I’m about to finish PB2 next week and plan to rerun it. I had fun, felt good throughout and improved my lifts, with the exception of the bench.
Had a form check, got some notes, but the verdict was that technique should not be the limiting factor.
I bought the LFS template to learn about troubleshooting and came up with a plan (also got some notes on that with the check). In addition to the chest, I also want to prioritize the arms this time around, at the expense of the squat and calves.
Here is my plan:
Incline bench instead of OHP on day 4.
Add one extra backoff set to the bench and the new day-4 incline bench. (I only rested 2min between bench sets and never felt tired at the prescribed percentages)
Make sure I never overshoot top sets (happened a couple of times, both due do technique but also impatience).
Move day 2 squat to the day 4 split squat spot. Use that free spot as well as day-3 calves for 3x6-9 reps biceps/triceps supersets @9 (increase to 4 sets second block).
Do 1-2 sets less arms on GPP days and choose forearm-heavy exercises (eg supinated curl). Do 2-3 sets forearm work instead.
Does this sound reasonable? I’ve followed templates quite closely over the pastyear, and want to learn to tweak them to my goals.
Do you have a programming guide for choosing rep ranges/schemes (flat vs amrap vs myo vs variable ranges, e.g. 12-15)?
Many thanks for the great information and material you continue to provide! It’s really appreciated and the impact on my overall quality of life is actually quite profound, now that I think about it.
I don’t really have a problem with what you’re suggesting. If It were me, I may do the following things differently:
Do a flat bench variation in place of incline
Not add volume, but focus on bar velocity each rep for each back off set
I don’t think I’d do isolation arm work in the 6-9 rep range, in general. I’d be looking in the 10-15 rep range for that.
No problem with you doing forearm work, but not sure that’s necessary given the amount of forearm work in the program + the trade off for doing less isolation arm work.
The existing programming guide we have is in the Low ISF ebook. That may be helpful for thinking about different programming changes.
Thanks, will implemented as suggested. One follow-up, based on my benching today:
I noticed that the RPE steps are very small on my upper-body lifts, and also shows huge variation between sets – I’m not sure based on what, feels like a combination of fuzzy factors (whether I find the groove, setup, leg drive, arching, mental focus, etc). E.g. I’d do 6x75kg 2ct bench and it would be a 6.5, then a 9 the next set.
This makes choosing weight kinda tricky.
Would it make sense to program e.g. 3 to 5 reps instead of 4, and then do as many reps as required to hit the programmed RPE? Of course, I’d aim for 4 reps on every set and work on consistency, but this feels like a pragmatic approach while technique is inconsistent.
On the video, I can see you working hard at being efficient. Nice work!
I do think you need to set your shoulders - pulling them back into the bench- before each and every rep. I also think maintaining that position throughout the rep would be beneficial, as that should help clean the bar path. Lastly, some leg drive and trying to hold the body still throughout the rep would be helpful.
Finally, I think that some weight gain and a metered approach to training (not overshooting, adding weight every few weeks, not doing too much extra stuff, etc.) would be my recommendations.
I think I finally “get” what pulling back the shoulders means. I’ll work some more on it and then schedule a follow up technique review with your team.
I’m now running PBII again as written, except for some extra biceps work instead of one isolation quad slot, and also only 2 conditioning efforts (I’m in a crossfit gym over the summer without machines, which also increased overall fatigue a bit, I think.)
I already gained 2kg since that video and intend to gain 5kg over the next year (I don’t think I’m as lanky as I look in that video, my BMI is 24.8 and my waist is at 87cm).