Is 6 week peaking for a comp standard? I'm not really familiar with pre-competition programming. I've just casually followed people like Aidan who logged here prior to meet, and I don't recall them spending 6 full week focusing on singles and doubles. Maybe I'm just not remembering correctly.

It depends. If you train a lot of singles @8 prior to your volume work, you can peak in a relatively shorter period of time. If you're a volume monkey can take longer. Higher absolute loads also seem to take longer to peak towards (ie heavyweights) it seems as well.

Day 19, still no COVID results. Very amusing.

Here's a very general programming question for you. Would you agree with the following:

If you are on a cut and you are trying to preserve muscle it is better to do lower rep sets at higher weight (and perhaps more of them) than it is to cut the weight to be able to do sets of 5.

Generally, yes. Keep intensity, drop volume. But 5s are probably ok, it’s about the RPE.

Here's my more specific problem. I'm on a cut (half-assed, but losing wt) and I'm getting near the point where I'm going to start failing my heavy worksets. I only squat once a week, which compounds the problem.

My worksets are always 3 sets of 5 with a lot of rest in between (8 min). I think I've got about one more week where I can increase weight before I can't do the 3 sets of 5.

I suppose if I were really motivated I'd stop ****ing around and do a real program that involves squatting more than once a week, but ain't nobody got time for that.

I bench twice a week and I just failed my 5 sets of 5 for three consecutive sessions. The first two times I just failed the last rep of the last set. Most recent attempt went 5, 4, 4, 4, 3

At this point losing weight is more important than gaining strength, so I just need to figure out what to do when I start failing all my lifts.

Why are you doing linear progression? You’ll just beat yourself up and feel like you’re spinning your wheels. There’s gotta be a better programming option, frequency and gear limitations allowing too.

Yeah you'll build 0 facking muscle doing sets of 5 lbbs with 8 minute rests regardless of frequency. My answer would be the same whether cutting or bulking: Do a phase of 10s/12s with limited rests. The fact that you're needing 8 mins between sets means your body is burned out and adaptively resistant to 5s. Since you are cutting, you'll get a nice HIIT kind of cardio effect from doing 10s/12s with 3-5 minute rests.

I always do linear progression when I come of a layoff or injury.

I tweaked my knee so I took a month off (edit: actually it was closer to 2). I've done 8 wks of linear progression to get close to where I was when I left off. Of course I'm about 10 lbs lighter now.

Sounds good.

Right now my worksets on squats are 110kg. When I'm done I do a backoff AMRAP set of 95 kgs that ends up being about 8-10 reps.

So if I convert to sets of 10s, with short rests, what weight would you recommend.

Also, this seems to run counter to the earlier advice of "when cutting keep the weight up, but reduce the reps".

My advice may be out of touch. I’d be interested to see what Mike Israetel/the people at Renaissance Periodization say.

Need a vid. It's hard to determine if you should even be doing AMRAP backoffs; that's kind of based on how technically proficient you are.


But to answer your question more directly, try 65kg for 4 sets of 12 with a stopwatch and 3 min rests and add 2.5 per week.

DOMS szn for melk incoming.

I remember around the peak of my strength I did AMRAPs with 355lbs for 8 or 9, but found 245x10x5 too challenging and was failing the last set even without limiting rests.

What is your goal? How much do you want to lose over how long? After that, do you intend to bulk and build? Do you have strength goals or beachbody goals?

Personally I’d just drop my 5s weight by a few and do 3 x 3 just because it made the cut and adding cardio easier without making me much weaker and I didn’t care what I looked like so much as general and heart health. Just an anecdote.

Please ignore the troll guys. He has no log and doesn't consistently train. The best advice for him is to consistently train for a few years and who cares about sets and reps.

How do you know he doesn't consistently lift? I know "a few" guys at my gym who even lift, yet don't log on an internet forum.

I can’t find loco’s log on the front page or the 2nd page. How can we be sure we sure he still works out if he’s not logging?!

Come on son. Took off months because of a tweaked knee? That particular bodypart affects about 20% of the body's musculature. Almost 100% of the posterior chain involves no need for knees.

Guy has no heart afraid to log and become the next jonfon. Random clicking can't follow a program.

I mean look at your own example soulman, where you consistenly training when you were not logging? Crickets.

I am consistently training even without logging but I have reached the pinnacle of health and fitness and can now just maintain with 5 hours of lifting/running. No need to log.

Melkerson needs to log and have consitency for a few years. Then he can worry about FPS bullshiet like how 5s translate to 10s.

I am currently at the gym and while the old man soon turns 43, he still out there grinding.

The camera on your phone is in the middle? Wtf?

It's pixel 4, it's in corner.


There is a certain sadness in knowing your best days are behind you. I squatted 315, deadlifted 365, and benched 280. Cranked out 23 pullups. All at a tinybro bodyweight.

But there is also relief that you gave it a good shot but the strength of the wheel of time was too much to overcome. And now the next step is trying to hold on to all you can possibly keep. She will keep spinning and she will keep weathering you away. But you going down fighting because the alternative is a million times worse.

And it's part of the Realities of Natty Training. There is peace knowing you won't be squatting/deadlifting 4 plates. No, we at maintenance now and trying to hold on to dear life. And that's a fight still worth engaging in.

Taking time off from H&F is a true travesty. Please don't do it or you may never come back. Literally.

I know that you are working out. You are like me and know you will be working out almost everyday in some capacity for pretty much the rest of our lives. It’s not even really a decision. I do think it’s funny how you give people so much crap about logging and have stopped logging yourself.

Speaking of working out consistently and never stopping, a few years ago my dad (Who has lifted his entire life) decided to run his first marathon. His goal was to run the marathon in less minutes than he can bench press. The week of the marathon he benched 305 and he finished the marathon in 304 minutes. He did this at the age of 63 and has since run a few more marathons.

All of that post is amazing; big props to papabeesch.