HPS weekly cycle

[Hanley]

Just wondering if I should be calculating that 70% based off of whatever @8 calculates to be my 1RM for that particular day? Meaning my max will fluctuate depending on my RPE rating for the top single, and therefore my volume work @70% will then fluctuate also? Just trying to figure out how to progress the weights appropriately.

Meh. I'm kinda over RPEs. I'm not really sure why.

If you've got the system dialed-in, go ahead and use them. If not, you'd be fine using a 1rm estimate from a previous training cycle.

What...no

Fucking RPEs. Keeping intermediate lifters in their heads since 2010. I mean, if he's asking how to determine the @8-9 load for the next session...maybe he shouldn't be using RPEs?

Plus, they're gay.

No, his question is sensible and he’s got it right.

My e1RM changes a lot in a 6-7 week dev cycle. Would not want to use an old max.

Ur mom is gay

Bruv. I get that.

I’m sorta assuming he’s off lifetime 1rms right now & his mesocycle will be...a week for the near term.

E1rm should be pretty stable training up to previous strength levels.

[MattimusMaximus]

Just wondering if I should be calculating that 70% based off of whatever @8 calculates to be my 1RM for that particular day? Meaning my max will fluctuate depending on my RPE rating for the top single, and therefore my volume work @70% will then fluctuate also? Just trying to figure out how to progress the weights appropriately.

Meh. I'm kinda over RPEs. I'm not really sure why.

If you've got the system dialed-in, go ahead and use them. If not, you'd be fine using a 1rm estimate from a previous training cycle.

What...no

Fucking RPEs. Keeping intermediate lifters in their heads since 2010. I mean, if he's asking how to determine the @8-9 load for the next session...maybe he shouldn't be using RPEs?

Plus, they're gay.

No, his question is sensible and he’s got it right.

My e1RM changes a lot in a 6-7 week dev cycle. Would not want to use an old max.

Ur mom is gay

Bruv. I get that.

I’m sorta assuming he’s off lifetime 1rms right now & his mesocycle will be...a week for the near term.

E1rm should be pretty stable training up to previous strength levels.

All E1rm's are currently at my previous tested maxes (or within 5 lbs of them) from a year ago, so anything after this is new territory for me. I just got back to previous strength levels in the past few months but I've hit a plateau for a long while. I want to break 500 for squat and deads and at least lift a bro 3 plate bench in my lifetime haha.

Sq: 430, Be: 300, De: 455, Pr: 200

I only started using RPE recently but I've been dialing it in better I think and it's been helping with my shitty recovery. (i.e. 2 very young children and shift work). @Manveer I would think the @70% volume would most likely be too low to even try to use RPE so should I ditch using RPE for volume? I did last session.

I like the idea of using RPE for the singles to prevent hitting a wall. Just not sure how else I would progress the volume appropriately if I wasn't using RPE... I tend to push things too quickly due to a past of HIT bodybuilding routines and killing myself with TM.

RPE lets me push things when the lifts are going smoothly, and lets me scale them back a bit when they are feeling too grindy.

[Hanley]

2 very young children

It's funny that we get all fancy with stress-dosing strategies when the problem is right in front of us.

Can you give them away? They're huge gainz killers.

[MattimusMaximus]

2 very young children

It's funny that we get all fancy with stress-dosing strategies when the problem is right in front of us.

Can you give them away? They're huge gainz killers.

#priorities

[BenM]

2 very young children

It's funny that we get all fancy with stress-dosing strategies when the problem is right in front of us.

Can you give them away? They're huge gainz killers.

Yes. Yes you are.

This thread has been super interesting, part of me wishes I hadn’t just started a new mesocycle this week as I’m tempted to give one of these templates a try. But if you get the decision flow side of things worked out lemme know if you want a hand coding up some sort of web app. Although there are probably plenty of others here more talented and capable than me, too.

[Hanley]

2 very young children

It's funny that we get all fancy with stress-dosing strategies when the problem is right in front of us.

