Red Bearded Bastardized Periodization

Let's just get this out of the way.  I'm in my early 30's, I compete at 275 and 308, raw and I'm not a "good" bencher.  Yet.


 I've tried a lot of different bench programs.  I've followed some religiously, deviated from some and even tried to wing it but my bench stayed the same for a while.  Most recently, I used a well known PL E-book's method, then a custom written program, then a coaches program.  All of it was great and made sense on paper but it didn't necessarily translate to bigger numbers for me, and my pecs were getting pretty fucking tired of it.

While recovering from a back injury, my bench transitioned from a competition arch, to a feet up, flat backed press.  I had to start off light to keep the abdominal pressure down at first, so I decided to focus on bringing my grip in more narrow for a while.  Although the weights were lighter, the changes I made kept the weight challenging.  That was good for a while, until months later I was healthy enough and could put my heels back on the ground and use a little leg drive.

The guys I train with planned to lift at a meet a few months away down in SC at Donnie Thompson's gym The Compound.  I was excited and although I was still on the mend, I made it my goal to get well enough to bench there with my team.



One of my first nights back to benching after injuring 4 L-spine discs

The next thing I had to figure out was how I was going to utilize the next 10 weeks to prepare myself.  So I decided to see where I was at on bench and took some singles.  My max had dropped but I was able to grind out a double with 335 and a nasty 365 for 1.  Not great, even for me who has struggled on bench for years.

Well, I thought, lets see what I can get a 5x5 with.  And Red Bearded Bastardized Periodization was born.

Week 1: My "week 1" started in March 2014.  It was a simple 5x5 with 315, but I had never gotten all 5 reps on the last set the last time I had tried it prior to the injury, so it was a "pr."  From this day, the entire program was built upon.  Getting all the reps on each sets CLEANLY and with good form was important, since all weeks ahead build upon this weight.  If you fuck up or cheat a little on week 1, this is not going to go well moving forward.  It's better to start a little too light than too heavy.

Week 2: The next week would drop a rep, add a set and 10#'s.  This was basically a way to lift an additional 10#'s per rep with similar work load over last week. So I did 6x4 with 325 for week 2.

Week 3: I felt good going into week 3, so I decided to add weight and do sets of 3.  Five sets were enough to feel the work load, and 15#'s felt right, even though I could have added 5 more #'s on any set.  Kept it in check though, the heavier weight was coming later.

Week 4: The beginning of the second 3 week wave was just as simple as week 1, a 5x5 but with a little more weight.  I added 5#'s and used 320 for all sets.  This was another PR, although this week 4 felt like where the rubber met the road for me.

Week 5, finally a change.  As the weight increases week to week, something has to change before I hit a wall.  This week is still more weight, still sets of 4 but the volume has tapered down a bit.  Rather than 6 sets, I did 4.  That alone was great just for the mentality as the weight increased to 330.  2 sets in and I was 1/2 way through, that was motivating, but so was how fast the weight was moving.  I was getting stronger and I could notice it.

Week 6: Yet another volume taper was in order.  This week was still meant for triples, but with fewer sets again.  The weight was 345, and done for 2 fewer sets than week 3, only doing 3.

Week 7: The weight goes up to 325 for 3 sets of  5.  Prior to this, 325 may have been my 5 rep max at one point, but now I was doing it for 3 sets and the reps were smooth and fast.

Week 8: The volume is still down to 3 sets, the reps were 4 with 335.  On my first set, I was surprised on how easy the weight felt, and the command that I had over the bar.  This helped me blast through the other sets.

Week 9: This week was done on the road at a different gym out of state.  Although I had to travel for work, I always bring my lifting bag with me.  I had a variety of spotters that day, and although the bench was slippery vinyl and the hand offs were shakey, I managed to take my previous weight of 365 which I had barely locked out only 9 weeks prior for 4 sets of doubles, and they were commanding.  In addition, I overloaded this week with the original red slingshot and took 3 singles over 400.  I was ready!

Week 10: The Meet.  I was pumped.  It had been a real transitional 2 and a half months for me, from living with an involuntarily limp from the disc herniation onto the sciatic nerve, to being able to bench better than before I had injured my back.  I warmed up with about 15 other raw lifters, taking turns smashing triples a plate and a quarter at a time.  My last warm up was 335 and it was faster than ever before.

I opened with 365, and although the bar felt heavy in the hands, the rep flew up. Dave Hoff gave the rack command and I was on the board with three whites.  I knew I was good for more, so I asked for 385.

