The Trouble with Pins Into Pillars

[Gary Gibson]

I like Pins Into Pillars largely because it starts with such light weight. This is perfect for starting over after a really good peak. Recently I peaked with 430 in the gym and 418 at the meet and found a measly 315 troubling for work sets even two weeks later! Pins had me starting at 205, but for lots of sets. Going that light and for that kind of volume has a therapeutic effect, but it quickly leads to mass and strength gains as you add weight.

The trouble is, it's hard to figure out just how much strength you're adding. This isn't a problem for something like Texas Method where you get to test 5, 3 or 1 rep maxes every week. With Pins, you spend at least a month with weights that only get up to about 75-80% of your last 1RM. You do the strength refinement later, after the mass has been built.

Pins is really good for adding mass. It got me about 20 lbs in a month the first time I got close to completing it in Dec-Jan and I'm already up nearly 10 lbs right now in my first two weeks this time around; I'm the heaviest I've ever been in my life at 190. Granted, there's no way that this is all muscle; about half of it is just from the constant super-hydration that results from downing around a gallon of milk each day. But I know from experience that a lot of the weight is permanent, lift-enhancing muscle. I know this because the weight I've gained from it has proved to be permanent and to enhance my lifts.

I guess I'll be getting a better idea of exactly how much of this mass from such a volume-specific protocol is useful in squatting and benching more weight soon enough.

[Dastardly]

Where do I find out more about this "pins into pillars" ?

[Rezart Erindi]

Where do I find out more about this "pins into pillars" ?

Yeah, I've heard of it too. I'm curious of the exercises and sets/rep scheme of this program.

[lanky]

http://www.freewebs.com/ironguru/Pinintopillars2.pdf

[TTT]

Gary - you've done that program before correct?
and you did get bigger and stronger right?

if you are eating and drinking enough while doing it again, you will obviously get gains. Perhaps not as much as when you did it as a proper novice, but still gains.

Is the issue a mental problem because you can't see the 1rm increase until the end?
You'll just need to convince yourself that you WILL be stronger at the end, but how much stronger will depend totally on never failing a set or rep and eating every single meal and drinking every single drop of milk till the end of the program.

Then test it out.

You're very calculated in everything you do so I can see how this is going to be a problem for you to get your head around.

But you know better than most that with the diet and training you will get the gains.
just have to make that other side of your brain believe it and get in to it.

[methuo]

How did you go about programming the other lifts (bench, press, deadlift...) while doing PiP for the squat? Would you just keep those the same (SS novice program style or texas method or whatever you are doing) or, are all your resources meant to be dedicated to only the squat for those 4 weeks?

[zzt]

Gary...Quick question. Do you find when your doing PtP, that you tend to detrain your top end (>85%) strength, then have to really work to get it back towards the end of the PtP cycle. Do you think plugging in a few triples @ around 85% before your volume work on say the Mon and Fri sessions would be beneficial (i.e. as maintenance work for pure strength )? It has certainly been my experience with higher volume lower intensity cycles. You can get the lifts at higher %RM, but you seem to loose that real power strength (for want of a better word) you get working in higher intensity ranges.

[Bergie]

Gary...Quick question. Do you find when your doing PtP, that you tend to detrain your top end (>85%) strength, then have to really work to get it back towards the end of the PtP cycle. Do you think plugging in a few triples @ around 85% before your volume work on say the Mon and Fri sessions would be beneficial (i.e. as maintenance work for pure strength )? It has certainly been my experience with higher volume lower intensity cycles. You can get the lifts at higher %RM, but you seem to loose that real power strength (for want of a better word) you get working in higher intensity ranges.

I came across this program http://www.deepsquatter.com/strength/archives/korte.htm that seems to address your issue.

It is an 8 week cycle with 4 weeks of volume training and then the 4 weeks of heavier work. This program is powerlifting focused so it uses just the squat, Bench, and deadlift. I am just finishing my first week of this program, will have to see how it works out.

[zzt]

Thanks bergie...I've seen that Korte stuff before. I would typically follow the same type volume>intensification pattern anyway, but thanks for the link. The programme still doesn't adress the loss of competence with higher %RM though (that low end grunt...lets call it torque... I was talking about before) whilst training at lower %RM's. Zatsiorsky suggests maintaining loads for non targeted strength qualities, and I was really just curious if gary(or anyone for that matter) had tried that approach

[A J]

The inability to see progress on a frequent basis is what really blows about advanced routines. it literally fucks up my day/week/month if i don't hit good numbers after a few weeks and months of training. i miss SS haha