Bulgarian Method/HIHF training
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Day 3 and feeling good. Obviously I'm only at 60% of my 1RM, but its still been a lot of reps. I might do 5 days this week and next while the weight still isn't all that much and then for week 3 on go 4 days and see how it feels.
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Week 1 finished and while my chest is wondering WTF I'm doing a little bit, barely sore at all and it wasn't interfering with my other lifting or anything else.
Week 1 totals: 5 days of 4x5 @ 60% 1RM (125lbs.... LOL ) 1 day of close grip bench as that was my auxiliary lift for the day.
Monday starts at least 5 days of 3x4 @ 70%.
It turns out I'm going to start the daily min/maxes the week everything else will be in deload so that actually works out pretty good.
Its still very early, but I'm excited to see how this goes. lol0 -
Resurrecting this for anyone who might care to see how it goes for me.
After skipping last week, er I mean, taking a rest week, finally got to the meat of the program. Since I'm going on vacation in 6 weeks I've decided I'm going to start doing this for my squats too. We'll see how it goes.
Day 1: warmed up, worked up to 165x5, things felt good, did 175x3 and called it a day. Did something to my elbow when I was roofing my garage a couple weeks back and I definitely don't want to overdo it. We'll what tomorrow brings.0 -
I'm taking a slow and steady approach to my lifting. I'm in my mid 30s and only a couple years in and while I want GAINZ even more important is minimizing risk of injury. I've gotten pretty decent at listening to my body (usually) so I'll try to focus on recovery for sure.
I can imagine it would be difficult to do running a deficit. I'm currently running a slight deficit (maybe 1500-2000 calories/week) but not being super strict about it. If it seems I need to forego that for a bit, well, eating more is never a problem for me. lol
I don't think it'll be a big issue though as I'm only adding the bench as a block instead of attempting a full program in this manner.
Really glad to hear from some of you guy's who run or have something at least similar.
Just offering a opinion/observation based on the statement of "only a couple of years in", but if you've been doing the competition lift for a long time and it's been somewhat stagnant, have you looked into running a few meso-cycles with a bench variant?
Maybe doing wide grip bench for a few weeks if more focus on chest is needed, or close grip bench if more tricep focus is needed, or inclines if upper chest is weak, etc... This allows you to up frequency and recovery since you are having to deal with less weight comparatively from the main competition lift and helps with strengthening weaker musculature since you are able to "focus" the lift towards those muscles that might be problematic for you.
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Just offering a opinion/observation based on the statement of "only a couple of years in", but if you've been doing the competition lift for a long time and it's been somewhat stagnant, have you looked into running a few meso-cycles with a bench variant?
Maybe doing wide grip bench for a few weeks if more focus on chest is needed, or close grip bench if more tricep focus is needed, or inclines if upper chest is weak, etc... This allows you to up frequency and recovery since you are having to deal with less weight comparatively from the main competition lift and helps with strengthening weaker musculature since you are able to "focus" the lift towards those muscles that might be problematic for you.
Thanks for the input! Some of this is strength related, but a lot of it is mental when it comes to my bench. The purpose of doing this is to force myself to hit it daily for a few weeks to change my mindset about it. Instead of dreading bench day, every day is bench day, so its either suck it up and go for it or dread going to the gym. I still love going to the gym so its working so far.
When I get back to working my regular program I'm going to make sure I switch in more dumbbell work for my chest for sure. My regular program I do regular "wide grip" (though my grip isn't very wide) once a week and a bench variant once a week. I'd been doing close grip for a good while mostly because I liked how it was helping my triceps get bigger. But in doing that I was neglecting spending any time with dumbbells, either incline or flat because I don't like them as much. lol
I agree they will help with the physical side once I'm through beating the mental blocks out of myself.
As to how today went, missed out on about 45 minutes sleep last night but still felt pretty good.
Started with squatting, 3x4 @ 70% to ease myself into it.
Worked up to a couple of singles at 185, second was slower than the first by a noticeable margin so called it a day after that.
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Yeah I wouldn't mind following your progress as I have limited familiarity with the Bulgarian method. If you would included the training variables with your posts (sets/reps/intensity) and anything else you feel relevant to the programming that would be great. Thanks!!0
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Sam_I_Am77 wrote: »Yeah I wouldn't mind following your progress as I have limited familiarity with the Bulgarian method. If you would included the training variables with your posts (sets/reps/intensity) and anything else you feel relevant to the programming that would be great. Thanks!!
