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Table of Contents
Legal and Copyright 4
Introduction 5
How did 753 come to be? 5
It's Not About the PR's... 6
Paying the Price 7
Know your Why 8
What you'll get out of this book 9
How to Use This Book 10
Chapter 1: Core Work 11
753 Major Keys 11
753 Programming 12
Original and Mayhem 13
Finding Your Maxes 14
Setting your Training maxes: 15
Scheduling 17
Order of Workouts 20
Top Set PR 21
RPE and RIR 22
Top Set Progression Method 24
What do I do after the Top Set? 26
RPE and RIR Action Chart 27
The Back Off Sets 29
Falling Short of the Goal 30
AutoRegulating 32
Looking for Connections 33
Increasing your Training Maxes 34
Resetting your Training Maxes 34
Should You Reset Your Top-Set PR Training Weight 35
Decreasing the Weight Increase Increment for your Training Max 36
Warm Up Sets 37
Chapter 2: More Work 39
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Don’t Call it Accessory Work 39
It's Necessary Work 40
Full Upper Body and Full Lower Body Workouts 41
Considerations for More Work - Time 42
Considerations for “MORE WORK” - Goals, Rep Ranges… (and
Time)44
Considerations for “MORE WORK” - Recovery 45
Considerations for “MORE WORK” - strong points & weak points 46
General Tips for “MORE WORK” 47
Legs/Calves/Abs Tips for “MORE WORK” on Squat Day 49
Legs/Calves/Abs Tips for “MORE WORK” on Deadlift Day 51
Chest Tips for “MORE WORK” on Benchpress Day 55
Shoulder Tips for “MORE WORK” on Benchpress Day 55
Back Tips for “MORE WORK on Benchpress Day" 56
Arms Tips for “MORE WORK" on Benchpress Day 57
Chest Tips for “MORE WORK” on OHP day 58
Shoulders Tips for “MORE WORK” on OHP day 58
Back Tips for “MORE WORK" on OHP day 59
Arms Tips for “MORE WORK" on OHP day 60
“More Work” Templates 60
"In-N-Out" Work (for those who have 30 minutes to do “more
more") 61
“Dedicated Work" (for those who have around 60 minutes to
do “more work”) 63
“Ultimate Work” (for those who have 90 or more minutes to
do “more work”) 65
Chapter 3: The Big Lifts 68
Squat 68
General Squat Setup 69
The Walkout 71
Squat Execution 71
The High Bar Squat 73
Low Bar Squat 74
Hybrid Squat 75
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Benchpress 76
Benchpress Fundamentals 77
Benchpress Setup 78
Using a Spotter on The Benchpress 81
The Unrack 82
Benchpress Execution 83
Benchpress Miscellaneous 84
Deadlift 84
Conventional Deadlift 85
Sumo Deadlift 88
Deadlift Grips 91
OHP 92
Chapter 4: Warming Up, Injury Prevention, and Recovery 96
Chapter 5: A Quick Word on Nutrition, Cutting, Bulking 96
The 753 Excel Workbook 97
Before beginning any new exercise or diet program, it is recommended
that you seek medical advice from your personal physician. This book is not
intended to be a substitute for the advice of a licensed physician, nor is it
intended for the treatment or prevention of disease. Use of the information
herein is at the sole risk of the reader.
Copyright No part of this eBook may be reproduced or transmitted in any
form by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,
recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written
permission from the author. Copyright © 2016 by Matt Ogus. All rights
reserved.
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Introduction
How did 7/5/3 come to be?
In the late summer of 2014, a year into my “offseason” from competitive
natural bodybuilding, I decided to really work on my high-bar squat,
benchpress, sumo deadlift, and overhead press (OHP). Tell me if this
sounds like you: I also wanted to build a bigger chest, a bigger back,
bigger shoulders, bigger legs, bigger calves, a bigger penis (wait, did I
just say that), and bigger arms by the end of the year. In other words, I
wanted it all.
I’d done strength programs in the past, like Jim Wendler’s 5/3/1,
and saw great results but this time around I wanted to spend more time
under the bar building strength rather than what felt like constantly
testing it every workout. I also knew that I wanted to try something a bit
different. Something I could say was “mine.”
