Growing Your Program

 I'm going to be talking about the Pronto from my last post, but the points in here are appropriate for any program.

Let's say that your program looks like this:

Day 1

• 3 x 5-10 Squat
• 3 x 5-10 Bench Press
• 3 x 8-15 Barbell Row
• 3 x 10-20 Curl

Day 2

• 3 x 5-10 Deadlift
• 3 x 5-10 Overhead Press (OHP)
• 3 x 8-15 Lat Pulldown 
• 3 x 10-20 Tricep Pushdowns

Day 3

• 3 x 5-10 Front Squat
• 3 x 5-10 Incline Press
• 3 x 8-15 Seated Row
• 3 x 10-20 Romanian Deadlifts

What do we do with it now?

Nothing!  If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

As long as you are continuing to get stronger, the program is working.  Don't fuck with it unless you have a good reason, and there are only two good reasons.

from Brimstone

Reason 1 - Boredom

There are many, many ways to spice things up in the gym.

1. Swap out an exercise for another one.  Replace deadlifts with power cleans.  Hell, replace squats with Tabata intervals on the bike.  You're in the gym doing something.  It's all good for you.  I wouldn't make it a permanent switch, though.  Things like squats and deadlifts are fundamentals for a reason.

2. Train like a powerlifter.  The Pronto is actually an acceptable starting point for powerlifting, but eventually you'll want to practice with heavier weight and lower reps.  Sets of 3 one week, then sets of 2, then a bunch of singles (sets of 1).  Then you'll have a rest week where you lift only the lightest of weights.  Then you have a meet (or a mock meet) where you max out your squat, bench, and deadlift (in that order).

3. Do some stupid challenge.  Do pull-ups every time you go to the gym and see what happens!  (Spoiler: you get really good at pullups.)  Do widowmaker squats every week (sets of 20, take 2 breaths at the top) and add 5 lbs every week until you meet God.  Max out your barbell lunge.  Are any of these things optimal?  Optimal for what?  They're fun.

4. Find a training partner.  Honestly, this is the best piece of advice on this list.  You'll hold each other accountable, push each other, keep each other safe, and crack jokes between sets.

Reason 2 - Stalls

It's going to happen eventually.  You're going to get stuck.  Your Epley calculator will give you bad news for the third straight week.  The fountain of PRs has dried up.

Well, let's try the easy cures before we try the hard cures.  No need to replace the engine if all you needed was an oil change.

Eat More

The stronger you get, the more you have to eat.  Especially if you're trying to gain muscle--that's when it helps to eat a lot.  Try this first.

Sleep More

Are you getting at least 7 hours?  If you're really pushing it hard in the gym, you'll need 8+ hours.  This is more important than most people will acknowledge.

Burnout

I would sat that overtraining is just one type of burnout, but there are others.  Take a few rest days (or a rest week, if that's what you need).  Train lighter, but also consider doing something else.  Go for runs.  Go to the beach and play volleyball.  Have you ever played volleyball?  It's fun.  You should feel energized afterwards, and ready to crush it in the gym.

If none of those easy things worked, we'll have to do the hard thing.

More Volume

It's not complicated.  Just add a set.  Keep doing that until the train starts moving again.

We're currently doing 4 exercises with 3 sets each.  That's 12 sets per workout.  Just increase that to 13 sets per workout.  Add the extra set wherever you want.  Keep adding sets until your numbers start moving again.

Extra volume is the simplest solution to this problem, but it comes with a cost.  Your workouts are now longer and more fatiguing.  I'll talk about solutions to those problems next time, in Mutating Your Program.

Extra volume is typically the cure, but there are two other things worth trying.

Attack Weak Points

Find out what the weakest part of a muscle group is, and then attack it.  Either with extra volume or with variants that address that particular shortcoming.  Typical weak points:

• Bench Press - typically held back by weak triceps
• Helpful variant: close grip bench press
• Squat - typically weakness at the bottom
• Helpful variant: pause squats
• Deadlift - typically weakness at the bottom
• Helpful variant: pause deadlift.

More Variety

You'll stall faster if you stay in the same rep range.  For example, only doing sets of 10.  Doing sets of 8-12 is a bit better, but best is to adopt a wider range (even if you still spend a lot of time in the 8-12 range).

The default method of progression (every week add weight and reduce reps) already provides a good amount of variety, but you could always try to vary it wider.