4 Day Heavy/Light Split

[Patrick Russell]

Good morning all. I'm posting this here as directed by Andy, since he's away for a bit.

I'm a 32 year old male, 215-220 lbs depending on the day. I've been using a HLM template, 5x5 ascending sets as written in "The Strongest Shall Survive." On this programming my squat went from 325 to 390, bench from 205-240, press from 140-165 (have since reset, currently at 155), deadlift from 340-405. I'm looking to change things up so my workouts are shorter. I tend to spend all shift at work on my feet and I work a rotating shift schedule (I'm a paramedic working mostly in an emergency room) so I do best if I lift before work. Caloric intake is usually around 3000-3500/day but sometimes less, such as when I have a particularly busy shift.

Mostly I want to know if this makes sense/looks ok to you guys:

Sunday
Heavy squat 3x5
Press 3x5

Monday
Deadlift 1x5
Power Clean 5x3

Wednesday
Squat, 90% of Sunday, 3x5
Bench press 3x5

Thursday
Paused deadlift 1x5
Weighted Chin up

The plan is to increase squat and deadlift by 5 lbs each week, bench/press by 2.5.

Thanks for looking this over.

[Tom Campitelli]

I suspect your press and bench press will not go very far doing each only once per week. What about a more traditional split routine?

[Cole Gorton]

I suspect your press and bench press will not go very far doing each only once per week. What about a more traditional split routine?

Why does this not apply to dead lifts? As a novice i have little experience dead lifting so wouldnt it be beneficial to pull more frequently ?

[Tom Campitelli]

A lot of peeps do fine pulling once a week provided they are squatting regularly. That does vary a little from trainee to trainee, however.

[Patrick Russell]

Thanks Tom, I didn't think of that (obviously).

[Tom Campitelli]

Let us know how it works, or if you need some extra guidance.

[Patrick Russell]

Let us know how it works, or if you need some extra guidance.

Thanks. I've taken your suggestion and have started something similar to what's on page 155 of Practical Programming, right at the top. I didn't want to go with a 4 day TM split because I think I'm unlikely to be able to recover well from 5x5 across of anything, on a 4 day split or otherwise.

[Tom Campitelli]

You would probably survive 5x5 presses, but 5x5 squats are the province of the criminally insane. I only program them for people I don't like.