Another Doug Hepburn Method thread

[Alwaysthinkin]

I posted this to the SSSC's thread, but I thought I'd ask "the masses!"

https://www.powerliftingwatch.com/fi...n%20Method.pdf
I'm planning wayyyy ahead for february for a modified Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday routine and am intrigued by The Doug Hepburn Method A Program.

So, the thing that jumps out at me with this program is the simplicity. And I loves me some simple.

Concern 1: There seems to be a ton of volume on deadlifts. Recovery seems like it could be hard to achieve. Thoughts?
Concern 1A: There are no power (explosive/speed) lifts like cleans or snatches.
Idea: Replace 1 deadlift day with cleans? Does it ruin the program?

Concern 2: There seems to be zero conditioning allowed. And my conditioning is already sad. Can you put SOME kind of conditioning in here and not destroy the program? How have you seen it done? What would YOU do?

Concern 3: No chins, no pullups. I'm hesitant to remove these entirely. Again, have any of you been able to keep them included somehow without ruining the program?

Concern 4: I'm doubtful I could keep this program going for a full calendar year and still make progress. Have any of you done something like this for shorter periods of time (or longer) and how was your progress?
Concern 4A: How did you determine starting points for each lift? Percentage of your current 5x3 or 5x5? 1RM?

Concern 5: I'd imagine standing barbell press would be what Hepburn trained, not seated, so any issue replacing that one too or am I flat wrong on this?

Lastly, did anyone do anything special nutrition wise with this program?

Thanks everyone for reading/responding!
If it matters:
m/36/69"/220lbs
Fives backsquat: 365
Fives Bench: 315
1RM DL: 485
Doubles Press: 215

[Les Hahn]

I ran a Hepburn plan when I first started lifting. If you look at my old log from 2011 it is in there.

If you aren't sure where to start weight wise, I would be conservative and do a mini LP using the same reps/sets. So just do 8 sets of 3 if it is easy and move the weight up next time. Once it gets more challenging, then use the 2's to 3's method from the article.

I wouldn't worry about DL volume issues, since you are squatting less often on this program (2x per week on both I believe). If you wanted to some cleans, you could make it part of your deadlift warm up. Or you could dedicate another day to them. But I would just run the program as written. You don't need to power clean to get a big deadlift.

I didn't do much conditioning, but I think you could do some on an off day but I would do it on a day before benching if you are running our using your lower body. So you could do conditioning Sunday, then do upper body Monday and lower body on Tuesday.

I don't see why you couldn't throw chins in there. He has BB rows on a lot of his templates. You could do BB rows one day and chins the other.

You may not make it a whole calendar year. I believe when he felt "stale" he switched up the rep ranges to go from 3's to 5's with less sets than his 2's to 3's routine. He also had one routine where he did 1's or 2's and just added sets. When you hit all 10 sets, you moved up. But you could change the program up.

You should be ok with seated pressing.

Hope that helps! :-)

[Alwaysthinkin]

Thanks Les! Where is your log btw?

For the powerclean warm up idea, I essentially do that now, so I suppose it would make sense to continue it. Perhaps just do heavy singles and doubles.
I like the idea of Chins on Bench/Squat day 1, and BB Rows on B/SQ day 2, I just don't know how much progress could be made on them as assistance movements later on, but I guess there's one way to find out!

I'll likely stick with standing pressing, since I have the overhead space in my garage, and it feels more natural.

The conditioning still eludes me a bit. I'll have to think on that one. It's set up as a 4 day per week schedule, so I'm hesitant to make 5 days per week (since I can really only do 4 as is). I may have to just hope a couple of 10 minute finishers per week can keep things in order.

I currently do: monday: squat, accessory front squat and chins; tuesday: bench, accessory close grip bench and pendlay row; thursday: deadlift, accessory SLDL, shrugs (warmup with powercleans); friday: press, accessory pushpress. And I'll throw in some conditioning here and there and/or experiment with a "giant set," as termed by strongman Brian Alsruhe. That all said, I figure no matter what, the volume increase is going to be huge going from once per week to 2x. That's why I'm wondering if I could simply start out using my 5x3 or 5x5 weight as the 2's start point or back it off even more since it's gonna get to be a real grind for sure.

[Les Hahn]

I think this program is different than the one I ran. My 4 day split was upper/lower, but both upper days had bench/press and both lower days had squat/DL. This made it easier to move up over time. I think the only assistance lifts were bb rows and curls. But he had may different set ups, so I am sure yours will work too.

I don't see an issue with doing chins one day and rows the other. It will work just fine. I also think you could do the conditioning at the end if you have time constraints. Just make sure you are eating/recovering enough for everything. I would stick with standing OHP as well.

My original log was called "Callador's log" I think. You should be able to search for it. :-)