T3 questions for Keith Wassung

Bump because this is awesome.

Question:

If one wanted to do T3 for Bench and Squat, how would the lifts other than that be programmed? Here's the T3 template for bench/squat:


WEEK 1 -
Mon - Squat 5x10,
Wed - Bench 5x3
Fri - Squat 5x5

WEEK 2 -
Mon - Bench 5x10
Wed - Squat 5x3
Fri - Bench 5x5



How do you suggest programming deadlift and overhead press?

 

Simplest approach would be to do OHP on squat days, DL on bench days, if you can handle DL twice a week every other week (SS-style).

I am thinking very seriously about doing a T3-based programme, and I came up with this template:

Monday: Squat, Bench & Bent-Over Row or OHP & weighted chins (alternating)
Wednesday: Deathlift, Bench & Bent-Over Row or OHP & weighted chins (alternating)
Friday: Squat, Bench & Bent-Over Row or OHP & weighted chins (alternating)

But I was only planning to programe the squat with T3, and keep the other exercises on LP, at least for now.

 

Here's what I'm doing right now

Day 1
Squat 5 x 3
Chins / overhead press 3x3
GHR

Day 2
Bench 5 x 10
Moderate deadlifts (3x3) OR PC/ab work
Arm work (dips or curls etc)

Day 3
Squat 5 x 5
Chins / overhead press 3x3
GHR

Week 2
Day 1
Bench 5 x 5
Moderate deadlifts (3x3) OR PC/ab work
Arm work

Day 2
Squat 5 x 10
Chins / overhead press 3x3
GHR

Day 3
Bench 5 x 3
Moderate deadlifts (3x3) OR PC/ab work
Arm work

 

T3 is brutal. Good luck on the 5x10 days hahahahaha.

 

Thanks for your kind words of sadistic, gleeful anticipation of another's pain.

 

I don't think you can understand until you've tried to bench 115x10 and then fail on the 9th rep of your last set. T3 is somekind of insanity.

 

I am reading a lot of logs with guys using T3 with great results. A couple of additional thoughts.

Keep your workouts simple--keep the adjunct assistance moves to a couple of sets.

I would suggest NOT doing a ton of conventional deadlifts, but rather a program of barbell rows and high volume adjunct deadlift exercises (bent legged, deadlifts off blocks) OR....restrict convetional deads to about twice a month. You can get plenty strong on the deads this way.

Keep the overhead presses to low reps, lots of volume singles and doubles--best move for this is the high incline press (70-80 degree angle)

Dont worry too much about timing the rest periods between the each and every set, but rather time the entire session and then keep each subsquent session within that time period. On 5x10's, you will need more rest between sets between 4 and 5, then you will between 1 and 2. dont lock yourself into an artificial time box.

As a general rule, I did the following for assistance exercises

5x10's Bench-Nothing Squat-Nothing ( unless you count bear crawls to the locker room after the session)

Bench 5x5 2-3 sets consisting of 1 set of Dips, 1 set of tricep extensions, and maybe one set of pin presses

Squat 5x5--1-2 sets of pause squats ( with reduce weight) I would probably put some overhead squats in here

Bench 5x3 Power Rack Lockouts

Squat 5x3 1/4 squats 1-2 sets

KW

 

I would never advise doing T3 for the overhead press, or similar move at the SAME time you are doing T3 for the Bench Press. You can weave in the occasional OHP workout as I suggest, but if you try to do both, you will not have much success with either

 

What would be some good assistance movements for the overhead press?
And since your here, I asked a question in the "noob question thread" regarding total time of a workout. Ive read that testosterone levels drop after an hour or so and stays there. Are there some truth to that?

 

i want to know the answer to the first question as well.

 

I've always heard dips thrown around as an excellent assistance for OHP.

My press has suffered since I stopped doing dips. But I did also stop doing rows, and stopped pressing 3x every 2 weeks (now it's only 2x every 2 weeks). Also n=1.

 

I guess that means I will probably be changing my OHP workout then!

 

why? just because some random poster on sherdog tells you to? hes probably has no idea what he is talking about and you should do your OHP workout however you want to

























newcastle drinking for Keith!

 

Who knows, its a very rough rule of thumb and I am sure someone could dig up a PubMed article citation to support it--maybe its 57 minutes, maybe its 1 hour and 14 minutes. Sort of like when we were kids and we were told dont swim for 30 minutes after eating because you will drown--I am sure that this was very well tested with a control group of kids.... anyway..dont get locked into hard numbers on these things. when I am squatting heavy and hard, I rest probably 5-7 minutes between sets--maybe longer, maybe shorter--should you? again, its a personal thing.

Assistance moves for the overhead--well, I would have to say partials and my favorite--dead stop half push presses--nothing better

K

 

Wait... do the push-presses start halfway up, or stop halfway up?

 

Some weird feeling makes me trust this random poster. Don't know why.

 

Keith, do you think a Westside type of approach would work for the press while doing T3 bench and squat? I.E. work up to a heavy single or double every time, cycle through various overhead exercises (e.g. strict, push, z-press, pin presses) in 3-4 week cycles. If it was being done three times in two weeks, you could even do speed work on one of the days when it is done twice in one week.

Or am I over-complicating it?

 

you sure are gullible jaunty

 

Yes, I really am. It's a problem of mine. A while back I was over on the SS forum and asking some questions about adding exercises to the SS programme. Some random poster called Ripplethrow (or something like that) told me not to, and I just unquestioningly followed him. I also ran into this guy on the ElteFTS site called Windler or Bendler (I can't remember)- he told me to stick to 90% of my 1RM as my working 1RM for starting off on 5/3/1 (for my deadlifts). Like an idiot I just went along and did what he said.