Linear progression routine- My progress in 10 weeks

I’m through the routine I’d started 10 weeks back. The gym’s available for a week more, but for once, I’m not going to go to gym even when I can. For the first time in the 20 months of working out in the gym, I feel the fatigue. In the first 2-3 months when I started working out in a gym, I used to go to the gym atleast 25 days a month and still had no worries to go the next day. But this routine, in the last 10 weeks, I’ve worked out only 3 days a week, or at max 4 days a week and I’m already giving up- mentally, not physically.

The difference has been in the way I’ve worked and progressed. For the first 18 months, all sessions have been more or less the same intense and the progress in terms of weight was never consistent. For 4 months during the semester, I’d keep working out throughout the week, lifting the same weight, for the same reps, giving up on the same weight. This time it has been different- In the last 10 weeks, I’ve increased the load consistently every week. On the bench press and military press, I’ve added 2.5kg every week and on the squat I’ve loaded an extra 5kg every week. I had to regularly drop reps, but still, more weight is always a pain in the a**.

The exercises I’ve focused on are Front squat, Back squat, Military press, Bench press, Pullups, Bar dips and Barbell rows- all compounds. I’ve added a couple of others- Pullthroughs(lower back and glutes), Lying triceps extensions(a.k.a skull crushers), Barbell curls and Calf raises. I was doing stiff leg deadlifts in the first 6 weeks, but dropped them when I started doing Olympic lifting. I’ll mention my last set on each day. The sets before the last set are also as significant as the last set, but the progress is visible through the last sets. In each session, all sets have roughly the same number of reps but the weight increases, so that the intensity is built through sets rather than having all sets at same intensity (light weight for too many reps and heavy weight for 2 reps is not a lot of change in intensity).

Exercise	1 rep max b4 week1	Last set on week 1	Last set on week 10
Back squat	110kg(half squat)	65kg, 10 reps	105kg, 3 reps
Front squat	105kg(with support)	65kg, 10 reps	105kg, 2 reps
Military press	57.5kg	35kg, 8 reps	60kg, 3 reps
Bench press	77.5kg	50kg, 8 reps	75kg, 4 reps
Barbell rows		40kg 8 reps	65kg, 6 reps
Lying triceps extensions	30kg, 4 reps	22.5kg, 8 reps	35kg, 5 reps

To a guy who has never been to the gym, the list may say I haven’t really improved. But a 5kg improvement in 10 weeks is really a great achievement for me, especially since my progress very often stalls. The best part is that these maxes have happened at the end of a hard 10-week routine, when I’ve really started to feel the fatigue and the last 2-3 weeks I had to motivate myself to go to the gym and lift, as opposed to my usual self that loves to go to the gym and lift some weights, even during quizzes and end sems. In the last 3 weeks, I’ve been squatting about 100kg (100,100, 105 in three weeks) 2 days a week and my max was around 100kg only. So the reason behind the loss in enthu is obvious. Every time I went to gym, I had to tell myself, “Dude, whatever happens, just don’t give up. You have to do these 4 reps if you want to lift the heavier weights”, and I had to tell this for squat, and then the last set of military press and then again the last set of pull-ups- three exercises with last sets at 100% intensity. So I had 8-10 sets per week with 100% intensity.

Hopefully, after a 2-week break I’m planning to take, my maxes will improve some 2.5kg further. The routine I’ve followed was based on a linear progression. Each week, I add a constant weight- 2.5kg for presses and 5kg for squat and barbell rows. And each week I reduce volume (reps). If I’d reduced volume in only the last set, hence reps in last set, in 6 weeks I’d drop from 8 reps to 3 reps. So I reduced overall volume in last 2 sets, not just the last set... I defined volume as product of weight and reps......

The progress goes like this for last 2 sets

Week ‘n’: 70kg 7reps, 85kg 6 reps : total volume 490+510=1000

Week ‘n+1’: 75kg  6 reps, 90kg 6 reps: total volume: 450+540=990

Week ‘n+2’: 80kg 6 reps, 95kg 5 reps: total volume: 480+475 = 955

And so on..............

Though my improvement in the max has been 5k or so, at weights around 85% of max, I’m real high on confidence. Earlier, I couldn’t squat more than 85kg for more than 3 reps and a spotter (catcher) was absolutely necessary. Now, I squat 90kg for 4 reps without a spotter and without a belt- the confidence showing.

Squatting without a belt is something I’ve started in the last 10 weeks. The lower back is worked properly when you squat and when you wear a belt, it somehow puts the lower back under lesser load. While a belt is required for safety, it doesn’t help in strengthening your lower back. My lower back has been really week (compared to the muscles around it) and there was pain when I squatted 80kg or more or when the deadlift was at 140kg or more. I’ve squatted without a belt right from week 1, from 65kg and I never used a belt after that. Now I squat 105ks without a belt and the lower back pain is not there anymore.

Warning: I’ve been squatting for 20 months and my form is pretty good, hence I can squat without a belt and not worry about my lower back bending. Beginners must not squat without a belt.

So, to conclude

This system of linear progression on weights, trading volume for intensity, really works. Any guy who has more than 1 year in gym can try this. The only negative with the routine has been the weight gain. I’ve gained about 2kg in the 10 weeks, weighing 66.5kg right now, with quite some fat in it. I do Olympic lifting and have to stay in my weight class, which is under 62kg. Hence the weight gain has been a problem. But the feeling after you squat/press at your max intensity is really worth all the pain and I’d recommend this to all guys who have stalled or hit a plateau. If your routine is boring or if you’re not progressing, the only way forward is to keep loading weight till you can lift no more.

On the weight increase, it’s because of this- when you keep doing close to 100% intense, you need a lot of energy and have to go on a high carb diet. Because of the intensity, your body needs a lot of time to recover hence cardio is not advisable, at max you can do some slow jogging and that’s all. So, with a high carb diet, and no cardio, and as in my case, low protein content in diet, you’re bound to put on weight.

I’d love to see junta comment on the routine/ progress, esp my teammates.