After looking around the internet and at dozens upon dozens of
powerlifting and powerbuilding programs, I decided to take the Russian
Smolov Squat Program and really make it my own; customizing my own
training program using two templates commonly referred to as “Smolov”
and” Smolov” Junior as inspiration for my program, at least in terms of
reps, sets, and percentage schemes. I’ll be honest, I wasn’t really
interested in doing any powerlifting meets, but I did want to get big and
strong.
I ran my “Big 4” lifts through a week of 7’s at 75% for 5 sets of 7,
then a week of 5’s at 80% for 7 sets of 5, and then a week of 10 sets of 3 at
85%. (If this doesn’t make sense to you, don’t worry, it soon will.) Let’s
not forget that I was also doing proper hypertrophy work, hitting each
bodypart twice a week (actually more than that, but I’ll get to that later).
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After that I took a deload week, I decided I wanted to see if at all those
three weeks had bumped up my strength. I ran a “Top-Set PR week” (PR
meaning Personal Record) and easily hit new rep PR’s in all 4 lifts,
including raising my deadlift by 20 Lbs and then hitting my old max for
a triple. I had just hit the previous Deadlift PR not much time before
this, so I knew I was onto something. I love my PR’s but I loved what
those three weeks of solid percentage based training had allowed me to
do even more. I couldn’t wait to get back to them and spend more time
building my strength. 7/5/3 was born.
It’s Not about the PR’s until it is about the PR’s
Initially, my new program was designed for the consistent
creation of new 3-5 rep PR’s, except in the case for the deadlift where I
also liked establishing a new 1 rep max every once in a while. Before
starting 7/5/3, I had recently hit the biggest Squat Rep PR (425x5),
Benchpress Rep PR (330x3), Overhead Press Rep PR (240x4) and Sumo
Deadlift (550x1) of my life. Instead of trying to up those numbers every
or every other week, I became more interested in spending time doing
structured work below those weights and accumulating a lot of volume. I
decided I’d be patient and go for bigger PR’s in the future, all the while
doing plenty of bodybuilding work to further myself in that endeavor.
From this, a new and alternate version of 7/5/3 was born. I added
a 6x6 workout at 70% and took out the top-set PR week. I also broke up
the structure and varied the percentages throughout a 4 week block so
that there was no longer a 3’s week, a 5’s week, and a 7’s week, but now
in each week, every workout is a different percentage and rep scheme
from the previous one. What resulted was a very enjoyable and varied
system for gaining strength and size. After just 4 months, I tested my
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squat and deadlift again. I hit a 50 pound PR in the deadlift with 600
Lbs and I took my high bar squat to 500 Lbs, 50 pounds more than my
previous low-bar with knee wraps PR back in 2012. I also packed on
quite a bit of muscle.
Much time later, I went back to performing 7/5/3 how it was
originally intended; with a dedicated 7’s week, a 5’s week, a 3’s week,
followed by a deload week and a Top-Set PR week. This is currently my
favorite style of running 7/5/3.
Are you willing to Pay The Price for Strength AND Size?
If you just wanted to increase the powerlifting competition lifts
with no care of anything else (like what you look like), this program isn’t
for you. Likewise, if you only care about the size of your muscles and not
about being strong and awesome, this program isn’t for you. Fortunately,
I can say that the vast majority of you reading this want to gain both
strength and muscle size. You’re probably in the right place.
The 7/5/3 Program is a bit different than other strength based
programs in the sense that what other people call “accessory work”, I call
“an equally important part of the workout”. This program, or better yet,
this training philosophy, is NOT for the weak hearted or for those trying
to get away with doing nothing. It’s a philosophy of common sense. If
you want it all, you have to do it all. If you really want both significant
strength gains and size gains, you have to face the fact that you want
something that is more complicated, difficult, and time consuming to
achieve than either goal by itself. Your workouts will be longer than ones
where you have a single goal. Your workouts will be tougher than ones
where you have a single goal. You will be forced to acknowledge that the
more muscles you want to progress simultaneously, the less you can get
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away with saying things like “yeah, but benchpress works my triceps
enough.” You will have to pay more attention to your recovery and
minimizing stress than if you had a single goal. But look… Nobody told
you to try and gain both size and strength at the same time. It’s what
YOU WANT. Do what it takes to get it.
