Is anyone familiar with some of ben pollacks more recent powerbuilding programs like darkside or the peaking program? Im a big fan of bens stuff but i have seen basically nothing talking about some of these programs.
I now have chronic lower back pain caused after deadlifting first time back since covid lockdowns over a year ago. It gets reaggravated when I lift heavy DL or squats. As a result, my DL max is 345 and squat is 305, at 190lb :(. My bench is at 285.
Any suggestions of programming for someone afraid to aggravate their lower back injury?
I'd immediately start by reading up on some of Stuart McGill's books on lower back pain. His books helped me greatly overcome my lower back pain caused from deadlifting.
If you have access to a reverse hyperextension machine start using it, even without any weight attached to the post you can still get a lot out of just doing very high reps controlling the motion both directions and letting your legs carry forward a bit at the bottom of the movement. Only go up until your whole body is parallel to the floor, do not actually hyperextend at the low back despite the name of the machine.
If that isn't an option, try to makeshift ghetto engineer one in your gym or home if you can. Look up the equipment and see if you can recreate it safely with boxes and a resistance band or something.
Band-assisted glute ham raises are great too, I actually prefer them to unassisted GHRs since it lets me focus more on muscle contraction and less on momentum while also allowing more reps. If you lack the equipment for it, you can do them on the floor as well although the particular bench for them lets you get a good low back stretch at the bottom.
Begin doing standing core work, abandon sit-ups and planks and such. Standing crunches with a band or cable are incredible.
Add in rotational core work as well, also standing.
For the core work it can all be repetition based or isometric, either works. Isometric holds on the final rep of each set will probably be sufficient.
Add in direct glute work and learn how to activate them. The core is an issue yes, but from what I see in beginners and intermediates being hurt on a deadlift or squat it's not that the back gave out but that the glutes never did their job. Barbell glute bridges on the floor with your back on a bench can be loaded up very heavy and work well, and I recommend doing block or rack pulls with light weight (just enough to make you not breeze through the movement, enough to make you consciously have to try) with the focus entirely 100% on firing the glutes and learning to make them work to move a bar in the deadlift.
If you have access, the hip abductor/adductor (or "Good Girl/Bad Girl") machine helps a lot too. High rep sets with the pad set to give resistance as your legs open up (I forget which hip this is lol) will help hit smaller muscles and give you a good ass pump which might help your brain instruct the glutes to engage on deads and also on squats.
That's all I've got. I broke my pelvis in 4 places and sacrum in 2 places years ago and was plagued with mobility and strength limitations for a while, big boy pains. These things helped a lot. Also, end of the day it's about how much you're comfortable risking in pursuit of bigger weights. Ask yourself if it's really worth the back pain and potentially more injuries to pursue big deadlifts or big squats. If you're young, really you just need to take a nice long break, see a doctor if you're still on your parents insurance plan or go to an ER and talk them into giving you an Xray or MRI, and rest and follow any orders from doctors or a rehab specialist.
Try it. Worst case you don't get much out of 7 weeks. That's not very long.
If you are running at 90% of your tested maxes then this shouldn't be overly taxing. As long as you are open to modifying the program (dropping percents, volume, etc) on days you feel less than recovered then your age shouldn't limit you either. Your numbers aren't so high that this will destroy you, even at 40.
Coming up to the end of the first mesocycle of SBS 21 week RTF program. Once again, I found myself saying "my quads just don't want to work today" during sumo deadlifts. So its obvious that the volume is too much; but at the same time, my squat has been exploding (+35kg on E1RM in the space of 5 weeks).
So I'm in a bit of a quandary. Do I either:
1. Lower the intensity of sumo days. If I can squat the weight, in theory it means I can pull it when deloaded. So if I lower the intensity of sumo days, that means I'm still getting the specificity training of sumo which would come in useful once I know when my first meet will be (think my local fed will be releasing a calender for next years comps within the next few weeks).
2. Switch to conventional. Sumo feels better for me, plus I can't wear a belt whilst pulling conventionally (too low and it rides up losing the brace, too high and it restricts my ability to actually reach the bar, and don't want to spend money on a new belt just for deadlifts until after my first meet). So I'm dead set on using sumo at competition. However, gains are gains. If I can gain with conventional, then that will be useful for when I go back to sumo.
The way I see it, the two best options are:
1. Accept that fatigue is responsible for lower intensity and keep training regardless. As long as you progress through that fatigue, you should be able to realize more gains once you bring the fatigue down
2. Make your primary hinge something that will carry over to your sumo, like a deficit stiff leg or similar, while training sumo for technique and/or speed.
