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Barbell Pavel/Faleev's 5x5....

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You will get both stronger and more muscular.
 
The blog says "Faleev stresses that you must wrap up each strength workout with static stretches."

I have the relax into stretch book. Any insights on stretches that one can do for this program with DL, SQ and BP? Would you make it varied for each day, or keep the same?

Also, what are some of the things what one can do for the ~5 mins between the sets? It is a lot of time. Can one do stretches here?

Thanks.
 
I do not stretch between the sets, at least not what is at use.

I do active recovery like in S&S. I do simple mobility drills such as hip and shoulder circles etc. And lastly I do visualization, where I first distance myself from the environment and then imagine myself doing the perfect rep again and again.
 
Is there anything unkosher about blending a moderate volume of kettlebell swings/snatches (100/150 reps, twice a week) or would that be a bit too far of a jump?
 
@LoneRider- I'd start with a much lower volume and see how your body feels. With the amount of effort you're putting into your lifts it may be to much.
 
Another question:

Do a couple warm-up sets if you must, then feel free to take 5 min. and even more between your work sets. Top power dogs take longer; 30 min. is not unheard of. Power loves rest and does not tolerate rushing. You may feel that you are completely recovered in 2 min. but take a full 5 anyway. According to Faleev, an hour is a good number to shoot for in your workout length

Does this apply for light days too?
 
How can one progress from 5x8 to 5x5?

@Abdul Rasheed, please read @Rif's blog here:

The Triple Progression System Explained

and see if it answers your questions. I will summarize briefly:

At its simplest, you pick a set and rep count, and a weight, that you can do. Once you add weight, you will have to drop some of the volume, so typically you keep the same number of sets but lower the reps, and eventually you build back up to doing your goal sets and reps with the new weight. Then you add weight and repeat the process.

Let's say you can press 100 lbs. for 5 x 5 (5 sets of 5 reps each), so:

1. Next week, you try 110 lbs. and find that you can get 5 reps on the first set, but then you can only get 4 reps, then you repeat 4 reps, then you do 3 reps, and finally 2 reps. So your 5, 5, 5, 5, 5 has become 5, 4, 4, 3, 2. You simply stay at 110 lbs. until you're able to do 5 x 5 again.

2. At some point, you decide that you aren't going to be able to get 5 x 5 at an increased weight, so you then taper in some way or other and head for a test of your new maximum.

Faleev, as I understand it, would have you start with 8 reps x 5 sets and, as the weight gets heavier, eventually cut the reps back to 5 reps x 5 sets.

Marty Gallagher, if memory serves, outlines something like this:

100 lb x 8 reps
110 lb x 8 reps
120 lb x 8 reps
130 lb x 8 reps

140 lb x 5 reps
150 lb x 5 reps
160 lb x 5 reps
170 lb x 5 reps

180 lb x 3 reps
190 lb x 3 reps

200 lb x 2 reps
210 lb x 2 reps

and then a competition or max test. The idea here is the you select the right starting point and right increases to give yourself a small PR at your next competition.

Make more sense now?

-S-
 
Thanks Steve.

Make more sense now?
Bullet point 1 in your response is how I understood it. When we increase the weight progress from as in your example 5, 4, 4, 3, 2 (low volume) to 5, 5, 5, 5, 5 (high volume). Here we the weight remains the same and the volume progresses to the desired. And this is what I am trying to do in my practice too. The moment I hit 5x5, I increase the weight, the volume naturally suffers, and I try to bring it back up to 5x5. Repeat.

Faleev, as I understand it, would have you start with 8 reps x 5 sets and
Pavel also says in the blog:
In my opinion, you should go straight to 5 x 5. Sets of five are the meat and potatoes of strength training
So this what I am trying to do too. I don't do 8 reps at all.

Starting with 5x8 reps (more volume) to reach 5x5 (less volume) confused me. Is this a different approach than outlined in item 1? I don't understand this still. Once you reach 5x5 with the heavy weight, start over with 5x8 with newer heavier starting weight I suppose? It seem to be the opposite of the first approach? I don't have to understand this, I think, as i am doing option 1.

Related question:
I read Rif's article. Reaching 5x5 is not enough, one need to "own it" as outlined in there, before advancing the weight, Is that right?
 
You would do the max reps at the beginning of the cycle. Instead of doing 5 x 5, adding weight, and working back to 5 x 5, you would decide that at some point, the weight had gotten heavy enough that another 5 x 5 would be unlikely to succeed, so you aim for 3 x 3 instead, then 2 x 2, then you test for a new max single. You only do this once per cycle.

