Old Forum PTTP frequency question

[Kyrinov]

Hey folks,

I have been following the easy strength pttp/pm routine for a couple of months now.  At least I thought I was.  I keep reading questions like "are you doing 3 days a week or 5?"  And I'm confused as all get out.  I thought it was a straightforward 2 day a week DL/Press program.  Maybe four if you broke up the two movements into separate days.  Lately I've read things like doing the deadlift 3 times a week, the bench twice etc....which leads me to believe I was wrong.  Should I be putting in more volume?  I'm trying to follow it by the numbers since that worked pretty well when I was following just the PM.  If I can see better results by plugging in an extra DL day then I'll do it but want a clarification so I'm not just blindly hopping on to some new program.  Was I meant to do 3-5 days a week, not 2?  Any explanation would be much appreciated.  I know the programs get tinkered with on this forum but I want to be doing things in a basic way for the next little while because I'm still pretty new to all this.  That said, if the experience of the elders says that I could be well served by 3-5 days a week instead of 2, I'll do it - I'm a student so its not really a big deal to nip into the gym for 20 minutes or so to warm up and pull a few extra deads.

 

Thanks again!

 

Charles

 

[PatrickW]

I am not an expert, but here is my take on the program:

2 weeks of pttp: 3-5 days of deadlifts and presses following linear, step. or wave progression

Alternated with:

2 weeks of program minimum: 2 days of swings, 2 days of TGU with some goblet squats thrown in or 3 days of doing TGU/Swing/Goblet squats on the same day.

When you get back to the pttp weeks start with the deadlift/press weight that you left off with.

When I did this program, I  deadlifted and presses 3 days per week.  I felt that I did not get enough days in the 2 weeks to really work the deadlift properly.  I really think you need to do 5 days of deadlifting per week to see advancement in weight.  This may just be my experience though.  Give it a shot.  I really enjoyed the program and felt great.  I used it when preparing for a tough mudder so I did not really care about really pushing the deadlift.  The program gave me time to focus on preparing for the running.

 

[BrianBinVA]

Not an elder, but are you doing PTTP or something from Easy Strength? If the former, do you own PTTP?  The "by the book" program is 4-5 days per week of DL and whatever press you are doing...

 

[Deleted member 316]

So in the PTTP block, no swings and deadlift/press three to five times a week. And in the PM block its by the book with an option of adding another swing day for as Pavel says "go ahead, make your day."

 

[crt1]

Charles, buy the book.  It might just be the best $20 investment you could make right now.

 

[Kyrinov]

I do have the book.  I must have gotten confused somewhere along the line, just had a look at it last night after getting these replies.  Maybe I read something in Easy Strength that threw me off the original plan.  I hadn't read PTTP in a while and had been reading Easy Strength a lot lately.  No biggie and probably a good thing in the end, I'm just getting going with barbell training and was also having to cope with the added load of a weekly two hour smoker session as part of my paramedic fitness training on top of lots of skill-related heavy lifting for practicing patient handling procedures in different environments.  Even just doing twice a week I was finding it a bit heavy going by the end of the week because not only would we be doing heavy lifting (not part of my PTTP cycle) but then would top it off with high rep cals and a lot of running on top of carrying 200 lb dummies up and down stairs (with a partner, naturally) for long stretches in my patient care procedures classes.  Throw in my martial arts and the fact that I have to ruck all my gear and books everywhere I go because I'm to po' for a car and the bus service is useless here - I've had a couple of overtrain crashes the past couple months.  I think I'm well adapted enough to my lifestyle changes to amp it up a bit now.  I'll throw in an extra day for the end of this PTTP block and then flip over to my next PM block.  Cheers guys, thanks.  As always I really appreciate the community.  I have to say that since I started working with the KB back in March and now the barbell in September I've made serious gains in strength and size.  My girlfriend keeps remarking how quickly I've changed from pretty pasty and slim after three years of coughing my lungs out on Beijing air to the picture of health and strength since coming back home and returning to iron training - doing it right this time!

 

[Pavel]

Charles, the range is two to five days a week depending on your recovery.  And it can changes towards the end of the cycle, e.g. start four times a week, then go down to three, and finally two.  

The DL and the press can have different frequencies.

 

[crt1]

Charles, I apologize if I came across as snarky, that was not my intent.  Congrats on the results.  I am new to StrongFirst, Pavel and Dan John as of about six months ago and the results have been very encouraging also.  This community teaches strength like the art form that it is and should be.

Best,

Chris