The Program-Hopping Confessional Thread

paolo27th said:
Would be nice if you could.
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No dramas.

(Template 1)Monday: Squat and Bench 5/3/1 plus Assistance Work. Wendler advocates a maximum of 2 assistance exercises each for Bench and Squat.

Thursday: Military Press and Deadlift, Assistance Exercises.


(Template 2)Week 1, Monday: Squat + Assistance work.

Thursday: Bench + Assistance work.

Week 2, Monday: Deadlift + Assistance Work

Thursday: Military Press + Assistance Work.

Wendler says in the ebook that if you are training twice a week, he would not use a deload week unless absolutely necessary.

Hope this helps.
 
Tosa said:
Just to be clear, you mean the Wendler 5/3/1, and not the Rhodes variant, or the Christy 5/3/1, right?
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My plan was to do Wendler's 5/3/1, and on days when I was feeling a little more worn out, to do just the minimum reps and do some Rhodes singles. I like knowing I could do either depending on how I feel. Assistance work would change as I see fit, but the core program would remain the same. I want to balance push/pull and a one armed chinup is something I'd love to do eventually, hence the 5/3/1 chins and pullups.

My goal is very simple: get bigger and stronger while getting better at BJJ.

My program is open to critique:

Day 1: 5/3/1 bench, 5/3/1 chins, BBB (5x10) bench, 4 sets curls, 1 set face pulls

Day 2: 5/3/1 squat, BBB squat, 4 sets weighted situps

Day 3: 5/3/1 Press, 5/3/1 pullups, BBB Press, 4 sets curls, 1 set face pulls

Day 4: 5/3/1 deadlifts (real low training max for now, I need to work on form and wean myself into lifting 4x a week + jits), 4 sets seated rows, 4 sets weighted situps


miaou said:
Ok.

*starts preparing list of most massive insults imaginable*

Btw, do you mind if I visit your log every now and then to tell you how 5/3/1 sucks balls and how some other program would better fit your goals?
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Well, I made some of my best post-noob gains on 5/3/1, it's very flexible, and most importantly, it's something I can see myself doing for a year.


VoodooPlata said:
I'm having some massive conscience issues about switching to 5/3/1 and doing four cycles of it, and now wanting to go back to a SS-type routine. Because i know the point of 5/3/1 is NOT to do four cycles of it and then switch. But i see guys with bigger lifts than mine get told to go back to SS all the freaking time because they're weak - and i don't want to be weak.

My short-term goal is to get stronger at deadlifts than a guy at campus who ridiculed me. He's been "training" without a serious program for 10+ years and been stuck at his 180 kg (395 lbs) deadlift for about half that time. I know that with the power of the S & C and correct programming i can overtake him pretty quickly. I'm going back to an SS type program, and i'm going to eat so much food there won't be any more starving kids in Africa because they've starved to death and then i ate their corpses. And i'm sticking with it.

You and me, TS! You and me! We can do it!
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Lifter said:
I also confess to being a program-hopper, at least to some extent. Like Corrosion, I just started the 5/3/1 today and am going to stick with it until next summer at the very least, most likely longer.

How about we make a deal? Let's start checking each other's logs every now and then to make sure everything is in order. That should keep the motivation high.
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KnightTemplar said:
Oh, thank God - I thought I was the only one! :eek:

Give me a hug, brother. I feel your pain!:icon_cry2 I have changed programs in the middle of a fucking week! That's how bad am. It's taking me all my willpower to stick to SS/PP. I keep coming up with excuses to change to Wendler's 5/3/1...or Hepburns...or a version of SS that has me Bench twice a week every week but cuts the Squats to 2 a week...and includes Close Grip Bench and Skullcrushers and Incline Dumbbell Bench...or maybe I'll use the 5/4/3/2/1 system from Dinasour Training...

AAAAGGGGGHHHHH!!!!! I need help!!!:icon_evil
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*Hugs*

We're going to get through this guys, I'll try and check up on you in your log and hold you accountable and hope you do the same. I plan to update this thread one year from now with my progress.
 
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Corrosion said:
We're going to get through this guys, I'll try and check up on you in your log and hold you accountable and hope you do the same. I plan to update this thread one year from now with my progress.
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If you do that, i might actually start using my log :redface:
 
Any guy that's been training 10 years, can't even pull 4 plates, and then ridicules "weak" people needs to kill himself.
 
likkuid said:
Any guy that's been training 10 years, can't even pull 4 plates, and then ridicules "weak" people needs to kill himself.
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Pretty much. 4 plates should be achievable within a year.
 
rckvl said:
Pretty much. 4 plates should be achievable within a year.
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This; I just started real strength training(as opposed to wasting my time with BB Split Routines)and can pull two plates either side. I will be very disappointed if I'm not up to 4 plates each side after the next 11 months of solid training.:redface:

And since I'm a Little Girly-Man myself, I'd never insult other people by calling them weak. That would be like Hitler calling someone anti-Semitic...:eek:
 
i'm guilty of this as well. since starting to lift seriously, i've done a push-pull-squat split, 2-day split, 5/3/1, oly lifts, and sheiko.

i've been doing sheiko for like 5-6 months now though, and I really like it, I think it's going to work for a while.

what you said about overthinking it is the important part in my opinion. at the level of most people here, we just need to work hard and most importantly, consistently.

its funny to me how things come back into fashion like the recent upshot in people running smolov.
 
paolo27th said:
No, I guess I misunderstood you first. But do you think it`d be ok doing both squats and bench 5/3/1 on the same day?
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Yes, unless you have very low work capacity.
 
