What do you think of this old cycle ? Would you modify it…???
Is for Squat,but is good also for Bench and Deadlift?
Week 1 80% (6x2) 80% (6x3) 80% (6x2)
Week 2 80% (6x4) 80% (6x2) 80% (6x5)
Week 3 80% (6x2) 80% (6x6) 80% (6x2)
Week 4 85% (5x5) 80% (6x2) 90% (4x4)
Week 5 80% (6x2) 95% (3x3) 80% (6x2)
Week 6 100% (2x2) 80% (6x2) 102-105% (new max)
Knowing better programs for improvening 1RM?
is that the old 6 week russian cycle? looks familiar.
yes…comments???
Quit over thinking it so much! Just add some weight to the bar and get stronger. Keep it simple first, then get fancy later.
Sorry if that came off harsh, but it’s the truth.
I’m not crazy about this rep scheme/system for a few reasons. There are several sessions where the most intense set is a double with your 8RM. These session do not challenge your CNS. Another is that you don’t actually approach your 1RM at any time until week 5, and then again during the final week. What if you hit a peak in strength levels during week 4?
I prefer using something like weeks 4-6 and repeating them, looking for a new PR anytime I felt really strong during a training session. If you feel after 6-9 weeks you are approaching overtraining, then a week 1 session might be in order.
For bench, I might do something like this…
Week 1 90% (6x2)…70% (8x2)explosive
Week 2 92.5% (6x2)…70% (8x2)explosive
Week 3 95% (4x2)…70% (8x2)explosive
Week 4 97.5% (3x1)…70% (8x2)explosive
Week 5 95% (2x1)…70% (8x2)explosive
Week 6 102% (1x1)…OFF
I have worked with an elite powerlifter (a family friend) for over a year (actually works out now at a PL gym for safety reasons), who recently used a very similar scheme to bench 738# (equipped) at 20y.o., a WPO Junior World Record.
I don’t like to go by percentages, unless I am in-season and just want to maintain strength. I think you would be better off just following a “go by feel” approach, so basically a variation of the max-effort method. Set a rep range (preferably between 1-5 for the big exercises) and then work up to a rep max.
Why a rep max? Why not keep all loads submax.
max effort is not not needed to gain max strength and has too much strain on the CNS for a track athlete…IMO it better for track athlete to stay in the 70% -85% range…
You will make very little progress in terms of max strength in the 70% range (12RM) unless you are very new to lifting. The minimum range to make significant progress is, IMHO, closer to the 85% range. For max strength, the best range is in the 90% and greater range.
Not training above 85% for max strength is like never running faster than intensive tempo to improve max v.
dalton.1990, weights above 90% of 1rm build strength the fastest.
RB34, because that’s essential what you do if you take a heavy enough load and work up to a 1rm, 3rm or 5rm.
As for the comment about these weights being too much strain on the CNS of a track athlete, as far as I know the threadstarter was asking about a way to build his 1rm “quickly”. But even if he is training for raw relative strength, I would consider this method superior to percentages and I would argue that it is too taxing. He can easily use a periodization approach, where he would squat for x weeks and maybe run some tempos and then cut back on the squatting (only maintain) and sprint for 4 or 6 weeks over a variety of distances.
Besides that I really don’t like using percentages for a whole training cycle, just because working off percentages implies that you have one of those fabulous “test days” or whatever you want to call them. But what if on that test day everything goes wrong? The day before you didn’t go to bed until 2am since you had a paper to turn in. Then in school you girlfriend broke up with you because you spend too much time with sports. Then you get a D back on your history exam. At home you find out that you cat died. But you still gonna go and test because your an athlete, right? So realistically what are the chances that his athlete will hit anything close to his 1rm that day? If his real 1Rm was maybe 315 but that days he has too many things to worry about and is overly tired he might only hit 225 or 245. So for the next 12 weeks he’s gonna work off of 75%, 80%, 95% off 245???
Don’t do the test on that day, if you ever have to do one with the athlete knowing. As for Not going by feeling the reasons are obvious, I think, for an athlete.
Olympic lifters have disproved your assertion going on 4 decades now.
Lyle
well im a relative begginer in the weightroom…i havent done much lifting above 85% but when i have it has really fatigued me but yeah i am only lifting a few mths…could you post a example cycle of squat workout you would pescribe…
You are correct.
60-85% of competition max/highly psyched training max
or
70-90% of 90% of your last recorded maximum is all you need
The bulk of percentages over the course of an annual cycle falling between 70-75%
This is more than substantiated in the overseas literature, my personal lifting and coaching experience, as well as that of my most respected colleagues.
Possibly U.S. lifters, who rarely medal, and we are not talking Olympic lifts. Westside, and dozens of other powerlifting gyms, have proven it to be true.
Do you know of any major powerlifters (we’re talking squat and bench) who DO NOT rely on heavy triples, doubles and singles?
If you are a beginner, almost any program will improve your max strength. Bill Starr’s 5 x 5 would be a good place to start.
In Mesocycle of Accumulation (For MaxStrength)is better…
A) Progression with more reps
Week1) 7x1-2reps with 100 Kg(bench)
2) 8 sets x2- 3 //100Kg
3) 9 x 3-4 //100 kg
4-Deload) 5 x 3 reps/100 Kg
or
B)
week1) 4 x 6 (buffer 15%-weight)/Example Bench- /100Kg
2) 4sts x 6//buffer 8%…more weigth tah 1th week!!!)/Kg 104
3) 4 x 6 //buffer3-4% /Kg 107
4)deload-2x6 buffer 0-3% /Kg110
???%%%
Why?
yeah thats actually what im doing now…
Thanx…
Westside has never medaled in a real worlds competition.
Ed Coan, Kirk Karwoski, Fred Hatfield, Shane Hamman