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Thread: A Plan for Maintaining This Fall

  1. #1
    Join Date
    May 2022
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    66

    Default A Plan for Maintaining This Fall

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    27 y/o, 5'10"

    Started NLP Few months back.
    Weight: 215lbs
    Squat: 320
    DL: 350
    OH: 130
    Bench: 190

    I've got a couple more months that I'll be able to commit to the NLP, however once the Fall hits I am pretty much hunting, working, or sleeping every waking hour from November through December. Quite frankly, I will not be able to commit 3 1-2 hour sessions to training a week during those couple of months, however, I definitely think I can manage a couple shorter sessions, more sporadically (Yes, I will be prioritizing other things over training for those 2 months).

    What would you recommend as a plan to try and maintain as much strength as possible during that time? Would simply squatting and DL 1-2x per week and mixing in bench and press where time permits be enough to help me hang on?
    How should I prioritize my lifts?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Apr 2022
    Location
    Tallahassee
    Posts
    281

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    Squat and press 3x per week if possible. Sneak in a heavy bench and DL at least once a week and do chins as time permits. Happy hunting my friend!

  3. #3
    Join Date
    May 2022
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    66

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    Quote Originally Posted by Roy Thomas View Post
    Squat and press 3x per week if possible. Sneak in a heavy bench and DL at least once a week and do chins as time permits. Happy hunting my friend!
    Thank you. I'm certain my diet/rest probably won't be where it should be during this time, so how would you program the squats/press? I guess that probably depends on whether I've run out the NLP by that time or not.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jun 2019
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    1,912

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    I do similar every year, except instead of hunting, it's for snowboarding. The key is to get one intense session of each lift once per week. Forget volume and forget multiple days of the same lift. You just won't have the time nor the energy.

    Keep running your NLP (transition to intermediate on your presses, or everything, if appropriate) right up until hunting season. Once hunting season starts, figure out the days that you can get your lifts done. Don't try and do them all in one day, though! For each session, keep adding weight on the bar as if you're doing your NLP for at least one x5 workset, then possibly some backoff sets if you feel you need the volume (mainly the presses, since you're likely going to be too gassed for volume squats and deads, and you will need to maintain some volume on the presses). You'll be able to continue adding weight to the bar for a few weeks, then the weights will start to slide slowly backwards since you won't have the volume. You can do a small reset and run them again until they stall, then reset again and run them up. This will keep you from losing too much strength.

    Another option once those x5's run out is to borrow from a 4-day split program and drop from x5 to x3 to x1 (a 5-3-1 style program). If you do that, you have a couple of options - continue to add the same weight to the bar each week, or add twice as much each week since the reps will decrease. For example, if you're adding 5lbs/week to the squat where you're think you're stalling at 345x5x2, you can go 350x3x3, then add 5lbs to the following weeks until that stalls, then do one week of, say 365x1x5 (five heavy singles). You likely won't be able to do 370x1x5 the following week, but you can probably run 350x5x2. After that, add 5lbs and try to run that sequence again. But it won't go as far, since you are missing volume, but you may reach 370-375x1x5 before having to do a full reset below 345x5x2. Or, as I mentioned, add twice as much, but stick to a stricter 5-3-1 rep program. Starting at the hypothetical stall at 345x5x2, the following week go 355x3x3, then follow that with 365x1x5. After that, reset to 350x5x2, then 360x3x3, then 370x1x5, etc., until you have to reset below that 345x5x2 to run it again. BTW, do these heavy squats at least a day apart from your heavy deadlifts (or consider rack pulls instead for your heavy pulls during this time).

    I'm twice as old as you and I started this past winter's maintenance cycle with similar numbers to you. Not just snowboarding, but life, kept me from getting back to regular programming until July 4th weekend (so just over six full months). My lifts slid backwards only a small bit across the board and now, just a month back into consistent training, I'm back to breaking all-time PRs.

    Good luck!

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Nov 2021
    Location
    Colorado
    Posts
    68

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    I’ve thought about this after reading PPST3e. I’ll probably have times as an adult that I can’t train optimally or at all. I would approach this as a (fairly obvious) rank-ordered hierarchy:
    - Train normally if possible.
    - Train non-optimally if possible.
    - Exercise the lifts if possible.
    - No barbell? Exercise and eat healthy.

    You could apply this to your whole programming or to each lift.

    Duh-level shit but good to order your thinking. Don’t throw the baby out with the bath water.

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