Can you give them away? They're huge gainz killers.

#priorities

Going back to your question. If you trust the validity of your RPEs, you could certainly use the @8 or @9 rep on Day 1 to set your week e1rm. I would stick to the percentages of e1rm instead of trying to use RPEs @6-7. Honestly, RPE validity kinda goes to shit under @~7.5.

Using historical data & intuition, you could also select a conservative, arbitrary weekly. progression. Maybe 1kg on upper; 2kg lower.

You could use the One True Method for load selection: velocity based training.

Anyway: I need to think about load progression strategies using the sort of protocol I’m advocating in this thread. The low relative intensities make RPE really tricky (borderline useless), but — on the other hand — arbitrary weekly increments won’t work for peeps with 2+ years of training. And most peeps have no idea how to auto regulate using bar speed parameters. More to think about

[RedFinn]

I'm running a program I wrote for myself that is ostensibly regulated by RPE, but I really think of it more as trying to be very cognizant of bar speed as I lift the weight. (I roughly tell myself "lift the bar as fast as you can, and just pay attention to how fast it's moving at the end of the set.") There is a sweet spot - which I record as RPE 8 - where the bar moves relatively quickly and I don't perceive any large slowdown in bar speed through the set. RPE 7.5 is even quicker, and usually means the weight is a little too light. RPE 8.5 is my "yellow light" signal - where I notice the bar slowing down on the last rep, and it usually means I am very close to moving on to the next lift in my workout. RPE 9 is essentially a mistake; I'm getting into "grind" territory and need to back off.

I have a decent amount of experience grinding out (and failing) reps, so I'm hoping I can perceive bar speed accurately enough to make this work. Four weeks in and things are fine so far.

[MattimusMaximus]

Going back to your question. If you trust the validity of your RPEs, you could certainly use the @8 or @9 rep on Day 1 to set your week e1rm. I would stick to the percentages of e1rm instead of trying to use RPEs @6-7. Honestly, RPE validity kinda goes to shit under @~7.5.

Using historical data & intuition, you could also select a conservative, arbitrary weekly. progression. Maybe 1kg on upper; 2kg lower.

I definitely like the idea of arbitrary weekly progression, but as you said it gets difficult to do when someone has been lifting 2+ years. I always end up increasing the weights regardless of how grindy reps get... stupid I know.

I think I'll go ahead with what you've said above with the percentages based off the weekly e1rm. I was thinking that myself. Btw the DOMS from squatting 375@7, 395@8, and then 300x5x6 the other night is no joke. Doesn't help I'm in a slight caloric deficit ( about 200 kcals under maintenance)... I'm a fat boy right now.

[Hanley]

I'm running a program I wrote for myself that is ostensibly regulated by RPE, but I really think of it more as trying to be very cognizant of bar speed as I lift the weight. (I roughly tell myself "lift the bar as fast as you can, and just pay attention to how fast it's moving at the end of the set.") There is a sweet spot - which I record as RPE 8 - where the bar moves relatively quickly and I don't perceive any large slowdown in bar speed through the set. RPE 7.5 is even quicker, and usually means the weight is a little too light. RPE 8.5 is my "yellow light" signal - where I notice the bar slowing down on the last rep, and it usually means I am very close to moving on to the next lift in my workout. RPE 9 is essentially a mistake; I'm getting into "grind" territory and need to back off.

I have a decent amount of experience grinding out (and failing) reps, so I'm hoping I can perceive bar speed accurately enough to make this work. Four weeks in and things are fine so far.

If you’re holding a steady @8, it kinda sounds like you’re working exclusively with 82-85% loads.

What’s your set & rep scheme for a single session look like?

[RedFinn]

If you’re holding a steady @8, it kinda sounds like you’re working exclusively with 82-85% loads.

What’s your set & rep scheme for a single session look like?

I don't really think about percentages at all, but 82-85% sounds high to me.

