5 sets of 3 for women. But what about pulls?

[Igor]

Hi,

It seems to be a standard recommendation for novice females that when they stall doing 3 sets of 5 they should switch to 5 sets of 3. Reasoning behind this is pretty clear and has been adressed in various articles and vids. However how pulls should be programmed following this logic? DL for 2 sets of 3? Heavy triple and then a back off set? What about Power Cleans? Should they stay at 5x3 or switch to doubles (6-8 sets)?

Also regarding training beyond novice phase, should females also do their assistance work in a relatively lower rep range than what is usually prescribed?

I know that some of this is might be individual but I'd like to hear some general guidelines and/or what is your most common practice in programming for female lifters.

Thank you for your time.

[Michael Wolf]

Good Q. We don't have nearly as much data about this as the standard LP, so it's still a work in progress that we're learning about.

What I personally do right now is switch to two triples across, and when that can't be maintained, one triple at a new higher weight and a second triple (performed either before or after the top triple, depending upon personal preference and time limitations) at about a 5-8% off-set. I've also found that women can maintain the alternating DL/PC (or DL/Chins) schedule longer than men, before switching to pulling once per week on their LP.

[Igor]

Thank you for the response. What about power cleans or snatches? Do you program them differentely for women?

Good Q. We don't have nearly as much data about this as the standard LP, so it's still a work in progress that we're learning about.

Knowing that I hope that this thread can spark some productive discussion. I'm really looking forward to hear what other coaches experience is in that area.

[Mia Inman]

I went with 2 sets of 5 initially. When I couldn't maintain that any longer, I switched to 2 sets of 3 plus a backoff triple, more in the 8-10% off-set range. Seems to be working pretty well at the moment.

[Papa09]

Do you make programming considerations for female trainees who are more "masculine?" As in would a more NME female benefit from training closer to a "male" program?

I had one female trainee that could pull triples across for days without issue, while another one would completely burn herself out after one set, and even after a 10% deload would have trouble breaking it off the ground. I don't have much experience coaching yet, but I had a hunch that the second one might have done better doing sets of 5 with a slightly larger offset, though I didn't get a chance to try it. Would there be other considerations to try first?

[Tom Campitelli]

There is enormous variation among women in how they respond to training. Perhaps even more than in men. This is probably due to a combination of variance in body size and hormonal milieu. I use fives a lot for women. I lurvs fives. Many women can more productively use triples than men as part of a novice progression, however. For women that respond more like men to training, you guessed it, fives are where it is at and they get programmed more or less just like men. Stick with triples on the cleans for everyone until there is a reason to switch.

[Michael Wolf]

Stick with triples on the cleans for everyone until there is a reason to switch.

Even given the general trends of the differences between how men and women respond to training, this is still pretty much the case for all the lifts. Do the basic program as written until there is a reason to switch. The OPs really question applies only after that point. Building up via fives, and triples in the clean, has still gotten the women I've coached quite a long ways.

[Papa09]

Gotcha. That makes sense. Thanks coaches.

[Igor]

Stick with triples on the cleans for everyone until there is a reason to switch.

For instance?

[Tom Campitelli]

For instance?

The trainee stops being able to successfully complete their sets of three.