Unlike the guys who are 100% powerlifting focused, you can’t go
home after having just hit 1 or 2 compound lifts and a couple sets of face
pulls. You want bigger arms/back muscles/legs/calves/shoulders/chest
and just doing the big 4 lifts, for the majority of people, isn’t going to be
enough to develop the balanced and aesthetic physique most of us desire.
What and how much, we will eventually get to.
Know Your Why
Why do you want to be bigger and stronger?
You probably didn’t expect you’d get asked this question. Some of you
may be thinking, angrily, “DON’T JUDGE ME! JUST TELL ME HOW TO
DO IT, MATT!” I bet some of you are thinking to yourself. Now I’m not
here to judge nor condemn why you may want to get bigger and stronger.
But before you start or continue, this journey, take a moment and
answer these questions:
Why do you want to get bigger and stronger?
What does being bigger and stronger mean to you?
The reason I’m asking, is if you have a strong enough “why”, your
"what” will be clearer and more likely attained. We all want and prefer
certain things in life, but the why is what drives us. It’s the reason we do
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the things we do. If you don’t have a clear why, you’ll be in the gym
constantly questioning yourself, the program you’re on (if any), and
everything related to the gym.
Here are a few of my why’s:
•
I love working out, and I love the feeling of progress
•
Taking care of myself (exercising for the health benefits) is very
important to me, so I might as well be doing it in a way I really
have a ton of fun
•
Getting bigger and stronger is just one way I can have deliberate
and complete control over, a control which branches out to other
areas of my life
•
Not that I need it for my ego necessarily, but becoming bigger
and stronger commands me more respect, and also happens to
make me more marketable to my target audience
•
I will never have to worry about being out of shape, or too weak
to do most every day things, especially as I age
What You’ll get out of this book:
I get a kick out of it when I overhear people talk about lifting weights.
People overthink things so much. Not only that, but they’re usually still
stuck on a myth or piece of advice that was false in the first place. If only
getting big and strong was as simple as that “one weird trick” that you
see in the advertisements while scrolling through your Facebook feed…
Simple, day in, day out work in the gym, lifting with good form, and
slow progression doesn’t sound as sexy as a click-bait article on
increasing your benchpress by 100 lbs in a month, but in reality, it’s what
works, and we all kind of knew that already. The basic to-do’s of building
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strength and size are pretty simple, but the day to day grind, pivoting
and adjusting, and knowing when to push and when to pull back… That’s
the difficult stuff. Patience, planning, and sticking to a plan; that stuff’s
hard.
The purpose of this book is to arm you with a manual for creating
and checking off the perpetual to-do list on the road to a bigger and
stronger you. You made the decision to buy this book. Now, you will have
to make the decision to implement what you read in it.
How to Use This Book
I recommend that you first read this book from start to finish, or at
least chapters 1 and 2, before beginning the program. It shouldn’t take too
long. Then, at the end of the book, you’ll find the worksheets that you can
print out and take with you to the gym. It’s incredibly important that you
keep track of the weights you’re hitting, even on the exercises that you don’t
think are significant.
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Chapter 1: Core Work
7/5/3 Major Keys: Read and understand these fully
1. “Core Work” consists of work done on the Squat, Deadlift,
Overhead Press, and Benchpress based off of a training max and
prescribed sets and reps. Each Lift gets a different Day.
2. Do “More Work”. Train like a bodybuilder. On the Squat day, hit a
full leg workout. On the Deadlift day, hit a full leg workout. On the
OHP day, hit a full upper body workout. On the Benchpress day
hit a full upper body workout. Hit an adequate amount of volume
of exercises that work the muscles you want to grow, and
progress on those lifts too. Train like a bodybuilder.
3. Start Your Training Maxes Light, at 90% of current maxes, and
add weight each training cycle
4. Each Training Cycle lasts 5 weeks, the 5th being a deload.
5. Reset your training maxes if and when necessary
6. Training maxes are increased each cycle, but you can lower the
weight increase increments if and when necessary
7. Do not Miss/Fail any reps of the 7/5/3 programming
8. Perform each and every lift to the highest standard of form
capable and appropriate. The assumption is that you’re
performing every lift, especially the core lifts, with great form.
9. Train exactly how you want to train, based on how you should
train: according to your goals, personal circumstances,
preferences, and individual characteristics.
