For 1" plates that have smooth ends, not the sleeves that take spin lock collars. It seems like the standard length won't hold more than 120 lbs in 10s. I suppose I could put 25s on them but that would mean buying new plates and probably less ROM on DB Rows.
High frequency at least, not quite high intensity (maxing daily) yet. I had been doing full body 3x a week and am now doing 5x a week. In trying to ease into the Method, I added the frequency first, and only went for a daily max 2x a week. In this post, I will outline my background, the general routine I followed, and how much progress I've made. I will welcome any ideas for adjustments, as I plan to continue using the high frequency approach going into my first powerlifting meet in August.
Me: 35M 5'10 160 lbs. Lifted consistently through high school and college and got up to 365/220/435 s/b/d but haven't hit anything close to that in 10+ years, or done much barbell lifting since college. I've been lifting consistently this year fully body 3x a week until this.
Before starting Bulgarian Method: 245/175/275 (bench not paused)
After 3 weeks: 275/190/295 (paused bench)
The Routine:
Bench: Monday and Friday: Max, take off 20% and do 3x3 for back offs. Tuesday: 5 sets of 2 around 85%. Wednesday 5 singles around 90%. Thursday 2 sets of 5 around 70%. For auxiliary work, I'd do 2x10 DB Rows and alternating days Dips and DB Presses 2x10.
Squat: Monday and Friday: Max, take off 20% 2x3 back offs. Tuesday: 2x2 at 85%, Weds: 4 singles at 90%, Thursday: 2x5 at 70%. Auxiliary: 45 degree back extensions 2x10, alternate days bulgarian split squats or Cossack squats 1x10.
I was deadlifting every day the first 2 weeks. Stupid, I know. I figured since I was weaker I could get away with it until I was moving heavier weight. I was wrong. I was doing a similar undulating scheme of something like 1x5, 2x2, 3x1, 1x5, and a max. So, for the 3rd week, upon reaching my limit, I only deadlifted M/F.
Thoughts:
For Bench, it seems to be working great. I always struggled gaining strength on Bench before. My shoulders and elbows feel great. I was initially shooting for RPE 8 on the non-max days, but ended up going 9.5 a lot of the time and overshooting the percentages. So, I think adding another daily max going forward won't be a problem and will aid in progress.
Squats were always my strongest lift and I never needed to do much volume. I'm trying to decide how much of feeling like crap is from the actual squats or just the absurd amount of deadlifts I did. I was thinking that coming from a long layoff and being weaker, doing assistance exercises instead of competition squats some days wouldn't be as helpful. Do you agree, or should I work in front squats, for example?
I'm inclined not to make any changes to the Bench routine, but dial back the Squatting somehow. Any advice on squats? I'm thinking of keeping all the days under 85% except the max and only maxing once a week for squats for the time being. Is doing other exercises every day too much?
I'm also struggling with the execution of Daily Maxes. I need some sort of decision flow chart. Should my daily minimum be 90%? If feeling good, add how much (as a percentage)? I ended up grinding a lot of reps on days I felt good and going for more.
I am absolutely loving the high frequency. For the summer, I have unlimited time to train and can do SBD days with long rest periods. I intend to continue the high frequency approach going forward, even if I don't continue with the high intensity as well.