Barkadion wrote:mikhou wrote:Yesterday - Rest day
Today
OHP - 4x5 @ 41.5kg
Barbell row - 4x5@ 58.7kg
SQ - 4x5 @ 91.5kg
Starting a new cycle today using Op I/A, TB2's schedule but at Op I/A, 3rd edition's percentages. My last cycle was ABA weekly where A was BP/WCU/SQ and B was OHP/Barbell row/DL. This cycle I am reversing the cluster and running A as OHP/Barbell row/SQ and B as BP/WCU/DL. My OHP and Barbell row numbers are pretty low as I had neglected them for a long time running Op with just BP/WCU/SQ. So I did a rep max before last cycle, calculated a 1RM, knocked 10% off for my training max, and am using forced progression to slowly raise the lifts. I've also realized over several runs of Op I/A that I'm not very good at auto-regulation, or more specifically knowing when to leave something in the tank. I can do more than standard Op 3x5, but when going beyond that I don't always know when to stop. So after taking another look at Prilepin's table, I have decided to do a little more but not allow myself to go hog wild. So my reps and sets at certain percentages will look like this:
75% - 4 sets x 5 reps
80% - 5 x 4
85% - 5 x 3
90% - 5 x 2
I decided on this after beginning my last cycle and it worked well so I'm going to keep it up.
Mikhou, I appreciate you share you feedback on the Op I/A.. Interesting for me personally.
What is your opinion on running OP I/A/TB2 for 9 days week? Meaning running OP/IA TB2 cluster scheme for OP I/A TB3 schedule scheme..
Bark, I absolutely think that it's doable and beneficial. In fact, that is in essence what I am doing on an 8-day week. First, let me say that I love Op I/A, 3rd edition's percentage scheme. It keeps me between 75-85% with a peak into the 90% range in the last week. I start with a training max and then slowly progress using forced progression. This has been by far the best that I have done and felt on any strength program. (Now my lifts aren't great, but for a 44yo, 5'5", 140 lb guy, I'm happy and getting happier with my progress.) However, another piece of this is that back in February I did a BB phase with Fighter. That was the first time that I had used Fighter and my SQ's responded well to 2x/wk. Not that I can't do 3x/wk, but I felt very fresh at 2x/wk even with all of the E work. I also noticed some little niggles from only BPing, and I wanted to get back to doing some OHP work. I played around in the ensuing months with some larger clusters doing Zulu work and even some high rep work until I decided to give Op I/A, TB2 a try. So far I like it. I'm going to run this cycle as shown above and then I've got some traveling and will be doing some bodyweight work for a couple of weeks. I am thinking of then running 4 cycles as follows after I get back:
Op I/A, 3rd edition - BP / SQ / WCU/DL (DL 1x/wk)
Op I/A, TB2 - A/B/A - with a focus on OHP/Barbell row and secondary exercises being BP/WCU (like the current cycle)
Op I/A, TB2 - A/B/A - with a focus on BP/WCU and secondary exercises being OHP/Barbell row (like the cycle I just completed)
Op I/A, 3rd edition - OHP / SQ / Barbell row/DL (DL 1x/wk)
The idea is that I am never completely away from an exercise for more than 1 cycle. I have found that my body feels more fresh when I use a larger cluster but keep total MS sessions to 3x/wk. However, I also want periods of time to focus on higher frequency work (3x/wk.) As you can see I will keep SQ work as a priority and during the first and fourth cycle I will even up that to 3x/wk. The only thing that I don't know is if this is too much variability instead of keeping the course with a smaller cluster. But I might try it and see.
Now to make a long answer even longer, back to your original question. Can Op I/A, TB2 work on a 9-day week? I think that it can, and the reason that I say that is that I am running an 8-day week right now as follows:
Day 1 - MS - A session
Day 2 - HIC
Day 3 - MS - B session
Day 4 - Rest
Day 5 - HIC
Day 6 - MS - A session
Day 7 - GC/E session (alternating)
Day 8 - Rest
Now I will say that having a home gym makes it much more possible to run an 8-day week. If I had to do this in a commercial gym, I'm not sure if it could happen as on the weekends I typically get my workout in very early or late to accommodate for other activities going on during the weekend (family stuff, church, etc.).
So yeah, I think that it's doable. Again, I'm not one of the stronger guys on this forum, but I can honestly say that this is the strongest that I have ever been in my life and my fitness is at as high a level as ever as well. Hope that helps.
mikhou
