Choosing Programming For An "Advanced Novice" or an "Early Intermediate"

[Charlie Davies]

Msmith68w, you can set up 5/3/1 to hit each main lift 2x/week.

I.e. on bench day, use press for your BBB volume, on squat day use deadlifts for your BBB volume, etc.

A lot of folks, me in particular, need to squat frequently to keep our technique decent.

[Msmith68w]

So I just went to the gym to hit a conditioning day and decided to see what I could press.

Hit 150x1. A 15lb jump from the last time I maxed out in October with 135.

I also just PR'd my bench last week.

Maybe this program hasn't been as bad as I thought haha. Just weird translating rep maxes into 1RM in my brain.

[whale]

You are getting caught up too much with science thing. Also, just because someone explains stuff good and makes them logical, does not mean it's necessarily true. 531 is far from optimal program, really far. You should really not trust yourself on who to trust more. Rip stated his thoughts in PPST, but probably doesn't have a favorite program. I'm not a Jordan fanboy but he made some really good arguments in his article.

You are likely going to need more work in terms of volume if you want to continue progress. If you don't focus on volume, that's like not focusing on squats for strong legs since volume is the main contributor to strength and size. Combine that with HLM template and that's probably the program you should be doing since you don't want to hire a real coach.

IMO you should not listen to Barbell Logic when it comes to programming even though they are more close to Rip that to Jordan and BBM.

[Establishing Strength]

So it sounds to me that your first goal is strength and then when you get to your desired lifts you want to cut. Fair game, I'm doing the same thing too haha.

Training recommendations

Based off of your current numbers I would guess that you could probably still follow the basic SSLP program. As you approach higher numbers in the squat you can switch from increasing the squat every workout to having a rest day inbetween increases (So Increase monday - 80% of mondays worksets - Increase Mondays weight by 5 lbs).

The press will always be the first to stall. The best thing is to have microloading plates and go up by 2.5 lbs/workout. When you fail doing 3 sets of 5 switch to 5 sets of 3. It is possible that you will have an intermediate lift/lifts while you can still progress as a novice on other lifts (usually DL and Squat will progress longer than the press and bench).

Here's a really good video from Barbell Logic on how to milk those LP gains: YouTube

I would reset my lifts if I were you and follow standard SSLP until things started to slow down and then switch to advanced SSLP before moving onward, but thats just my advice. That's a hard pill to swollow, I know. I've been lifting for years, but I have been doing SSLP again and it's been the best thing. When you finish I would move on to 4-day TM or HLM.

Diet recommendations

As for calories, I totally understand that you don't want to get fat. No one would recommend that you do so to gain strength either. After all, what would be the point of having a 200 lbs press if you have 35% bodyfat? Really the key is to eat just enough to push progression forward, so you might even be able to lose weight for awhile.

Heres a good calorie calculator that I use and have found pretty accurate: Calorie Calculator - Daily Caloric Needs

Calculator your maintenance based on your activity and eat ~300 calories less and lose weight for as long as you can while training. You're going to want to track your calories/macros for the best results. Specifically protein if not the other two; get 225-250g of protein every day.

Increase your calories by ~100-300 at a time when you begin to stall to. Track your weight daily and take the average on sunday and measure your waist on sunday. It should go down at first and then as you increase your calorie you'll want to make sure your waist isn't getting too big too fast. If it is, bring the calories back a bit or make sure you are tracking them accurately.


Summary

Do SSLP and then go into advanced SSLP when standard starts peaking

Calculator your maintenance calories

Track your calories and keep your protein high (250g is that sweet spot)

Begin with ~300 under maintenance every day and progress on SSLP as long as you can.

Add calories as you begin to stall by ~100-300 at a time. (Stall - add 150 calories - stalling again - add 150 calories...etc.)

Hope this helped!