The Great Density Block Experiment of 2017

[OZ-USF-UFGator]

From a systemic/overtraining standpoint, how would this system work is all lifts were done with density blocks as whole body workouts 3X a week. For example:

Mon - Squat, Press, deadlift, (70%, deadlift at 80%) assistant bench

Wed- Squat, bench, chins (80%), curls, tris

Friday - Squat, Press, Deadlift (90%), assistant press

Alternate deadlift every other week with SLDL or SGDL so not to over train.

Is this a recipe for crashing and burning?

One thing I like about D-Blocks that seems to not get any love here is that due to job, school family, kids, dog, etc...I don't have a lot of time for conditioning outside of the gym and when I run DB's, my heart beats like a motherfucker. I like the conditioning as a bonus. Last year, I did a 335 pound deadlift D-block and after 24 reps, I was as tired as I've ever been and in a previous life, I was a competitive 5-K runner.

[John Hanley]

From a systemic/overtraining standpoint, how would this system work is all lifts were done with density blocks as whole body workouts 3X a week. For example:

Mon - Squat, Press, deadlift, (70%, deadlift at 80%) assistant bench

Wed- Squat, bench, chins (80%), curls, tris

Friday - Squat, Press, Deadlift (90%), assistant press

Alternate deadlift every other week with SLDL or SGDL so not to over train.

Is this a recipe for crashing and burning?.

I would make Monday a light pull EVERY WEEK. So, maybe. SGDL or SLDL. Or even RDLs. I really dislike the idea of having a clock on for 90% deads (but I'm a hand-wringing nanny). I would just do a few singles or doubles for deadlift. Shouldn't take more than 15 minutes. Maybe alternate deads with rack pulls every week (I really respond to rack pulls).

Also: maybe front squats on Wed.

Last year, I did a 335 pound deadlift D-block and after 24 reps, I was as tired as I've ever been and in a previous life, I was a competitive 5-K runner.

Shit man. Be careful doing stuff like that.

[Adam Nelson]

Last year, I did a 335 pound deadlift D-block and after 24 reps, I was as tired as I've ever been and in a previous life, I was a competitive 5-K runner.

Shit man. Be careful doing stuff like that.

Aww, are 5K's really that bad?

[OZ-USF-UFGator]

Sub 18 minutes they are

[Tom Narvaez]

I'd be curious to hear the rational behind why INOL is anything but an ass-pulled metric? It's completely based off Prilepin's chart without any context. PC was based off Olympic weightlifters and Prilepin makes no mention of weekly frequency (or daily). It is just loading parameters to maintain optimal bar speed for weightlifters for one, single session. Hristov then extrapolates weekly amount of work from this chart? Huh?

My experience: Prilepin's chart is too aggressive for most conventional deadlifters and not nearly enough work for most bench sessions. It works pretty well for squats. I'd be extremely wary of anything that claims to inform your weekly tonnage/work/NOL from this chart, though.


On a completely different note, what is the "stop" during a given set in the block? @6? @7? Stop when you think the next rep isn't gonna be clean?

[John Hanley]

On a completely different note, what is the "stop" during a given set in the block? @6? @7? Stop when you think the next rep isn't gonna be clean?

Yeah. Probably about @7. Then @8 for the last ~ 2 minutes. Last set @9...@10 if I'm being short-sighted.

[Tom Narvaez]

Thanks, John.

Watching with interest.

[gtl]

I've been reading this thread and thought I'd chime in. Disclaimer: I'm not very strong at all and squat with an SSB only right now.

About 6 months back, Jordan replied to someone's question with a training template:

Day 1:
Squat x 6 @ 8, then 12 min AMRAP at same load in sets of 3
Press x 6 @ 9, then 12 min AMRAP at same load in sets of 3
Chins -10 min AMRAP
Arms- 10 min AMRAP
Prowler

Day 2: off

Day 3:
Deadlift x 6 @ 8, then 12 min AMRAP at same load in sets of 3
Bench x 6 @ 9. then 12 min AMRAP at same load in sets of 3
Pull ups- 10 min AMRAP
Arms -10 min AMRAP
Steady state cardio PRN

Day 4: Off

Day 4:
Paused squat x 6 @ 9, then 12 min AMRAP at same load in sets of 3
Incline Bench x 6 @ 9. then 12 min AMRAP at same load in sets of 3
Pendlay Rows- 12 @ 9, then 12 min AMRAP at same load in sets of 6
Arms-10 min AMRAP
Prowler

I've roughly followed this since January, except for 12 weeks in which I hurt my back and spent that time rehabbing it, and building back up again.

