When to advance with GtG?

[KimoSabe]

In NW, I found this passage:

Using the 5RM pistol with a 53 lb. kettlebell as an example: your regular day, Tuesday might be 10x2@53lbs; Wednesday is the beginning of the taper with 5x2@36lbs; Thursday is an even easier day, 5x1@36lbs; with no negative, and Friday is a day off. On Saturday you should be able to put up six or even seven reps with a 53lb. kettlebell. You have gone over the five-rep limit and are ready for the 72-pounder!

Tsatsouline, Pavel. The Naked Warrior: Master the Secrets of the super-Strong--Using Bodyweight Exercises Only (p. 127). DD Publications. Kindle Edition.

I always thought that one should be doing GtG with 50 % or less of 1RM or max reps. Keeping the same example, should one get for example 12 reps in the test, so that one would have to do sets of 6 in training, which goes above the rule of 5 reps, and only then advance? Or is there a distinction between weighted and uweighted exercises? Or another example, when you can do 5+ pull-ups, should you progress to a harder version/add weight or should you get 10+ in the test first?

 

[Ege]

I would like to share my own pull up progression processes. I am not an expert at all.

I thought my max pull up was 7. All executed from dead hang. I used to think my technique was on point.

I have decided to work towards an SF prescribed technique so called tactical pull up. (Great articles in the articles section of SF)

After some serious and fun work, I am now capable of one chin up to the chest (my choice although harder than to the neck for me) mimicking tactical pull up form. It is still not as smooth as I want.

(I am much stronger than the days I thought my max number of perfect pull ups were 7)

I will first make 1 Chinup smooth, then progress to 3 Chinups as good form as I can mimicking tactical pull up then I will progress to tactical pull up.

Focusing on reps is good and required for progression. But especially for people who practice without an SF coach, it is very easy to get carried w reps.

5+ SF style tactical pull ups executed perfectly is no joke. Just make sure your technique is on point.

This is my two cents.

 

[Bauer]

In NW, I found this passage:

I always thought that one should be doing GtG with 50 % or less of 1RM or max reps. Keeping the same example, should one get for example 12 reps in the test, so that one would have to do sets of 6 in training, which goes above the rule of 5 reps, and only then advance? Or is there a distinction between weighted and uweighted exercises? Or another example, when you can do 5+ pull-ups, should you progress to a harder version/add weight or should you get 10+ in the test first?

Well, in the barebones spirit of NW, you should work with variations from 2TRM to 10TRM, but mostly with 4-8TRM. Most sets should be done with 50%, but you could go from 1/3 to 2/3 of max reps. So yes, you would try to find those variations. However, I think you could also stay with a certrain rep range for more weeks to consolidate your gains, even if by that time it would actually be a 12 or even 15 TRM variation.

That being said, if your goals is not max strength OR you lack endurance or muscle, you might also go above 5 RM, IMO. One example would be the pushup challenge from the newsletter three years ago or so, which was basically a GTG approach to max pushups.

 

[Antti]

Well, in the barebones spirit of NW, you should work with variations from 2TRM to 10TRM, but mostly with 4-8TRM. Most sets should be done with 50%, but you could go from 1/3 to 2/3 of max reps. So yes, you would try to find those variations. However, I think you could also stay with a certrain rep range for more weeks to consolidate your gains, even if by that time it would actually be a 12 or even 15 TRM variation.

That being said, if your goals is not max strength OR you lack endurance or muscle, you might also go above 5 RM, IMO. One example would be the pushup challenge from the newsletter three years ago or so, which was basically a GTG approach to max pushups.

Do you remember what the Max pushups gtg programs was like? I've missed it.

 

[Bauer]

Do you remember what the Max pushups gtg programs was like? I've missed it.

Here are the instructions:

30-day pushup plan, simple and powerful (Aug 03, 21)​

Dedicate the rest of the summer to showing pushups who is the boss.

Our deceptively simple training plan wields the complex science of Strong Endurance™ and Plan Strong™.

Test your max reps (RM) on day one.

Take day two off and start the pushup program on day three. Do no other pushing exercises for the next month.

Train 5-6 days a week. If you are sore, skip a day.

Do a warm-up of choice before the first set of the day.

Every training day do 9 sets spread throughout the day. Rest for a minimum of 15min between sets; there is no upper limit on rest.

