Weight lifting progression program

Real-life example: the objective is Joe Schmoe uses poor form — bouncing, jerking, heaving, and squirming — and gets the eight rep goal.

John Doe uses impeccable form — a slower controlled movement, no momentum, optimized muscle activation — but only obtains six reps. What data do they record? What about the next set or next workout goal based on the result of this set? Should John Doe then use lousy form to get the required reps? Do you see a problem here?

Periodization nonsense. Many have been sucked into the embarrassingly complicated verbiage of periodization. Periodization is essentially a sexy word for variation.

Periodization is characterized by training periods broken down into microcycles, megacycles, and mesocycles. Within these cycles is the anticipated development of strength, speed-strength, starting-strength, strength endurance, speed endurance, power, power endurance, blah, blah, blah. Rep ranges are a no-brainer. Let me explain why: Rep ranges account for variations in genetic variability due to the wide range of repetitions possible with different percentages of a 1RM.

It does not matter what the exact percentage is with rep ranges. The only thing that matters is what was obtained at that point in time. Rep ranges can be varied for different cycles such as heavy, moderate or light resistance exercise protocols. This can mirror traditional periodization plans if one seeks that route. Heavy could be rep ranges of or , moderate might be or , and light could be or reps. This article is part of a completely free guide to creating the best workout routine possible for your exact goal.

When you fully understand how big of a requirement this is, the next logical question is pretty obvious… Exactly how and when should this progression take place? The most common methods of weight training progression that come to mind are: You can increase the weight being lifted.

For example, if you are currently lifting lbs on some exercise, you can lift lbs the next time you perform that exercise. You can increase the number of reps a weight is being lifted for. For example, if you are lifting lbs on some exercises for 3 sets of 8 reps, you can do 3 sets of 9 reps with that same weight the next time you perform that exercise. You can increase the number of sets you are lifting a weight for.

For example, if you are lifting lbs on some exercises for 3 sets of 8 reps, you can do 4 sets of 8 reps with that same weight the next time you perform that exercise. You can increase the amount of work being done in a given time period.

For example, if you currently rest 3 minutes between sets of an exercise, you can try lifting the same weight for the same amount of sets and reps, but with only 2 minutes and 30 seconds of rest between sets.

You can increase the difficulty of the exercise being performed. Also, upper body days are followed by lower body days, or vice versa. With that, you will have plenty rest between muscles groups that are involved in the same lifts i. As for core exercises, you can do a couple per week. They can either be one of your assistance lifts or just add an additional core exercise to the end of a workout at your discretion. This deload week allows you to recover so you can really do this program without any rest weeks for an entire year.

There are huge benefits in pushing yourself this way. You may only get 1 or 2 reps extra, but by doing this, your PRs will explode. Nevertheless, the extra reps are optional. After your working sets for the main lift which each workout will focus on just one main lift , you should do 2 assistance lifts. The assistance lifts should complement your main lift i. If you have lagging areas such as your arms feel free to perform some assistance exercises that target your weak areas. We like to do squats at the end of the week because we find them to be the most taxing and having two days off after is nice.

Assistance lift sets and reps stay the same each week, even on deload weeks. Use a weight load that is challenging in the rep range. Feel free to change up assistance lifts every cycle or two.

After each training cycle, add 10lbs to your lower body exercises 1RM and 5lb to your upper body exercises 1RM. The Madcow 5x5 is a more advanced spinoff of the novice Strong Lifts 5x5 program. For those who no longer can make progress on Strong Lifts 5x5, the Madcow is a good program to start. Madcow 5x5 is aimed at intermediate lifters, but there is an advanced version as well. The program is designed by an elite powerlifter, so any intermediate or advanced trainee can get on board without pause.

And while the Madcow 5x5 is a more advanced take on the Strong Lifts 5x5 so there are similarities, it is quite different and obviously more complex, as you are about to see.

The goal of Madcow is for those who have stalled at Strong Lifts or other novice programs that involve workout-to-workout progression to be able to continue progressing in strength. This program is made to help you continue building strength.