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753 Programming
There are two main versions of 7/5/3: The Original Version and “Version
Mayhem." These numbers are in reference to the squat, benchpress,
overhead press, and deadlift, which are all worked on separate days.
The Notation is as follows:
Percentage of Training max for X sets of X reps per set.
Original
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Deload
Day 1
Top Set
75%x5x
80%x7x
85%x10
60%x3x
PR
7
5
x3
5
Top Set
75%x5x
80%x7x
85%x10
60%x3x
PR
7
5
x3
5
Top Set
75%x5x
80%x7x
85%x10
60%x3x
PR
7
5
x3
5
Top Set
75%x5x
80%x7x
85%x10
60%x3x
PR
7
5
x3
5
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
*”Top Set PR” will be explained later*
Mayhem
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Deload
Day 1
75%x5x
80%x7x
70%x6x
85%x10
60%x3x
7
5
6
x3
5
80%x7x
70%x6x
85%x10
75%x5x
60%x3x
5
6
x3
7
5
70%x6x
85%x10
75%x5x
80%x7x
60%x3x
6
x3
7
5
5
85%x10
75%x5x
80%x7x
70%x6x
60%x3x
x3
7
5
6
5
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
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You will be performing the main 4 lifts based on training maxes. You
take your training max for a given lift, and lift it at the percentage laid
out, for the sets and reps laid out. If the number you’re supposed to lift
comes out to something like “206.25”, just round to the nearest 5 lbs,
and if you’re not sure whether to round up or down, round down. If you
have microplates (0.25, 0.5, 0.75, and 1.0 Lb plates), you’d round the
numbers to the nearest half pound. If unsure, round down. More on
microplates later.
What’s the Difference between Original and Mayhem?
As you can see, in the original version, each week has the same
lifting percentages, sets, and reps. Each week 1 workout is the same in
terms of core 7/5/3 programming, same with week 2, and so on. There
is a week called “Top Set PR week” in the original version. This will be
described in greater detail later, but imagine this week as the one in
which we test out our strength. In the mayhem version, there are four
percentage/sets/rep schemes being alternated (besides the deload).
You’ll notice there is a workout saying “70%x6x6” that isn’t in the
original version. Every workout is different in terms of core work. This
can be great for those who might get bored doing the same
percentages for four workouts in a row and for those who don’t want to
test their strength each week on a regular basis.
Neither is easier or harder than the other. One may fit you better
based on preference. I’d recommend starting with the original version
and running it for several training cycles until you have to take a reset
(which we’ll discuss later) and then perhaps try the other version, or
vice versa. If you’re not sure which to pick, pick the original. You’ll have
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a better idea of how Mayhem would be while doing the Original, than
doing Mayhem and wondering what the Original version would be like.
One thing I’ll point out with Mayhem is that I I set it so that before
your heaviest workouts is a “light” (more like moderate) workout. Not
quite a deload, but each set should feel easier to complete than the
sets in the 7’s, 5’s, or 3’s workouts.
Finding Your Maxes:
You may or may not know your current one rep max for each lift. To
calculate a one rep max, identify your most recent best set for each lift.
If you haven’t trained one or more lifts in a while, feel free to take a
week to test out where you stand on the core lifts. Just aim for what
you think you can hit between 5-8 reps and do as many as you can
without hitting failure. A simple but imperfect way to estimate your one
rep max is as follows.
(Weight x reps x 0.0333) + Weight
For example, If you recently squatted 275x5 and want to find out
what your estimated one rep max is, you’d take 275, multiply by 5,
multiply by 0.0333, and then add 275. Pull out a calculator and do the
math with me. The number we end up with is 320.7875 but let’s round
to the nearest 5, so that’s 320 Lbs. Your estimated one rep max if you
can squat 275x5 is around 320 lbs. This isn’t a perfect calculation by
any means, for reasons I won’t get into, just know it gives a good
starting point for which to base your training max from.
Also, let me clarify, this is assuming you’re doing proper form, which
includes a full range of motion on each lift. This means not bouncing the
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bar off your chest, or bouncing the weights off the floor to help you rep
out a couple more deadlifts. Everything in this entire book is written
under the assumption that you are using proper form. Without high
standards in which you lift your weights, you’ll get less results on any
program you try out. If you aren’t seeing results, but lift with bad form,
you can’t blame the program you’re on. You can only blame yourself.
