Barbell The land of diminishing returns.....

[Chase Hines]

The last 6 months or so I’ve really dived into the Zercher lifts. I’ve seen a TON of ROI across different areas of my life. I absolutely love them and plan to include amain ingredient for the rest of my life. My main focus has been the Zercher Squat.

I’m starting to move a fair amount of weight (for me) with solid replicable form, solid breathing , compete control, speed out of the hole & a strong HardStyle lockout at the top. Progress is also moving along rather quickly.

275 feels like 225 one month ago.

225 flies....

315 would move right now but I want to spend more time under 275.

I’m now asking myself how far I push this lift before I start approaching “diminishing returns” & loose that “always fresh” not beat up feeling.

In my mind that’s 315 for solid reps.

Here’s where I’m at right now -

BW - 180
Zercher Squat
3 Sessions Per Week
Heavy = 275lbs
Light = 225lbs

This all done barefoot & belt-less.

 

[Antti]

I wouldn't worry about the numbers at all. Just train, and when it demands too much from you, ease a bit.

In my experience, the freshness has a lot to do with volume. Keeping to ten reps or so a session, almost regardless of the intensity, keeps things fresh for me. Of course, at times faster progress could require more volume, but that's the price we have to pay.

 

[Chase Hines]

I wouldn't worry about the numbers at all. Just train, and when it demands too much from you, ease a bit.

In my experience, the freshness has a lot to do with volume. Keeping to ten reps or so a session, almost regardless of the intensity, keeps things fresh for me. Of course, at times faster progress could require more volume, but that's the price we have to pay.

Well said. Totally agree. I’ll continue to keep it simple and go by feel.

The majority of my sessions are either 2x1-2-3 or 1-2-3-2-1 so I keep the volume low.

However I ramped up the volume last week with some additional triples and finished the week around 100 reps of 225-275 which is WAY high for me.

I came away “kinda” fresh but it’s not something I plan on repeating very often.

 

[Steve Freides]

I’m now asking myself how far I push this lift before I start approaching “diminishing returns” & loose that “always fresh” not beat up feeling.

When you start feeling that way, take a week off and start over with 70% of the weight you ended with, aiming to build back up to where you were and hopefully a little more.

-S-