Various Questions Regarding Training

[corz422]

Dear Mr. Rippetoe,
Hope your trip went well. In any case I had several questions after reading through your books.

1. You wrote that a good way to train was to cycle a 5x5 through the movement of squat/press/bench. How would I go about incorporating this into my program in terms of weight to use relative to my usual 3 sets of 5?

2. How would you recommend that I learn to do the dumbbell bench as you posted somewhere that other than powerlifting it may be a superior exercise than the standard barbell bench? What is the best way to go about transitioning in terms of technique/weight used/and programming?

3. What are the benefits of pursuing oly lifting because in your section on the power clean most if not all the benefits can be obtained my training the power clean and power snatch? Are you planning to write any sort of book on olympic lifts in the future?

4. I've been doing power cleans and my find that my form degrades severely if I do them after squating and pressing. I'm doing 5 sets of 3 for cleans. Would it be a better idea to do them first after warming up?

5. I've been following your program where I do 1 set of deadlifts at the end of one of my workouts. Under what circumstance would I need to do possibly 2 sets? If I were to do deadlifts on a day without squatting and pressing would it be safe to assume that I can do more than my usual workset since I am not pre-fatigued? If so how much should I do relative to my normal deadlift weight?

6. What can I do to increase upper body explosiveness? The only way I can think of is the dynamic effort method used by westside gym. Is that what you would advocate as well and how would I incorporate that into my program?

7. I find that on my last set of deadlifts it takes me a few seconds 4-6 to pause and reset myself for the last few reps. Is this bad?

8. Can I use an ab-wheel as isolation to strengthen my abs? If so how would I incorporate this into your program?

I'd really like to thank you in advance for any light you can shed on these matters. I'm a huge fan of your books and I'm planning to train over my break and this information would really help me get the most out of my workouts. Take care.

cory

[Mark Rippetoe]

1. If you are ready to progress to 5x5, the first week use the weight you used for 3x5 three workouts before you got stuck, to give yourself a little room to run before things get too hard.

2. Take the dumbbells out of the rack, figure out how to get down on the bench with the dumbbells in position above your chest, and do the exercise. You're a bright guy, and with me not there to show you you'll have to wing it. The exercise does not seem to lend itself well to heavy 5s, so keep reps up. Try to run up the reps on each weight to a predetermined number, then jump to the next heaviest pair. Let's say you started with the 59s and did 3 sets, 8, 7, and 6. When in three weeks you get 12, 11, and 9, go up to the 64s, if 12 reps was your goal.

3. You pursue the Olympic lifts if you want to be a weightlifter, or if you like to do the full movements. They are fun, not boring, and weed out the fools. No book is currently planned.

4. Yes, do them first if you want to focus on them.

5. Do 2 sets if you feel you need the extra work. Yes, it would be safe to assume that you'd be stronger if you were not tired. If this is the case, do as much more as you think you can, based on your familiarity with your training -- a familiarity which I do not possess.

6. Upper body explosiveness is certainly the purvue of the Westside people. I use it myself. I've used it effectively on benches, presses, and chins.

7. No, it is not bad to do what is necessary to finish the set, unless it involves actually turning the set into a series of singles.

8. An ab wheel can be used as an ab exercise, and it's actually not a bad one. L-pullups are better, but any hard isometric ab exercise is more functional than a situp. Incorporate them into your workout like you would situps, only do them instead.

[corz422]

1. Just an area of clarification. I was asking in regarding to what you wrote in your book. To which I interpreted as doing a 5x5 sets across alternating between bench/squat/press. I wasn't asking in regard to the 5x5 programs. Would you recommend using this before I'm stuck to prevent being stuck?

2. So basically you're saying use higher reps for dumbbells? What's the best way to determine the predetermined number?

3. I do enjoy the O-lifts a lot. You are, however, saying that other than my enjoyment there are no additional strength/power/athletic benefits to be derived from the full lifts relative to the partial versions? I was reading somewhere that the squat clean teaches you how to receive force better.

5. Would doing 2 sets make my overall deadlift ability increase at a faster rate?

6. Could you point me in the right direction as to where I can find a reliable starting point into westside's methods in that regard?

