF

PLATEAUS

 Obviously, plateaus are the black plague of training, and nothing sucks worse than being stuck at a certain weight, body weight, or body fat for an extended period of time. Nothing sucks worse than busting ass for weeks or months on end with nothing to show as the fruits of your labor. Some of the main reasons this happens to people are the following... 

- Not staying with a routine long enough 

- Staying with the same routine too long 

- Improper programming, i.e. too light or too heavy 

- Training too often 

- Not training often enough 

- Poor nutritional habits 

- Poor sleeping habits 

- External training stress (life)

As you can see, there tends to be a theme here, and that is you have to find the right amount of balance in the training and life paradigm. Enough training stress with optimal recovery will produce results. Too much stress, whether that be training and/or life, without enough recovery will short circuit the process of increasing the baseline of strength.

 - Training often enough to stimulate growth/strength - Recover enough to allow super-compensation to happen - Knowing when to change up the training intensity/volume - Programming properly in accordance with said intensities and volume - Getting a handle on the external stress outside of the gym

Some of these things will be harder to figure out than others. There’s no reason to be dogmatic in the scope of thinking about your training. You should always be open to trying new things, but also have a good built-in filter about what seems logical and what does not. A lot of people that do in fact stick to routines for a very long time get stuck in a rut. They don’t know when it is time to transition into a different method or stimulus. They get stuck because they don’t understand that they have been benching 350 @ 198 for three years, it is probably not a bench routine that is going to give you what you need. You need to get bigger at that point, and that may mean more leg and back work to grow. Not just more bench work.

Each training phase that carries you to a new place, may not be what you need to KEEP DOING, to get to the next level. Volume/base building work will get you to a certain place, but once the body “settles in” into that you cannot just keep adding volume. Everything has a point of diminishing returns. At that point, you have to ask yourself if you have maxed out your current potential for volumized training based around a minimal amount of movements (which is what base building is) and if you need to change what you’re doing. This is not a question that has to be asked because you haven’t had a good training session in two weeks. But if you’ve gone months and months with little progress, reassessing could be a real option.

At that point, you may need to structure your training into something where you dial down the volume, go into “break rep PR’s” mode, and push forward from there. Every training cycle should do something that not only pushes you a bit forward but also sets you up for the next training stimulus/training cycle. Lots of systems build on each other. Going into the USPF Nationals I did months and months and months of shying away from failure, and keeping my intensities low and doing base-building work. Afterwards, I switched everything immediately to low volume, trying to hit the rep PR’s and boy did I. I started hitting PR’s like crazy.

It was the base building work that built me up for doing that. I knew after the meet, instinctively that my body did not want to move right back into lower intensity/high volume work. I went after rep PR’s and BOOM, there they were. The base building work set me up for the rep PR work. Some people will say “everything works” but this is bullshit, and I hate that saying. Some methods are shit. After 25 years, I can tell you that. That’s a fact. Not only that, but what does “work” even mean? Work for “what”? No one has ever quantified this statement because yes if you do something and get better at it, it worked. If you are trying to be a better powerlifter and are out practicing tennis and getting better at your backhand, this has nothing to do with getting better at powerlifting.

Everything does not “work”. What works, is what gets you closer to your specific goals. 

THREE COMPONENTS THAT ARE KEY TO MAKING PROGRESS: DELOADING, TAPERING, WAVING (PART 2)

THREE COMPONENTS THAT ARE KEY TO MAKING PROGRESS: DELOADING, TAPERING, WAVING (PART 2)

EXAMPLE OF A TAPERING MODEL 

SQUAT 

 1x1 @ 65% 60% 2x5

 1x1 @ 65% 60% 2x5 

 1x1 @ 65% 60% 2x5

 1x1 @ 65% 60% 2x5

 1x1 @ 70% 60% 2x5

 1x1 @ 70% 60% 2x5

 1x1 @ 75% 70% 2x4 

 1x1 @ 75% 70% 2x4

 1x1 @ 80% 70% 2x4

 1x1 @ 85% 80% 2x3

DEADLIFTS

 1x3 @ 77% 

 1x3 @ 77% 

 1x3 @ 77%

 1x3 @ 80%

 1x3 @ 80%

 1x3 @ 80%

 1x3 @ 83%

 1x3 @ 83%

 1x3 @ 85%

 1x3 @ 85%

BENCH - ALL REPS PAUSED 

1x1 @ 85% 1x8 or AMAP @ 75%

1x1 @ 85% 1x8 or AMAP @ 75%

1x1 @ 85% 1x8 or AMAP @ 75% 

1x1 @ 85% 1x8 or AMAP @ 75% 

1x1 @ 85% 1x8 or AMAP @ 75%

1x1 @ 85% 1x8 or AMAP @ 75%

1x1 @ 90% 1x3 @ 85% 1xamap @ 75% 

1x1 @ 90% 1x3 @ 85% 1xamap @ 75% 

1x1 @ 90% 1x3 @ 85% 1xamap @ 75% 

1x1 @ 90% 1x3 @ 85% 1xamap @ 75%

TAPERING FREQUENCY

 The other part of tapering is training frequency. Drop training back to twice a week. Squat and pull on one day, bench and incline/overhead press on the other with a row for 4x10 light.

