A/B/C Program: C week tweak (holla!)

Based on Jake's comments about more volume and the order of lifts, I've tweaked the C week (Deload). Below is an example of the new outline:

WEEK C (DELOAD):

C #1
BS 365x2 + 335x5 + 285x8
BP 315x3 + 295x5 + 255x8
SLDLQ 315x8

C #2
PC 245x1 + 235x1 + 215x5
OP 235x1 + 215x5 + 175x8
FS 275x2x3

C #3
BS 385x1 + 365x3 + 325x5
DBBP 140sx2x5
CHIN BWx3x8

It's still greatly reduced volume with high intensity, which is the goal. Also, no Rack Pulls to give the back a break.

Programming Changes

Ok, so with me working out whenever now, I decided that I need to make changes to my schedule.

Monday - ME Lower

Wednesday - ME Bench

Friday - DE Squat

Saturday - DE Bench

This will probably work out better due to classwork timing (things are due Wednesday/Friday, which kills T/R nights)

Strength == Power?

An interesting thread over Strengthmill. Ol' Rip claims (based on the thousands of people he's trained, 30 years of experience in the field, observing elite athletes at the Olympic Training Center, etc.) that power production is largely a genetic trait and can't be trained to a large extent.

Other people in the thread chime in that this isn't true (at least in all cases), and can be trained by increasing strength and practicing sport-specific skills (ie jumping and what not). Thought's on this?

I know personally that I can't reach the rim on a basketball court, but I'm only just now approaching a 2x BW raw squat. I'm sure Dave has much more success. Then again, there are high-school basketball players who can dunk in their sleep but can't squat 225 to save their life.

I think the two strongest indicators of power production are the vertical jump and the power clean/snatch. I don't track my vertical, but perhaps I should.

A/B/C Program: Tweaks #2

Changes:
- I've gotten most of my "newbie" gains on the Shoulder-Stance Back Squat. Switched to a lower weight 5x5 on #1 so that all volume reps are getting in.
- Switched the higher intensity Week A #3 Squat from 3x2 (No-belt) to 3x5 (Belt)
- Formally threw in the dumbbell presses (which I've been doing anyway)
- Re-programmed Power Cleans to be higher volume on Week A #3. Limit attempts have been moved to Week C #3, first thing. I was failing too often on these and not increasing poundage.
- Made Stiff-Leg DLs main DL accessory lift. I respond very well to 3x8 right now.
- Switched front squats to slightly higher volume
- Added extra day to C week, was feeling too de-conditioned from this week which affected by Week A #1 performance.
- In general, took Jake's advice and increased volume across the board.

Revised Program:
Week A:
#1
Shoulder-Stance Back Squat: 5x5
Bench Press: 3x5 | 5x3
Stiff-Leg DLs: 3x8

#2
Front Squat: 3x3
Dumbbell Bench Press: 3x8
Chin-ups: 4x4

#3
Shoulder-Stance Back Squat (Belt): 3x5
Standing Overhead Press: 4x4
Power Cleans: 5x3

Week B:
#1
Shoulder-Stance Back Squat: 5x5
Bench Press: 3x2
Stiff-Leg DLs: 3x8

#2
Front Squat: 3x3
Dumbbell Bench Press: 3x8
Chin-ups: 3x5

#3
Shoulder-Stance Back Squat (Belt): 3x2
Standing Overhead Press: 3x5
Conventional Deadlift (Belt): 2x3

Week C:
#1
Shoulder-Stance Back Squat: 5RM
Bench Press: 5RM
Stiff-Leg DLs: 8RM

#2
Front Squat: 2-3RM
Dumbbell Bench Press: 8RM
Pull-ups: 5RM

#3
Power Cleans: 5x1
Standing Overhead Press: 5RM
Shoulder-Stance Back Squat: 8RM

Intermediate-Level Programming: Texas Method

Here is a basic description of the Texas method. The full description (and all the auxiliary information about why it is set up the way it is) is found in Practical Programming. This program is for Intermediate trainees. An Intermediate is one who is able to recover completely week-to-week on a particular exercise. A "guesstimate" guide to your trainee level is found here.