Prior to starting this, I had worked up to a squatting 220x5x5 on the SSB, with 5 minute rests and the last set in the rpe 9.5 territory. Bench was at 192.5x5x5, with 5 minute rests and damn near every set was rpe 9-10 except for the first. I think deadlift was somewhere around 315x3, 325x3, 335x3, 315x3 with the 335x3 set being around rpe 9.

I'll start off by saying that the above template does not save me any time. That may be my own issue, but a squat might take me 15 minutes to hit my top set. I'll typically do warmups, one set 10-15% below my intended top set to help guide me, then my top set. Then, after resting 3-5 minutes from that top set, I set the timer and go. So, let's call it 35 minutes to squat.

After hitting my top set, I would get between 4-6 sets of 3, where 5 was really the sweet spot. That ends up being an average of 21 total reps (not including the 1 set below the top set) in under 20 minutes. I am pretty much going every 90-120 seconds in between sets here. The first one or two suck as I feel like I've not fully recovered from the top set. The next two feel smooth. Then, by time I get to the last one, its around rpe 9.5. FWIW, if I overshoot rpe and end up taking 5-10% off for the AMRAP, or don't add weight to the last session, I try to get more sets in the same time period.

I ran this for about 6 weeks before I stopped making progress. I got my squat to 240x6@8 and 5 sets of 3 in 12 mins. Then I started to regress 2 weeks in a row and I've moved everything to a top set of 5 with 2's during the AMRAP. The AMRAP with 2's means going every 60 seconds (75-90 later in the 12min) and getting about 7 sets. I made a slightly aggressive jump on squat this week and managed 245x5@8, then only 5 sets in the 12min. I'll work on adding sets before I move up. Bench was 195@8.5 and 7 sets in 12 min. For deadlift, I switched over to sumo and am doing a top set of 3 with 1's during the AMRAP. I don't really have a good reference or comparison here, but I did 345x3@8 then 8 singles in 12 min.

Anyways, I don't know if I've truly made much progress here or not, but I like it. If planning to run this longer than 4 weeks, I think I would actually start with x8 then 3's for 3-4 weeks, then x5 and 2's for 3-4 weeks, then x3 and 1's for 2-3 weeks. Just thought I'd share my experience as it is similar to what is going on on this thread.

[Chebass88]

I'd be curious to hear the rational behind why INOL is anything but an ass-pulled metric? It's completely based off Prilepin's chart without any context. PC was based off Olympic weightlifters and Prilepin makes no mention of weekly frequency (or daily). It is just loading parameters to maintain optimal bar speed for weightlifters for one, single session. Hristov then extrapolates weekly amount of work from this chart? Huh?

My experience: Prilepin's chart is too aggressive for most conventional deadlifters and not nearly enough work for most bench sessions. It works pretty well for squats. I'd be extremely wary of anything that claims to inform your weekly tonnage/work/NOL from this chart, though.


On a completely different note, what is the "stop" during a given set in the block? @6? @7? Stop when you think the next rep isn't gonna be clean?

Of course it is an ass-pulled metric. It seems to be a handy index to track volume & intensity and nothing more. Indices are not meant to be very quantitative, and I used it to cook up the loadings for the three press sessions within the week. As I mentioned, knowing what the indices were for my past ~8 weeks (average 2.35-2.5), that seemed like a good place to start. Coupled with Hanley's suggestion of two different intensities, I used it and the Prilepin chart to set up two blocks and a session with heavy singles.

So, excluding the efficacy of Prilepin for powerlifters, are 30 reps at 70%, 20 reps at 80%, and 5 reps at 90% not a good idea? If it isn't - what is a better set & rep scheme?

[John Hanley]

So, excluding the efficacy of Prilepin for powerlifters, are 30 reps at 70%, 20 reps at 80%, and 5 reps at 90% not a good idea? If it isn't - what is a better set & rep scheme?

Yeah, I don't shit about INOL, but I looked at the numbers Chebass proposed (using INOL) and they looked very, very close to my old MRV numbers (~48 hours) for overhead press.