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How is your progress on this?

lol rep PRs

My personal belief is that you're doing a metric ton of volume. But I'm small and weak, although apparently G4S believes that we're aligned in some sort of anti-loco/pro-low volume/never BS alliance which is somewhat true. So that balances us out to a 70sbig grown man of average strength.

I think it's been pretty good -- I've probably been raising my training max a bit too slowly on squats, but it's a lift I've sucked at for a long, long time and I finally feel like there's a light at the end of the tunnel (hopefully that feeling will remain when the weight gets heavier). Plus, my SI was still gimpy when I started back up on this modified high volume 5/3/1 and all of the extra squat reps haven't impacted it at all. I don't think it's the right program for me for DLs, though, and have since made the change back to SSPT to try to accumulate some quality reps at a lower percentage of my 1RM with less risk of re-popping something back there.

Upper body progress has been pretty solid, although I'd concede this probably isn't the optimal program for gaining strength. I'm trimming some of the extraneous vanity **** now that I'm not cutting anymore and trying to add a bit more weight to the bar.

Noted and agreed. The little boy in me feels proud at 100+ lb DBs for reps, though.

For sure, and that's been by design. As my training maxes move up over the next few months (which should be by larger increments now that I'm eating at maintenance or a little above), I expect the volume to naturally decrease a bit. Going into powerlifting proper seems kind of unlikely, though.

If you have any suggestions for what the next phase could/should look like, I'm all ears.

Just keep doing the same thing forever until: 1) stops working 2) goals change.

I think lots of people jack around with programming way way too much (and do too much inconsequential volume, like layering in 5-10 sets of weird iso work on top of a high volume program).

If you plan to cut, moving to 321 is a general suggestion btw, but there isn't anything to suggest that if you're getting great results that moving off your current program would be a better option for atleast a cycle or two. You may need to shave down your overall volume to maintain intensity on main lifts, but that is pretty much a given.

Word.

I was doing this while cutting, but the cut is now complete, so I'll have a little more energy/recovery capacity. Moving from high volume 5/3/1 to a similar 5/3/1 scheme is something I've considered, and likely will end up doing naturally once my lifts start to stall again, as they inevitably will.

Keep your head back and your chest up on your squats.

Squats mostly look good in those regards to me. Throughout most reps, his chest stays up at the same angle appropriate for his anthropometry and bar placement on his back for the bar to stay over his midfoot in total ROM. It's the later reps of 215x12 where fatigue comes in that his chest ever so slightly comes down out of the hole. Not perfect, but certainly close enough for him to continue on and pursue such perfection in principle as he continues.

It could be a good idea to stop supersetting your main lift of the day if you are trying to focus more on gaining strength

cha,

youtube.hitler.powerlifting/Evorantonrippetardism.exe

In all seriousness, I tend to side with fakeb, in that this is the best I've ever felt while squatting, and the cues that I've pulled from the Baraki/Feigenbaum/Thrall videos and the help from many of you a few months ago (mainly Aidan and fakeb) getting the bar to stay (mostly) over my midfoot have convinced me that this style may actually be my chance to squat something resembling what a reasonable adult male should be squatting. We shall see, though.

abrahamovic,

I don't think it's so much of a problem with the upper body lifts, but I've definitely shifted some of the heavier back stuff away from the lower days (so just light facepulls and other cable stuff so I don't feel like a lazy gash sitting on the bench for five minutes). As you say, though, when the weights get heavier wrt my true 1RM, I'll probably do as you suggest

Monte,

Same. Heard similar feedback and advice and tried very hard to follow it and ultimately felt like my squat was going nowhere. Zero rebound, zero hip drive, no gains. Whereas now I am making steady progress.

Which is not to impugn such advice as objectively bad, just as it is not objectively good. It depends on the squatter.

Just never BS. Easy game. Maybe I just like the whole lack of breathing/blood flow that comes with not FSing like n00b.

Mihkel,

Intriguing idea. I may yet take you up on it.

5/4: 179.6

A
SSPT DL Week 2 (75%, EMOM): wu, 10x225

B
Squat (light, recovery): wu, 3x5x205
Facepull (seated, light): 6x15
Zottman Curls: 4x12x17.5

Deadlifting was better/tighter. Squats snappy, but I think I'll stick at this weight for a month or so before adding any more weight. Elbows mildly pumped/janky from the curls, but nothing serious.

Probably need to eat more food; in related news, carbonara is on the menu tonight. Should be good times.

