Brian Potter
Level 4 Valued Member
Long time SF fan and lurker on the boards. I experimented with a modification of the workouts described in Power to the People. Pavel says right in the book to not modify his plan...and I know someone who coaches themselves has a fool for a client, but here we go....
A little background, I'm 48 years old and suffered a knee injury (torn meniscus) and had been doing xfit for 2 years before I got hurt. Before that I had done some periods of KB training ROP, S&S (simple), etc intermixed with running. I didn't want to go back to running or xfit but did want to improve my barbell lifts and get good enough for SFL certification. I read P2TP and started the DL and Press routine, first set workout weight, second set 90% of workout weight. I was feeling good doing it but felt like I could train more volume and really wanted to improve my bench, squat, and pullups as well. So I did the 5 exercise plan. I still felt like I could do more volume so I took the 2 exercise plan I was doing and combined it with the 5 exercise plan (1 set, 5 reps, 5 exercises, 5 days per week). So the workout I settled on was 6 exercises and then doing the 90% set first and then the 100% set second. I found that doing the lighter set worked better for me before the heavier set as it helped me focus on the form and then also warm more up for heavier lift. This comes out something pretty close to Dan John's Easy Strength.
The workout scheme was as follows:
Workout 5 x per week (start at 65% of 1RM for workout weight)
1st do 2 rounds of:
DL, Strict Press, Pullups x 5 reps. First round 90% of workout weight, 2nd set full workout weight.
2nd do 2 rounds of:
Back Squat, Bench Press, Ab work of choice 5 reps x 2 sets same 90% of workout weight for first and full workout weight for second set.
I did this for 3 x 3 week cycles, adding 10 lbs to the workout weight on each exercise for the new cycle then did a 1RM test for the lifts after three cycles.
I took my 1 RM DL from 295 to 325
Bench from 225 to 250
Press from 135 to 155
Squat 5 RM from 235 to 265
I also added in some stationary bike 3-4 hours per week to give me a little cardio. My DL is weak and I was hoping for more gains there but I'm happy with the rest of it. With a warm up and not getting in too big a rush I could knock this all out in less than 45 minutes. Alot of changing plates admittedly. I think from here I'm going to do Vodka and Pickles to focus on getting that DL up to par.
I had never seen anyone discuss combining the two workouts in P2TP and would love your feedback on the plan. Thanks!!
A little background, I'm 48 years old and suffered a knee injury (torn meniscus) and had been doing xfit for 2 years before I got hurt. Before that I had done some periods of KB training ROP, S&S (simple), etc intermixed with running. I didn't want to go back to running or xfit but did want to improve my barbell lifts and get good enough for SFL certification. I read P2TP and started the DL and Press routine, first set workout weight, second set 90% of workout weight. I was feeling good doing it but felt like I could train more volume and really wanted to improve my bench, squat, and pullups as well. So I did the 5 exercise plan. I still felt like I could do more volume so I took the 2 exercise plan I was doing and combined it with the 5 exercise plan (1 set, 5 reps, 5 exercises, 5 days per week). So the workout I settled on was 6 exercises and then doing the 90% set first and then the 100% set second. I found that doing the lighter set worked better for me before the heavier set as it helped me focus on the form and then also warm more up for heavier lift. This comes out something pretty close to Dan John's Easy Strength.
The workout scheme was as follows:
Workout 5 x per week (start at 65% of 1RM for workout weight)
1st do 2 rounds of:
DL, Strict Press, Pullups x 5 reps. First round 90% of workout weight, 2nd set full workout weight.
2nd do 2 rounds of:
Back Squat, Bench Press, Ab work of choice 5 reps x 2 sets same 90% of workout weight for first and full workout weight for second set.
I did this for 3 x 3 week cycles, adding 10 lbs to the workout weight on each exercise for the new cycle then did a 1RM test for the lifts after three cycles.
I took my 1 RM DL from 295 to 325
Bench from 225 to 250
Press from 135 to 155
Squat 5 RM from 235 to 265
I also added in some stationary bike 3-4 hours per week to give me a little cardio. My DL is weak and I was hoping for more gains there but I'm happy with the rest of it. With a warm up and not getting in too big a rush I could knock this all out in less than 45 minutes. Alot of changing plates admittedly. I think from here I'm going to do Vodka and Pickles to focus on getting that DL up to par.
I had never seen anyone discuss combining the two workouts in P2TP and would love your feedback on the plan. Thanks!!
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