Science and shenanigans - need advice on programming

[plugchop]

Originally Posted by misspelledgeoff

what has your weight gain looked like since Feb and how much are you eating?

I've put on ~15 lbs since Feb. I began at around 175 and am now up around 190.

I need to eat more.

[plugchop]

Originally Posted by RedNeckJiuJitsu

Assistance. The only reason I replaced conventional DLs with ZDLs in my routine right now is because I don't have enough weight to do conventionals. When I was still in college and lifting at the uni gym, I was mainly using them just as part of a warm-up, and they still dramatically helped increase power off the floor on normal DLs.

Thanks for the link -- I'll go through it in detail!

Both deficits and ZDLs sound useful. I'll start messing with both movements.

I'm heading out of town to Charleston, SC for a brief conference so I probably will not get to train until Thursday the 12th. I'll use this opportunity to rest up and read a bunch.

You guys are awesome -- thanks for all the advice.

[misspelledgeoff]

Originally Posted by plugchop

I've put on ~15 lbs since Feb. I began at around 175 and am now up around 190.

I need to eat more.

Bingo. I'll bet that's 90% of your stalling issue.

[plugchop]

^ Yup, I am aware of that. I think I'm about at the limit of what I can eat and still maintain family harmony and financial stability, which is why I started considering decreasing the frequency of "max effort" days in the first place.

[RedNeckJiuJitsu]

5/3/1

[Tosa]

Originally Posted by RedNeckJiuJitsu

5/3/1

I'm surprised that this wasn't mentioned sooner.

[RedNeckJiuJitsu]

I'll be honest and say that I didn't read the entire thread until shortly before I recommended that. Looking at his numbers, though, I think he'd be good to start on it. Even if I didn't really know why, I basically used the idea of 5/3/1 in a 5x5 scheme when I changed from a BBer style split to the 2-day split from the FAQ. I just had to read the 5/3/1 manual to understand that I had been doing something right all along, even if I set it up differently and didn't go by percentages.

[plugchop]

I find 5/3/1 to be really confusing.

Can anybody recommend a writeup on it for dump people? I just don't get it.

[RedNeckJiuJitsu]

WhiteLightning made a spreadsheet for it, were you just plug in your working 1 rep max (which is 90% of your calculated max ), and then lift the numbers it tells you for each session (plus warm-up and assistance). On the last set of each lift (except on deload weeks), you go for as many reps as you can with the weight. If you can't hit the prescribed # of reps for that set, do a deload, and drop your max on that lift by 10% and start it again.

[plugchop]

^ Thanks -- I Googled a spreadsheet, filled in my maxes, and it looks like a reasonable program. I think I might give the program I mentioned on the 1st page a try for a few weeks, but I bet I wind up on 5/3/1 eventually.