I can do that. I'll start with this week as its my first full week after the ramp up period for bench and I just decided to start it with squats this week too.
Current mental daily min on bench is 165x3. I know I can nail that no matter what. This week seems to be going well so I think my mental daily min is going to be going up a little bit going forward.
Monday 12/28- Felt good. Well rested.
Squat- Worked up to a 275 squat, new PR for me. Tried 285, wasn't happening. Still satisfied.
Bench:
45x20 (to warm the muscles up some more)
115x12 (warm up with light load)
135x10
155x7
165x3
175x3
185x3
accessory-pullups, seated wide grip rows, inclide DB press, & ab work
Tuesday 12/29- Shorted myself an hour of sleep, still felt decent
Squat:
135x10
155x10
185x6
3-195x4
Bench:
Warmups (I warm up the same daily, not gonna repeat it every time
135x10
155x6
165x3
175x2
185x1
accessory-dips, pullups, standing lat pulldowns, ab work
Wednesday 12/30 Felt good, slept great, bit sore, but not bad.
Squat: Replaced squatting with testing my DL max. Got to 355. Broke the ground with 375 but bailed. Got 365 almost to knees and bailed. Possibly this wasn't the wisest time to try it but hell, still 20lbs more than I'd ever done so it works.
Bench:
Warmups
135x10
155x7
165x5
175x3
2-185x1
185x2
Accessory- pendlay rows, ab work
Thursday 12/31 Felt good, decent sleep, a bit sore, but worked it out warming up
Squat:
135x10
155x10
175x7
185x5
3-195x4
Bench: Bit tired here today. Bar got slower on 2nd 175 so I just kept things there.
135x10
155x7
165x4
3-175x2
accessory- face pulls, db shoulder press, ab work
So far so good. I know in my OP I said I was only going to be using the bench as a block for now, but I'm actually going to this program full time for the next 6 weeks until I go on vacation.
This program is forcing me to not slack on my mobility work to not be stiff and sore. Could I do more? Sure! And I'm going to try and keep incorporating more, but its a start and its good for me.0 -
Sam_I_Am77 wrote: »Yeah I wouldn't mind following your progress as I have limited familiarity with the Bulgarian method. If you would included the training variables with your posts (sets/reps/intensity) and anything else you feel relevant to the programming that would be great. Thanks!!
I can do that. I'll start with this week as its my first full week after the ramp up period for bench and I just decided to start it with squats this week too.
Current mental daily min on bench is 165x3. I know I can nail that no matter what. This week seems to be going well so I think my mental daily min is going to be going up a little bit going forward.
Monday 12/28- Felt good. Well rested.
Squat- Worked up to a 275 squat, new PR for me. Tried 285, wasn't happening. Still satisfied.
Bench:
45x20 (to warm the muscles up some more)
115x12 (warm up with light load)
135x10
155x7
165x3
175x3
185x3
accessory-pullups, seated wide grip rows, inclide DB press, & ab work
Tuesday 12/29- Shorted myself an hour of sleep, still felt decent
Squat:
135x10
155x10
185x6
3-195x4
Bench:
Warmups (I warm up the same daily, not gonna repeat it every time
135x10
155x6
165x3
175x2
185x1
accessory-dips, pullups, standing lat pulldowns, ab work
Wednesday 12/30 Felt good, slept great, bit sore, but not bad.
Squat: Replaced squatting with testing my DL max. Got to 355. Broke the ground with 375 but bailed. Got 365 almost to knees and bailed. Possibly this wasn't the wisest time to try it but hell, still 20lbs more than I'd ever done so it works.
Bench:
Warmups
135x10
155x7
165x5
175x3
2-185x1
185x2
Accessory- pendlay rows, ab work
Thursday 12/31 Felt good, decent sleep, a bit sore, but worked it out warming up
Squat:
135x10
155x10
175x7
185x5
3-195x4
Bench: Bit tired here today. Bar got slower on 2nd 175 so I just kept things there.
135x10
155x7
165x4
3-175x2
accessory- face pulls, db shoulder press, ab work
So far so good. I know in my OP I said I was only going to be using the bench as a block for now, but I'm actually going to this program full time for the next 6 weeks until I go on vacation.