Do not intend on going through with this program without addressing
what may be hard for some of you to admit… That (for many of you)
your form absolutely sucks. The sooner you can admit it, the better.
You should be constantly trying to improve your form and technique
on each and every lift. This book, this program, and practically every
other program, is written under the assumption that you are lifting
correctly. I cannot emphasize this enough, so I will again later in this
book. Refer to the later chapter on form. Lucky for us, we are starting
with lighter training maxes, thus, improving form and technique is a
built-in and foundational part of this program.
Setting your Training maxes:
A key component to 7/5/3 is starting light. This will allow you to
focus on proper form, especially at the start, which will help you make
better strength increases in the long run. With better lifting mechanics,
you have more potential for strength and size gains. On the other hand,
if you start with bad form, or too heavy, you have less room and less
potential to progress. Trust me, start 7/5/3 light.
To set your training maxes, simply take your true or estimated one
rep max and multiply by 0.9, or in other words, take 90% of your max to
get your training max.
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To give you an example, we have “Billy”, a 20 year old. Here is his
recent best lifts and what he would set his training maxes at, in pounds:
Calculate
“Billy"
Weight
Reps
d One
Training
Rep Max
Max
(weight x
(90%)
reps x
(rounded
0.0333 +
weight)
down, nearest
5)
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Squat
Benchpres
s
Deadlift
Overhead
Press
255
6
306
275
225
3
247
220
315
5
367
330
105
4
119
105
Scheduling:
The default 7/5/3 schedules are based on a 7 day calendar week.
What schedule you pick and how many days you lift per week is
completely up to you, but for now, I recommend starting with 4 days
per week and adjusting from there. The more days per week that you
lift, the less volume per workout (and/or the less volume at heavier
loads) you will generally aim for, but we’ll get more into that later. Train
on whichever days fit best around your work, school, and life schedule.
Four Days Per Week Options:
1. Monday/Wednesday/Friday/Saturday
2. Monday/Tuesday/Friday/Saturday
3. Sunday/Monday/Wednesday/Thursday
4. Sunday/Monday/Wednesday/Friday
5. Sunday/Tuesday/Thursday/Friday
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6. Etc...
You see where I’m going here? You generally want these workouts
as spread out as possible, if you’re training 4 times a week. That means
a maximum of two consecutive days back to back. Don’t do three 7/5/3
workouts in a row in 3 consecutive days. I recommend Options 1, 4,
and 5 over options 2 and 3 because the workouts are more spread out.
If you are having recovery issues with the recommended scheduling
options layed out, you may want to look beyond the days on and days
off, and into your sleep, nutrition, and overall workout volume, and also
perhaps consider lowering your training maxes. All this will be
discussed later. For Alternate Schedules, ***See The Chapter on
Customization***
Now, let’s look at what these lifts look when laid out into the 7/5/3
program, for a lifter without microplates (rounding to the nearest 5 Lbs,
and rounding down if in the middle). Let’s use Billy, from above, and his
training maxes.
Original
Version
Squat
(275)
Monday
Week 1
Top Set
PR
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Deload
(75%x5
80%x7x
85%x1
60%x3
x7)
5
0x3
x5
205x5x7
220
235
165
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Benchpress
(220)
Wednesday
Deadlift
(330)
Friday
OHP
(105)
Saturday
Top Set
PR
Top Set
PR
Top Set
PR
(75%x5
80%x7x
85%x1
60%x3
x7)
5
0x3
x5
165x5x7
175
185
130
(75%x5
80%x7x
85%x1
60%x3
x7)
5
0x3
x5
245x5x7
265
280
200
(75%x5
80%x7x
85%x1
60%x3
x7)
5
0x3
x5
80x5x7
85
90
65
Side note on rounding: On OHP of week 2, the training max of 105 multiplied by 0.75 came out to 78.75, and since that is
closer to 80 than 75, we rounded it to 80.
