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It has been a long while since I’ve been on a consistent lifting program. The last time I completed a barbell program was easily over 2-3 years ago. Probably more. I’ve done some kettlebell work since then, some casual lifting, etc. so I haven’t been completely sedentary.
Im estimating my squat is currently in the 300-315 range, bench ~245, deadlift ~350, ohp ~135
Am I better off restarting a linear progression program or going with something periodized / with a bit less aggressive of a progression?
Also, any recommendations for programs that won’t absolutely destroy my legs? I have hockey games on Sunday and don’t want to be completely dead lol. Main goal is strength.
If you haven’t trained with a barbell consistently for a while, start with a linear progression for a couple months. It’ll help you get back to a baseline from which you can start a more intermediate program.
My understanding is that people leave reps in reserve so they can do more sets since there's less fatigue per set. How big of a difference do you guys see? For example if you were to do all your quad work to failure how many sets could you sustain as compared to how many you could sustain leaving a few reps in the tank (lets say 1-3)?
Which exercise?
Squats, one set to failure and I'm toast.
Leg extensions, one set to actual failure, and I'd have to severely reduce the weight if I wanted a second set. Whereas hitting a Stable Set/Rep Target means more reps total at a higher weight. Anyone that's done pullups knows this
Currently I do 3 sets with 2-3 reps on the tank and then send it on the 4th set. I could keep hitting those rpe 8ish sets for a while. The last rpe 10 set has me on the verge of passing out after I rack the bar. Any squatting I do after that would be much lower quality.
life is short, empty the tank
Squat sets to failure? Like 2 before someone needs to carry me out of the gym.
RIR, most I've done is 8 sets
Its weird, I always hear people say squats to failure are death and while I don't find them pleasant I don't find them to be that bad. Makes me wonder if I have more in the tank than I realize.
When my legs go to failure on squats, they just die and flop. This is why I don't empty the tank. It's been a while since I last went to complete failure so maybe not the case now that I'm stronger.
How much are you squatting?
The most i squatted was 315 lb for 4 reps. My last good session I squatted 295 for 5. Both to failure (or I couldn't do another rep).
Is 30 minutes on a recumbent stationary bike, at 13 mph, better than nothing by a lot, or better than nothing by not that much? My goal is to manage 1 hour on the bike every day, if for nothing other than heart health, brain health, and building stamina. I’m older and active, but not “active” active. What does 30 minutes of sweaty cardio do for someone who is very healthy, but only mildly fit?
If I say it helps a ton would you do less? If I say it doesn't help at all would you do more?
Anything is better than nothing. Building good habits is better than decaying. I'm not sure if it's possible to quantify the lifestyle benefit of regular cardio, but it's almost certainly going to make you better over time
I don't have research to support it, but in my opinion 30 minutes of cardio daily is a lot and is way better than 0 minutes. I think the US heart association recommends 90 minutes weekly. So 30 minutes daily is 210 minutes weekly, which is way way better than 0 minutes weekly.
Am I supposed to do both optional T3 lifts in GZCL?
I found a GZCL spreadsheet that’s made this program much easier to understand. From “Say no to bro science” ( https://www.saynotobroscience.com/gzclp-spreadsheet/ )
Plugged in a few exercises I can do. A tier 1, tier 2, and 3 tier 3s. Two of them are optional
I’m not into competitive lifting, but I do feel I have some fat to lose, that I should still get stronger, and could benefit from a structured program alongside my attempt at a calorie deficit. I am not incredibly overweight (5’7 ~160) but I do not like my body composition despite exercising consistently for over a year.
I don’t want to skimp the plan if it won’t properly tax me and enable progressive overload. I don’t want to do too much especially considering I also like to walk, and have responsibilities. I need to commit time outside of work to train for the job with my classmates if I’d like to actually keep it
There’s a whole write up on choosing T3s at the GZCL sub. It differs a little from the say no to broscience take, but is endorsed by a guy who made one of the other super popular Gzclp spreadsheets.
You could start with just 1 T3, the back work, see how that goes, and then if you're recovering well, joints feel good, etc., add another in, and then if you're feeling good with that another a little later. You don't need a ton of volume to make progress at the beginning, but depending on your goals you'll need more eventually, so you want to gradually build the capacity for it. Your body is good at adapting to the demands you place on it, as long as you don't ask too much of it too quickly.
22, Male, 5'8, 210lbs.
Goal is to maintain muscle, small gains during a weight-loss. I'm trying to get to 170lbs 15-20% BF, I've dialed my calories (1600-1800kcal) and protein (.7-1g per lb). This comment is more for a routine critique given my current life circumstances.
I am not a beginner, but have been out of the gym 11+ months so a lot of progress lost. I can be at the gym 1 hour give or take 10-15 minutes, and I work with a partner. I also have a desire to focus primairly on my legs over anything else.
