please critique my program.

[JM3]

Hi yall- I got stuck around Jan and got injured- coming back I decided to free style my workouts- deload, think about form and not focus so much on progression - but on the movements. this is what is has evolved into - not much rhyme or reason- but it seems to be working. Since my DLs were my sticking point and the cause of injuries I focused on them and split Squat and d

Mon- Dead lift 6x3
Bench 5x5
Squat 10x10

Tues morning- pull ups
evening- light run

Weds Squat 5x5
Press 5x5
cleans 5x2 or fast deads 6x2@60%

Fri Squat 3x3
assistance/press/bench- depending on what is recovered
Dead 1x5

so far numbers:
Squat 300x5
Dead- 315x3
bench- 175
Press 155x5
pullups- 7-8
43yrs 6' 197-200lbs

Deadlift caused a groin pull and reinjury -and my bench has always been week - so I decided to emphasize this.
Any suggestions? Thanks

[cervicornis]

If you have a history of injury on the deadlift, I don't think it would be wise to do crazy volume on the deadlift.

There's nothing wrong with a "free style" method as long as you are honest about your goals. What are your goals?

That's remarkable that you're pressing 155 x 5 with a bench at 175. What's the history behind that?

[Ryan Dell Whitley]

Too much volume on the deadlifts...once a week is probably better. If you go hard enough it will be enough.

"Deadlift caused a groin pull and reinjury"

It is more likely that your deadlift FORM caused a groin pull and reinjury. 315 isn't enough to cause a real injury that isn't form related.

[cervicornis]

It is more likely that your deadlift FORM caused a groin pull and reinjury. 315 isn't enough to cause a real injury that isn't form related.

Agreed that it is probably a form issue, but disagree that 315 isn't heavy enough to cause an injury that isn't form related. There's no magic amount of weight where these types of injuries begin to occur.

[MazdaMatt]

Sorry, Ryan, but that's just a bit of a BS statement. Plenty of people can't even pick up 315 regardless of their form, so plenty of people can be hurt by less.

[Ryan Dell Whitley]

Sorry, Ryan, but that's just a bit of a BS statement. Plenty of people can't even pick up 315 regardless of their form, so plenty of people can be hurt by less.

If you can't pick it up it can't hurt you. If you can't pick it up without good form then you really can't pick it up. I still stick with my guns that 315 is unlikely to hurt someone (a healthy, adult male) unless it is a form issue. And I'm not sure how you pull a groin doing a proper deadlift.

[Tom Campitelli]

I would suggest a more structured approach to your lifting along with some clearly laid out goals. You said the following:

not much rhyme or reason

I agree with this statement. The various programs laid out in Starting Strength, Practical Programming, and 5/3/1 would almost certainly serve you better if making progress on the lifts is important to you.

[JM3]

thank yall for the comments.

1) Groin pull was on my warm up- of course it was form and not the movement itself.


2) Tom C- Just trying this for 6 weeks- Ill get back to a more templated version in 3 weeks. Volume actually seems to be helping.

My questions would be more useful to others as well as me if they were more focused- let me try again:
1) Is there ever a circumstance for an advanced novice during which deadlifting is done first? with volume, split up from squat?

2) can 10X10 rep scheme- or other high reps ever serve as more of a conditioning, form practice, or even seen as a recovery day- eg in place of 3x3 or front squats?

I just wanted to focus more on my deadlift while still squatting three times a week. This what I ended up with, felt good so comitted to this for 6 weeks.

I misreported the press weight- should be 140X5 and actually, my bench is higher now- 185x5.

I have a (forced) three days off- so I wasnt able to deadlift today- would be going for 320.


Thanks again- very helpful.

[Gary Gibson]

In my experience, nothing good has ever come of deadlifting before squats. It's amazing how tired deadlifts make your back and how you feel it when you squat afterwards. Both squats and deadlifts work the back hard, but the deadlift works it harder and doing it first will limit your ability to squat effectively, at least if you're using weights of any consequence.

[Damien Thompson]

1) Is there ever a circumstance for an advanced novice during which deadlifting is done first? with volume, split up from squat?

2) can 10X10 rep scheme- or other high reps ever serve as more of a conditioning, form practice, or even seen as a recovery day- eg in place of 3x3 or front squats?

I just wanted to focus more on my deadlift while still squatting three times a week. This what I ended up with, felt good so comitted to this for 6 weeks.

1. If your doing light squats you can maybe do deadlifts first. Many 4 day powerlifting models follow this -
Day 1. H-Squats, L-Deadlifts,
Day 4. H-Deadlifts, L-Squats

2. Conditioning; Maybe, depends how out of condition you are and relative weight used.
Form Practice; High volume is a good idea for form practice, but high reps usually aren't. Stick to 5's to limit fatigue and form deteriorating.