Now back in the day, 385 was my best ever touch and go bench, ass off the bench, uneven lock out gym lift.  But I hadn't even touched that weight in a while.

On my second attempt, I remember thinking on the decent, "man, this is heavy."  When I heard that press command, the bar just came off of my chest like a hydraulic jack was helping me.  Waited for the rack command and 3 whites.  25# meet PR and I had taken my bench up 20#'s over my touch n go from 10 weeks prior.

My third attempt was 400.  It didn't feel any heavier than 385 but it stalled at about a 3 board.  I still had work to do to get that one.

Second cycle:  I decided that the bulk of the program was great, but I tweaked a few thing during the cycle.  For one, I made the last set on the 5 rep days OR about 80% for an AMRAP (As Many Reps As Possible.)  This was done for two reasons.  First, just to add extra work and volume and secondly, as a built in test that can be measured with a rep calculator to track progress.

Also, I moved the bulk of my accessory work to a second upper body day.  On those days, I work on speed bench, AMRAP's with 60% and lower, long count pauses, benching an inch off of the chest, OHP, dumbbells and other accessories.




As of this post, I just finished up week 9 of the second cycle and I'm confident about smashing the 400 barrier next week.  Below is the template that I've used, with the weights that I've used:

W1: 5x5 - 325
W2: 6x4 - 335
W3: 5x3 - 350

W4: 5x5 - 330 (last set 6)
W5: 4x4 - 340
W6: 3x3 - 355 + 315 x 9 (2 rep PR)

W7: 3x5 - 335 (last set 6)
W8: 3x4 - 345
W9: 4x2 - 370 + 3 singles at 415 with red slingshot

W10: Test
(Update: Set PR's 400 and 405)

Note: To make this program work with your numbers, use the following template. 

Make week 1's weight be a weight that you can confidently complete for 5 sets of 5 reps or about 80% of your best clean 1rm.  Less is more here, resist the urge to start too heavy. I cannot emphasize this enough, it only gets harder.

W1: 5x5 (80%) last set AMRAP
W2: 6x4 (80%+10-15#'s)
W3: 5x3 (80%+15-20#'s)

W4: 5x5 (80%+5-10#'s) last set AMRAP
W5: 4x4 (80%+15-20#'s)
W6: 3x3 (80%+20-25#'s)

W7: 3x5 (80%+15-20#'s) last set AMRAP
W8: 3x4 (80%+20-25#'s)
W9: 4x2 (80%+45-50#'s)

W10: Test

I feel great on this amount of volume and my strength has been climbing. Best of luck to you in your training.

The Red Bearded Bastard,
Josh Mac

Don't wait for injury to make you better

What's that old saying?  "If I had known then what I know now, blah blah blah."  Back in my teens and twenties I couldn't care less about what that meant or who said it.  All that mattered was what was directly in front of me.  My next move in life, the next goal.  I was a real prick.

I was and still am passionate, but back then it was misdirected.  Passion is great, but like glasses without lenses, passion is useless without focus.

My passion for lifting and competing was cultivated out of an awakening in my twenties that I was fat and weak.  Like the big bang, I was a single point of energy that exploded in every direction.  My only destination was "further" from where I started, but the journey was linear and aimless.  All that mattered was the results.

This mentality followed me through my "training adolescents" and with me into my 30's (probably midlife at this rate.)  As much experience as I thought I had, it didn't stop me from accruing avoidable injuries.

If I could go back 10 years, back to the young stud with so much potential, I'd tell myself one thing:  "Don't wait for injury to lift better."

Back then I'd have scoffed at it.  Since I was invincible and totally blind to my own little mistakes.  The problem is, those little mistakes added up over the course of a decade and bit me in the ass last year.

But since suffering a 4 level back injury and spending months and months recovering, I'm now a better lifter.

As of this writing, about 7 months after the injury that doctors said would end my lifting as I knew it, I am within 85% of my deadlift and more than 90% of my squat, and I'm in no type of rush.

So how am I a better lifter with lower lifts?

Back injuries are very serious are often the last coffin nail in a competitive career in strength sports. So I started back slowly, with an empty barbell.  I stretched a lot, and I focused on the most important thing, form.

But when form became my first priority, the weights just flew up.  It was like fucking magic.

The proof for me is waking up in the morning with LESS pain now than before the injury.  The constant shit form had been taking it's toll on me for some time.  Not until I stopped flexing nuts, swallowed my pride and started doing it right did the pain disappear.  Even now with so much damage, I have very little nerve pain and my disc bulges have resolved themselves before another herniation.

Injury has forced me how to squat better.  Slowing everything down and going though the motion in my head has resulted in a better squat, and one day soon, a heavier squat because of it.