Each training day roll a die to determine the percentage of your max reps:

1 = 1/3 % RM

2, 3, 4 = 1/2 % RM

5, 6 = 2/3 % RM

E.g., an athlete has maxed out on the test with 40 perfect reps. 40:3=13.33. Thus, 1/3 RM is 13 reps. 20 reps are 1/2 RM, and 26 reps are 2/3 RM.

Another athlete has maxed out at 10. His or her 1/3, 1/2, and 2/3 are, respectively, 3, 5, and 7 reps.

Two weeks into the program retest your max reps after a day off. Rest the next day.

Recalibrate the 1/3, 1/2, and 2/3 of your max reps and carry on for two more weeks. Then retest in the same manner and post your results on our forum.

Power to your pushups!

Here is a snippet from the Q&A

Is this program for strength, strength endurance, or high rep muscular endurance?

Any of the above.

The students who have taken both seminars, Plan Strong™ and Strong Endurance™, could not help noticing similarity in some loading parameters. For example, both often prescribe 1/3-2/3 of one’s maximal reps:

3-6 reps with 10RM for heavy presses or squats (strength)

10-20 reps with 30RM for high rep pullups (strength endurance)

35-65 reps with 100RM pushup max (endurance)

The reasons are different—assuring the perfect form to “grease the groove” for strength and reaching the desired metabolic conditions for “strong endurance”—but the recommendations are often similar.

So, whether your max pushup reps are 10, 100, or anything in between, the plan will work for you.

 

[Mark Limbaga]

For bodyweight GTG, I have found that what works best for me is either adding a pause at the sticking point for pushups of all forms and a pause at the bottom for pistols..

What is your current number for pushups and what are you aiming for ?

 

[bluejeff]

I'm not sure how much this will contribute, but here's two cents:

I've come to view GtG as more of a "guideline approach" than a strict method. It can be used to increase max strength, max reps, or something in-between.

I also think the "50%" rule doesn't always have to be adhered to. If that were the case, you wouldn't see people going from 1-2RM pullups to, well, more than 1-2. A person in that case is doing lots of singles, which are all very close to their 1RM. I started GtG with handstand pushups over last summer with a RM of 2, maybe 3 if I really broke form. I got it up to 5RM within like 3-ish months. Maybe that's slower progress than could be achieved with a lower load, but it still worked (I also could've been doing a little too much volume). Where I saw the best, most consistent performance was when I limited myself to a max number of reps per day, in any combination of sets (for me it was 25).

In any case, I think the way you approach it will depend (as with everything else in training) on your desired goals.

 

[Antti]

Here are the instructions:


Here is a snippet from the Q&A

Thanks!

 

[KimoSabe]

For bodyweight GTG, I have found that what works best for me is either adding a pause at the sticking point for pushups of all forms and a pause at the bottom for pistols..

What is your current number for pushups and what are you aiming for ?

Not sure if you mean me, but I'm doing GTG for pull-ups. I'm just nearing the end of the first 2 weeks when I will re-test my max, so I'll have a better idea of that in a few days. I didn't test it at the start, just started doing easy sets of 3 as a conservative estimate. 3-6 sets per day, 60-70 total weekly reps so far.

The pushup plan sounds interesting - would it be usable as-is for pull-ups too? Can you run the same plan for pushups and pullups at the same time? And can you run it for more than 30 days?

 

[Mark Limbaga]

Not sure if you mean me, but I'm doing GTG for pull-ups. I'm just nearing the end of the first 2 weeks when I will re-test my max, so I'll have a better idea of that in a few days. I didn't test it at the start, just started doing easy sets of 3 as a conservative estimate. 3-6 sets per day, 60-70 total weekly reps so far.

The pushup plan sounds interesting - would it be usable as-is for pull-ups too? Can you run the same plan for pushups and pullups at the same time? And can you run it for more than 30 days?

Principles are universal so yes it's usable for pullups too

 

[Joel the Savage]

I would say 10RM is to light. 5RM and doing reps with 1-3 Repetitions in reserve (RIR) tvroughout the day should be no problem for an exercise like pullups. IF your elbows can take it, mine wouldn't.

But... It depends on what you have got access to.
If you only have bodyweight you need to solve it somehow.

I did NW, GTG for a few months (moved to another country, no access to gym or my own equipment). I did pushup ladders to 5 (1l, 1r, 2l, 2r) without rest. thought out the day, but never more than 5 ladders total.
My max rep was 19 (when I tested). 5 is easy, 1,2,3,4,5 without rest was a challenge, but realistic and doable repeated bouts.
I varied rep range from day to day. Some days 1,2,3. Some 1 and so on.