That’s it, nothing else.

De-loading is a “no-de-load, de-load”. In the traditional sense of de-loading, you do something similar to tapering but you cut the intensity in half and stay in the gym the same number of days that week. Tapering is to allow for more recovery days, but keep the working intensity equal, so that the body has more time to climb out of fatigue but training stays at the same intensity level. You might say that is splitting hairs; however, I believe that tapering is a better option than the traditional de-load. The “no de-load, de-load” is where you get out of the gym completely. No lifting, nothing light, just out of the gym for a physical and mental break.

Take a break until you feel that hunger to train hard return. That may be 3 days or 10 days. In the grand scheme of things, 10 days off is nothing and often times it will do you more good than continuing to train. After you taper, you have a few options. If you still feel tired, or your mental enthusiasm is lacking for weeks on end, do the no-de-load de-load. If I had to guess, more often than not, you’ll need to take the time off.

WAVING 

 One of the most common methods that guys use to program is to run a cycle for a certain period of time, then start over at a higher weight than they had programmed for in the previous cycle.

It is certainly an option, and a viable one yes and so is running the same programming cycle back to back. If you finished the first cycle with a triple or set of five that was tough as nails to grind out, but the second time you run said cycle you destroy that triple or set of 5 with a speed that is bordering on violent, did you not get stronger? One of the basic principles of the base building model is to move heavier and heavier weights with greater and greater speed. I unknowingly used to use this method when I was younger with great results. I would set a certain weight in my head, and work towards that weight. However I would make a deal with myself that I would not move past that weight until I “owned” it, i.e. I could rep it effortlessly.

Lots of lifters get lost in the weight on the bar mentality, or “weight on the bar at all costs!” Listen, I’m all for getting more weight on the bar, and at some point, you have to load the bar. Generally, you want those times to be on the platform, or nearing the end of a peaking cycle. However, during the in-between times, a solid idea is to set “owned” weight goals where you destroy weights at certain rep ranges.

Don’t be afraid to repeat cycles, or “backtrack” a cycle a few weeks and work back up to whatever you hit near the end of it again but with greater speed. There are many ways to gauge the strength and access to PRs. Don’t fall into the dogma of thinking just making a certain weight for X reps is the only way to do that. Weight X reps @ speed Z is also a way to set new “PRs”. De-load if you start feeling better, increase the volume back the normal base building standard or

WAVING OPTIONS 

For waves, there are two options.

 • Reprogram at a lesser weight and then over time work back up to where you were currently programmed at. You simply reprogram down by 5% and continue.

 • Wave the weeks. If you were slow on your triples in the latter phase, then wave back to the 5’s (for squat) or 8’s (bench) for a week. The next week, come back to the 3’s.    If it still feels heavy, wave back into the 8’s again. If you still feel like progress is not happening, then reprogram and wave back to the first week.

BASE BUILDING DEAD LIFT MODELS

BASE BUILDING DEAD LIFT MODELS 

BB DEADLIFT FOR PULLERS UNDER 500 5x3 @ 80% 

This is pretty straight forward. If you’re pulling under 500, then warm up to 80% of your EDM, and blast out 5 sets of 3 with it, really focusing on speed, and getting your hips through from the start of the movement. It is imperative that you get these mental cues in early to facilitate the process of learning proper technique early.

BB DEADLIFT II FOR PULLERS BETWEEN 500 AND 600 1x3 @ 70%, 1x3 @ 75%, 1x3 @ 85%, 3x3 @ 70%

I really like Phase II, and use it to meet prep. Think of it like 2 warm-ups, and 1 set at the end (the 85%) that you’re working towards getting faster at. After that, you get in your practice work with the 3x3 @ 70%. 70% shouldn’t be so taxing that it causes too much in the way of inroads to recovery, but heavy enough to get some real carry over to the big stuff.

BB DEADLIFT III - ROTATIONAL FOR PULLERS OVER 600 

• Week 1 - 1x3 @ 60%, 65%, 70%, 75%
• Week 2 - 1” deficit dead-lifts 1x3 @ 70%, 1x3 @ 75%, 1x3 @ 85-100%, 2x3 @ 70%
• Week 3 - off / no deadlifting (back work in place of it)
• Week 4 – repeat

This is the routine I used most of my offseason. And I had several other guys use it with great success as well. The “light” week you simply work up to 75% for a triple. The next week, you go to deficits and again, focus on busting that 85% triple as the main work. There is some autoregulation built into this part of the program. If you’re having a spectacular day and want to take a shot at a triple with your EDM, then go after it. Just don’t press past it. This offers up some wiggle room in terms of intensity. Some guys do a little better with going slightly heavier in the pull than others.
One way to determine this is to ask yourself is if you pulled something “heavy” (for you) and then your deadlift took a dive for a few weeks after that. More than likely, you’re not someone who recovers as fast from pulling heavy. If that’s the case, then keep your intensity in that 85% for the triple.
Afterward, two back off sets for triples on the same deficit.
As for the deficit itself, keep it small. Literally, like a 45-pound plate. About an inch is ideal. The reason is that the higher you get off the ground, the more the mechanics of the pull changes. And then there’s not always the certainty you will get carryover to pull off of the floor. There’s no need to go into a big deficit in order to make the start of the ball harder. The inch or so will, in fact, make a difference, yet the mechanics will not be different enough so that the S.A.I.D. principle is negated.