NOTE: Novices and below should concentrate on improving session-to-session with the Starting Strength programs.

The A/B/C program I've put together is based on the Texas Method. It is not based on the Bill Starr Heavy/Medium/Light method, because I do not calculate volume as my workload metric. Obviously, they share several important concepts (variation of training load being the most important).

Old School: Bill Seno

Here

Bill Seno was Ed Coan's mentor. He wrote these articles as a booklet back in the Strong Days of raw PL.

Bonus: pictures of a young Ed Coan with awesome hair.

A/B/C Program: Adjustment

Some adjustments with notes. Again, this is for raw PL/general strength gain. No gear except belt on one day (HAH). Eat like a starving wolf or you will break.

Differences:
- Read Starr's article on programming mistakes, he recommends putting the quick lifts first. I agree; I've been putting power cleans last, and about 1/3 of the time I run out of energy by that time. I can gut through some slow lifts at that point, but not so much on power cleans. Switched to first thing on Wednesday.
- Added high-rep (sets of 8) Starr Good Mornings and Stiff-Leg DLs to improve lumbar weak point
- Switched "heavy" day (i.e 3-2 rep squatting) to Monday, when I am (usually) freshest.
- Canned wide-grip bench press after reading Starr's article on shoulder girdle stabilization. Will use Medium (straight arms) grip instead. That's fine since I've done 330 with straight arms (and almost killed Kyle doing it, HAH).
- Switched from alternating sequence of Flat/Overhead press to Flat/Dumbbell/Overhead press 1x/week each. My bench is too high to recover effectively from the alternating sequence.
- Added the dumbbell presses on Wednesday and made them high-rep.

Week A:
#1
Shoulder-Stance Back Squat: 3x3
Medium-Grip Bench Press: 3x5
Stiff-leg DLs: 3x8

#2
Power Clean: 5x3
Front Squat: 3RM
Dumbbell Bench Press: 3x8

#3
Shoulder-Stance Back Squat: 3x5
Standing Barbell Overhead Press: 4x4
Chin-ups: 4x4

Week B:
#1
Shoulder-Stance Back Squat (Belt): 3x2
Medium-Grip Bench Press: 3x3
Conventional Deadlift (Belt): 1x3

#2
Power Clean: 7x2
Front Squat: 2RM
Dumbbell Bench Press: 3x5

#3
Shoulder-Stance Back Squat: 3x5
Standing Barbell Overhead Press: 3x5
Chin-ups: 3x5

Week C:
#1
Power Clean: 5x1
Front Squat: 1RM
Medium-Grip Bench Press: 3RM

#2
Shoulder-Stance Back Squat: 5RM
Standing Barbell Overhead Press: 5RM
Starr Good Mornings: 3x8

Deadlift Programming Example

Steve, Brent, Dean-o:

Here's an example template of how to program ME training over a month. The goal is to break a record on the raw deadlift. I'll assume that you have a reasonable 1RM goal in mind. If not, divide your 5RM by 0.82 to come up with a theoretical 1RM (I recommend low-balling the 1RM weight).

WEEK1:
Conventional DL
50% of 1RM x 5 (1 set of 5)
60% x 3
70% x 1
80% x 5

Front Squats
Work up to a 5RM.

Good Mornings
3 x 8 (3 sets of 8 reps)

WEEK2:
Conventional DL
50% x 5
60% x 3
70% x 1
80% x 1
90% x 3

Front Squats
Work up to a 5RM (same weight as last week)

Good Mornings
3 x 8 (same weight as last week)

WEEK3:
Conventional DL
50% x 5
60% x 3
70% x 1
80% x 1
90% x 1
95% x 1
100% x 1 (new 1RM)

Front Squats
Work up to a 3RM

Good Mornings
3 x 8

WEEK4:
Conventinal DL
50% x 5
60% x 3
70% x 1
80% x 1

That's it. Week 4 is a deload week that lowers the volume to enable recovery.