This program is forcing me to not slack on my mobility work to not be stiff and sore. Could I do more? Sure! And I'm going to try and keep incorporating more, but its a start and its good for me.
I will say I am not familiar with the Bulgarian method, but based on how I am reading this with your stats (correct me if I'm wrong)...
Monday - squat heavy, bench heavy
Tuesday - squat light, bench heavy
Wednesday - deadlift heavy, bench heavy
Thursday - squat light, bench heavy
Do you see the problem? When are you letting yourself recover some from benching heavy for the next workout except for Fr-Sun? You are giving yourself maybe just the once to recover per week to adapt to maybe make some gains for Monday's session, but then no chance until the following Monday. Why not incorporate some medium and light work days to help mitigate fatigue better? This allows you to still maintain frequency if needed (4 days might be a little too much for bench anyway, but that's another possible discussion).
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Sam_I_Am77 wrote: »Yeah I wouldn't mind following your progress as I have limited familiarity with the Bulgarian method. If you would included the training variables with your posts (sets/reps/intensity) and anything else you feel relevant to the programming that would be great. Thanks!!
I can do that. I'll start with this week as its my first full week after the ramp up period for bench and I just decided to start it with squats this week too.
Current mental daily min on bench is 165x3. I know I can nail that no matter what. This week seems to be going well so I think my mental daily min is going to be going up a little bit going forward.
Monday 12/28- Felt good. Well rested.
Squat- Worked up to a 275 squat, new PR for me. Tried 285, wasn't happening. Still satisfied.
Bench:
45x20 (to warm the muscles up some more)
115x12 (warm up with light load)
135x10
155x7
165x3
175x3
185x3
accessory-pullups, seated wide grip rows, inclide DB press, & ab work
Tuesday 12/29- Shorted myself an hour of sleep, still felt decent
Squat:
135x10
155x10
185x6
3-195x4
Bench:
Warmups (I warm up the same daily, not gonna repeat it every time
135x10
155x6
165x3
175x2
185x1
accessory-dips, pullups, standing lat pulldowns, ab work
Wednesday 12/30 Felt good, slept great, bit sore, but not bad.
Squat: Replaced squatting with testing my DL max. Got to 355. Broke the ground with 375 but bailed. Got 365 almost to knees and bailed. Possibly this wasn't the wisest time to try it but hell, still 20lbs more than I'd ever done so it works.
Bench:
Warmups
135x10
155x7
165x5
175x3
2-185x1
185x2
Accessory- pendlay rows, ab work
Thursday 12/31 Felt good, decent sleep, a bit sore, but worked it out warming up
Squat:
135x10
155x10
175x7
185x5
3-195x4
Bench: Bit tired here today. Bar got slower on 2nd 175 so I just kept things there.
135x10
155x7
165x4
3-175x2
accessory- face pulls, db shoulder press, ab work
So far so good. I know in my OP I said I was only going to be using the bench as a block for now, but I'm actually going to this program full time for the next 6 weeks until I go on vacation.
This program is forcing me to not slack on my mobility work to not be stiff and sore. Could I do more? Sure! And I'm going to try and keep incorporating more, but its a start and its good for me.
I will say I am not familiar with the Bulgarian method, but based on how I am reading this with your stats (correct me if I'm wrong)...
Monday - squat heavy, bench heavy
Tuesday - squat light, bench heavy
Wednesday - deadlift heavy, bench heavy
Thursday - squat light, bench heavy
Do you see the problem? When are you letting yourself recover some from benching heavy for the next workout except for Fr-Sun? You are giving yourself maybe just the once to recover per week to adapt to maybe make some gains for Monday's session, but then no chance until the following Monday. Why not incorporate some medium and light work days to help mitigate fatigue better? This allows you to still maintain frequency if needed (4 days might be a little too much for bench anyway, but that's another possible discussion).
I've got to say I agree with this. I am a bencher. It's what I do. I bench anywhere between 3-5 days a week.
But, with the exception of when I'm peaking up for a competition, I only bench heavy maybe once or twice a week. My peaking for Nationals that I start on Monday is so intense bench wise that we are actually dropping my squat and dead down to 40% so that my nervous system can cope with the load.
