how i've been programming for myself part 1

I'll start by saying im new to all this. I could say i've been lifting for close to 15 years, but in reality only in the past 3 (tops) have I started to understand what im doing a litttle better.



the Prilepin post was a little quote heavy I was told, so this one i'll shoot from the hip, heart and head (3 H's, hip, heart and head. write that down).



I read an elitefts.com article on Dave Tate's 5/3/1 protocol and fell in love. the honesty of starting off at 90% as a max because most guys fluff the hell out of their pr's is humbling yet genius. so I gave it a shot, this was my interpretation of the article so it might not be as spot as the Ebook says.

my version looked like this.

wave 1- 5x5 @ 65% of our new 1rm


wave 2- 5x3 @ 75%


wave 3- 1x5 @ 65%/ 1x3 @ 75%/ 1x1 @ 85%


wave 4- 5x3 @ 65% (deload)


wave 5- 5x5 @ 70%


wave 6- 5x3 @ 80%


wave 7- 1x5 @70%/ 1x3 @ 80%/ 1x1 @90%


wave 8- 5x3 @ 65% (deload)





hope you guys can see a pattern emerging here. This went on for 5-6 months with me setting personal records in my 3 main lifts, squat, bench, dead.





from this program I learned to appreciate a few things


1. quality over quantity. sure i could've repped the hell out of the first wave, but i stuck to the rep goal, focused on quality reps. This in turn allowed me to better understand my own movement and tune into my own groove and improve my form.





2. The value of the deload week. Exercise is nothing more than a stress to the body, our bodies hate stress and will what it has to so the next time we are stressed in that manner it will not be as stressful. In order for that to happen our bodies need to rest. A good nights rest will suffice for the daily workout stress, but for the accumalated effect of a program a deload. A down week is needed, unless of course you enjoy getting injured a few times a year and losing all the gains you made.





3. Consistency!!!! before this i suffered from flavor of the month syndrome. switching from program to program every month and not letting the effects take place. A good program will have the first few weeks be a prep phase and build up slowly to a peak, go back down start over again but at a higher beginning and ending again with a higher peak. Jumping from program to program will leave you in a constant state prep phase.





4. let go of the ego. I followed the advice and reasoning of someone better. followed the program and ideas posted on the article and learned a ton.