EVEN MORE ON GUIDELINES 

That’s the phases laid out for you. I again emphasize that they are guidelines. You may find that one phase works incredibly well for you and another not as much at the time. You may be a dead lifter with a 600 deadlift that does, in fact, benefit from Phase I for a while but nothing is set in stone here, just recommendations that have worked for me and lots of people I have helped get stronger.
As with anything in life, some testing will be required on your part in order to take full advantage of the guidelines that have been laid out in front of you. Do not rush through a phase. Milk it properly for a long time, and see what it gives back to you.
“How can I tell if a phase is making me stronger, Paul?”
That is Easy. Periodically work up to your EDM on a good day as per auto-regulation talked about earlier. If you are moving it with more speed and ease than you ever have before, then it is working. I do not suggest working up to a true max in the gym, however, if you’re having a monstrous day, a real +10%, and feel like going for it to see how your training is progressing, I cannot tell you not to. My suggestion here is to take a shot at something about 10% more than your EDM and go from there.

BASE BUILDING BENCH PRESS MODELS

BASE BUILDING BENCH PRESS MODELS 

BB BENCH I - 85%X1, 75% X 5X8

This is the starting point and where I left my bench for months and months. This took my EDM of 365 close-grip, to 405. Again, at 365 EDM, my peak had been almost always around 430. Once I got to the point that the sets of 5x8 were all very easy and explosive, I modified it into phase II.
This is also a great break in phase for most people as it doesn’t beat the shit out of you but gets in plenty of work in the lowest of intensities.

BB BENCH II 90%X1 85%X3X5, 75%X3X5, 60%XAMAP 

Here, the volume and intensity get upped. I also added in a back off set of AMAP (as many as possible) instead of doing more sets. I felt like I needed to chase a rep PR number at this point, and it served me well. This offers a nice change of pace from phase I and lets you get after the final set to set a benchmark for progress, other than just bar speed.

BB BENCH III 95%X1 90%X3X3, 80%X5X5, 70%XAMAP 

This was the model I used as the last phase before meeting prep. The intensity is the highest, and the overall volume increases slightly. This is a great phrase to use if your bench has been in the shitter for a very long time. Phase III is VERY demanding. Generally, even with me pushing at a hard pace, it took me about an hour (including warm-ups) to get this work in.
You can use each phase for as long as possible, or you can wave through the phases as you see fit. For example, you can use phase I in week 1, and phase II in week 2, then go back to phase I for week three and repeat.

Obviously, you can phase through each on a weekly basis.

Week 1 - BBM Bench Phase I
Week 2 - BBM Bench Phase II
Week 3 - BBM Bench Phase III
Week 4 - repeat

I know that MOST guys will want to do this. However, I STRONGLY urge you to milk each phase for as long as possible until each one becomes absurdly easy. Each phase can benefit you. Don’t rush into another phase without full exhausting your capabilities on the current one.

BACK WORK AND THE BARBELL ROW

BACK WORK AND THE BARBELL ROW

For decades, doing lots of a back work was a staple in the strength training arsenal. Powerlifters and strongmen patterned building a big back the same way bodybuilders did. Lots of barbell rows, Lat pulldowns, chins, and shrugs. These men were Alpha, got more play from women, totaled bigger, drove awesome whips, and instilled a greater amount of fear in others than the average man.

However, in the last decade, I’ve seen more and more guys think of back work as an afterthought. Something that is done after they do dead-lifts or bench and it is usually something to the tune of….

BAND PULL APARTS - A BUNCH

 I don’t care what that guy dead-lifts or squats, or how strong he is, that is NOT adequate back work.

Even more, I’ve seen many guys now simply say that doing Pull Aparts every day was either enough or was “great for building the back”.

The band pulls apart might be great for what it does, like helping to build scapular retraction. But building a strong, jacked, and capable back is not one of them. A back capable of moving 600 and 700-pound squats and dead-lifts with ease is not built with band pull apart. In fact, if you do Band Pull Aparts as a significant part of your back work, to borrow from the vernacular of my friend and world record holder, Jamie Lewis, you should just kill yourself.

The last few years I’ve seen the “big 4” pitched as the bench press, deadlift, squat, and overhead press. And I’ve had a paradigm shift in my thinking in regards to that. I think the big 4 should really be the bench press, deadlift, squat, and barbell row. That’s right, the barbell row. And I will tell you why.

