Old Forum PTTP - Russian Bear Question

[amdemarais]

I understand the "Russian Bear" program goes:

1 heavy set x 5 reps
90% of set 1 x 5 reps
80% of set 1 x 5 reps x as many sets as possible (resting 30-90 seconds)

At what point do you increase the work whether it be increased weight, reduced rest time, increased number of sets, etc?

 

[Journeyman]

I found these guidelines for the 'bear' someplace. I -think- that Brad Nelson came up with them, and I believe it was Dave Dellanave who was lauding the setup.

 

"Bear is 2x/week. At least 2 full days rest in between. 10-20 sets of 5 reps.

Start with 90% of your max DL. Here's your first training session.

385x2 sets of 3 reps

Then 340 (80% 1RM)

Do sets of 5 reps resting no more than 1.30 between sets for as many sets as you can do. As soon as you cannot get 5 reps for that set, you are done for the day. So if you end at 8 sets for the day, shoot for 10-12 next session. Ramp up over the course of 2 weeks.

Rules:

1. stay with the same weight until you can complete 20 sets of 5 reps with it.

2. Then add another 10lb and start over.

3. The only other things that I would do during Bear are military press or barbell side press and pullups or dips for no more than 5x5."

I'd do it a bit differently because personally, sets of 5 with 80% or 3 with 90% before that would destroy me (I'm a bit better at 1RMs than repping, I think, with DL, at least generally). So you might have to tweak it a bit for your own needs. But that's a darn good format, I think, as good as any you'll find for 'the bear'.

 

[Journeyman]

^ The last paragraph is my comment, somehow it got screwed up and counted as part of the quote....

 

[amdemarais]

great stuff - thank you aris!

 

[Rickard]

Those bear guidelines is going to be printed and put in my PTTP book, along side my scrawls on the inside of 5,3,2 ...

 

[dardar]

Just a thought - the %'s for the bear in PTP are based off your 5rm, not 1rm.   I think that makes a significant difference in the setup.

Thanks,

d.

 

[Journeyman]

No problem guys.

Darrell, that's definitely true. I merely copied the above program as it was originally written, but perhaps adjusting down to 90% of your actual 1RM (~3-5RM) would work a bit better.