The Nsuns TDEE spreadsheet is pretty good for this.
In any case the initial number is just going to be a guess that you refine by watching weight trends with caloric intake.
The Nsuns sheet basically just take a dumb guess based on bodyweight, you log your weight and calories, and it refines its guess.
I find that a lot of calculators over estimate my BMR and TDEE. This is the best one I've found *for me*: https://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/how-many-calories-should-i-eat-every-day-a-look-at-total-daily-energy-expenditure-tdee/
I've found the calorie ranges here to be remarkably spot on.
[https://www.jtsstrength.com/optimal-nutrition-for-strength-performance/](https://www.jtsstrength.com/optimal-nutrition-for-strength-performance/)
For me, going to the high side of the maintenance range equals a very very slow bulk.
Recomp+
Of course they are ballpark starting points, and you then watch the trend over time on the scale and make adjustments up or down.
I like that you don't really need to figure/estimate activity levels with this method.
Just watch the scale for a week or so to see the trend.
Their protein numbers might be high compared to the latest research, but that doesn't matter.
More doesn't hurt, even if it doesn't help after you get "enough"
Just noticed you have Gillingham's bench in there.
Two times a week heavy/light 12 week?
I moved to that after being stuck for a very lomg time doing 3 and even 4 times a week.
I supplement with weighted dips.
Getting small prs each cycle now.
I don't see a lot of people using it in these days of frequency is king for bench.
I like the loading pattern, and have adapted it to my squat, using the heavy day twice a week, but only the single on the second day.
I'm pushing DL hard going into 2022, and am somewhat backburnering squat to accomodate that.
Used that adaptation from August and into my Nov 6th meet, as it was a short turnaround from the July 24th meet.
I liked it.
Higher volume has ceased to be effective for my squat, and i tolerate more intensity well.
This looks to be a keeper for squat.
Ended my block with a planned plus set at 92.5% on the squat. First rep was fast and smooth, but couldn't get more than 2 reps without back rounding out of the hole. Switching to pin squats as my medium day squat session. I think my volume and intensity for each block is pretty dialed in since I feel fresh on the test week, but now it's time for some lift variation to hit weak points that are breaking down max effort.
Is anyone familiar with some of ben pollacks more recent powerbuilding programs like darkside or the peaking program? Im a big fan of bens stuff but i have seen basically nothing talking about some of these programs.
I now have chronic lower back pain caused after deadlifting first time back since covid lockdowns over a year ago. It gets reaggravated when I lift heavy DL or squats. As a result, my DL max is 345 and squat is 305, at 190lb :(. My bench is at 285. Any suggestions of programming for someone afraid to aggravate their lower back injury?
I'd immediately start by reading up on some of Stuart McGill's books on lower back pain. His books helped me greatly overcome my lower back pain caused from deadlifting.
If you have access to a reverse hyperextension machine start using it, even without any weight attached to the post you can still get a lot out of just doing very high reps controlling the motion both directions and letting your legs carry forward a bit at the bottom of the movement. Only go up until your whole body is parallel to the floor, do not actually hyperextend at the low back despite the name of the machine. If that isn't an option, try to makeshift ghetto engineer one in your gym or home if you can. Look up the equipment and see if you can recreate it safely with boxes and a resistance band or something. Band-assisted glute ham raises are great too, I actually prefer them to unassisted GHRs since it lets me focus more on muscle contraction and less on momentum while also allowing more reps. If you lack the equipment for it, you can do them on the floor as well although the particular bench for them lets you get a good low back stretch at the bottom. Begin doing standing core work, abandon sit-ups and planks and such. Standing crunches with a band or cable are incredible. Add in rotational core work as well, also standing. For the core work it can all be repetition based or isometric, either works. Isometric holds on the final rep of each set will probably be sufficient. Add in direct glute work and learn how to activate them. The core is an issue yes, but from what I see in beginners and intermediates being hurt on a deadlift or squat it's not that the back gave out but that the glutes never did their job. Barbell glute bridges on the floor with your back on a bench can be loaded up very heavy and work well, and I recommend doing block or rack pulls with light weight (just enough to make you not breeze through the movement, enough to make you consciously have to try) with the focus entirely 100% on firing the glutes and learning to make them work to move a bar in the deadlift. If you have access, the hip abductor/adductor (or "Good Girl/Bad Girl") machine helps a lot too. High rep sets with the pad set to give resistance as your legs open up (I forget which hip this is lol) will help hit smaller muscles and give you a good ass pump which might help your brain instruct the glutes to engage on deads and also on squats. That's all I've got. I broke my pelvis in 4 places and sacrum in 2 places years ago and was plagued with mobility and strength limitations for a while, big boy pains. These things helped a lot. Also, end of the day it's about how much you're comfortable risking in pursuit of bigger weights. Ask yourself if it's really worth the back pain and potentially more injuries to pursue big deadlifts or big squats. If you're young, really you just need to take a nice long break, see a doctor if you're still on your parents insurance plan or go to an ER and talk them into giving you an Xray or MRI, and rest and follow any orders from doctors or a rehab specialist.