I'd skip the whole multi-year segment involving minor back owies from BSing, never realizing it then doing Smolov Jr a couple times with great progress, then reading your logs and realizing that it may be better to just be a sissy who doesn't BS (or even more shamefully quarter squats, or slightly less shamefully half squats IE what you're doing).

I'm assuming half squats = LBBS?

And I'm pretty sure my owies were from deadlifting, so there's another lower body lift I could go ahead and not do. Freeing up more time for arms!

5/5: 181.2

Walking: 30 min @ 4.2/2% incline (2.1 miles)
HLR: 4x8
Pallofs: 4x12x30
Farmer's walks: 3x40secx95 lb DBs

Standard.

yeah, they're pretty good. I was actually referring to the set of triples though. I'm a form nit and those two things could improve a little.

You are doing good work. The bolded part above is most important. I am a form nit though, and while those are good, my suggestions might help you be able to safely squat a little more weight. If you dont want nitty suggestions anymore, just let me know.

Cha,

I was referring to both sets. The triples look great. I referred to the later reps of the X12 set to show where I thought your feedback slightly applied to any of Monte's recent squats, but of late it seems to me you are suggesting squat form that doesn't apply to the kind of squat Monte has found works for him , so your nittery (and I say this as a fellow nit) might be misplaced. You certainly have a lot of expertise, and I think if your feedback took into account these different contexts, your advice would be well received by all but the trolliest critics. Imo.

Good stuff, man, your seriously impressive dedication on multiple fronts over a long time period is awesome

Watch how his hips rise faster than the bar out of the hole on the triple. Using the same logic as DLing, that is never the most efficient way to lift, no matter what style you're using.

Thanks man; it means a lot.

cha/fakeb,

All input welcome; lord knows I need it. With respect to the hips rising a bit faster than the bar out of the hole, I kind of see it, but isn't that the few degrees of hip drive Rip et al talk about? I'm not going to claim to be an expert or anything, and I definitely notice my hips rising sooner when the weight gets heavier, and I have to force myself to sit more straight down into the hole and less ass back on the heavier reps too. My mind is a pussy.

You must be watching a different squat than me

His chest stays at almost exactly the same angle and rises in unison with his hips out of the hole. There is maybe the ever so slightest indication of him falling forward on the third rep, but that would be nitty indeed lol. The first rep made me harder than Syndr0m browsing a shoe catalogue.

The only thing I'd think of changing is keeping his back angle constant even at the top rather than going back to completely vertical, because that makes him start with the bar behind his midfoot, but that would be a nitty suggestion we can both salivate over without troubling Monte

Damn. Lost my reply post

In short, yes Monte. You are correct. Hip drive!!! I am glad you feel it
The problem of your hips rising out of sync with your chest on very heavy reps will begin to correct itself now that you are going to be attacking steadily heavier weights

5/6: 180.0

A
OHP (5/3/1): wu, 3x105, 3x120, 1x135, 2x145 (8.5), 2x155 (9.5), 7x135 (9), 7x127.5, 9x112.5
NG chins: wu, 3x+45, 3x+50, 3x+55, 3x+60, 3x+65, 3x+70, 3x+75, 3x+80 (10)

B
DB Incline Bench: 8x75, 7x80, 5x85 (9.5), 7x80, 8x75
DB Pullover: 4x12x75

C
Dips: 5x+70, 5x+75, 5x+80, 5x+85, 5x+90
DB Hammer: 4x12x40

D
Facepulls: 4x15
Lateral Cable Raise: 4x12

Good session; double at 155 wasn't even that grindy. Last set of chins at +80 was pretty close to max effort, though. Elbows feeling noticeably less sore than recent sessions, though still feeling a little more used than normal. Incline felt strong. Dips too.

Everybody wants to look like they barely even lift in an adult medium t-shirt, but no one wants to lift moderate ass weight.

Rip is not an expert at squatting. He knows some things about lifting and is an interesting writer and has a good sense of humor.

One way to look at this is you want to get your back angle back to 180 degrees from the floor as soon as you can after you hit the bottom. Some people find the cue "get your belly through" helpful. When you do it right, you get a lot more out of your hip drive.

If your back stays at the same angle for a while out of the hole, you're putting more stress on the back than the hips. If I get 700+ lbs on my back and try using my back to lift it like you're doing now, I fold like a cheap tent. There aren't many great lifters who can get away with this. Steve Goggins and Blaine Sumner come to mind as people who can get away with this (and look at the size of their backs sometime), but not many others.

This is not close to true