One Year of Low Volume Training | John Petrizzo
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John,Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark Rippetoe
1. What was your bodyweight at the beginning and end of this one year low volume period?
2. Did you eat more or less food during this period?
3. What was your single set 5RM deadlift at the beginning and end of this period? (for clarification re. that you got stronger).
Rip: What is your opinion on starting the program described with 8 reps? Obviously, anything can work, but 5s are optimal. Presumably, you approve of this 8 rep one set scheme for someone trying to continue training under less than optimal life conditions, but why start with 8 reps instead of fives? For that matter, why not 10s? The author didn't really explain why he starts with 8s. Thx
I don't regularly weigh myself as my weight has been pretty steady for the past few years. I am a creature of habit and generally eat the same stuff most days of the week. I weigh and measure everything I prepare for myself at home and I know I get between 3,000 and 3.500 calories and 225 - 250 grams of protein per day. My weight pretty much stays right around 240 most of the year. Immediately after my son was born, my weight dropped to ~ 235 and I currently weigh 242. I did not adjust my typical dietary intake throughout the past year.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bigredbull
Looking through my training log, the first time I ran through this program I pulled 490x5 about three weeks after my son was born in the fall of 2020. During my most recent training cycle I pulled 520x5.
I hope that helps!
Maybe I can clarify that for you. While I agree that sets of 5 are certainly optimal the majority of the time, once you are beyond the novice stage in training I think there is some value in periodically exposing yourself to different rep ranges to allow for the application of a different stress as well as for a break from the monotony of constantly working in the same rep range. With that being said, what I can say about my experience using this approach is that the majority of the training cycle is done using sets of 5. My reps would drop pretty quickly from sets of 8 after starting my cycles, but I would be able to keep knocking out sets of 5 for a lot longer before dropping down to sets of 4 and eventually 3.Quote:
Originally Posted by FatButWeak
Rip can add to this if he has his own thoughts on it.
I hope that helps!
Thank you. Life circumstances come to us all. It is good to have your approach as a reference.
Hi John,
Great article!
I'd be interested in knowing if you did more "heavier" warms sets on your way to your 1 top set and also if you did any back off sets on any of the movements?
Cheers,
Thank you!Quote:
Thank you. Life circumstances come to us all. It is good to have your approach as a reference.
Thank you! In the past when I have run programs similar to this I have included back-off sets, but I have not done any back-off work over the course of the past year. Also, I did not make any adjustments to my usual warm-up work.Quote:
Hi John,
Great article!
I'd be interested in knowing if you did more "heavier" warms sets on your way to your 1 top set and also if you did any back off sets on any of the movements?
Cheers,
I hope that helps!
Nice reference to McRobert in that article, as well as all the rest of your content. McRobert was my last stop along the way to finding Starting Strength too. His take wasn't bad, although all too typically fatalist gloom and doom as is the case from many writers based in the UK. His advocacy of fractional plates was a real eye opener some 20 years ago for me.
As for a single top work set, most of Ye Olde Tyme Strong Men of the 19th and early 20th Centuries trained that way too and it seemed to work as well then as it did for you in the 21st Century.
Thanks, Mark. I agree with you about McRobert. I was a big fan of "Brawn" and "Beyond Brawn," but his more recent stuff that I have read has gotten away from some of the aspects of his earlier work that I really enjoyed.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark E. Hurling
