I am on a phone so this may look weird as I hardly ever post this way.

The deadlift plan looks fine. For your maxout Ash means you should test your max lift. You are basically going for a PR.

Use the warmup suggestions in the singles scene and I also have a more comprehensive how to warm up article…use the search to find it.

You will need to make a roundabout estimate of what you think your max will be and acclimate toward that. Then as you build up you will get a better idea of what you will be able to do. If you work up and try a weight that you fail at, just take a good rest and try a lesser weight.

I'll discuss the rest later.

Eric, you dont need to apologize for any thing..what ever you guys have done is more than anyone could have done…Thanks.

got the point here. Only query I have is that, what should be the height of box if I use here (in case I do box squats). Should it be my thighs below parallel or just parallel shall work? Steppers were there in the earlier gym but here they have only benches which almost should be parallel I suppose. I will check on this today. Another thing I need to learn is back squatting now, LOL, I haven’t done them for months now. Form needs to be checked here.

Any height is fine for now. You don't have to go deep or anything. Around parallel would be best.

Its ok with me. Current SDT will continue or do I need to reset BV a little lower (little less than BVX5X3)?

No need to reset the BV and do a whole new cycle.

Only issue is pushups. I hope my wrists don’t trouble me since I have to use them in FSQ and OHSQ also. Lets see.

Let us see what happens. My wrists hurt sometimes too. But, this pain is just temporary. It goes away.

Saturday: DL, BSQ
Sunday: Off
Monday: OHP, Rows
Tuesday: FSQ
Wednesday: Off
Thursday: OHSQ, Pullups.

Seems ok?

Seems fine. Remember: volume on most things is TOTALLY up to you so you have to try to balance everything. Start off REAL conservative and build on that. You don't even need to "progress" actively on everything. For example, you could just stick to 2 sets of Overhead Squats and that is IT.

Eric is going to look at this in a bit, so don't finalize anything.

Yeah, I think press on same day as bench variant would be better for recovery. I'll do that.

And that's what I'll do with the DL. Thanks again.

This personal stuff needs to stay out of the forum and don't tell me this isn't crap from the gym.

If it seems like gym/personal things, then I'm sorry but its possible that your seeing only one side of this. I haven't been in the gym in the past month, I did meet Ativ, when I had come to pick up some stuff from the gym. I just renewed my membership today. Plus, I've not been in touch with any of these guys, cause I've been bogged down with major work + illness.

It seems to me like a number of people have a problem with a number of other people, Dev. I see aggression here. "Deal with me" is a challenge, not an invitation to a dialogue. Please cool your jets.

What seems like aggression to you, is actually my frustration. People say one things here & something else in person. Hence, I'm not challenging anyone, its isn't 'deal with me' as much as it is be 'frank with me' in person.

All this gym GUS crew crap has gotten out of hand because it seems that people want to be seen as associated with GUS without answering to me.

I'm always been answerable. Besides, I don't think there is GUS crew around here as much as a bunch of members.

Well, it doesn't work that way. People want to be seen as representing me, which is not my wish, they will damn sure behave, in that capacity, as I say they should. I am sick of all this and it is going to stop. Those GUS t-shirts were promotional, not an invitation for people to strut their stuff and get their heads all up in their own ass.

Well, I'm happy if given the oppurtunity to wear a GUS Tshirt. If I have made any mistakes, then I hold my self accountable.

What are you trying to say?

This is an example. He's not TRYING to say anything. He's saying it. There is not conspiracy at work. You misapplied and misunderstood SDT. That's fine because you progressed very well anyway.

I asked him what he meant by that because I NEVER denied making a mistake with SDT (Nevermind the fact that while I was doing it, it was not pointed out to me as wrong.till I saw a post of yours & asked whether what I was doing on it made sense or not.) or any other part of my training, when it is pointed out to me or when I show my training & ask whether I'm making a mistake.

But you made a mistake and taught it wrong to people. Or at least one person. You can be honest and live up to you mistake, or can't you? Don't try to hide because I am aware of it and Ashiem is aware of it yet for some reason you needed to take his comment as a personal affront against you..well, he doesn't screw up SDT.

I have taught it wrong(nevermind whether they progressed or not) & thats what I feel bad about, I want to teach it the right way. However, I asked what he meant by bringing that up, since the post was concerning Ativ's frequent plan changes. Since, whenever I considered a change to my own plan & ran it by Asheim, whether it was shot down positively (with an explanation) or negatively( with his 'are you retarded' statement) I've continued wiht it out of respect for his knowledge, experience & the fact that he was choosing to help me & I did not throw a hissy fit & stomp around like an impetuous child, which is why when I commented to Ativ, I didn't understand why Asheim gave me the SDT mistake response.

You are coming off as if you are someone who has been doing this for 20 years.

I'm sorry if it seems that way, but it was never my intention.

I am looking for 0.5 kgs plates now and ask a person to check for me. If he gets them then it is superb or else I have got some hold on 0.5 kgs weights used in weighing scales in grocery store. I will put them in a plastic bag and tie them up to the rod.