On Deadlift of week 2, the training max of 330 multiplied by 0.75 came out to 247.5, and since that is halfway between 245
and 250, we rounded down to 245. (more rounding was done in the above table, this was just to point some out)
And now, with the “Mayhem” Version:
Mayhem
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Deload
Squat
(75%x5x
80%x7x
70%x6x
85%x1
60%x3
(275)
7)
5
6
0x3
x5
Monday
205x5x7
220
190
235
165
Benchpress
80%x7x
70%x6x
85%x1
(220)
5
6
0x3
Wednesday
175
155
185
Version
(75%x5
x7)
165x5x
7
60%x3
x5
130
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Deadlift
70%x6x
85%x10
(330)
6
x3
Friday
230
280
OHP
85%x10
(75%x5
(105)
x3
Saturday
90
(75%x5
80%x7
60%x3
x5
x5
265
200
80%x7x
70%x6
60%x3
x7)
5
x6
x5
80x5x7
85
75
65
x7)
245x5x
7
What about the Order of Workouts?
I’m sure you’re wondering if the order matters. In regards to the
order of workouts, the major question for most people doing 7/5/3 at
four workouts a week will be, “Should I squat or deadlift on Friday?” In
other words, when a lower and upper body workout have to be paired
consecutively, which pair should it be? The squat followed by the OHP?
The squat day followed by the benchpress day? The deadlift day
followed by the OHP day? Or the squat day followed by the OHP day?
Ultimately it’s up to you and it will depend on which order you feel that
you will, overall, perform the best under.
To be fair, whichever upper body workout gets a day off before it,
you could consider “prioritized”. Perhaps ask yourself, which do you
want to prioritize more, the benchpress or the OHP? Although I love the
OHP, I think most people are better of putting the day off before the
Ogus / OGUS753 / 21
benchpress workout, as this workout is usually just a little bit more
demanding, and you’re using bigger weights on the benchpress
compared to the OHP, requiring a little bit more recovery.
For some of you, you may find that OHP’ing is difficult the day after
deadlifts because of back soreness and/or fatigue. You’ll probably get
used to it and eventually adapt, to be honest, not to mention that
sometimes bench pressing with a tight lower back is also a little
annoying. Or for others, sore traps from deadlifts may feel like they are
negatively affecting your OHP. Keep in mind, after your main lift you still
have the whole REST of the workout to complete, so other exercises
may also affect performance of the big lift the next day.
If you decide to, feel free to change the order of workouts, by
switching the squat day with the deadlift day, or the OHP day with the
benchpress day, either on the following week or the following training
cycle. In other words, make sure you end up with an equal number of
squat and deadlift workouts, OHP and benchpress workouts. Simple,
right? My recommendation is to just go through a whole cycle the way
you start it, specifically, like the table above. You’ll probably find out
that the original schedule (or whichever you set for yourself) works just
fine. You don’t need to overthink things. As long as upper body
workouts are alternating with lower body workouts, and you’re never
hitting 3 days straight, you should be fine. Don’t spend your whole life
constantly wondering “Am I doing this right?” Just trust the process.
What the hell does “Top Set PR” mean? What’s a “Top Set PR
week?"
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By now, you probably know that PR stands for “personal record”.
Another acronym is “PB” (personal best). You can have all sorts of
different PR’s in any given lift. Every rep range and individual number of
reps can serve as a place for a record to be set at. You can have a one
rep PR, which is generally called your one rep max or “best lift”, and
you can have 2 or 3 or 5 or 8 or 10 or 20 rep PR’s too. A PR can also
apply to total volume for an exercise, whether you did more sets, more
reps per set, or both, of a given weight.
Top Set PR week will be the most exciting week for many of you
doing the original version of 7/5/3 because it gives you an opportunity
to go for some new PR's. By “Top Set”, I mean that you will go for a PR
on the first working set of the main lift. This will be the heaviest set of
the day for that big lift, as you will drop the weight after doing this set.
Now although we are going for a new PR here, the critical point I
want you to take away here is to try your best to leave one rep left in the
tank. This would be called an “RPE 9” or a “1 RIR” (RPE stands for Rate
of Perceived Exertion on a scale from 1-10 and RIR stands for Reps in
Reserve). RPE and RIR are tools for helping us judge how a set (of any
number of reps, whether it’s 1 rep, 3 reps, 8 reps, or 15 reps) happened
to look in terms of difficulty. RPE and RIR are generally most useful in
the 1-5 rep range, and even more so in the 1-3 rep range. Here’s a brief
look at how RPE and RIR work.
