I guess that would be ๅคงไธพ่ฟ ? dร jวjรฌn.
The progression: 6 months powerlifting, RPE-based
One cycle is defined like this:
- Week #1: RPE 7 #kalm
- Week #2: RPE 8โฆ
- Week #3: RPE 9 ๐ฆ
- Week #4: RPE 10??? #panik
Week #5: Deload
we're starting at 3ร5
but with a little rep variation during the week; see below
after each cycle we go heavier (less reps, more sets, more weight)
so after 6~7 months you'll be doing singles
The exercises
Our focus will be the back squat and the deadlift, and, secondarily, the overhead press. Each exercise has a "heavy" and a "functional" form:
- squat: heavy: to parallel, functional: ATG
- deadlift: heavy: drop bar, functional: control on the eccentric
- press: heavy: strict, functional: push press (*higher load than strict so maybe not the best labels but it's functional for uppercuts)
Gym program has the form:
- Exercise #1: heavy, with lower reps (e.g. 4ร3 rather than 3ร5)
- Exercise #2: functional, with full reps
- Exercise #3: ibid.
And gym day patterns go:
- Weekday #1: squat (h), DL (f), press (f)
- Weekday #2: DL (h), squat (f), press (f)
- Weekday #3: press (h), DL (f), squat (f)
Acknowledging imperfection
- Issue: I'm unlikely to be both free and in lifting condition 3ร a week for 6 months
We're aiming 2 to 3. A week with 2 gym days still counts as a full success. We're accepting weeks with 1 or 0 gym days will exist, and will proceed with the plan regardless, shifting the goals if needed. If I end up taking 12 or 18 months to reach the 6 months goal, I am still strong af after 12 or 18 months, which is a big success compared to not being strong af after 12 or 18 months.
2 days week: Skip weekday pattern #3, start next week at #1.
1 day week: Do #1, then start next week from #2. If next week has 2+ days, #2 then #1. (focus on patterns #1 and #2 and alternate them; pattern #3 is bonus).
0 days week: Continue next week at the place we were before, shifting the plan 1 week forward. Pay attention to loads; fall back 1 RPE if it gets too hard, and keep going.
2 or more weeks missed: Evaluate, if needed restart current cycle.
- Issue: I often arrive at the gym too late to have time to rest between the sets enough to do 5ร5 thrice.
We reduced from 5ร5 to 3ร5. It's preferable to reduce sets but keep them consecutive, than to end up without time for one exercise, or to make sets non-consecutive. If we have time left at the gym, we can informally do some of our other favourite strength exercises (farmer's carry, hip thrusts, ankle raises, rows).
We will keep better tracking of rest times, and plan the gym day based on hours available after arrival. With time this should get intuitive.
We won't focus on conditioning while we're focusing on strength. If rest times are being too long, simply reduce weights to the point where you can finish all sets within the available rest time.
This is an alternative for when I miss a gym day but have the opportunity of training at home. To be done with a good 2-3 hour of dedicated time and intention, like pretend it's going to the gym day but we have gym at home.
A lot of these have the advantage of being single-side, letting us measure and balance the weaker side a bit.
Since you can't increase the weight of your kettlebell, we have to go higher rep. Up until upper bodybuilder range is ok, if we get past 15 reps or so we'll have to buy a heavier kettlebell, or look up harder alternatives.
For bodyweight calisthenics, always prefer switching to a harder variant than pushing reps beyond 15. Might be useful to research some more resistance exercises that don't need gear, to have an alternative when travelling.