7. In your opinion at what point does it become excessive and turn into singles?

8. I guess I should flip through the Practical Programming book to figure out where to add ab work?

One most question: I was reading that heavy work 5 reps or below in the compound lifts is very CNS intensive. HIIT training via the indoor rower or sprinting is also CNS intensive. In that case, would it be safe to assume that doing HIIT before a lifting day or afterwards would be a poor move for performance or recovery respectively?

[Mark Rippetoe]

1. I'm sorry, but this reads as gibberish. Do you speak English as a second language, a situation which might explain this?

2. Yes, I'm basically saying that since DBs do not lend themselves to lower reps you should use higher reps. The predetermined number will be determined by you, and I believe I gave an example for you to use that might aid in the predermination phase of the workout.

3. The full Olympic lifts provide many benefits, among which are a longer range of motion over which explosive force is applied. I do not know what force reception you are referring to, except that you may mean racking the bar on the shoulders or overhead, which the power versions of both of the movements incorporate. Your actual problem is convincing someone to teach them to you.

5. No, doing 2 sets will be much harder to recover from, and is too much for most people who have progressed according to the program. If 2 sets were generally better, I would have used 2 sets in the program. I, however, did not.

6. I would check with Westside, if I were you.

7. It becomes singles when you release your grip on the bar between reps.

8. PPST does not address the issue of where to put abs into your workout. It fails miserably with respect to this topic. Maybe you should experiment for yourself and determine where they work best for you.

And yes, it would be logical to assume that activities which interfere with the optimum performance of basic exercises are best not done in close enough proximity to those exercises to interfere with their execution.

[Amu]

1. I think he is asking whether you have recommended (in your book) doing 5 sets of 5 as part of the beginner routine in order to prevent stalling.

[Mark Rippetoe]

Then we'll just let him clarify. But if he is asking this, he hasn't read the book, and he promised that he has.

[corz422]

1. BBT p293 "In fact, one of the most effective intermediate strategies for the squat, bench, and press is five sets across of five reps, done once a week as one of the three workouts, increasing the weight used by a very small manageable amounts each week."

Unless my understanding of this is incorrect, I interpreted this to mean to do a 5x5 squat one week followed by a 5x5 bench press followed by a 5x5 press in the weeks after. However, not every squat/bench/press will be a 5x5 as most of them will be done with 3x5. Is this what you meant? In your earlier response you implied to use the weight 3 workouts before becoming stuck on 3x5. My later question was whether or not I could do an occasional 5x5 to prevent getting stuck.

2. Ok. Are you also saying that it would be better to use descending # of reps instead of sets across?

3. Does training the power snatch offer any sort of tangible benefit versus training the power clean only for power?

6. I'm not sure I follow. Maybe this is the wrong approach but I was more wondering along the lines of whether there was a website or book on how to get started and incorporate westside principles in the work outs.

8. How would I quantitatively gauge how well extra ab work is for me?

I apologize for any confusion I may have caused.

[Mark Rippetoe]

1. No, because if you do it this way you're only squatting on Monday once every three weeks. And, if you nearly double your tonnage for the workout by going from 3x5 to 5x5 at the same weight, you're likely to produce enough fatigue that you do get stuck, since you were only adapted to the 3 sets.

2. If you go to failure on the first set, your next set will obviously be with fewer reps, or you didn't go to actual failure.

3. Power snatches make you pull through a longer range of motion, and thus strengthen a longer range of motion. They are a little harder to learn, you can't use as much weight since the ROM is longer, but they are a useful thing to know since knowing more stuff is better than knowing less stuff.

6. Consult Google. That's what Google is for.

8. You don't speak English as a first language, do you?

[corz422]

8. What I meant to say is that how do I quantitatively gauge to see whether ab work is paying off for me or not? Sorry I'm a bit incoherent but my english is usually better.

[Mark Rippetoe]

I suppose that if you are able to keep your spine stable under a heavy squat or pull, it's working just fine. In what way would you possibly be able to quantify the benefits of ab training? You can quantify a strength increase with your weighted situp progress, but aside from that I am really puzzled.