'Practicing' heavy singles

[tweakxc03]

Is there anything particularly wrong with starting out a light/medium day by working up to a moderately heavy single before doing the lighr/medium sets? I am thinking a top single with 2-3 reps left in the tank.

My thinking was just to get used to the feeling of and practicing heavier loads without really taxing the shit out of yourself like you would on a heavy day.

I have zero experience with this so just asking. Might be too much stress.

[stef]

Nothing at all, except to pay attention to how that affects your overall progress. A heavy single is fine prep for lighter sets that day -- you just have to make sure you aren't adversely affecting progress overall with too much stress.

I've done this with squats and presses, working up to a 95% - ~100% single every day on an OL program (squat to heavy single, press to heavy single, then lots of snatch and C&J practice, 5-6 days per week; with 2 sessions/week finishing with 3x3 squats plus one session 1x5 heavy deadlift or rack pull plus two days a week of heavy bench).

[tweakxc03]

RE your wl program: Holy poop.

Thanks. I'll give some singles a shot.

[AndrewLewis]

I've tried this, and it seems to have far more of a psychological effect than anything else.

If I have to do 3x5 squats at 380, doing a single at 405 won't really affect training that much, but dropping back down to 380 "feels" nice.

[Jonathon Sullivan]

I'm using heavy singles or triples followed by descending sets to maintain intensity and drive progress in some of my older Masters. Works well.

[Nockian]

I'm using heavy singles or triples followed by descending sets to maintain intensity and drive progress in some of my older Masters. Works well.

Hi Jonathon, what percentage split are you using and how do you determine what the heavy single/triple should be ? I've started experimenting with the press by the usual 3 sets of 5 @ working load, then adding 3 sets of 5 @ 75%. I wondered if I could push the working weight somewhat higher and do 3 sets of 3 or ever 3 sets of 1, then 3-4 sets of 5 at 75% of that top weight.

I appear to tolerate the increase in volume OK on presses at 58 years old. I'm doing intermediate following your book and the weights aren't going to cause me any grief @ Bench 145lbs 4 sets 5 and Press 84 lbs for 3 sets of 5

[Jonathon Sullivan]

Hi Jonathon, what percentage split are you using and how do you determine what the heavy single/triple should be ?

As is always the case with an intermediate Master: It depends.

For example, I have a 67 yo lady who completed LP and progressed to a pretty "standard" Heavy-Light program that has been progressively tailored to her needs and her capacities. Right now she has a Heavy Day where she works up to a heavy squat single or double (rotating reps) that advances one pound every week, followed by backoffs at 80%, 3x3. She puts up a heavy press single advanced by 0.5 lb every week with backoffs at 75% 8x3. And she does a heavy deadlift single at a 1-lb advance every week followed by a set of 3 at 85%.

On light day she does squats 3 sets of 5 at 85%, a heavy bench single followed by 8x3 @75%, and 2 sets of "light" deadlifts at 75%, followed by prowler. She does curlz at home in the middle of the week, because she wanted badass gunz (and now she has 'em).

Where did I come up with this? By observing her, listening to her, changing one variable at a time, and noting what worked. This program gets her somewhat sore, but she tolerates it. She enjoys her workouts. She makes progress. At 67 at 108 lbs bodyweight, she has a 142 lb squat, a 72 lb bench, a 55 lb press, and a 210 lb deadlift. Her form is beautiful. Her heaviest reps come up slow, but she never gets stapled and she doesn't get hurt. She leaves very tired but not crushed. She comes back recovered and ready. She's added a ton of muscle to her tiny frame and I'm here to tell you she's alive.

But that's her. Other Masters in my practice in the same demographic are on different programs. Some tolerate quicker progression, some don't. Some tolerate more volume, some need less. Some thrive on triples, others need 5s or even 8s, depending on the exercise and where they are in their training career. Masters are a heterogeneous population, and intermediate Masters require a high degree of individualization in their programming, more and more as they advance. This lady's program is only nominally a Heavy-Light program. It's really just the Suzy program*. We start with a template, calibrate, change one variable at a time, keep intensity high, add and subtract volume as indicated, attend to recovery, etc.

It's not rocket science. You know what it is? It's care. It's taking a care for the athlete in front of you.

I've started experimenting with the press by the usual 3 sets of 5 @ working load, then adding 3 sets of 5 @ 75%. I wondered if I could push the working weight somewhat higher and do 3 sets of 3 or ever 3 sets of 1, then 3-4 sets of 5 at 75% of that top weight.

Change one thing at a time and see what happens.


*names have been changed to protect the innocent.

[stef]

RE your wl program: Holy poop.

Thanks. I'll give some singles a shot.

You can train super-often with OL work since that part of the day is practise compared to the training with the basic lifts. I should point out that I just went up to a max I could do that day. When you do this enough, you get really good at knowing exactly what you are capable of each day.

Presses really went up with this approach -- presses do well with frequent practice at heavy weights. They share a lot with the OLs in this regard.

[Nockian]

As is always the case with an intermediate Master: It depends.

For example, I have a 67 yo lady who completed LP and progressed to a pretty "standard" Heavy-Light program that has been progressively tailored to her needs and her capacities. Right now she has a Heavy Day where she works up to a heavy squat single or double (rotating reps) that advances one pound every week, followed by backoffs at 80%, 3x3. She puts up a heavy press single advanced by 0.5 lb every week with backoffs at 75% 8x3. And she does a heavy deadlift single at a 1-lb advance every week followed by a set of 3 at 85%.

On light day she does squats 3 sets of 5 at 85%, a heavy bench single followed by 8x3 @75%, and 2 sets of "light" deadlifts at 75%, followed by prowler. She does curlz at home in the middle of the week, because she wanted badass gunz (and now she has 'em).

Where did I come up with this? By observing her, listening to her, changing one variable at a time, and noting what worked. This program gets her somewhat sore, but she tolerates it. She enjoys her workouts. She makes progress. At 67 at 108 lbs bodyweight, she has a 142 lb squat, a 72 lb bench, a 55 lb press, and a 210 lb deadlift. Her form is beautiful. Her heaviest reps come up slow, but she never gets stapled and she doesn't get hurt. She leaves very tired but not crushed. She comes back recovered and ready. She's added a ton of muscle to her tiny frame and I'm here to tell you she's alive.

But that's her. Other Masters in my practice in the same demographic are on different programs. Some tolerate quicker progression, some don't. Some tolerate more volume, some need less. Some thrive on triples, others need 5s or even 8s, depending on the exercise and where they are in their training career. Masters are a heterogeneous population, and intermediate Masters require a high degree of individualization in their programming, more and more as they advance. This lady's program is only nominally a Heavy-Light program. It's really just the Suzy program*. We start with a template, calibrate, change one variable at a time, keep intensity high, add and subtract volume as indicated, attend to recovery, etc.

It's not rocket science. You know what it is? It's care. It's taking a care for the athlete in front of you.



Change one thing at a time and see what happens.


*names have been changed to protect the innocent.

Thanks Jonathon. That's extremely helpful. Without a coach I have no one to tell me 'you can do more' but equally 'you should do less'. I've had this love/hate relationship with the press at the end of intermediate, through the reset, to HLM and had started to tweak it anyway. The result has been that the weight has now moved in the right direction by 1lb each week and with good form- it is slow, but very satisfying after been stuck for a while/gone backwards. For now I will take your advice and experiment with the press only and see how that goes. If I keep getting progress on that lift, then I can apply it on the others if I get stuck.

Love the book by the way.