Big shoulders are an awesome thing. Being able to overhead press a tremendous amount of weight is always an impressive feat to watch. However, something most of us should strive to achieve is a back made of thick slabs of muscle that carry over to literally everything you do. It provides a stronger and more capable shelf for the squat to sit on. It helps pick up that monstrous deadlift. It gives a bigger, broader, and more stable base to bench press from. It will also carry over for all of the same reasons for the overhead press.

It is this reason that the barbell row will be a staple throughout all of the routines in this manual, and I suggest that you take your barbell rowing serious. Let’s talk about rowing and the few different ways to implement it.

STRICT BARBEll ROW: 

This is done with the back parallel to the ground, and it never moves from that position. The lower back is arched fairly hard, and the bar is pulled into the area just about an inch below the pec line. The bar rests on the floor between each rep. Once you’re in position, you pull it off the floor into the upper abs, and then return it to the floor, never moving position. There is no heaving or “cheating”. This is the toughest of all the barbell rows in my opinion.

Pluses: Forces the lifter to focus on the rhomboids and mid-back. Teaches the lifter how to arch correctly, and what scapular retraction feels like.

Minuses: Limits the amount of weight to be used by a significant margin compared to the other barbell rows.  The top end of the weight to be used, if the form is maintained, will be limited.

TRADITIONAL BARBELL ROW: 

This is the row guys have used for decades to build a thick, solid, and tight back. With the traditional barbell row, you lift the barbell off of the floor a few inches, are a little more upright than in the strict row, and there can be some, SOME, cheating allowed in it. When I write cheating, I mean somebody movement to get the bar moving is allowed. It should not turn into an epileptic seizure, however. It’s the barbell ROW, not the barbell HEAVE.

Nor should you be so upright that you are essentially doing shrugs. If you want to do shrugs, do shrugs. Do not get so upright in the barbell row that the bar is moving only a few inches and bastardize the movement. This drives me fucking crazy. With the traditional barbell, you lift the bar off the ground, and just as with the strict row, pull it into the abdominal area. Unlike the strict row, you will be more inclined to pull the bar in the lower abdominal area than the upper ABS. This is due to having to hold the bar in the correct position (hanging straight down from the arms with the torso slightly more upright).

Pluses: Allows for more overload than the strict row. Brings in a little more of traps since the angle is slightly more upright than the strict row.

Minuses:  Generally gets turned into a circus act of some kind, with guys trying to date rape the bar.

Yates Row: This is essentially a barbell row done with a curl grip and the upper body at an even higher angle than the traditional barbell row. More like 70 degrees. This movement is named after multi-time Mr. Olympia, Dorian Yates, who had a back that would make a Silverback embarrassed to show himself around his troop. The Yates row is great at really bringing the lower lats into play. This is the movement Dorian used predominantly in his training until he tore his bicep with it. Yes, he tore his bicep with it. It is obvious that you are using a curl grip here, you are going to want to be cognizant of not getting too heavy with this movement. Remember, you’re back building here. No one has to do rows at a meet, so keep the ego in check.

Pluses: Really helps to develop the lats better than other rowing because of the mechanics of it.

Minuses:  Can tear biceps if one gets stupid with the amount of weight being used.

Someone very interested in total back development might be inclined to use all three versions from time to time. One could even base an entire back workout around those three variations. Do a strict barbell row, a barbell row, then a Yates row. Two hard working sets of each would give you a lot of work from top to bottom in the back. Top it off with some chins and shrugs and this could develop a back that makes people stop in awe.

BACK BUILDING OPTIONS

One way to get in more back work is to train it twice a week. You can train chin and pull down variations on one day, and row variations on the other. Here is how you could set this up.

Day 1 

- Bench and Bench - BBM Incline - 350 Method Chins V-Bar - 8x5 bodyweight Lat Pulldowns Wide Grip - 5x8 to a top-heavy set

Day 2 (later in the week) 

- Rows Strict Rows - 2 x 5 Barbell Rows - 2 x 8 Yates Row - 2 x 8 Cable Rows - 4 x 20 This is a solid option. You fit in your squats and pulls during the week between those sessions. The other option is to go the traditional route and just squeeze it all in on one day.

Back day 

Barbell Rows - 4 x 8 DB Rows - 1 x 20-30 Wide Grip Chins - 5 x AMAP Close Grip Pulldowns - 3 x 8 Shrugs - 2 x 20

This is solid as well, and plenty of guys have built barn door wide backs just getting it in once a week.

Regardless of which one you decide to do, start emphasizing back work more than you have been. It will pay big dividends in regards to helping your other lifts.

THE SLIDING SCALE OF INTENSITY & VOLUME: PRILEPIN’S TABLE

THE SLIDING SCALE OF INTENSITY & VOLUME: PRILEPIN’S TABLE 

There are other factors involved in it like bar speed, rest between sets, etc. I like Prilipen’s table in the sense that it gives you a GUIDELINE for where to start in terms of volume and intensity. You must remember a few things about it.