Having that back injury has made me learn sumo in a way that no video or article would have been able to teach.  In the past, my sumo deadlift was basically mailed in.  It usually ended up being a wide stance RDL.  ALL back, no hips. And I didn't give a fuck because I was a conventional puller who only did sumo cause the sheet of paper said to.

Once I had to learn something just to be able to continue on, I learned it.  But the tragedy is that it took a life long injury to finally wake me up.

Injury didn't make me a better lifter, rather, injury forced me to learn to lift better.

I want to really impress that on younger lifters.  Don't sacrifice your body for a number. Slow down and trust in the training.  If you can't do it with the same form, then you can't lift it.  You can get a lot further doing it right than yanking on the bar and praying it goes well.

What's the rush?  Part of what I like about competing in Powerlifting and strongman is training for it.  But rushing through cycles and forcing ugly PR's wasn't going to last forever. Instead I wish I had just done the quality work and gotten stronger rather that focus so much on numbers in training where they don't count.  I made the time to be there training, so I had better make the best use of that time. Anything less than that is just slowing me down toward my goals.

I mean if you only have a month left as a junior and you want to squat a record before your birthday and you grind out the ugliest squat for two whites to get that trophy sword, I get it.  But what happens when your birthday comes and now you're in open where your squat isn't the best anymore?  What the hell did you really prove, and how much of your future did you gamble for it?  You'll never make it pro if you fuck yourself up permanent in pop warner.

I'm still here today, so what was my rush?  Why did I let myself round over a little just to "get" the lift, or the rep pr?  Where does that leave you after an injury?  In a shoe store selling shoes to large women and reminiscing about throwing touchdowns at Polk High?

I have a lot more responsibility under that bar now.  I have a family to provide for, so I need to be able to work.  I have to be able to walk when I'm a cranky old son of a bitch.  I have to make sure the lift in front of me is chosen with my head and not my balls.  These are things that should have been in the front of my mind from day one, but weren't.

Injury has forced me to slow down and see the track that I should have been on all along.  I wish it hadn't happened, but since I can't change the past I look to the future.  And the only thing that keeps me lifting on for years is paying attention, staying humble and doing it fucking right. 

I highly recommend those last three.

Chasing the max

I read this problem in a lot of forums.  Somebody will be desperately sending out a plea for help in some lifting or bodybuilding forum because their lift didn't go up.  I mean, they lifted weight since the last time they tested their max, so isn't it just supposed to go up?  What's the universes fucking problem here?  Doesn't physics know that they waited a whole damn 2 weeks to max out on bench again?  Why can't they bench 2 goddamn plates yet?!

Aside for the fact that they've been lifting as long as the expiration period of milk, they want fucking answers.  These answers they seek needn't be too complicated or long and drawn out studies of the human anatomy, central nervous system or dietary needs. They're not going to even reach the last period of the paragraph without mispronouncing 8 words in their own head. 

So here's a simple answer that even a personal trainer at an O2 fitness can understand:  Momentum.

When you have momentum, you have movement.  When you don't, you stall.  Boom, it really is that simple.

Strength gain IS momentum.

GAINZ are the body's response to stimuli.  Testing a max is literally a snapshot in time of a strength wave that is slowly in motion.  Peaking cycles take advantage of this phenomenon by testing as close to the height of the wave, the lifters strongest snapshot in time.

But on a dumbed down level, lets just talk about the lifts and the mentality of chasing the max.

The lifter, we'll call him "Chandler," complains that his max hasn't gone up since 3 months ago.  He's also been testing it every two weeks like every 20 year old with a BB.com account.  He has stalled, and like the floor of a port-o-john at a Luke Bryan concert, he's pissed.

Now I don't necessarily give a shit if he ever figures this out for himself or not, but my recommendation would be... gain momentum.

Gain momentum in ANYTHING.  He needs a sturdy foothold to start his climb.  Rep max's, more volume, forced reps... do anything that you're currently NOT doing right now and then get better at it.  If Chandler can't hit that 1rm after 2 weeks of half assed training, then how about establishing a 5 or 10 rep max.  THEN BEAT THE SHIT OUT OF IT.

Momentum will start to make itself evident, you'll know when you're finally getting stronger.  Once you KNOW you're getting stronger, then it accelerates even more. 

The mindset plays a large role in lifting.  Ever hear the expression "Smells blood in the water?"  Once a shark catches the scent of blood, it turns from an asshole to a mega asshole.  Why?  Because it's hungry as fuck, and it smells dinner. 

