percent offset going from 5's to 3's

[Cole Gorton]

I am going to start rotating my H day on a 3 week cycle - 5's /3's / 1's

If my last H day Squat was 295x5x5, where would be a good weight to do my triples the next H day? I was thinking like 40 pound jumps for DL, 30 for squat, 20 for bench? So squat would be 295x5x5/325x3x5/355x1x5

That is about 10% difference in jumps. Does that seem appropriate?

Thanks

[heinz83]

Barbell Prescription has a bunch of rep cycling routines for HLM, none are that aggressive. I would recommend you read the book before attempting a 60 lb PR.

[Bill Anders]

Cole — You're on the right track, thinking about significant jumps in Intensity as your Volume drops through the cycle. Are you too aggressive? There's only one way to find out. If you are running this within your HLM, you might very well be, as the cumulative volume each week with both Light and Medium days will beat you up.

Take a look at the 4-Day Split template in BBRx, which follows the cycle that you are looking at (5/3/1). It eliminates a day from the HLM, which helps with recovery and just may let you make such aggressive jumps. You can easily manage those weights that you listed, based on your meet in February, so it's not like you will be in PR territory for the first few cycles. Although post-meet has been a bit of a struggle, eh?

When I started looking at that 4-Day Split template last year, I had similar questions and reached out to Andy Baker for clarification. He assured me that this is the right way.

As a 55M, 240lbs, I make 20lb jumps each week for SQ and 10lb jumps for the presses. I could probably make 25/15lb jumps, but I don't need to. Once the cycle is done, I add 5/2.5lbs and repeat. For my heavy pull I alternate Haltings/Rack Pulls independently, so those don't count for this. I just finished Week 1 of this latest cycle and looking at Squats, I was programmed for 335x5x4, so next week is 355x3x4, and the final week will be 385x1x5. That means the weekly rep total for each heavy lift is 20/12/5. I will start the next cycle at 340x5x4. For my light day of each lift, I run a 90% 3x5 of that first week's lift through the cycle. So it was 300x5x3, which remains my light day Squat for the three weeks (don't add weight until the next cycle).

That's a long way of saying that those jumps may very well be too aggressive for an HLM program, but just may be manageable for you for a while in a 4-Day Split. Plus, the bonus of having shorter workouts.

Whatever you choose, keep at it!

[Cole Gorton]

Cole — You're on the right track, thinking about significant jumps in Intensity as your Volume drops through the cycle. Are you too aggressive? There's only one way to find out. If you are running this within your HLM, you might very well be, as the cumulative volume each week with both Light and Medium days will beat you up.

Take a look at the 4-Day Split template in BBRx, which follows the cycle that you are looking at (5/3/1). It eliminates a day from the HLM, which helps with recovery and just may let you make such aggressive jumps. You can easily manage those weights that you listed, based on your meet in February, so it's not like you will be in PR territory for the first few cycles. Although post-meet has been a bit of a struggle, eh?

When I started looking at that 4-Day Split template last year, I had similar questions and reached out to Andy Baker for clarification. He assured me that this is the right way.

As a 55M, 240lbs, I make 20lb jumps each week for SQ and 10lb jumps for the presses. I could probably make 25/15lb jumps, but I don't need to. Once the cycle is done, I add 5/2.5lbs and repeat. For my heavy pull I alternate Haltings/Rack Pulls independently, so those don't count for this. I just finished Week 1 of this latest cycle and looking at Squats, I was programmed for 335x5x4, so next week is 355x3x4, and the final week will be 385x1x5. That means the weekly rep total for each heavy lift is 20/12/5. I will start the next cycle at 340x5x4. For my light day of each lift, I run a 90% 3x5 of that first week's lift through the cycle. So it was 300x5x3, which remains my light day Squat for the three weeks (don't add weight until the next cycle).

That's a long way of saying that those jumps may very well be too aggressive for an HLM program, but just may be manageable for you for a while in a 4-Day Split. Plus, the bonus of having shorter workouts.

Whatever you choose, keep at it!

Thanks for the input, Bill. Youre right, post meet has been a struggle, from illness to aches and pains..Ill get back on track. So your 4 day split is Upper/Lower then I am assuming? Do you have a layout for it I could see? I do want to continue the 3 day full body as long as possible bc I really enjoy the day off between sessions and I feel like the "workout" is better when its full body. But at some point it gets tough doing 3 main lifts in one session, so a split makes sense. One thing I know for sure. is that for meet prep, I will always leave at least one full body SBD day in training so I am in meet shape.

[heinz83]

Good point, Bill.

Another good idea from Andy...if you don't have 3 days per week to train, you could try doing a 4-day program on a 3-day schedule. This would give you more recovery time and maybe allow you to make bigger jumps, at least for a while. Seems like this would work for HLM just as well as TM.

https://www.andybaker.com/3-or-4-day...-why-not-both/

[Bill Anders]

Thanks for the input, Bill. Youre right, post meet has been a struggle, from illness to aches and pains..Ill get back on track. So your 4 day split is Upper/Lower then I am assuming? Do you have a layout for it I could see? I do want to continue the 3 day full body as long as possible bc I really enjoy the day off between sessions and I feel like the "workout" is better when its full body. But at some point it gets tough doing 3 main lifts in one session, so a split makes sense. One thing I know for sure. is that for meet prep, I will always leave at least one full body SBD day in training so I am in meet shape.

Cole, the one that I use is in Barbell Prescription, Example 24-20, pg 266. After running it for the last year, it's a good change from HLM where I felt beat up constantly. On page 264, Program 6B shows a Heavy/Light 2-day Split that would fit your need for a SBD day as you prep for your meets.

heinz had a good suggestion too, if you're still tolerating the volume. For me, it was the volume of HLM that beat me down. The modulation of volume and intensity throughout each cycle of the 4-Day Split keeps me feeling good enough to do the other things in life that I want to do.

Keep at it!

[Cole Gorton]

Cole, the one that I use is in Barbell Prescription, Example 24-20, pg 266. After running it for the last year, it's a good change from HLM where I felt beat up constantly. On page 264, Program 6B shows a Heavy/Light 2-day Split that would fit your need for a SBD day as you prep for your meets.

heinz had a good suggestion too, if you're still tolerating the volume. For me, it was the volume of HLM that beat me down. The modulation of volume and intensity throughout each cycle of the 4-Day Split keeps me feeling good enough to do the other things in life that I want to do.

Keep at it!

OKay I will buy the book this september after my meet for my 40th birthday. I am still 39, so im gonna keep doing the "young guys" programming just out of principal! jk