That said, it can work to build muscle and improve aesthetics too depending on your diet. We are going to outline the program for intermediate lifters. The intermediate version will not be suitable for advanced lifters because it progresses too quickly. For advanced lifters, after we run through the Madcow intermediate version, we will explain how the advanced version is different and then provide you with a spreadsheet for it. You will be using the same rest day pattern as the others 3 day workout per week strength programs.

The choice is your, just keep the workout spaced like this so the last day has 2 rest days before the start of the next week. You should be adding about 5lbs to your heaviest set each week the set in bold.

By doing this, your ramp up sets will increase by 5lbs as well. Over the course of 12 weeks, most trainees can see around a pound increase in their 5RM PR. The above programs are all classic, tried and true strength programs. Choose the program based on your individual preference. It will work if you stay consistent and you rest and recovery properly, which includes eating and sleeping well. Work hard and jack up the weight at your own pace and with increments that work for you.

Small incremental increases will lead to big jumps in weight in the long run. This is a marathon, not a sprint. January 13, Read More. January 12, At SFS we strive to equip you with the tools and knowledge needed for your fitness journey. Sign up to get the latest on sales, new releases, killer workouts, actionable fitness content and more. As our motto goes - "You don't have to get ready if you stay alwaysready! Powered by Shopify. What are the 5 principles of strength training?

There are 5 principles every strength program will follow: Specificity: Training toward a specific goal or goals. Individualization: Adjusting your training based on YOU.

Overload: The manipulation of reps, sets, tempo and weight load to overload adequately stress your neuromuscular system and force adaption. Progression: Gradually increasing the stimulus you place on your neuromuscular system so that overload and adaption can continue to occur.

This is progressive overload. Rest and recovery is just as important as the workouts themselves. What are the 5 basic strength exercises? Strength training is based on 5 basic movement patterns: Squat Hinge Push Pull Core Squats are exactly as they sound, but they can be bodyweight squats or different variations of loaded squats i. A good strength program will hit all 5 movement patterns.

Power or Explosive Strength: Ability to exert maximum force in minimum time. Strength Endurance: Ability to endure loads for longer periods of time. Also in Blog. Recent Articles. What Are Pendlay Rows? Subscribe At SFS we strive to equip you with the tools and knowledge needed for your fitness journey. Must Reads. New Year's Fitness Resolution? This forces the body to undergo various short-term and long-term adaptations so it can grow stronger :. So, if you've been working out for a year but half of that was wasted doing a high-rep "bro split" then it's possible that you're still a novice.

For a novice lifter A single workout provides enough of a stress to cause an adaptation for the next workout every hours. This is why most novice strength training programs have you lifting 3x per week on non-consecutive days, i. Here are some guidelines for progression. For an intermediate lifter It takes more than a single workout to adapt and grow stronger.

Therefore, weekly progression is used instead. At this point, you're probably wondering:. Why is it that a beginner can progress so much faster than an intermediate lifter?

Unfortunately, there are too many factors involved to give a cookie-cutter answer that applies to everyone. Having said that, the average person will exhaust their linear progression gains within months. Here are some strength standards for the average intermediate lifter after 12 months of lifting :. Of course, there will be outliers who fall outside of this range on both ends of the spectrum.

You also need to consider your anthropometry or body type for certain exercises. If you have long arms relative to your torso then you'll have a hard time on the bench press but excel at the deadlift. This can lead to a scenario where one or more of your lifts are at the intermediate phase but others are lagging far behind. From personal experience, I once reached a point where my bench press was lagging at Yeah, I know what it feels like to have stupidly long arms.

So try not to get disheartened or beat yourself up about it! Now, there are ways to milk linear progression for longer which I'll get into very soon. But for now, I want to give you a more detailed breakdown of the factors that influence your longevity on a novice program. Sure, if your goal is to move your deadlift from kg to kg then the progression will be in a straight line.

You will have "off days" in the gym where you can't lift as much weight due to lack of sleep or the fact that your boss is a giant dick and didn't give you the raise you wanted As you're only human, you are also prone to being stubborn and making stupid mistakes with your training.

You might get greedy with your weight jumps and add 10 kg to the bar instead of 5 kg causing you to miss reps Regardless, the main thing is that you learn from these mistakes and don't repeat them. With that "tough love" out the way, I want to address some common mistakes you need to avoid with linear progression.

Let's get started with the most common problem most beginners face