When a fighter opens up the cheek or forehead of their opponent, they go fucking insane!  They know the tide has shifted in their favor, and they know that the other fighter knows it too.

Lifters are the same way. 

Once you get momentum on your side, your motivation increases, your confidence builds and you stop looking up to the weights that you've put on a pedestal and start looking down on them like PREY.  You stop hoping and wishing that you can "get" the lift, or that the weight will "let" you lift it that day and you start salivating as you look at the bar like fresh baby seal that you're about to rip open.  You stop doubting yourself as much, and you can't wait for that day of the week when you're going to just crush your sets like you're the baddest mother fucker in the room.

That's the importance of momentum. Take advantage of that shit and ride that wave all the way to your new max.

Performing below your best

We’ve all been there.  You’re coming back from an injury and training lighter, or maybe you’re done with your sets and you’re hitting accessories, or you just plain aren’t feeling it that day.  It never fails, that’s when “that” guy comes over and sets up on the rack, bench or bar next to you.

Now you’re bigger, and you know you’re stronger… but he doesn’t.  To him, you look like a giant pussy with all of that light weight!

You’re doing a downset with a percentage of your capabilities and he’s warming up with just a little less.  He’s gonna pass you in a few minutes.  And when he does, YOU know that you were smashing a couple hundred pounds more than his sets, but HE doesn’t.  Neither do the guys who are working in with him, slamming the bar down and giving each other bro-fives. There's no instant replay here, so what are ya gonna do?

They’re looking over at this big guy sweating and out of breath in front of a bar loaded with mere peanuts.  They just missed your last set where you smashed that heavy triple, that would have crippled them, like it was a fucking toy before all but unloading the bar to get some extra work in.

Now I’m not gonna lie, I’d like to sit here and act like I don’t give a fuck about how I’m viewed and I’m above the petty pissing matches between me and complete strangers.  But that’s bullshit.  I’ve worked hard to be the Caucasian silverback I sit here today as and I didn’t do it by lifting light weight.  It’s important to me, the red bearded bastard, to let the 19 year old dub step fans of the world know that this was my house back when I was 100%.

Really?

YES, I’m THAT petty.

Now I don’t lift in box gyms often, maybe once or twice a month when I’m away on business.  The majority of the time I train with a powerlifting team out of a small power gym in Raleigh.  These are guys I see 3-4 times a week who are all goal oriented and put the same work in that I do.  That has been what I’ve been accustomed to and if you have the chance to train at one, take it.

But on the road, I go to this box gym.

It plays lil jon and maroon 5 almost exclusively.  The old strength equipment has been replaced by cookie cutter “Lifestyle” racks and benches.  There are rules posted on the mirrored walls that stretch from front to back.  The clients range from the guys in the bro science to the guys in the awkward gym moments vids.  Gloves, sporting good store belts, wrist straps, beats by Dre head phones and dew rags… on white dudes.

This is my haven a few times a month.

I’ve done some decent lifts here. Not elite by any means but I’ve broken plates, bent bars and bled all over the floor there. I’ve had it out with the manager about using chalk and slammed weight down there to the amazement of onlookers on several occasions.  I don't scream and yell to get attention, hell, here I don't have to.  Usually a front squat gets people to look up from their own 15" arms.

But gym lifts don’t count, and don’t mean shit.  All that matters is what you’re doing now and what you could do in a meet.  And right now I ain’t 100%.  I belt up early on lighter weight, I struggle with what used to be warm up weight. There’s just shit I plain old can’t do right now.

So when the kid with the string tank and lift strong bracelet comes up along side of me puffing his chest out, tossing a plate on the bar and yelling like a fool, there’s a part of me that wants to load that bar back up and watch his little hairless jaw drop to the floor.  I want to lift the bar overhead with one hand and give him the finger with the other.  I want to tell him his music sucks and maybe, just maybe even punch him in his little fucking FACE!

But I don’t.

I don’t because I know who I am and what I’ve done.  I have a total that I worked for, one that I know that I’m capable of beating when I’m as healed up as I’m gonna get.  My lifts aren’t astounding or earth shattering, but they’re mine.  I know the pain it took to add every pound.

So when this kid thinks he’s the shit when he’s bent over rowing 135, yelling and slamming the bar, I just have to remember.  That was me way back when, and the old heads I used to see never punched me in the face or told me that Pantera sucked.

So I just put it aside. Rather than run over there and throw the bar 10ft in the air with one hand, I block out the terrible music and finish my shitty set. All the while imagining the buffet that awaits me when I’m done.  That, and avoid eye contact so nobody asks me to spot them.