You may feel physically fine, and be able to cope at least short term. But you are placing quite the load on your nervous system.
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Thanks for the concern folks and I do understand what you are saying about the load on my central nervous system. I've cut way back on my accessory work while doing this approach and while they were always focusing on hypertrophy anyway, its still a lot less things like leg press & ft squats I won't be doing for a few weeks.
I'm trying to listen to my body, not get into a YOLO mentality, and rest properly. This is an experiment honestly. An approximately 6 week experiment.
So far I feel no ill effects but I will adjust as needed and if in a couple of weeks I feel like absolute crap, well, that'll be a good sign this isn't working for me.Monday - squat heavy, bench heavy
Tuesday - squat light, bench heavy
Wednesday - deadlift heavy, bench heavy
Thursday - squat light, bench heavy
*snipped good stuff about how this would be a pretty terrible idea*
Quick bit of clarification. This week was not a normal week. I attempted two true maxes, my squat on monday & DL on Wednesday. That isn't going to be happening again for a good bit and next time I try I'm going to make sure its on a deload week. lol
Also the squatting is thrown off a bit because I'm in the ramp up period to squatting like I bench.
Typically Wednesday will still be DL day, but it'll be 5-10 singles at a moderately heavy weight just to keep my body used to DLing.
Today I stepped up to the next rung on my squatting and plan to be in full mode by Thursday of this week.
Saturday 1/2 - Felt good, got plenty of sleep, didn't work out yesterday and was lazy all day and ate too much.
Squat:
135x10
155x10
185x10
205x6
225x2
225x2
Bench:
135x10
155x8
165x5
175x3
185x2
2-195x1* Both slower, but steady with good form. Second was a bit closer to grind than I want to be.
accessory- pullups, t-bar row, db shoulder press, wide grip lat pulldowns
*The 2 195 singles prove to me that most of my issues with bench are mental and that if nothing else, this is helping me get my mindset right. Also, its helping me focus on my breathing while benching, to keep the bar moving fast up, and to keep my form proper every single lift.
Thanks for checking in on my adventure! I'll keep letting everyone know how it goes.
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Happy Monday! Sundays are rest days for me except occasionally some cardio. Very occasionally.
Monday 1/4- Felt good. Bit groggy at first but after I got into my routine it was all good. MP3 player died halfway through benching so I wasn't getting any oomph from my music. lol
Squat:
135x10
155x10
185x8
205x6
2-225x2
Bench:
135x10
155x8
165x5
175x3
185x2*
175x3
*Wasn't quite prepared for it after I lifted off so it felt heavy & moved slow. Breathing was off so I went back and did another set at 175 which went pretty easy.
accessories: facepulls, wide grip cable row, ab work
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GuitarJerry wrote: »Thanks for sharing. Just commenting for future reference. I found this link, is this what you are referring to? http://www.jmaxfitness.com/blog/daily-undulating-periodization/
The answer is probably yes, but can you do this 3 days a week?
Somehow I missed this post @GuitarJerry! I'm not sure about the link, but I'm guessing its what @LolBroScience is referring to. I'm going to give it a read through as glancing at it, it looks interesting.
What I'm doing is this: http://www.strengtheory.com/bulgarian-manual/
I'm in no way affiliated with Greg and get nothing if you download it. I can also safely say he doesn't spam you constantly with stuff if you give him your email to download it.
Hmmm. I see he's now selling a Bulgarian bundle for $10 I might have to snag that.0 -
GuitarJerry wrote: »Thanks for sharing. Just commenting for future reference. I found this link, is this what you are referring to? http://www.jmaxfitness.com/blog/daily-undulating-periodization/
The answer is probably yes, but can you do this 3 days a week?
Somehow I missed this post @GuitarJerry! I'm not sure about the link, but I'm guessing its what @LolBroScience is referring to. I'm going to give it a read through as glancing at it, it looks interesting.
What I'm doing is this: http://www.strengtheory.com/bulgarian-manual/
I'm in no way affiliated with Greg and get nothing if you download it. I can also safely say he doesn't spam you constantly with stuff if you give him your email to download it.
Hmmm. I see he's now selling a Bulgarian bundle for $10 I might have to snag that.
I've run both DUP & Bulgarian (Knuckols/Omar one specifically). They can overlap in some aspects depending on how you would go about setting up the programming, but there are also differences.