 1. It is only a guideline. No different than any other program, it represents something to build around. Not something to worship as a holy sacrament.

 2. It was based on the results of Olympic lifters. Olympic lifting and powerlifting or bodybuilding are all different animals, and should not be treated the same.     Olympic lifters, for the most part, do not have an eccentric portion of a lift in their training, outside of the squat. It is the eccentric portion of the lift, or the “negative”,     that most people feel causes the most stress to the system and thus a need for more recovery time. 

As you can see, in the first chart, there is a recommendation of 24 reps as the optimal amount with 18-30 being the “range”. This is why I wrote before that this is a “guideline”. There is no perfect workload for everyone.

With the first chart, it is not hard to figure out that the good ole simple “5x5” scheme works well here. With the second chart, you’re looking at 18 reps. Again, simple math could let us assign 3 sets of 6 here or 6 sets of 3. I personally like 6 sets of 3 with this intensity (up to 80%). The third chart is from the 80 to 90% intensity range it suggests, 15 total reps. 5 sets of 3. Personally, I think this is optimal. 

My preferences are my own because I feel like more sets tend to help reinforce technique and essentially offer more opportunities to practice the movement.

The phases in the base building will be somewhat built around Prilepen’s table. I write “somewhat” because it may not adhere to the chart exactly at times. AGAIN, it is just a guideline and not something written in stone.

For example, Phase I in bench starts with 5x8@ 70%. That’s 40 total reps with pressing. I’ve always felt that people can do more volume on it than they can with lower body movements that take a larger systemic toll, and tax the hips and low back, which take longer to recover as well. There are adjustments made in the phases.

As with most things involved in training, there are no hard and fast rules. There aren’t a lot of absolutes in weight training. If you want to get bigger, you eventually have to do “more” of something, more volume, more weight, and more reps. Something has to increase in the scope of what your body is capable of handling.

That “thing” can be achieved in many different fashions. This is why I use Prilepen’s table above to set a guideline and not a rule. These things can always be adjusted as needed by/for the individual. This is also why I have included waving, tapering, and de-loading into the mix. All of those things are valuable tools in finding the optimum training methodology for you.

GETTING MOMENTUM IN YOUR TRAINING AND KEEPING IT AS LONG AS POSSIBLE, BY NOT FALLING OFF THE CLIFF

GETTING MOMENTUM  IN YOUR TRAINING AND KEEPING IT AS LONG AS POSSIBLE, BY NOT FALLING OFF THE CLIFF 

Then reality sets in, and that -10% session happens. Then another, then another, then you wonder what in the hell happened to all of that sweet nectar of progression.
Well first off, there’s no real way to completely avoid the pitfalls of training. When you feel as though strength and development have regressed. When the return on your exertion investment just does not seem to scream equality, when your life ends up dealing you stress that just zaps the life right out of you. The gym goals either take a backseat for a while or get shit on altogether.
This is especially true if you are really pushing hard as hell and focused on attaining rep PR’s and moving up to that next level. I did this for years, and while I made good progress, the most frustrating thing about it was that I so often found myself in a downslope later, not able to hit weights I had smashed so easily before. I would spend months and months trying to just MATCH those PR’s again.
Why did I end up losing much of that momentum that I had for so long? I will credit Brandon Lilly for giving me a great metaphor in regards to this. And in fact, it even uses a term I have often used in regards to training regression. Brandon said a Russian coach told him, “You can push a horse as hard and as fast as it will go towards a cliff until it nears the end of that cliff and then it will lock everything up and stop.” I’ve often called the regressive aftermath of a long and productive training cycle that netted PR’s and lots of tangible progress the period of “falling off the cliff.” Basically, strength and work capacity will tank. You aren’t strong or explosive, and your willingness to push hard in a determined way is diminished. You can only push hard and fast for so long.
At some point, the brakes will get slammed on, or you’ll fall off the cliff. Either way, it signals either regression or stagnation. You either end up behind the 8-ball and you cannot match those PR’s anymore, or you stay stuck there for a long, long time. All training gives and then takes something back. Eventually, training will take more from you than it gives back regardless of what protocol you are using. There is a time and a place for everything, and eventually the body will adapt to certain stresses, and in order to move forward, change, in some way, will be required. This is why you need to plan accordingly when you see the edge of that cliff fast approaching you.

PLAN, ATTACK, CONQUER, ESTABLISH, REIGN 
Throughout your training life, you’re going to eventually need to understand what your body needs in order to move forward. Generally, most guys that work in the “unproductive training department” are making money there because of two common reasons...

