variations compared to their parent lifts...

[Cole Gorton]

Im an early intermediate. I have decided on an HLM for a long term plan, the specifics of it may change but the template will be constant (hence HLM)

Right now im doing variations (paused and pins) to create more stress without the total tonnage fatigue ie paused squat on light day, pin squat and pin bench on medium day and paused DL on medium day.

My question is, are these variations causing more stress than if i was simply doing the parent movement at 80%light day 90%med day? And is this an appropriate way to structure an HLM? My last medium day i was like what the fuck i almost died

thanks,

Cole

[Michael Wolf]

They might be causing more stress, depending on how heavy you're loading them. You didn't give any specific context with which to actually answer your question but:

a) if you're loading the variation up to where it's max or near max for that variation, even if it's less than you could do with the full version, OR if you're doing a lot of volume with it, thinking that it's lighter because of the variation so that you can easily recover - well, no, it doesn't exactly work that way.
b) if you're a true early intermediate, you probably don't need so many variations nor any as far away from the parent movement as pin work

[Cole Gorton]

They might be causing more stress, depending on how heavy you're loading them. You didn't give any specific context with which to actually answer your question but:

a) if you're loading the variation up to where it's max or near max for that variation, even if it's less than you could do with the full version, OR if you're doing a lot of volume with it, thinking that it's lighter because of the variation so that you can easily recover - well, no, it doesn't exactly work that way.
b) if you're a true early intermediate, you probably don't need so many variations nor any as far away from the parent movement as pin work

Alright thanks. I dont think im doing the pin stuff correctly anyway so im going to drop them and just do the basics.

[Michael Wolf]

If you're not sure how to do something correctly, then you definitely need to fix that before making it a regular part of your programming as a main lift variant. Pause squats, and paused or close grip bench are probably sufficient variations for you if you're a true early intermediate on your first run through HLM style. Pause squats on light day, and close grip or paused bench as the medium day pressing variation work well. They're very close to the main movement, introduce a little bit of variety for both freshness and have helpful uses in their own right, and allow you to be naturally limited in the weight you can use but still work hard. As you run through more cycles of HLM, more variations can become useful too but if you're really early intermediate, focus on making increases to the main lifts every 1-2 weeks more than introducing new variations.

[Cole Gorton]

If you're not sure how to do something correctly, then you definitely need to fix that before making it a regular part of your programming as a main lift variant. Pause squats, and paused or close grip bench are probably sufficient variations for you if you're a true early intermediate on your first run through HLM style. Pause squats on light day, and close grip or paused bench as the medium day pressing variation work well. They're very close to the main movement, introduce a little bit of variety for both freshness and have helpful uses in their own right, and allow you to be naturally limited in the weight you can use but still work hard. As you run through more cycles of HLM, more variations can become useful too but if you're really early intermediate, focus on making increases to the main lifts every 1-2 weeks more than introducing new variations.

Good advice micheal. Ill plan on paused squat for light day and CG bench for medium day, with my priority being adding weight to the main lifts weekly or bi weekly. thanks a lot!