Hi team,
Any concerns about de-training for an early intermediate running the Beginner Prescription before moving to the Bridge/other template for the following three reasons: 1) completely new to using RPE, 2) training the last year has been LP focused, with a recent pivot to higher rep/lower intensity programming but still pretty limited volume (ie, 3 sets for most movements), and 3) just came off an extended cut (4-5 months, dropped from 205 lbs to 185 lbs.
I have experience with variations but mainly concerned that jumping right in to the Bridge, General Strength & Conditioning, or Low Fatigue templates might be too much volume after being a sustained calorie deficit. Also have not done any conditioning at all since late 2019, which isnāt great either!
I purchased the templates mentioned above (minus Low Fatigue), but if there are others that should be considered, Iām open to that as well.
No concerns about detraining at all, as I donāt think your training stress is going to go down. I would not do The Bridge (free) after the Beginner Template. I also think the Beginner Template is worth purchasing rather than just running the Beginner Prescription in this case.
I think the General S/C template would be fine after this, pending your goals.
-Jordan
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Jordan, thank you very much for your response. Goals right now are to maintain strength, cut some additional body fat (medium term), and reduce fatigue overall. Squat 1RM is 335, Deadlift is 405, Bench and OHP are untested but lower than Iād like. Iām fine with those numbers for now as Iām not interested in competing, just looking to build a decent base of strength as a 35 year old father of two, and learn enough about programming to design my own training that I can adhere to in the long term.
I will take your advice and run the full Beginner Template, then transition to General S/C. Thanks again!
Hi Dr. F,
Iām about to wrap up the first block of the Beginner Template, so far so good. Feeling pretty confident rating RPE with the lower rep schemes, still feeling my way through on 8-10 rep sets. Overall, training is more enjoyable with RPE vs the āneed to add each timeā mentality of LP.
Been toying with the idea of running bodybuilding blocks in between each of the Beginner Template blocks. This is mainly to mix things up and take a break from the competitive lifts, which Iāve been doing almost exclusively for 2.5ish years since beginning with strength training.
Any concerns alternating Beginner blocks with Bodybuilding blocks or do you strongly recommend working through the entire Beginner Template? My long term goals tend to be more in line with Powerbuilding and perhaps skewing more towards bodybuilding.
At a slightly deeper level, do you have a bias towards the big compound lifts for general health, or does it not really matter as long as there is adherence to the program + conditioning, etc?
Really appreciate your input and guidance. Looking forward to running other templates and experimenting with new types of training in the coming years.