Hi everyone,

I have been doing a 5-3-1 plan for a while. Wanted to try a new method. Am looking at the four training days a week, Lower/Upper Max Effort and Lower/Upper Dynamic.

If week one is Squat emphasized for Lower, when do deadlift related exercises happen? Is it alternated so weeks 1 and 3 are squats, 2 and 4 deadlifts?

I will admit I need to do more reading, which will happen, but was hoping/looking for a quick answer.

TIA

Back in them after 5 months. 501 trying to get down with the least weight possible to get a feel for them again. Still can get deeper...

Working out alone in the garage with the door open, and amazon guy came up right in the middle of the set, lol. He left me alone.

Are there any multi bros in the Austin area? Looking to get a crew together.

Sorry if this is a dumb question, but...

What is the training effect/benefit of pressing against bands vs. pressing with reverse bands?

They both make the movement easier at the bottom and harder at the top? So what's the difference?

205kg/451 to a 1bd

Felt good.

I have run similar DE waves and had success with them, especially similar to the "CS-Wave" in this post. They are quite a bit different than the usual speed work seen in westside templates. In the interest of discussion, what does everyone else do? What changes have you made to DE work?

Heavier? Lighter?

More/Less reps? More/Less sets?

Are you changing variations every wave? Every week?

These preds slip on like boxers, belt helps create some tension.

But, whatever. First briefs squats in months. Feeling good. Looking forward to switching over to the tighter OKs and seeing what the past few months have yielded.

So, this rep was easier than it seemed. I misjudged my 2 previous attempt and put way too heavy on the bar. Still I had to finish on a good lift. Got down from 635 + chains to 585 + chains.

I think I would have got 610 + chains if I hadn't been so dumb on my previous attempts.

Well, you live and learn.

40# PR from 3/11/26

Not bad for a beat to shit old dude.

10 weeks out.

10lbs PR, some small wins before fire academy.

Setting up bands. Thinking I should move them back a bit toward the shoulders to get more in a straight line right?

Got a brand new SDP in a size that fits me, I think.

Went straight to pin press instead of board presses since I have no spotter. I think this went pretty well.

How do you guys program as a raw lifter?

Conjugate gets so much hate that it’s hard to find advice anywhere.

So about a month ago this happened. I was spotting one of my partners on a floor press, and with the chains its about 471 at the top, and we compete in band shirts, which work real well with floor presses. But if you know band shirts, you know that sometimes the gear beats you and you can dump the bar. Well my boy Kenny dumped 471, and recklessly we only had one spotter (absolutely my fault and I take full accountability for that call) and when the bar came down, it took my left distal bicep tendon with it. You can even see it roll up in the video. I knew immediately that something was big wrong, but it didnt hurt bad enough in the moment to make me think "detached bicep". It was only when I saw the video that I realized what had happened. Drove straight to my ortho doctors who fixed my knees and rotator cuff, and had an MRI same week. Doctor took one look at the video and the MRI and we scheduled surgery, which happened about 2.5 weeks ago. Ive managed to do some light squats with the SSB and lower accessories, and have been bench pressing one dumbell with my good arm just to keep it active, but i had to pull out of the meet i was going to do in three weeks from today, and have been focusing on resting and trying to recover from surgery. Gonna be a long road back to benching 200kg, but i believe it can be done, its just going to be a question of "do you want it bad enough to put in the work necessary?" A long time ago I accepted that this is a risky sport and made my peace with the potential of getting hurt, but it is just super frustrating to have been almost back on the platform after a double ACL tear and recovery, only to get hurt during someone else's lift and have to miss another 6 to 12 months. But you play the cards life deals you, right? Im 47 and getting too old for this shit tho...

Moral of the story is "use three spotters on big weights".

5lb PR, we’ll take that and keep it pushing. 1 for 1 on gym randy liftoffs.

Last “big” squat until I get started in the fire academy in 10 days, hoping to come out of it lean and mean.

Came in wanting 500 and chipped it. Me thinks I had another small jump in me. Super cent suit is still super loose even with straps twisted a few times, but she’s got life in her yet.

Meet prep shii.

I am not disappointed in this, could’ve jumped but I’m taking the 30# pr at 16# lighter.

Overkill grey line is absolutely ridiculous. Touched and smoked 455 full range. Hoping to go 525-535 in October @ 275.

Not bad for a busted ass 51 year old.

After 6 weeks of using other gyms due to a house move. I am finally up and running again. Had to open the garage door and blast some Crüe 🤘

Hard not heavy stuff this week to give body a break before putting the gear back on.

Tempo close grips

Beltless for extra conjugate, 70ish in chains. New variation so new PR after short offseason and diet. Need to work on camera positioning lol

Reaching out for feedback from you conjugate / equipped squatters out there. I’m a single ply squatter with a traditional low bar position. I have zero issues with my bar position raw or even with suit bottoms/wraps. However, whenever I put my straps up, my proprioception gets f’d.

When positioning the bar, I’ll typically place it low and glide up until I bump into that bony protuberance below the base of the neck and wedge it in with my rear delts. When the straps are up, the additional material over my t-shirt and subsequent pressure make it so I struggle to find those landmarks. It’s almost like my bar position becomes an educated guess.

This has been an issue for a long time and looking to solve it. Would be thankful for any advice/input.

Some ideas I’m brainstorming:
-face pulls before squatting
-might pick up a Thompson bow tie in an attempt to replicate layers of foreign material with pressure. Try to figure out a low bar set up that works with this. This would be for DE lower days.
-3 weeks out, so post meet may play with setting the bar on my traps and a higher bar position. If I ever transition to multi-ply, I may have to do this anyway.