@marcelotine,
it also discouraged strenuous cardiovascular activity...
I see no mention of the program's article discouraging anything. Specifically, it says, "Training at such a low volume keeps you fresh for other activities, such as firefighting, MMA, or any other sport ..." The mention of VWC is funny but with a point - if you're on the border of overtraining, anyway, neither this nor anything else will make a good addition to your program.
Do you know what's the rationale behind 3-5 singles vs a set of 3-5 reps. I just feel to tempted to a 3-5 rep set and walk off.
Nothing wrong with that approach. Singles, however, are the approach I'd recommend for training for most people, most of the time. With a specific reason, and there are reasons, do all the reps as a single set if that's your choice. It doesn't take much longer - do your first rep, stand up and take a breath or three, and repeat.
Training programs vary in length: PlanStrong works in 4 week blocks, the Rite of Passage is usually 13 weeks, etc. As I read the DDD, it's lifting 5 days out of 7, so those 45 lifting days would actually work out to be 8-9 weeks when you include the rest before, the max test, and some recovery days after.
you recently ran the program - what was your results like and how did you find it especially towards the end?
The last time I ran it was already a few of years ago, but after the first time I ran it, I set a meet PR - that's about the best definition of a good result there is. Toward the end? 92% isn't a big deal for a single or even a few singles.
One change I made to the program, TL;DR to follow:
To accommodate what I have noticed is my somewhat lessened recovery ability as I've gotten older - I'm soon to turn 66; I ran this program at age 63 - I spread it out over longer than 8-9 weeks by adding an extra day off day in the middle. The math can get a little confusing so I'll spell it out as I understand it and explain my modification:
As in the article:
Mon = Day 1 = 75%
Tue = Day 2 = 75%
Wed = Day 3 = 75%
Thu = Day 4 = 75%
Fri = Day 5 = 75%
Sat = Off
Sun = Off
Mon = Day 6 = 75%
Tue = Day 7 = Heavy
Wed = Day 8 = 75% again
As I did:
I turned the 9 day cycle into a 10 day cycle by lifting 5 days out of every 8 days instead of every 7, so mine looked more like
Mon = Day 1 = 75%
Tue = Day 2 = 75%
Wed = Off
Thu = Day 3 = 75%
Fri = Day 4 = 75%
Sat = Off
Sun = Off
Mon = Day 5 = 75%
Tue = Day 6 = 75%
Wed = Day 7 = Heavy
Thu = Day 8 = 75% again (note that I'm now a day behind the original plan)
That means my 6 blocks of 7 lifting days took about a week longer than the program prescribes.
-S-