Volume day/intensity day

[Bbinck1]

Height 5’10”; weight 213 age 46 test normal range (400s)

In bench I have been doing a volume day of 3 sets of 5 on Monday and an intensity set of 5 on Friday since feb. My 3 set of 5 is with 247.5 but I can only get 2 sets of 3 at 255 on Friday. Does that mean I should go to trying triples or should I just keep pounding out volume days until my intensity level goes up. I sleep well and eat 220g of protein and about 4000 calories. I am perplexed why I can do so many sets of 3x5 by such a seemingly minimal amount of less weight.

[chrisza]

Your bench volume weight is 97% of your intensity sets (too high). I'd switch to something like 225 4x6 to drive up volume then go to 5x1 on your next intensity day using 257.5.

[Mark Rippetoe]

I'd like to know if this actually worked.

[Bbinck1]

I didn’t do it. I kept the volume weight where it was and did 255x5 easy the next intensity day. I just kept upping the volume and am now at 250x5 for three sets across. Intensity day at 265x4. I don’t see how lowering volume day weight helps u less it impedes recovery so I just kept trying. The weights are going up so I am reluctant to change it, and I doubt 225 will drive strength much now.

[Mark Rippetoe]

I doubt it to, despite the fact that it's somehow fashionable.

[Dalton Clark]

I would say that consistently adding 1 pound a week to your volume day is enough of an indicator that you are getting stronger. Maybe it makes more sense for you to judge your progress off of your volume day than your intensity day?

[Satch12879]

I would say that consistently adding 1 pound a week to your volume day is enough of an indicator that you are getting stronger. Maybe it makes more sense for you to judge your progress off of your volume day than your intensity day?

You judge based on both days, because both days contribute.

[Dalton Clark]

Simply because both days contribute does not mean that both must be used as your marker of progress.

[Nate9]

I am close to the weights you are doing and I've found that for the bench and the press my 5x5 needs to be at least 95% of my PR set of five (on the 4day split and cycling ID reps). For the lower body lifts 90% seems to be enough for now.

[Les Hahn]

It's pretty interesting how people respond to vastly different kinds of training. If I were to do volume work at 90-95% of my intensity work, I would be dead. :-) Listening to the Barbell Logic podcast, I think they sort of touched on the fact depending on how strong you are, the volume work can be at a significantly lower percentage. I think they used an example of a 500# squatter (or some other decent number). I imagine doing volume work at 450# week in and week out would be too much.

I typically do my intensity work with the main competition lifts, and then I use a percentage of that for an assistance exercise. The percentage is quite low to be honest, but it is a percent of my main lift, and the assistance lift is most likely a little harder since I am adding ROM or taking of my belt, etc. For instance, when I squatted 610x5, my drop set volume work after that was 4 sets of 6 with 385 (deadlift stance box squats with no belt). Or if I did a 600x5 deadlift, afterwards I was doing snatch grip deadlifts with no belt at 375. I imagine if could squat 700x5, my volume work would probably start at even a lower percentage, which would then be slowly be built up over a period of time during the training block. I would probably need a longer block as well.

But if you are still making gains you are happy with, then I would stick with what works. Just don't be afraid to try other stuff. It may work, or it may blow up in your face, but either way you learned something about what kind of training you respond / don't respond to.