Nearing End of Beginner Prescription Template -- What Next?

Training Q&A [Moderated]
1

I’ve been doing the Beginner Prescription Template since roughly September. I’m on Week 10. Progress on e1RM for big lifts so far:

Squat: 221 to 264
Press: 121 to 146 (on sets of 8); e1RM has gone down on Phase 3 with 12-rep sets
Bench: 197 to 214
Deadlift: 305 to 350

I don’t know if these are good gains or not, but they are what they are.

My diet was a bit all over the place September through December. Turned over a new leaf the past few weeks and am really focused on reducing body fat and eating well. Focusing on lean meats, veggies, and whole grains; drastically reducing alcohol intake; avoiding any added sugar, processed foods, most cheese, etc. My scale says I’m 190 and 18.9% body fat, but I recently had a DEXA scan that pegged me at 25.2% body fat (they said it’s typically much higher than impedance scales). More importantly, it reported 59 in³ of visceral fat, which put me just over the cusp of “increased risk.” I need to be below 52 in³ to be in the ideal range.

So, my priorities for my next phase are probably in this order:

  1. Reduce visceral body fat while continuing to lower overall BF%
  2. Increase muscle mass; look better
  3. Improve conditioning/endurance – I’ve been horribly inconsistent about doing my GPP/cardio; likely below 50% of the time
  4. Increase strength

I suspect I should either do Hypertrophy (not sure if Hyp I or one with GPP bias), General Strength & Conditioning, or Endurance (either plain or GPP bias). Appreciate your help.

-Brad

2

Brad,

This is pretty good progress so far. Nice job :slight_smile:

What’s your waist circumference and how has your weight changed over the past month?

I’d probably do General S/C after the Beginner Template when you’re ready!

-Jordan ​​​​​​​

3

If I measure at narrowest point, about 34.5". If I measure at bellybutton, closer to 36”.

4

My weight has probably gone from mid-190s to low 190s over the past month. I’m 40 and 6’2".

5

Sounds good then- I stand by my previous recommendation!

6

OK, thanks – bought it. Will probably start first Monday in February.

I think for this to be even more successful than Beginner Prescription Template, I’m going to a) try to more deliberately map/plan out my GPP days and b) might consider printing out the pages and writing results instead of always fumbling through the spreadsheets on Google Sheets. I find that very cumbersome, especially if you’re trying to toggle between the Calculator tab and the Workout tab if you haven’t planned your weights out the night before.

I’m getting a follow-up DEXA on 04/09, which will work out really well as a way to check my progress on this template. Really hoping to see my visceral fat number go down, which is going to mean keeping diet on track and actually doing the GPP cardio. I’ll probably be back in early April to ask “what next” again.

Have a good day. – Brad

7

Awesome! Let us know how you do!