Corrosion said:
We're going to get through this guys, I'll try and check up on you in your log and hold you accountable and hope you do the same. I plan to update this thread one year from now with my progress.
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You got it. I'm going to do the same.
 
SteveQ said:
i'm guilty of this as well. since starting to lift seriously, i've done a push-pull-squat split, 2-day split, 5/3/1, oly lifts, and sheiko.

i've been doing sheiko for like 5-6 months now though, and I really like it, I think it's going to work for a while.

what you said about overthinking it is the important part in my opinion. at the level of most people here, we just need to work hard and most importantly, consistently.

its funny to me how things come back into fashion like the recent upshot in people running smolov.
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I'm pretty sure you do fight training. What has been your experience balancing all the volume of Sheiko with fight training?
 
Guilty as charged.

I started on starting strength, did that for a while. Then I did the progressive poundage program (done by PTC Frankston) for one cycle (3 months), then I tried their advance athletic program for 2 months, then I tried Wendlers 5/3/1 for the last 2 months.

In total, training for a bit over a year on weights.

My methods for Wendlers are like this:
Mon: mma
Tue: squat and bench plus assistance exercises (max 2 each)
Wed: rest
Thu: DL & SOHP plus assistance
Fri: usually some HIIT stuff or bag work
Sat: mma
Sun: rest or whatever

That has been working for me so far but only up to 3rd week now and have same weight goals as first cycle of 5/3/1 so see if I can get an extra rep this time :)
 
Corrosion said:
I'm pretty sure you do fight training. What has been your experience balancing all the volume of Sheiko with fight training?
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i guess it would depend on your schedule - for me fight training and bjj are at night which makes lifting the next morning a bitch. so i try to do them on the same day - Monday lift (AM) and bjj (PM) take tuesday off or do light cardio work.

also i modify sheiko at times to be a little less volume - for instance today I was supposed to work up to squats at 315x3(x5) (actually 311 or something but i round up) and then do a 5x5 at 275. I'm planning on going to bjj tonight so i just cut out the 5x5. It's still a good solid workout and I am still a functioning person when 730 comes around.

also, i guess you have to be prepared to miss workouts because of fatigue. strength training and fight training get in the way of eachother a lot. they complement each other too, but sometimes its hard to do both. without getting into a coolstorybro situation, i'll just say that my fight training has been inconsistent lately but when both are happening on a regular basis, I'd say I miss at least one workout every 2 weeks or so.

this is just my personal experience, but finally i'd say that HIIT or other intense cardio is much harder to do while lifting and fighting. for me, lsd works much better because of recovery issues.

sorry to hijack this into a 'balancing mma and other training' discussion' but i guess it kind of fits with your question.
 
Screw all you helpful people! Go and be helpful somewhere else!














I keed I keed!
 
Dammit! Thanks TS for shining the light - guilty as well...

I did the 5x5 for a 9 weeks, then switched to a Westside routine for a cpl months, now starting Wendler's 5/3/1 today. Should be able to stick with it without getting bored by altering the assistance exercises....
 
calvus said:
Dammit! Thanks TS for shining the light - guilty as well...

I did the 5x5 for a 9 weeks, then switched to a Westside routine for a cpl months, now starting Wendler's 5/3/1 today. Should be able to stick with it without getting bored by altering the assistance exercises....
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Good. You should start a training log if you haven't already. Stick with it!
 
I once agreed to train with this guy, and just to mix things up (which is something i now try to avoid since becoming a recovering program-hopper) i agreed to do whatever he did for the day. So when we get to the gym i ask him "what are we doing" and he goes "shoulders". I then proceed to ask him how many reps, sets, etc, and he giggles (yes, giggles, he giggles all the time like a little girl) and says "we'll see once we get going". That's how organized he is - he doesn't even have a plan for how much he's going to do. He half-squats (not on shoulder day), super-sets lateral raises with lateral raises in two different lateral raise machines and he does EVERY shoulder exercise there is on shoulder day. It took us two hours to get through front, rear and mid delts, and we ended up doing 3 * 10 on everything.

A while ago he said that he was really going to break his deadlift plateu, and whilst admitting freely that he doesn't eat "nearly enough" he is just going to "train harder". So i'm pretty sure he hasn't added anything to his deadlift over the summer. With food and consistency i shall be the stronger guy, and proceed to rub his face in the fact that i trained for a year and got stronger than him every single day until i graduate and don't have to see him again. He'll start talking about genetics of course, but i'll know the truth.

/rant
 
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