 I really fucking hate that, because they’re people and they’re talking to me.

2 more sets and I can eat.

The Pitfall of Testing

In my time on earth and under a bar, I've noticed a few things about the "fitness industry" and its participants.  There are many different types of fitness enthusiast but more often that not they share a similar trait of specified training.  Staying inside their box while they judge the outsiders.  I never fit that mold very well.  I like to do too many different tings, sometimes simultaneously i.e. writing this and shitting.

I started or restarted my strength goals while watching worlds strongest man in my 20's, and wondering why I had let myself become such a weak pathetic tub of pig shit.  Even then I knew I wasn't going to pick the bar back up and regain my late teens V-taper or boyish good looks, but I had to chip away at weakness a day and week at a time. Also, it was imperative that I grow a beard.  More on that later.

I made a lot of mistakes early on.  Diet was terrible, calories were low often times. Hell even today I still don't drink enough water.  I did too much cardio, I didn't practice good form on lifts, and the lifts I chose weren't the core strength lifts, they were ez bar curls and calf raises.

Still, somehow I ended up with back muscles.  I'll never figure that one out.

Then I fell into the trap. Not TRAP like the neckatles I walk around with.   The YouTube trap.

I used to be a YouTube lifter, I used to compare myself with people across the country or globe and train "feats."  What I mean by "feats" is a one time, holy shit I got it on camera, type of lift or movement.  My first 70+ hub lift was a feat video, double overhand deadlifting a 2" axle for a one rep max was a feat, trying to bend a grade 5 bolt supersetted with a 405 front squat was a feat.

Being a YouTube lifter is easy.  Create an account, search for videos of a feat you think you can almost do and then try like fuck to do it on camera until you make it.  There are a lot of deleted video files on the path to YouTube Stardom. But keep it up, literally 10's of people are watching.

The problem is that I didn't "train."  Instead, I made YouTube content the same way I THOUGHT others did, I'd warm up to a max attempt on something day after day and week after week.  I wasn't putting in the work, no real volume.  It was just one giant internet pissing contest between me and the world, and my bladder was exhausted.

The pitfall of constantly testing was stagnation.  I plateaued and flat lined for a while.  Once I started training for the future, instead of the here and now, gains began to roll in and pr's arrived.

10 week cycles became the norm.  Prescribed reps and set schemes, programmed mock meets 2+ months away was laid before me.  Written as a vague templates in ebooks (written by people waaaay stronger than me) for me to sharpen and mold to myself.

This type of training saw me the greatest results.  It kept me in check, but kept me working hard at the same time.  But the one thing I missed was the "test."

Not the hormone, trust me I've got that one covered (This is where the beard comes back into play.)  I mean testing, actually seeing how good you have become.

It used to be ALL I did, literally.  But to gamble a couple of 10 week cycles on a PR one day 4-5 months from now was a tough adaptation.  It's probably a sign of my generation, wanting quick results.  But I look at it like I would my wife baking a pumpkin pie.  There's a reason why there's a glass window on the front of the oven.  We don't just set the timer and hope for the best.  We peek at that little fucker to make sure it isn't on fire. 

Why?

cause we want to eat that fucker. Just like we want that PR.

For me, my oven window is the rep max or AMRAP set.  A simple set that not only supports BUILDING strength, but also acts as a gauge as to probable strength levels.

This week, I'm 6 weeks into a 10 week cycle.  It's tough to fight off that feeling of wanting to let a few singles fly after the boring rep work of the day.  Instead, I tested an AMRAP at 80%.  (Not 80% OF 90% like some ebooks suggest, I mean like 80% of the actual most I've ever lifted in a meet.)

Well guess what, got 9 reps on bench.  That's a 2 rep PR.  ...a PR, ...one that I can compare in the future to the past.  A set that not only told me where I was at, but helped me to get where I'm headed.

That's roughly 4 1/2 reps PER TIT!!

This isn't a novel concept or one that I have in anyway helped to create.  In fact some ebook templates even encourage or prescribe AMRAP sets.  For me, AMRAP sets or REP PR sets help keep me engaged in the program and embolden my resolve to stay the course. 

"They" say the best time to change a program is a month BEFORE you plateaued.

...well how the fuck would you KNOW?!  Testing at the end of a normal 10 week cycle is like Christmas, all the presents at once for being good all cycle.  But testing AMRAP's is like Hanukkah!  PRESENTS OUT THE ASS...

It's good to check in and see where the fuck you're at every month or so.  I used to be a YouTube lifter, now I'm a lifter with a YouTube account.