Each workout day has predetermined rep targets (9, 7 or 5 reps in my case, since I'm a slim early intermediate), but the weight used and number of sets performed depend on how I feel that day. I usually look for 2-5 worksets depending on how I'm feeling. Deadlifts are biased towards the low end of 2-5, while upper body stuff is biased towards the high end, with squats roughly in the middle.

So, if I'm feeling good on a squat/bench/deadlift day, I might do 4 sets of squats, 4 (or even 5) sets of bench, and 3 sets of deadlift. Those number apply irrespective of whether I'm doing a 9, 7 or 5-rep day.

So far I'm doing more work and I feel less beat up. I have my squat rack in the basement so I work out six days per week, to keep MPS high. My plan is roughly like this:

Monday (9's day):

-Squat 3-4 sets of 9
-Bench 3-5 sets of 9
-Curl 3-4 sets of 9
-Deadlift 2-3 sets of 9

Tuesday (9's day):

-Press 3-5 sets of 9
-Chin 3-4 sets of 9

Wednesday (7's day):

-Squat 3-4 sets of 7
-Bench 3-5 sets of 7
-Curl 3-4 sets of 7
-Deadlift 2-3 sets of 7

Thursday (7's day):

-Press 3-5 sets of 7
-Chin 3-4 sets of 7

Friday (5's day):

-Squat 3-4 sets of 5
-Bench 3-5 sets of 5
-Curl 3-4 sets of 5
-Deadlift 2-3 sets of 5

Saturday (5's day):

-Press 3-5 sets of 5
-Chin 3-4 sets of 5



It's a repeating one-week cycle. Like I said, I'm a slim early intermediate looking to build muscle, so I wanted something hypertrophy-oriented. My plan is to run this until it gets stale, and then make it into something more elaborate.

[Hanley]

@RedFinn :

Okay, so you’re basically using an ~@8 ceiling? That’s a good move.

Are you putting on lean mass? That program should get you pretty jacked.

[RedFinn]

@RedFinn :

Okay, so you’re basically using an ~@8 ceiling? That’s a good move.

Like I said, I'm writing down RPE's but I'm actually thinking about bar speed, so it might be a little confusing for others... but yeah, I'm pretty sure I could get 2 more reps on my toughest sets. Maybe more on the lower body sets.

Are you putting on lean mass? That program should get you pretty jacked.

I think I see some more muscle in the mirror. I only started on January 1st, though. I'd love to report back at the end of the year. I'm 26 years old, 5'10", and my first measurements in mid-January had me at 170 lbs with a 33" waist. Basically my goal is to be a slightly weaker version of Jordan.

[MattimusMaximus]

@RedFinn :

Okay, so you’re basically using an ~@8 ceiling? That’s a good move.

Like I said, I'm writing down RPE's but I'm actually thinking about bar speed, so it might be a little confusing for others... but yeah, I'm pretty sure I could get 2 more reps on my toughest sets. Maybe more on the lower body sets.

I do the exact same thing but I film my RPE sets and determine the rating based on how it felt and on bar speed caught on camera. Seems to work well.

[Hanley]

@RedFinn

Cool. Yeah, during my best runs of training, I was using RPEs as bar speed proxies.

[mgil]

Hanley Programming Services

[michael]

Basically my goal is to be a slightly weaker version of Jordan.

Your goal is to be Austin?

[PatrickDB]

Basically my goal is to be a slightly weaker version of Jordan.

Your goal is to be Austin?

[mgil]

Basically my goal is to be a slightly weaker version of Jordan.

Your goal is to be Austin?

Austin is one strong dude and a heckuva nice guy.

[anelson]

Basically my goal is to be a slightly weaker version of Jordan.

Your goal is to be Austin?

Austin is one strong dude and a heckuva nice guy.

v likeable.

[Manveer]

Basically my goal is to be a slightly weaker version of Jordan.

Your goal is to be Austin?

Austin will be stronger than Jordan soon.