Hello, i'm new on this forum (and english is not my origin language so sorry for eventualy mistakes) but i know here are many many people with more knownlege and experience than me so i want to ask for help in finishing my upper/lower split for texas method.
I'm lifting since about a little bit more than year but i was doing something that i can call "random stuff". I run for some time Starting Strength and 5/3/1 but i was messing around with exercises and i was very not constant with program. On SS i stupidly thought that i have to add a lot of bull**it exercises, I wanted to progress faster than 5/3/1 was allowing me to do it. I was trying to do too much at one time. I just needed some time to find out what are my goals, what my body can handle. Finally i want to run a program which i will enjoy (upper lower split, simple weekly schedule, not many exercises, focus on big 3 lifts), which give me some healthy strength which is my main goal, which i can run for a longer period of time.
I'm 26 year old, 93kg, my current one rep maxes in kg: Bench 122,5 Press 80 Squat 140 Deadlift 160
I want to run a split like this:
(format: sets/reps)
Volume Upper
-Bench 5x5
-Press 3x8
-Chinup (rule of 30 reps)
Volume Lower
-Squat 5x5
-RDL 5x5
-Row 3x5 + extra backoff set (rows pulled from the floor each time, deadlift grip width)
Intensity Upper
-Bench 5 singles
-Press 2 sets of triples
-Chinup 3 sets of max reps
Intensity Lower
-Squat 3RM
-Deadlift 3 sets of doubles
-Row 3x5
Questions:
1. The bigest problem i have with my deadlift, bad techniqe and extrimely tight harmstrings (yeah, i'm stretching )
Is it a good idea to put some speed deadlifts (like 5-8 sets 2 reps @50%, timed rests) inside the volume lower body day to have more time with this exercise? Then i will do 3x8 light RDL or substitute it with another lighter harmstring exercise (because for sure i have to improve strength of this muscle). Day will look like this:
-squat 5x5
-speed deadlifts
-rows 3x5
-rdl 3x8
what do you think?
2. I would like to put some pause squats to my training because i'm struggling with bottom position of squat (tilting forward) so i want to get more time at the bottom and i thought about doing volume squats like this: regular 3 sets of 5 reps followed by paused squat 2 sets of 5 rep with lighter weight. Anyone have done like this?
3. Sets/reps for rowing can be the same both days or maybe i should do 3x8 on volume day to mix things a little bit? or 5x5 with ligher weight on VD and havier 3x5 on ID?
4. Is it anything bad in doing 5 singles on a bench at my level? because i love singles on a bench and i like to do them like piramide, when i will feel bad particular day i will just not push the middle single to the "PR". Same with deadlift, 3 sets of doubles will be an element of autoregulation. I just call it like this. I just have much more fun with rep scheme like this, and training should be fun right?
5. I also have problem to push my chinups, since a few months i can do maximum 7-8 good reps on first set, then 5-6 etc. But i was always doing only 3 sets of them, now i want to put some more volume (try to hit 30 reps total) but i dont know if i should do the same also on intensity day? i was also thinking about doing heavy dumbell rowing insted of chinups in intensity day but probably its stupid to leave only one day for exercise that i have to improve and also i can get some more work to my biceps by chining since i don't do any curls. Thats my small determination - to not do any isolation
6. When i was doing dips i was very surprised that i could do multiple sets of 10 reps with 25kg on the chain between my legs (together with my bodyweight its more than my bench record). Is it normal? Because i'm also thinking about switching overhead press on VD to dips. I love dips. Then ohp on ID must be 3x5 but then it's more similar to volume sets/reps, not intensity so it don't suits well to that day i guess.
I know this post is very long, if you reach that place, congrats for patience!
I hope for some tips about my thoughts and questions. Any ideas and opinions will help me. Peace!
I'm 183cm. That's true that I didn't had enaugh patience and I thought that i'm smarter about lifting than I actually am. I just hit the wall with my progress because my form, mobility and programming I guess. Maybe you're right that I should run linear progress for 3 sets of 5 but is it good idea to do it only on my squat? What I mean is leaving volume/intensity days for upper body because I'm more than sure my bench won't go up without some variation.
I think it would be good to keep in mind how long you would actually sustain a LP too. On a 140kg squat, adding 30kg / per month, you probably would not (?) last a month. If someone is that close to the end of NLP maybe it's nice to set a program and have a plan for several months. That's just my opinion.
Thirty kilograms per month is 2,5 kg increases M-W-F. Although a proper LP may start that way, towards the end, before moving to a 4 day split or HLM, it could eventually include a light day and 1,25 kg increases and back off sets, so that's 10 kg per month. For a guy that age and height getting a squat up to 160 or 170 kg and a BW of 100kg could happen in less than 12 weeks. Deadlift should also go up on LP and hamstring/programming problems will be fixed. If you're not into OHPress, but want to maintain/progress with bench press, you might want to look at Izzy's version of novice LP.
Am I A Novice, Intermediate, or Advanced Lifter? - YouTube
Last edited by VikingCellist; 06-03-2017 at 03:48 PM.