More volume with a lighter weight make sense.

As to owning a weight, different people feel differently but I like the idea.

-S-
 
Just to add one more example, when I recently started BP again, I started with 3 sets of 8 and kept adding weight and working back up to 3 sets of 8. I made one increase that caused me to drop back to 3 sets of 5, and decided to continue with a total of 24 reps, so I'm now doing 24 reps in 4-5 sets with a goal of getting back to doing that volume in 3 sets.

There are many ways for this to work - the above is just another example.

-S-
 
Below is a link to the blog where Pavel discusses this program.

Pavel: 80/20 Powerlifting and How to Add 110+ Pounds to Your Lifts

From the above:

"As the meet approaches, cut back from 5 x 5 to 4 x 4, 3 x 3, and finally, a couple of weeks before the competition, 2 x 2. Up the poundages accordingly."

And there you have the answer to your question #1: yes, cut back on the volume. Better, however, that you plan for a competition rather than simply wait for yourself to struggle. Stopping something that isn't working is better than continuing to do it, of course, but it's not as good as a plan that sees you make steady progress. For you, continue to progress in weight while you cut back in volume as the article suggests.

Your question #2 - see above. If you haven't not overtrained yet, follow the plan. If you feel you are overtrained, then you must deload.

Your question #3 - eat what you need to achieve your goals. If you need more muscle, eat more high-quality food; if not, don't. I am a weight-class athlete who gets on the scale every morning and adjusts my eating to keep my weight within a reasonable distance from what I need for competition.

-S-

Steve! I never got to thank you for your response. I deeply appreciate it. I lost track of the message and the Forum felt a little too complicated (it isn't... though I still need to figure out a way to navigate easily) for my tastes.

I did follow your approach half-way before getting dissatisfied and opting for some paid program which didn't work out well anyway. I then went through a couple of PlanStrong cycles and was hooked! So much so that I attended the PS seminar in Seoul last month! SFL was great... couldn't clear my BP strength test (didn't take my DL test, I was far away from peaking and following the program was more important... and I knew I would clear that anyway) and failed at MP (technical test) royally.

So, for BP... I'm on a 2x5 for the next few cycles before I get right into 5x5 followed by a PS plan that I'm currently working on. Doing the P2P 2.0 for MP. Smashed an all-time PR yesterday but still need to go the distance. I plan to take these tests again (virtually) and will be preparing for them in the next three months.

While we're at it, I had a quick KB question for you. I'm doing the S&S in evenings and was wondering if it would make sense to do kettlebell MP as an add-on to get my presses up. Or do you think it's a bad idea? Here's my rationale: post the test, I don't plan to do BB presses as frequently. Perhaps just once or twice a week and I've heard that KB presses are far superior in terms of both safety and overall shoulder health and strength. Hence, the question.

Thoughts?
 
@Sunil Nair, you've asked a lot of questions - I'll do my best to reply.

Thank you for saying thank you!

About the forum being complicated to read or follow, I'd encourage you to look at a thread in our Members Only section. It's entitled "How Do You Read The Forum," I think. And please feel free to start a new thread, express what you find challenging, and we can discuss it thee.

As to how often you should bench press and how to use an overhead press to increase your bench press numbers, and the like - there are some general answers but some of this will require experimentation on your part because we're all different.

To raise your bench press numbers, the best way is to bench press a lot. If this causes you to have shoulder problems, it's best to get some coaching and figure out what may be wrong, if anything, in your technique or in your BP programming.

An overhead press seems to carry over to the bench press more than the other way around, and it's generally agreed that overhead pressing is less likely to bring on shoulder problems, but you have to keep in mind that what's a good overhead press is a lower number than what's a good bench press, and if you want to meet a particular strength standard, you will still need to bench a lot, IMHO.

Kettlebell presses, particularly with one arm at a time, allow one to find a comfortable groove/path, even for many with injury histories, so yes, that is my first choice of press for everyone.

Hope this helps.

-S-
 
Awesome @Steve Freides! Thanks for your suggestions.
I'm experimenting cautiously for now and will report back in a few weeks.

For now, I'm focusing on the BP and MP. Will add in the KB press in about a months' time... when I feel I'm strong enough with my MP. The numbers are gonna go up, I'm sure about that.

Thanks for your constant encouragement. You rock! :)
 
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