SET FOR QVT AND MAXES NOW….

Now we'll see if I can remember not to just type the - -, but use @@ instead. And I just noticed that the double dash turns into an m dash—it's only when you use 2 of them in the same paragraph that you get strikethroughs! Life is hard, and then you die.

I think you should let go of the m dash and embrace the triple period…it rules!

About the three pressing movements: press, because I don't want to completely detrain it.

Oh! Well assuming you just want to maintain maximal ability, throw it in right before your bench variant on the last day. Warm up properly and work up to a heavy triple, double, or single. Then do your bench variant. Since that is a "volume" day you'll simply be maintaining and getting more volume on "press" as a whole and it will be more efficient. You don't even have to do the press maintenance every single week. That's what I would do.

The last thing is to go back to the question of what sort of progression to move to next on DL. Straight SDT? Or something else?

I actually had thought we had worked this out. My usual approach, from what you are doing, would be for you to simply bridge the "honeymoonish" thing into a base volume, from witch you do a little SDT. So what you'd want to do is take those sets that should be right now tending to 3 or less, and start tending toward three or more. Then, you should settle on a base volume by working up to sets of say, 4 to 5, that you can do for around 3 sets. This should simply "fall out" of your training as you will quickly find that weight where you can do this consistently.

Ok, this time around I'll move press to d3, add DB press to d4, and try to pay attention to the effects of the additional volume. If it's a problem, I'll back off.

About the three pressing movements: press, because I don't want to completely detrain it. At some point in the future I want to give it higher priority again, but I know that there are some related issues that I'll have to work on then, and I don't feel I have time for them right now. So I want to keep it active, but more maintenance. Two bench presses, because, well, ya know, bro, a man's just gotta bench. Ya gotta keep the young guys in their place. I have a 22 year old son who lifts. I have a poorly-suppressed competitive side, and there's a guy here who is a year younger than me, with an almost-equal bench, and what I view as inefficient training practices (benches almost every day, and it's almost the only exercise he does), so I'd like to keep ahead of him while training smarter. I like to bench. Ok, none of those are particularly good reasons, but they are MY reasons! :) I have used a similar schedule (4 "rolling" workouts, training 3 days per week) quite a bit, and I find that I do better benching twice in this time.

Right now, DL is my first priority, and bench and squat and chins are "second tier" lifts, with press on maintenance. Squatting once in the microcycle seems to be plenty for me. Bench and chins seem to work better done twice.

The last thing is to go back to the question of what sort of progression to move to next on DL. Straight SDT? Or something else?

Let me put this another way. When I am dealing with somebody and I am being very forthright and blunt with them, it really does not help when everybody else piles on. If I want people to lay off, they better damn sure lay off. This personal stuff needs to stay out of the forum and don't tell me this isn't crap from the gym. All this gym GUS crew crap has gotten out of hand because it seems that people want to be seen as associated with GUS without answering to me. Well, it doesn't work that way. People want to be seen as representing me, which is not my wish, they will damn sure behave, in that capacity, as I say they should. I am sick of all this and it is going to stop. Those GUS t-shirts were promotional, not an invitation for people to strut their stuff and get their heads all up in their own ass.

After doing SDT for over a year and dropping advice to others, Debraj: you still don't know as much as you thought you did about SDT but you were still helped and all your questions were answered, right?

What are you trying to say?

This is an example. He's not TRYING to say anything. He's saying it. There is not conspiracy at work. You misapplied and misunderstood SDT. That's fine because you progressed very well anyway. But you made a mistake and taught it wrong to people. Or at least one person. You can be honest and live up to you mistake, or can't you? Don't try to hide because I am aware of it and Ashiem is aware of it yet for some reason you needed to take his comment as a personal affront against you..well, he doesn't screw up SDT. How many times do I correct him per week and how many times have I brought up examples of mistakes he's made to make a point to him? He doesn't get upset, he accepts it and learns from it. Honesty and openness goes a long way in any relationship.

You are coming off as if you are someone who has been doing this for 20 years.

I don't think this is true. I think he is just impatient and perhaps has some unrealistic expectations plus some misinformation which has been ingrained in him. All that makes for a bad mixed cup.

I suppose so.

But, he is entitled to making mistakes and I do not want this to be seen as "Do everything the GUS way".

Its not about doing things the GUS way. ITs' about doing things that to me seem to be in conflict with the goal of Strength training.

After doing SDT for over a year and dropping advice to others, Debraj: you still don't know as much as you thought you did about SDT but you were still helped and all your questions were answered, right?

What are you trying to say?

Same rules apply to Ativ as well: he can make his mistakes and try and experiment using whatever combination of thoughts he has about training. There is no harm in him doing that and as Eric has also stated: he might just do well using his own approach.Oh my my - I am sorry master - I didn't know I was not allowed to use my own brain.

When have I said this????

Whilst I may not know as much as Ashiem and Eric do - It does not mean that I will not use my own brain - What is the purpose then ? If I wanted to just follow something for the heck of it - I would go do any readymade routine out there.