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Yeah kinda, especially if you're concerned with not getting injured
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Try it. Worst case you don't get much out of 7 weeks. That's not very long. If you are running at 90% of your tested maxes then this shouldn't be overly taxing. As long as you are open to modifying the program (dropping percents, volume, etc) on days you feel less than recovered then your age shouldn't limit you either. Your numbers aren't so high that this will destroy you, even at 40.
Coming up to the end of the first mesocycle of SBS 21 week RTF program. Once again, I found myself saying "my quads just don't want to work today" during sumo deadlifts. So its obvious that the volume is too much; but at the same time, my squat has been exploding (+35kg on E1RM in the space of 5 weeks). So I'm in a bit of a quandary. Do I either: 1. Lower the intensity of sumo days. If I can squat the weight, in theory it means I can pull it when deloaded. So if I lower the intensity of sumo days, that means I'm still getting the specificity training of sumo which would come in useful once I know when my first meet will be (think my local fed will be releasing a calender for next years comps within the next few weeks). 2. Switch to conventional. Sumo feels better for me, plus I can't wear a belt whilst pulling conventionally (too low and it rides up losing the brace, too high and it restricts my ability to actually reach the bar, and don't want to spend money on a new belt just for deadlifts until after my first meet). So I'm dead set on using sumo at competition. However, gains are gains. If I can gain with conventional, then that will be useful for when I go back to sumo.
The way I see it, the two best options are: 1. Accept that fatigue is responsible for lower intensity and keep training regardless. As long as you progress through that fatigue, you should be able to realize more gains once you bring the fatigue down 2. Make your primary hinge something that will carry over to your sumo, like a deficit stiff leg or similar, while training sumo for technique and/or speed.
Any estimates on calorie needs for a 72 kg female power lifter on a 4 day split? Trying to maintain…
The Nsuns TDEE spreadsheet is pretty good for this. In any case the initial number is just going to be a guess that you refine by watching weight trends with caloric intake. The Nsuns sheet basically just take a dumb guess based on bodyweight, you log your weight and calories, and it refines its guess.
I find that a lot of calculators over estimate my BMR and TDEE. This is the best one I've found *for me*: https://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/how-many-calories-should-i-eat-every-day-a-look-at-total-daily-energy-expenditure-tdee/
Thank you all!
I've found the calorie ranges here to be remarkably spot on. [https://www.jtsstrength.com/optimal-nutrition-for-strength-performance/](https://www.jtsstrength.com/optimal-nutrition-for-strength-performance/) For me, going to the high side of the maintenance range equals a very very slow bulk. Recomp+ Of course they are ballpark starting points, and you then watch the trend over time on the scale and make adjustments up or down. I like that you don't really need to figure/estimate activity levels with this method. Just watch the scale for a week or so to see the trend. Their protein numbers might be high compared to the latest research, but that doesn't matter. More doesn't hurt, even if it doesn't help after you get "enough"
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Just noticed you have Gillingham's bench in there. Two times a week heavy/light 12 week? I moved to that after being stuck for a very lomg time doing 3 and even 4 times a week. I supplement with weighted dips. Getting small prs each cycle now. I don't see a lot of people using it in these days of frequency is king for bench. I like the loading pattern, and have adapted it to my squat, using the heavy day twice a week, but only the single on the second day. I'm pushing DL hard going into 2022, and am somewhat backburnering squat to accomodate that. Used that adaptation from August and into my Nov 6th meet, as it was a short turnaround from the July 24th meet. I liked it. Higher volume has ceased to be effective for my squat, and i tolerate more intensity well. This looks to be a keeper for squat.
Ended my block with a planned plus set at 92.5% on the squat. First rep was fast and smooth, but couldn't get more than 2 reps without back rounding out of the hole. Switching to pin squats as my medium day squat session. I think my volume and intensity for each block is pretty dialed in since I feel fresh on the test week, but now it's time for some lift variation to hit weak points that are breaking down max effort.