1. They switch routines too often. aka CRC's, (chronic routine changes). This is often younger guys or novice trainees. They start reading everything in the world on training and end up switching routines

2. They don’t know when to switch methodologies. The guy obsessed with strength development will not stop training in low reps, and train for mass for a while. They don’t understand the benefits of training high reps on the big movements for a while rather than just doing singles and triples all the time. This is usually the more advanced guys, who became “advanced” through a particular method and then as they get closer to their genetic ceiling, fail to understand you can only milk that same cow many times in a day. Eventually, you have to find a new pair of tits if you want more milk.
Strength and muscular development have a handshaking mechanism, but they cannot shake hands unless you introduce them to one another. If your bench has been stuck at 315 for two years, then you either need to learn how to bench more efficiently (better setup, more leg drive, etc.), Or you simply need to get bigger. Mass moves mass, and a bigger you are always going to be a stronger you.
Too many guys that are obsessed with setting one rep maxes in the gym will not give up their “testing” for a few months of “bodybuilding” style work. It’s because they have become fixated on hitting a new bench PR. If a new bench PR hasn’t been hit in a very, very long time, then you’ve become insane. Because the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting a different result.
The “plan-attack-conquer-reign” motto applies very well not only to war strategy, sexual conquests, binge eating, and fantasy football, but your training paradigm as well.

Plan - Figure out what it is you need to do, in order to get to improve. By “improve” that means setting REALISTIC goals, a timeframe to reach them, and a sound methodology. This stage of planning takes a bit of being honest with yourself and being introspective about what you need to let go of, and what you need to go after. Again, if you’ve been stuck for a very long time, you’ll need to make some changes in your training/diet/sleeping/stress, whatever.

Attack - after your plan has been established you need to attack all of the areas involved in that plan with the force of 10,000 Vikings. Eat like a machine, train accordingly to plan, make sure you’re getting adequate rest, and do not deviate from the “plan” unless It is an absolute requirement. This is why it is important that the PLAN be solid. You don’t want to start changing things early because your plan suddenly seems insufficient.

Conquer - This is where plan and attack bear their fruit, and your goals become realized. If the first two phases were on point, this phase should happen fairly seamlessly.

Reign - Now here is where the analogy of the horse running off the cliff comes into play. You’re chasing PR’s, and you’re training as hard as possible. Once the PR’s (the conquer phase) start coming in, you must be aware that the cliff is fast approaching. YOU CANNOT GET GREEDY.

If you do, two things are going to happen. You will either go right off the cliff, or that horse will slam on the brakes and progress comes to a screeching halt.
The PR’s are hit on the way to the cliff’s edge. The reason the cliff comes upon you is that there’s nowhere left to go. You’ve tapped the landscape (your body) out for the moment. Then you’re forced to backtrack and find a way down. This is a regression. If you are smart, you’ll understand that part of reigning, and increasing your baseline is knowing that after you have reached a PR, eventually there is an inevitable backslide.
On the way to the cliff, what you should have done was be cognizant of the small road leading down off the mountain. You have reached your goals, and now it is time to back off the speed for a bit, and REIGN over the progress you have made.
You will MAINTAIN the progress. Not regress from it. You do not need to DEMONSTRATE the progress in order to maintain it. You can maintain that progress by NOT falling off the cliff or staying stagnant. By slicing in periods of maintenance training to increase your baseline. This is another component of base building. I found this out on my own. That by simply training to maintain, I found myself getting stronger and stronger. Then when I would go after a rep PR when I felt good, low and behold it was there.
A light bulb went off that not killing myself, and coaxing progress out as my body would allow it, had tremendous benefits. Training in lower intensities and not killing myself every training session ALLOWED my body to recover, and because of this, strength gain ensued.
Getting greedy always ends up backfiring in both life and training. Once you’ve established some new set points in terms of PR’s, understand that you will need to back off and work to MAINTAIN those PR’s. You do not have to actually reproduce those PR “strength demonstrations” weekly TO DO THAT. Please grok the shit out of that ideology. It will benefit you greatly.

EDM - THE EVERYDAY MAX(WHAT BASE BUILDING IS PROGRAMMED AROUND)

EDM - THE EVERYDAY MAX(WHAT BASE BUILDING IS PROGRAMMED AROUND)

One of the biggest reasons many training programs fail is not because of inherent flaws in the program. It is often due to the lack of honesty on the part of the lifter. Our goals and aspirations often cause us to take a “shoot for the moon” mentality, and more often than not that FAILS because it does not take into consideration that well, we’re not being realistic about our own capabilities.
I absolutely hate the mentality of “no limits” because we ALL have limits. When you sit down and decide to create a productive training program, or program a productive training cycle, you have to be very aware of your limits in order to eventually push PAST THEM. This is one of the reasons that an EVERY DAY MAX is what you should be programming around. That day that you managed to bench a PR by 20 pounds is NOT what you should be basing your training cycles around.
No one in any other sport bases the worth of a player around his best day. They do it based around what he’s really capable of on a consistent basis. You don’t judge the worth of a running back based on his 210 yard rushing day when the rest of his career he only averaged about 52 yards a game rushing. It is an anomaly. You don’t give him a contract with the HOPES that he can go out and rush for 210 yards each Sunday. You pay him based on his 52 yards a game.
Many powerlifters or strength athletes do NOT get this. If your best squat EVER is 550, and that was on a +10% day where you felt like King Kong, then why are you basing your training cycle on that or even more than that? This is how people find themselves in the middle of a training cycle missing weights and failing. Then instead of looking in the mirror as the reason why their training is failing, they blame the program. You have to understand the importance of being completely honest with yourself when you sit down and decide to plan out your training cycle, and goals.
Your EDM is what you are good for on an everyday basis. That is your baseline. When you improve your baseline, you will be able to improve the peak associated with that baseline.
Just using numbers as a variable let’s call your EDM, or your baseline, 100%. We’ll call your peak strength of 110%. If a lifter has an EDM of 500 pounds in the squat that means his peak strength might be around 540-550. If he increases his EDM to 525 now his peak strength could be anywhere from 580 to 590.
Pushing your baseline strength level can be done with very few de-loads (time off), lessens the chance of injury, and keeps training cycles consistently moving forward. It also can be increased without venturing into the intensity or loading range that is the most responsible for deep fatigue curves, and injuries. Yes, let’s not kid ourselves, the heavier you go the higher

