Workout durations and some beginner template questions

Training Q&A [Moderated]
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Hey team,

I switched from the end of a SS NLP to the beginner template in January at Jordan’s recommendation. It was a tough start, with all my e1RMs trending down until week 7 or so. I chalked that up to figuring out RPE, getting familiar with new variations and rep ranges, and building up to the point that I was actually doing enough work to generate adaptations (which I presume is why I stalled out on my NLP in the first place). Does that sound like the right explanation to you?

I’m now repeating week 8 since I’m making progress (deadlift and bench press are back in PR territory; squat e1RM is inching up 1-2 pounds per week but still well below where I was in December). It feels like slow going, but unless you think otherwise, I’m chalking that up to the reality of being 46 and/or having exhausted my novice gains.

Anyway, my main question: With the 15 or so work sets each day, the week 8 workouts take forever, not to mention 4 days of cardio and 2 days of GPP added in. Is this the amount of time I’ll need to spend working out every week forever if I want to continue progressing? As work capacity continues to increase, will I have to do even more? It does look like phase 3 will have slightly lower volume, but with the different rep schemes, it’s hard for me to judge duration, and I don’t have any idea what to expect from future programs (I presume I’ll want to go on to powerbuilding like everybody else after this!). Can you please give me an idea how future programs will compare to the beginner template in terms of workout duration, number of sets, etc.? And does the LISS/HIIT tend to drop down to fewer days a week on those templates?

Bonus question: The longest workout for me by far is day 3. I don’t have a leg press in my garage gym, so I’m doing lunges and the unilateral stuff just takes forever. So: 1. What do you think of the hack to use a landmine setup for hack squats — would that be a good alternative to save a little time?
2. If I stick with lunges, do you intend it to be forward or reverse lunges? Does it matter? (I don’t have a space for walking lunges).
3. I can’t find any BBM-approved tutorials or demos for lunges or split squats — is there anything you can point me to? I’m sure I’m overthinking it, but they feel so awkward, I wind up wasting a lot of time trying to get the feel right. Thanks, guys. I appreciate all you do and I just want to make sure I’m prepared (and can prepare my wife!) for what’s ahead.

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Anyway, my main question: With the 15 or so work sets each day, the week 8 workouts take forever, not to mention 4 days of cardio and 2 days of GPP added in. Is this the amount of time I’ll need to spend working out every week forever if I want to continue progressing? As work capacity continues to increase, will I have to do even more? ​

Not necessarily, although this is impossible for us to predict for a given individual. This is why, beyond the beginner phase of training where the “base” of development and movement skill is built, subsequent training should become increasingly individualized over time – a process that requires some experimentation and trial & error. Some people might respond better with lower volume, some might need higher; similar differences can be observed in people’s responses to different intensity and frequency distributions as well. It is not a necessity that people keep needing to train even more indefinitely, although it is likely that a more advanced trainee will need more training, and more training time, to continue realizing adaptations compared with their beginner state.

But templates are just that – “templates”. Not individualized programs, and they are completely open to modification if a person feels comfortable with that kind of experimentation (the alternative being more “guided” experimentation by working with a coach, whether a one-time consult or on an ongoing basis). So if you feel there are aspects of the current training setup that are demanding an inordinate amount of time and/or energy from you, compared with whatever potential stimulus they are providing, it would be fine to play with that and see if you notice any difference. For example, dropping a set(s) off of a given movement, dropping the RPE targets (if something is disproportionately fatiguing), or replacing it with something you enjoy more, etc. There is no perfect “science” to programming; a lot of it is experimenting using educated guesses and iterating this process over time.

With respect to the conditioning – if your goals are not primarily conditioning-oriented, aiming to hit physical activity guideline minimums using low-intensity modalities and keeping it there is just fine, IMO.

It does look like phase 3 will have slightly lower volume, but with the different rep schemes, it’s hard for me to judge duration, and I don’t have any idea what to expect from future programs (I presume I’ll want to go on to powerbuilding like everybody else after this!). Can you please give me an idea how future programs will compare to the beginner template in terms of workout duration, number of sets, etc.? And does the LISS/HIIT tend to drop down to fewer days a week on those templates?

Some of them look similar to the setup of phase 3, whereas others have more work - again, this depends on the goals of the program. But again, anything can be modified to fit your available training resources. Additionally, the way you actually go about your sessions can likely be modified to save time (in terms of warmup approach, load selection, rest times, etc.) – I have gotten a lot of work done in relatively short periods of time, particularly when crunched for time – without much detriment to outcomes, if any at all.

Bonus question: The longest workout for me by far is day 3. I don’t have a leg press in my garage gym, so I’m doing lunges and the unilateral stuff just takes forever. So: 1. What do you think of the hack to use a landmine setup for hack squats — would that be a good alternative to save a little time?​

This would be fine.

  1. If I stick with lunges, do you intend it to be forward or reverse lunges? Does it matter? (I don’t have a space for walking lunges).​

Doesn’t really matter, although the intent would be for most of the “load” to be distributed through the front leg quads, either way.

  1. I can’t find any BBM-approved tutorials or demos for lunges or split squats — is there anything you can point me to? I’m sure I’m overthinking it, but they feel so awkward, I wind up wasting a lot of time trying to get the feel right.​

I believe we do have some exercise tutorials in the app, although I’m not sure whether you’re using that for your training. I will have to double check to see if we have public links for those.

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As you get more used to the routine, you might find ways to make them more efficient