So if you're going to give me that attitude - which hints strongly of a superiority complex (This is specifically directed to Devraj and no one else)

I think your misunderstanding me, I said go ahead & do the program that your planning. You keep throwing out ideas, why don't you just go do them, wheres the superiority complex in that?

Then I do not need your help my friend.. I won't die without you and just for the record I won't die if no one here helped me - But that DOES NOT mean that I do not appreciate everyone's efforts here.

If you want to help - then do so, If not - then its better you keep your mouth shut instead of speaking so negatively.

I'll help everyone on the site. If you don't want my help in person, then don't ask for my help next time in teh gym.

Yeah, I don't know if any of this is a reaction to what I said or what have you. If it is a reaction to my getting on to Ativ, I want to say, once again, if I start giving somebody "tough love" I don't need everybody else to pile on. Many times, I am simply prodding them.

I'm not piling on to your tough love bandwagon. I just decided to be totally honest in my last post. Those are my views & I stand by them. Although I wasn't comfortable with this statement of Ativ's:

I am thinking / willing to do 4-6 weeks of SDT before embarking upon the below

ATiv, look back at your log since you started at GUS, how many times have you changed your plan & what have you learned from them & what have you got to show for it in terms of performance improvement? How long have you stuck with each before you decided to change again?

I'm trying to understand what not working for you, that you have to constantly keep changing your plan?

Putting a little thought into your training, on an ongoing basis, is one thing. Making new templates every time things aren't quite to your satisfaction, is another. You have to live with something and tweak it a while in order to LEARN. Think of it this way. Say you were learning to play piano and you have this beginning primer for piano. You get through a few pages and someone takes away that book and gives you another, different primer in a different format. You'd be be almost back to square one, no? Well, this is not as extreme, but it is similar.

This is what I was trying to point out as well.

Anyway - I am not going to wash my dirty laundry on your forum - But I hope you understand that I had to make that post.

Again I also have to make this post. ATiv if you have a probelm with me, then so be it. But, that is not going to continue here. You can talk to me in person.

As of now - I am late for training, over and out .

Anyway - I am not going to wash my dirty laundry on your forum - But I hope you understand that I had to make that post. I will brainstorm a bit and see what my next step is - Your Piano analogy struck me well :)

To be clear I never complained about you making the post. I simply responded to the post in a way you didn't exactly like. I don't always respond in ways people like, but it's not to express anger, although I am as prone to irritation as the next guy…instead it is to prod the person into snapping out of the sense of almost "panic" I see sometimes. So much of this is mental. Much more than you know yet. I'm not saying you were out on a ledge, but you were letting it all get you a bit over-excited. That actually builds on any negative impressions you have about your training. Everybody has to learn to not get too caught up in it all. It's the way your respond to stress…realize that the training is one stress, a physical one, and the cognitive anxiety from all the cross-talk in your head is another. You react to all of it and it all builds up to make things seem more of an emergency than they really are, and when you feel that way you can't think dispassionately and logically about it all. Since I find it to be very patronizing and disrespectful to tell people to "chill" out, I sometimes simply explain things in a way that will provoke them into snapping out of it.

If you haven't read the getting in the zone series yet, I'd recommend it, especially the part about relaxation.

Anyway - I am not going to wash my dirty laundry on your forum - But I hope you understand that I had to make that post. I will brainstorm a bit and see what my next step is - Your Piano analogy struck me well :)

But there may have been a misunderstanding of what I was saying. I never said that Ativ should not think for himself. I basically said that he shouldn't throw out the baby with the bath water. Putting a little thought into your training, on an ongoing basis, is one thing. Making new templates every time things aren't quite to your satisfaction, is another. You have to live with something and tweak it a while in order to LEARN. Think of it this way. Say you were learning to play piano and you have this beginning primer for piano. You get through a few pages and someone takes away that book and gives you another, different primer in a different format. You'd be be almost back to square one, no? Well, this is not as extreme, but it is similar.

Your obviously under the impression that you no more about training than all of us combined (you can try denying it but, your actions have been to the contrary).

Oh my my - I am sorry master - I didn't know I was not allowed to use my own brain.

Whilst I may not know as much as Ashiem and Eric do - It does not mean that I will not use my own brain - What is the purpose then ? If I wanted to just follow something for the heck of it - I would go do any readymade routine out there.

So if you're going to give me that attitude - which hints strongly of a superiority complex (This is specifically directed to Devraj and no one else) - Then I do not need your help my friend.. I won't die without you and just for the record I won't die if no one here helped me - But that DOES NOT mean that I do not appreciate everyone's efforts here.

If you want to help - then do so, If not - then its better you keep your mouth shut instead of speaking so negatively.

Same rules apply to Ativ as well: he can make his mistakes and try and experiment using whatever combination of thoughts he has about training. There is no harm in him doing that and as Eric has also stated: he might just do well using his own approach.

Thank you Ashiem.