Routine intends to be a Quad/Push, HamGlute/Pull, Quad/Upper with everyday incorporating 3 exercises involving legs. I'd also like to hit every muscle group with at least 5-10 sets per week. 2 sets per exercise felt right, I always went in giving 100% and it also cut back on time to allow for the 1hour requirement. Leg Curl, and Extensions first made my legs feel nice and ready.
The exercises are the ones my partner and I find the most enjoyable. I've ran the routine 3 weeks and I am enjoying it, but curious to see if I'm making any massive mistakes that I've overlooked.
Day 1.
Lying Leg Curl 2x15
Hack Squat 2x12
Bulgarian Split Squat 2x12
Incline Bench Press 2x12
Tricep Pushdown 2x15
Lateral Raise 2x15
Facepull 2x15
Day 2.
Leg Extension 2x12
Romanian Deadlift 2x12
Hip Thrust 2x12
Hip Abductor 2x15
Lat Pulldown 2x12
Back Row 2x12
Bicep Curl 2x12
Day 3.
Lying Leg Curl 2x15
Hack Squat 2x12
Bulgarian Split Squat 2x12
Incline Bench Press 2x12
Lat Pulldown 2x15
Tricep Pushdown 2x15
Bicep Curl 2x12
Day 4.
Med Ball Crunch 3xAMRAP
Lying Leg Raise 3XAMRAP
Calf Raises 5x15
Issues I have noticed;
Upper work can be exhausting after legs, not terribe but there's some drop in intensity. Maybe something to look at?
Try flipping it so you do legs after the upper body work. You won’t be as fatigued.
Have you thought of just having upper/lower days and structure it lower then upper so lower gets hit the first day since it's the priority muscle group?
I'm with you on the upper work after legs being exhausting. Putting upper work on its own day would help with that and not accumulate as much fatigue especially if you are taking sets close to failure.
I’m considering an every-other-week training schedule, similar to a HIT-style approach. The idea would be:
One full week of no training
Followed by a training week: Push / Pull / Rest / Push / Pull / Legs, all at very high intensity
Then another full week completely off to recover. Would I still be able to make progress with this setup, and would it be a reasonable approach?
I’m asking because I’m considering working in the inland shipping industry as a captain, and I likely won’t be able to train properly while onboard. I’m an experienced lifter and have been training consistently for almost 3 years.
The ship is small, with limited space and limited free time. I could possibly hang gymnastics rings in the engine room and do some weighted calisthenics, but nothing like full gym training. The work schedule will also be very irregular, so sleep and recovery probably won’t be optimal.Does anyone have experience with a situation like this, or any advice on how to best handle training and recovery? I have a real passion for the gym, powerbuilding, and sailing, but it feels very difficult to combine all three.
Nothing will be ideal from a training perspective but being able to do calisthenics on the ship weeks will be much better than not training at all.
You might be able to sit at maintenance, but I'm not sure how much gains you'll see.
Maybe consider a minimalist program with either bodyweight or kettlebells? They could be done in a little cabin on a ship, probably. Dan John and Pavel Tsatsouline have some good ones.
Could you still make progress? I’m honestly not sure and I think I’d say minimal to no progress. You’re hitting upper body twice and lower body once in two weeks. I’m not sure that’s gonna cut it. You’d be better off doing even just 1-2 sets for a muscle to failure twice per week every week.
When calculating protein intake, I should base it on lean body mass, not total body weight?
I’m a 5’10” male, 235 lb. Based on a few calculators, my estimated lean body mass is 150–160 lb.
Using 0.8–1.0 g of protein per lb of lean mass, that would put my target protein intake around 120–160 g per day.
Is this correct?
Yeah, lean body mass is a better way to calculate total protein intake.
Oh ok, I was wondering if 120-160 was too low for protein
120 does feel like it’s too low to me. Besides lean mass (which will be inaccurate), you can use your weight at BMI 25 or your height in centimeters.
Okay so today i had higher rep deadlifts. After those i was supposed to do leg press but the machine was taken so i said lets do squats and OMG. Why did squats feel so smooth and easy after doing deadlifts? Does it have to do something with all of warmed up muscles? Because even when i have squats day and warm up with squats only up to working weight they still feel awkward and not so smooth.
Yeah pretty likely. If I'm squatting 6+ reps per set I like to work up to a double at maybe 20-30lbs heavier than that weight as part of my warmups, just to make things move easier
Possibly. Depends how hard you pushed those deadlifts, I guess. My programs (U/L 4 day) usually pair heavy deadlifts with a single leg accessory, like Bulgarians or skater squats. Squats come on the second Lower day, for this very reason.
This has not been my experience. Squats after deadlift have always been brutally hard for me, because deadlifts are exhausting and so are squats.
I can deadlift after I squat. Even exhausted, I can will myself through.
Squats after deadlifts, forget it. Squats hit my erectors way harder for reasons.
Probably, yeah. I do hamstring curls and calf raises before all of my compound lower body lifts because I have found it makes those lifts feel way smoother than walking into the gym and doing heavy compounds first.