the percentage to sustain an injury becomes. Injuries also generally occur when you are tired, and still continue to try and push hard through rep PR’s or weights that your body is not ready to move yet. Then...snap....forced rest is upon you. 48 Let me be clear I’m not advocating Nancy boy bullshit here. Training will always be HARD, but you cannot get on the field if you’re always in the trainer’s room. In other words, you cannot make or sustain progress for very long if you’re injured all the time. And being injured tends to be the number one cause of not being able to train consistently.
Programming your training cycles around weights that you can handle with a great amount of speed and explosiveness is always a good idea. Yes, there will be days when even those weights feel heavier than normal; this is to be expected in the ebb and flow of the training life cycle. But even on a down day, you should never miss programmed weights.
This is how intelligent training is programmed.
How to program your EDM “So how do I know my EDM?” This is not hard. Go into the gym, do some warm-ups, and then work up to a single that you have to “prepare” for. Mentally I mean. No yelling should be required, just an internal focus on getting this crisp single done, “CRISP” being the key word here. It should not be a grinder; you should be aware that adding another 10-20 pounds would/could start to turn into one.
DO NOT add more and more weight because you feel like having a higher EDM is going to help you. This will eventually short circuit your training cycle, I PROMISE YOU. You need to understand what your body is capable of even on off days. This might be a 5% or more reduction in your EDM. If you programmed for an EDM that you cannot hit on a down day, then in the latter parts of a training cycle where the intensity increases, you will find yourself grinding to make your prescribed sets and reps, or even missing some reps.
This is because on a -10% day 75% intensity can all of a sudden “feel” more like 90%. In other words, even with proper programming, you will have days where what you are supposed to hit may feel heavier than it did most of the other times you lifted it. Be very aware of what you are using to program your EDM with.
If I had to give a ballpark intensity number, I would say something between 88-90% of your TRUE max is about what your EDM is going to be. That means you will program using your EDM, and the rest of the training will revolve around THAT number, NEVER your true one rep max.

AUTOREGULATION IN BASE BUILDING
The most important reason you’ll need to program with a conservative EDM is that on days where you feel pretty exceptional, you will have the option to work up to your EDM as your last over-warm up.
It is imperative that whatever you program with as an EDM, is a LEGIT EDM. It should still be doable on a bad day, even though on a “bad day” you’d never work up to it.
If you have days where you decide to work up to your EDM and miss it, then it is pretty obvious that your ego got the better of you in programming. That or you went too heavy on testing day to find out what your EDM was.

Let me emphasize that working up to your EDM is an option ONLY for those days where you feel pretty exceptional, in other words, a +10% day. After you work up to it, go back to the working sets that have been programmed for that day. No more, no less.
You will not see the EDM programming in any of the phases because again, working up to your EDM is based around how you feel on that day. If I had to take a guess, you might work up to it once or twice a month at the very most.

