Programming Changes

Programming Changes:

So, after stalling out on deadlifts again, and nearly doing so on bench, I'm going to make some important changes to my program. I wrote a post elsewhere that I'll copy here for anyone interested:

Okay, I think I've got some programming that I like.

I'm going to write this out as Monday, Wednesday, Friday for simplicity's sake, but my actual schedule is Sat/Mon/Wed.

Monday (in order):
1) Bench/Press 5x5 ramped, starting at 235 and 152.5 respectively
2) Deadlift, 531 programming, no deload week, starting at 355
3) Chinups 3x5+, full range of motion, rep out on the last set, if I get 8 or more then add 5lbs next week, starting at body weight
4) Squat 5x5 ramped, starting at 355

Wednesday (in order):
1) Bench/Press 5x5 ramped
2) GHR 3x5+, when I can get 8 or more on the last set then I will add 5lbs next week, starting at body weight with no assistance, I'm going to push these HARD
3) Power Snatch 7x2, sets across, starting at 40kg (90lbs)
4) ATG Front Squat 3x3, @ 75% of Monday's squat, starting at 265

Friday:
1) Bench/Press 5x5 ramped
2) Power Clean 8x3 ramped, starting at 200x3
3) Dips 3x5+, when I can get 8 or more on the last set I'll add 10lbs the next week, starting at body weight
4) Curls 3x5+, when I can get 8 or more on the last set I'll add 5lbs the next week, starting at 65lbs
5) Squats 5x5 ramped, starting at 355


Overall Thinking:
Pulls:
I wanted at least one "deadlift centric" workout. My squat has long dominated my other lifts and it is time to fix it. I like the 531 idea because my primary problem is getting the bar off the ground. Reps give me more opportunities to do that. Kind of similar to the reason haltings are done for 8, I suppose. When I have days where my deadlift is just complete shit, like today, I'll still probably be able to get the minimum reps. 531 takes advantage of the whole good day/bad day thing. I particularly like that for my deadlift because it seems to be effected so greatly by things.

Squats in general:
I want to keep trying to get PRs twice a week while I still can. I'm putting squats at the very end of each workout so that: A) they don't have the opportunity to sap me of energy for my other lagging lifts, B) don't take away my desire to do assistance, and C) I can get a consistent read on what my "fatigued" squat is. I'm resetting because my fatigued squat is obviously going to be less than my fresh squat and I have some latent form things to work on anyway. I figure that resetting deadlifts and squats at the same time is going to provide an awesome boost.

Upperbody stuff:
I didn't want some days where they were first and some days where they were second, which is why they are ahead of pulls everyday. As weak as my pulls are, my upperbody is even worse in comparison to my squat. As such, they get precedence. After getting some advice from SR, I'm going to start doing some serious assistance to balance out the discrepancy in workload between upper and lowerbody that exists in the basic SS/Advanced Novice template. I'm going to take things easy at first until I get acclimated, but I'm excited to give this a shot.

Changes will be implemented starting on Monday. As always, feel free to criticize and ask questions. I appreciate input and feedback.