Few things are more life-sucking than busting your ass in the gym and not seeing a lick of progress.
Conversely, it doesn't get much better than showing up for your scheduled workout and lifting more than ever before. To help you achieve the coveted "I just destroyed some serious weight that would kill most mere mortals" post workout high, here's a sweet little six week mesocycle that will leave you setting mammoth PR's in no time.
This workout is primarily designed for a mid-to-late level intermediate or an early level advanced lifter. The lifter needs to know their one-rep max (their actual one rep max, not what they hope they can do if a hot-tub full of fitness hotties is watching them).
If you don't know your current 1RM, I suggest you max out properly to determine it. Incidentally, it's likely you're still a newb if you can't guess your 1RM with a high level of accuracy.
Week | Work Set 1 | Work Set 2 | Work Set 3 | Work Set 4 |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 80% x 2 reps | 86% x 2 reps | 92.5% x 2 reps | N/A |
2 | 80% x 4 reps | 87.5% x 3 reps | 95% x 2 reps | N/A |
3 | 80% x 2 reps | 86% x 2 reps | 92% x 2 reps | 97.5% x 2 reps |
4 | 80% x 5 reps | 87.5% x 4 reps | 95% x 3 reps | N/A |
5 | 80% x 2 reps | 86% x 2 reps | 92.5% x 2 reps | 100% x 2 reps |
6 | 80% x 2 reps | 86% x 1 rep | 92.5% x 4 reps + | N/A |
As a rule, I always test-drive my routines before I release them to TNation readers. One of my lifters started this routine with a 425-pound squat, and he'd been stuck in the 385-425-pound range for over a year.
After 11 weeks on this routine, he hit 430x3 and looked like he had 5 more in him. He was also squatting a second time each week using 50-70% of his 1RM for sets of 5 reps, using a slow controlled descent and pausing at the bottom to work on technique.
Here's the routine based on that 425-pound 1RM with actual weight lifted per set:
Week | Work Set 1 | Work Set 2 | Work Set 3 | Work Set 4 |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 335 x 2 | 365 x 2 | 395 x 2 | N/A |
2 | 335 x 4 | 370 x 3 | 405 x 2 | N/A |
3 | 335 x 2 | 365 x 2 | 395 x 2 | 415 x 2 |
4 | 335 x 5 | 370 x 4 | 405 x 3 | N/A |
5 | 335 x 2 | 365 x 2 | 395 x 2 | 425 x 2 |
6 | 335 x 1 | 365 x 1 | 395 x 4+ | N/A |
A few more notes about this program:
An honest 10-pound strength gain in six weeks of training is nothing to snicker at. And if it can be reliably repeated with similar results? Well, that's all the better.
Serious lifters with a few notches on their weight belts know there's no quick fix to strength. Instead, strength comes from hard work on productive exercises, and it's usually a painfully slow process, earned one excruciating rep at a time. Put some work into this program and you might find it paying you appreciable dividends down the road or on the platform.
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