About dr Baraki's training

[Reinhard]

Hello Austin & BBM, I've been very intrigued by your training in the last year or so, as you've done (with great success I may add) some things that conventional wisdom wouldn't really agree with. No conventional deloads and low amount of variation in training week to week, month to month etc... As somebody who constantly swapped stuff block to block (monthly basis) while experimenting with many different training approaches, that's something I'd like to ask more specific questions about

Q1
- You've said in one of your IG posts that most of your deadlifts have been done in 1-4 rep range, I assume that's because that's your preferred rep range which DL responds best to. I like 4-6 reps better for most of my SQ & DL variations and any time I go much lighter or much heavier progress seems to slow down. When intensity really goes up I even regress.
So I was inspired by what you did in your training to maybe stick to the rep ranges that work better for longer periods of time and not change them up for the sake of it block to block. Does that seem like a good idea?

Q2
- Have you been switching assistance exercises during that time? (Stuff like paused squats, close grip bench presses etc...)

Q2.5
- Let's say things started to feel really stale, boring & progress slowed down. Would you first look at changing the rep / intensity ranges or exercise selection? Which one would you first look at and why?

Thank you for your time!!

[Austin Baraki]

- You've said in one of your IG posts that most of your deadlifts have been done in 1-4 rep range, I assume that's because that's your preferred rep range which DL responds best to. I like 4-6 reps better for most of my SQ & DL variations and any time I go much lighter or much heavier progress seems to slow down. When intensity really goes up I even regress.
So I was inspired by what you did in your training to maybe stick to the rep ranges that work better for longer periods of time and not change them up for the sake of it block to block. Does that seem like a good idea?

If you have determined with a reasonable degree of confidence that you prefer/respond better to that particular rep range, and it is consistent with your overall goal, this makes sense to me.

- Have you been switching assistance exercises during that time? (Stuff like paused squats, close grip bench presses etc...)

Not much. I have tended to keep 2-3 squat sessions (high bar, low bar +/- lighter tempo or SSB), 3 deadlift exposures (sumo, conventional, very light RDL), 3 bench exposures (paused, reverse grip, lighter paused or Swiss bar). Aside from this, other very light accessory work to fill out the other sessions. Relatively little has changed with these over time.

Let's say things started to feel really stale, boring & progress slowed down. Would you first look at changing the rep / intensity ranges or exercise selection? Which one would you first look at and why?

If I get the sense it's more purely a psychological staleness/boredom, then I'd just pick something that seemed more interesting or novel to me. This could involve either swapping out exercises for something I haven't done in a while and could probably hit some new rep PR performances with, or hit a different rep range using existing exercises that I could also likely hit some new rep PR performances with. In most situations I would swap out the supplemental exercise selections rather than a radical change in rep range targets, since the overarching goal remains 1RM performance. If aches or pains creep up, however, the rep ranges become the first things to change as a way to reduce absolute loading.

[Reinhard]

Thanks a lot for the insight, it was very useful!!