GRINDING
 In the context of this book, grinding has nothing to do with your weekend in Vegas getting down with some sweet babes/dudes on the dance floor. Grinding weights week after week eventually is the main culprit for a lot of people to stall in progress. The fatigue curve gets too steep and the super-compensation curve is negated. This is backed over and over and over again by what we’ve seen from the Russian training philosophies and other training models that take recovery and super-compensation into the equation. Kirk Karwoski, one of the greatest powerlifters of all time, told me “if you start grinding reps, something went wrong in how you programmed your training.”
If you want to go argue with Kirk, be my guest. He only squatted a grand for a double in training, benched just under 600 pounds, and pulled 777 in competition. The guy he finally listened to about not grinding out every rep was Ed Coan, the greatest powerlifter of all time. Ed reiterated this theme at the seminar I did with him in Chicago. Which was, “set your training cycle up so that you smash weights all the way through it. You should be building confidence every week of the training cycle.”
I myself ended up coming to this realization years ago when I noticed that once I started grinding to hit a certain number of reps in my sets, I would eventually find myself drifting backward in progress. I would stall and plateau out for a while. Of course, I would keep doing what I was doing because after all, it had gotten me to that point so it must work. It did work…for a while. Then eventually you realize that training that hard has a point of diminishing returns. Eventually, you come to an understanding that you can get to that same place, without beating the shit out of yourself week in and week out. That you need to back off and give the body room to move forward instead of trying to push it off the cliff day in and day out.
Does grinding have a place in training? Yes, of course. Generally near the end of a strength peaking cycle, or during mass training phases where you are trying to break rep PRs. I will also say that on some really crappy days, even if you programmed correctly you could end up grinding through a few sets. This doesn’t mean you have to scrap your training cycle. It just means you had a bad day and shit felt heavier than it was supposed to. This is ok.
In peaking cycles, you will almost inevitably grind some reps here and there near the end because even though you should be applying as much force as possible to the bar, as the weight gets heavier and bar speed obviously slows down. Not only that, but you’re going to want to get into a bit of a fatigued state the last week or two so that once you rest up for competition, super-compensation is at a peak. That’s what “peaking” is. And you cannot reach a strength peak if you start getting too deep into the fatigue curve early in the training cycle. This is when you realize you hit your best weights far too early, and now everything starts feeling REALLY heavy.

BASELINE STRENGTH, FATIGUE, AND SUPER COMPENSATION 
In the picture below, the horizontal line represents your baseline strength, i.e. Your EDM. The waves represent training stimulus. When you train, you cause fatigue. The amount of that fatigue will vary of course, based on volume, intensity, frequency, etc. When you recover, the body “returns” to that baseline, or just above it IF you allow it to. This is what recovery is. When you grind weights for weeks on end, the waves begin to eventually fall deeper into the fatigue zone, and then flatten out either below the baseline or just back at it.
The line ascending is not a sharp line upwards. It moves moderately upwards. This is what good base building should look like on a curve. There is fatigue, that is not incredibly great, and then there is compensation and super-compensation, after recovery from fatigue. The less sharp the curve is, the more you increase your base, or foundation, level of strength. You do not “peak”, but you improve gradually, and consistently.
Often times, guys train too hard for too long, only to make minimal or zero progress because they do not let the recovery and super-compensation process actually take place, and stay in fatigue debit. You don’t have to beat yourself into S&M bondage style submission every training session in order to create an upwards curve in your baseline strength. This is done by using a smart EDM and programming optimally.
Another way I heard it phrased was, training is like digging a hole, and recovery is like filling it back in. If you dig too deep of a hole, It is going to take you a very long time to fill it back in. The best way to ensure proper recovery is to not dig too deep of a hole. Now the caveat to all of this is, some people are natural grinders, and they “grind” everything. In other words, all of their lifts look slow. Even for those people, they know what “grinding” is for them; then they have to force out those 1-2 extra reps week after week. Even for those people, this will eventually take the same toll that it does for those who are naturally more explosive lifters.
Use “grinding” appropriately, and sparingly. Always save some reps in the tank and most importantly try to remain as explosive as possible during the base building phases in your training cycle.

BASE BUILDING PROGRAMMING - HOW LOW CAN YOU GO? MORE ON YOUR  EDM During the “off-season”, or when you are not training to peak for a meet or strength event, the best way to program in my opinion, is to ask yourself how LOW you can program your EDM and still make great strength gains, especially, when you’re planning your off-season cycle around the base building method.
That’s right, how LOW can you program and still get stronger. The reason for this being is because the lower the intensity threshold, the greater your recovery will be. The higher your intensity curve becomes, the deeper the fatigue curve is as well. It is the old “for every action there is an equal or opposite reaction”. The higher you run your programming up the intensity scale or percentage of your 1 rep max, the longer it is going to take you to recover from those sessions.
The reason why programming with a low EDM is effective is that you are basing it off of what your body is capable of doing at any moment. Your true one rep max is really a fleeting number, something that you cannot hit every time you walk into the gym. It is really impossible to base your training cycle around hitting that when it is not always going to be there. Neither are the intensities associated with it.
The question you should really be asking yourself is, how low can you go on the intensity (% of 1RM) scale in your programming, and still get strong?
What I have found through my own research and training, is that you can unequivocally program as low as 70% of your EDM, and get strong. Sometimes, even lower (which I do for squat phases).
For example, the incredibly successful Russian based volume program created by Boris Sheiko, has the trainee spend most of their time in their relative 68-72% intensity range. Yes, that low. It is all about technique, volume, and repeating movement patterns. It is also about moving those weights with as much explosive force as possible.
Volume and intensity go hand in hand. They need to complement each other depending on the goals and training cycle length. If you program too low then there will not be enough carryover to move the big stuff when you need to. If your program too heavy, then you will end up under-recovering and your lifts will start to stall. As noted before, plateaus tend to come very soon after you start grinding weights or missing prescribed reps.
The key in the base building is to understand how important the EDM is, and how low you can program with it to make steady strength gains and to increase your baseline of strength.