The JMAX site is a really basic template for DUP... if you want to program your own stuff then look up Dr. Mike Zourdous DUP for more in depth information on the subject.0 -
Cool, thanks!0
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It's Tuesday which means its squat and bench day! LOL I crack myself up. (I'll show myself out now...)
Squat:
135x10
155x10
185x8
205x6
225x2
225x2
Bench:
135x10
155x8
165x5
175x3
185x2
2-190x1
Accessory work: zuttman curls, pull ups, bent over db flyes, 1 arm db rows.
Feeling good. The hamstring in my left leg is a bit sore where it attaches to the knee. That's the leg I hurt slipping on the ice last winter so I'm just gonna keep an eye on it and make sure I keep doing plenty of mobility work and foam rolling.0 -
Happy Hump Day!
Deadlift:
185x10
225x7
6-255x1
Squat:
135x10
155x10
185x8
205x5
225x2
225x2
Bench:
135x10
155x7
165x5
170x3
175x3
180x2
185x1
190x1
195x1
Accessory work: hanging leg raises, various arm & shoulder warmup stuff
Feeling good. Planning on attempting daily min/max with squatting starting tomorrow. I might DL 2x a week, but not sure.
Looking over the program again last night I kinda realized on my bench I was jumping up my "heavier" weights too quickly. Instead of 165-175-185, I added in 170 & 180 and don't feel noticeably worse for the wear. Sure I did one less rep of 185 than I did yesterday, but I did more reps overall for the day.
Anyway, I'm feeling good, better than I expected and while there is some soreness, its actually not bad at all. This is also forcing me to do more mobility work on my hips & legs which is something I've been needing to do but neglecting. I'm never going to be the most mobile/flexible person, but if I want to keep lifting heavier I need to be more than I am and its just something that's good for me anyway.
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Happy Hump Day!
Deadlift:
185x10
225x7
6-255x1
Squat:
135x10
155x10
185x8
205x5
225x2
225x2
Bench:
135x10
155x7
165x5
170x3
175x3
180x2
185x1
190x1
195x1
Accessory work: hanging leg raises, various arm & shoulder warmup stuff
Feeling good. Planning on attempting daily min/max with squatting starting tomorrow. I might DL 2x a week, but not sure.
Looking over the program again last night I kinda realized on my bench I was jumping up my "heavier" weights too quickly. Instead of 165-175-185, I added in 170 & 180 and don't feel noticeably worse for the wear. Sure I did one less rep of 185 than I did yesterday, but I did more reps overall for the day.
Anyway, I'm feeling good, better than I expected and while there is some soreness, its actually not bad at all. This is also forcing me to do more mobility work on my hips & legs which is something I've been needing to do but neglecting. I'm never going to be the most mobile/flexible person, but if I want to keep lifting heavier I need to be more than I am and its just something that's good for me anyway.
Did you write the exercises in order performed? You must be an animal to have the energy to squat and bench after you deadlift. What intensities were used for the couple top-sets?0 -
Sam_I_Am77 wrote: »
Did you write the exercises in order performed? You must be an animal to have the energy to squat and bench after you deadlift. What intensities were used for the couple top-sets?
Well, I did the DLs in between the squat sets which I'm kinda used to as during my regular routine I'm usual alternating squatting with my DL auxiliary & DLing with my squat auxiliary.
DL-255 is about 65-70% 1rm. not super taxing
Squat- 225 ~80% 1rm
Bench- 195 ~ 95% of known 1rm But I haven't maxed bench in 4 months and even then I just stopped at 205 to break the 200 barrier mentally.
My bench max is higher than 205 now if I'm getting to 90-95% multiple times a week without completely dying. lol
Honestly, I'm surprised how good I feel. I'm not used to squatting this often. My lower back muscles are a bit tight, but I'm working them out just like I have my hip flexors, i-bands, and hamstrings.
So there's a bit of muscle soreness, but not brutal fatigue. And the soreness is worked out pretty well through mobility work and warming up.
I could see how someone could totally wipe themselves out quickly if they aren't good at self-regulating on this program.
Me? I have the totally opposite problem and I tend not to push myself hard enough. Its nice trying to find a sweet spot between the two of pushing myself daily, but remembering its daily and that its the upward trend that matters.
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