When should one move from the 3 day templates to the 4 day templates? When one or more E1RM’s stagnate?
also conditioning question; I don’t have any cardio equipment at home and I don’t go to a gym. What’s the best way to get HIIT work in? Kettlebells? Backyard shuttle runs? Also, any ideas for LISS work when it’s too wet to go riding or hiking?
cheers!
Someone suggested jumping jacks for HIIT. I haven’t tried it but seems like they would work. Or just rapid jogging in place.
I think LISS is more difficult with space constraints.
HIIT the options are limitless. For LISS, I get that there is personal preference, and mine is to put on an older pair of shoes and get wet on my run. Ice can be a little more of a problem, but is manageable too–yaktrax, about $20.
If you can get your hands on some minor equipment, jump rope is great for HIIT.
Sometimes I’ll do a moderate cardio or yoga workout (streaming/youtube/dvd) for LISS when other things aren’t available or for something different. I’ll often use this if I’m on away from home somewhere and there’s a lot of sitting around…30 minutes can keep me from going stir-crazy.
Since you haven’t gotten an answer to your 3 day vs. 4 day question - I honestly think it mostly comes down to preference and what works for you and your schedule. 3 day splits are not inherently for novices and intermediate lifters, and 4 day splits are not inherently for more advanced lifters. If you’re running the BBM templates as written, though, I’m pretty sure the 3 day versions have less volume than the 4 day ones. A prolonged stagnation of your e1RMs might be an indicator that you need more volume to continue making progress, so moving to a 4 day/week schedule would probably be a good idea. That being said, you could still theoretically add more volume to a 3 day/week program if that fits your schedule better, but you’d probably be looking at pretty long sessions. Using a 4 day schedule helps spread volume out over the week and keeps your sessions manageable.
Additionally (and somewhat anecdotally), I think that there are benefits to the increased frequency of a 4 day/week schedule (especially for bench), but that’s not gospel or anything.
Stagnation is something that the BBM crew talks about often in their Q&A videos. Specifically, they are asked about what to do when a lift stalls for multiple weeks or if they are not seeing improvement overall. Their answer is almost always an endorsement of increasing/decreasing frequency, volume (majority of the time it’s this), or intensity. As stated by Nate B, it’s also up to preference… but I would err on the side of the BBM crew’s thought process with looking at overall performance and recovery. This will require honesty with yourself!
Answering 4 days split question with my approach. Feel free to use the schedule or modify for your own usage.
The main reason for me to switch from 3 days to 4 days is:
Do more volume and more exposure to the lifts.
I recently made a 4 days schedule for myself.
Sharing it for reference. I have 6 exercises I would like to become better with.
Back Squat Low Bar. BLSQ. PS: I switched from BHSQ recently. BHSQ i can do a 150 kg single without belt and very good form/depth at 89 kg BW.
But man, BLSQ is just another animal in the wild. I promise you.
Bench Press. BP.
Deadlift Conventional. DLC
Deadlift Sumo. DLS.
Over Head Press OHP.
Clean/Power Clean. C/PC
Snatch/Power Snatch. SN/PSN.
A# Heavy BLSQ + BP. Light Rest.
B# Heavy DLC/DLS + OHP. Light Rest.
C#Volume PC + PSN + BLSQ + BP
D#Heavy C + SN, Volume DLC/DLS + OHP. . .
Reference:
Heavy means 8/80% with 5s. or things like heavy single at 8/9.
Light means 6+/-60% ish and focusing on tech and speed. 10 REPs around for each movement, sometimes more just for fun.
Volume means 7/70% with 6x6 kind of REP/SET. PC/PSN ofc not at 6x6. doubles or triples.
Before Lifts:
I spend roughly 10 mins to warm up on a Concept roll machine or an assault bike… These machines are brutal when doing right… But i do not quite get how to make the movement harder over time.
Body adapt very rapidly to cardio.
After Lifts:
15-20 mins for 10 pull-up each session, single leg, push-up, sit-ups variations, circuit conditioning work.
I hate my conditioning work. but that is also why i do them.
I select the movement i am very bad at for conditioning.
Each session is around 1.5 / 2 hours. quite do-able.
Select the weight wisely for the right intensity, do not socialize at the gym.
I like to do 1-3 heavy single touch-rep before lifts starts especially on volume training. It gives me some hint of my RPE/Self regulation on that day.
Try it and see if you like it as well. I am not so good at RPE. So I also use percentage as a guideline. But they are not written in stone kind of deal. adjusting towards the touch-rep.
Hope it helps you with your program design.
I don’t see any issues with jumping back and forth between 3 and 4 day templates as you see fit (some templates will even progress from 4 to 3 days within the program). The added volume in 4 day templates usually consist of 2nd or 3rd tier assistance excercises, so you won’t necessarily miss out on comp lift work.
If you want to try a 4 day template you don’t need to wait until 3 days have “run their course” or similar.