RPE and RIR
Ogus / OGUS753 / 23
RPE
(Rate of
Perceive
d
Description (Objective analysis of the
RIR (Reps in
set, especially based on the last rep)
Reserve)
Exertion)
10
9.5
9
8.5
8
7.5
7
Maximal Effort. (no more reps, no more
weight possible)
Small chance of 1 more rep. Could have
possibly added weight
Definitely Had One Rep Left in the Tank
Maybe 2 reps in the tank. (or 1 rep + a
little weight)
Definitely Had Two Reps Left in the
Tank
Might have had Three Reps in the Tank
(or 2 plus weight)
Three Reps Left in the Tank (great
speed on last rep)
0
-
1
-
2
-
3
(Not worth
6.5
Work-Up/Acclimation Weight
Worrying
about)
Ogus / OGUS753 / 24
(Not worth
6
Work-Up/Acclimation Weight
Worrying
about)
(Not worth
5.5
Work-Up/Acclimation Weight
Worrying
about)
5 and
Warm-Ups that you could do for very
below
high reps
(Not worth
Worrying
about)
I recommend going for a new 3-5 rep PR, but this number is up to you.
I’d open this range even up to 3-10 reps. Perhaps one month you want
to see where you stand in the 3-5 rep range, and the next you want to
test out the 8-10 rep range. This is totally fine and not a bad idea. Some
of you may decide to use this day to go for a new 1 rep max, which is
your prerogative, but once again, if you want to do this program the
way I intended for it to be done, go for a weight you’ll most likely hit in
the 3-5 rep range, on most Top Set PR workouts in most Top Set PR
weeks. You’ll make more overall progress if you’re not going for new 1
rep maxes all the time. You build more strength from consistent work
than from consistent testing.
What’s the method for progression on the "Top-Set"?
For the default, we’ll be following a pretty simple double progression
Ogus / OGUS753 / 25
method with the Top-Sets. What you go for on this Top-Set will depend
on the last time you did it during the previous Top-Set PR week. With
3-5 being the recommended rep range, if you only hit 3 or 4 reps with a
given weight, you don’t increase that weight until you’ve hit 5 reps on
the top set. If you end up hitting more than 5, that’s great. Once you’ve
hit 5 reps on the top set, you can add weight (just add 5 lbs) and then
go for 3-5 reps again. Should you aim for 3, 4, or 5 reps specifically
when you’ve added weight? It’s up to you, but remember when I
said “Leave one Rep Left in the Tank?” If you remember that, and focus
to let that dictate the lift, it will decide whether it’s 3, 4, 5, or maybe
even 6 reps or 2 reps.
For best overall results, follow the default, the simple double
progression method, and this is *ASSUMING* we’re actually hitting RPE
9’s like we’re supposed to. Last month you hit 3 on the top-set? This
month aim for 4. Last month you did 4? This month aim for 5. Last
month you did 5? This month, add 5 pounds and go for 3.
Also, keep in mind the RPE of what last month’s top-set was. If you
hit 315x3 at RPE 10, perhaps you should aim for 315x3 at RPE 9.
Common sense tells us that we should probably master a weight before
going up. So, bare minimum, don’t increase the reps unless it’s a 9.5 or
easier. Also, keep in mind that the easier your top-set is, the heavier
your back-off work will be, so don’t be too caught up on feeling like you
always have to get one more rep every single Top-Set compared to the
last. Don’t kill yourself on top-sets hitting RPE 9.5-10’s every time,
because in the end, you’ll be achieving more total volume by hitting
RPE 9’s on your top-sets (where you generally end up also doing more
back off-sets)
Ogus / OGUS753 / 26
What happens if you intended to leave one rep left in the tank, but
you feel like you left more, or in most cases, less in the tank than one
rep? This will be discussed next.
What do I do after the Top Set?
After your top set, you will drop the weight and do “back off sets”.
These are more sets, generally of equal reps per set of the top weight,
assuming the top set actually landed in the 3-5 or 8-10 (essentially 3-10)
rep range. We’ll be utilizing a form of auto regulation to help us do what
is appropriate after the Top Set. With the Pre-Work Set intention of
trying to leave one rep left in the tank on that top set, you have to take a
brief moment to judge if, in actuality, that was an RPE 9 (1 RIR) or if it
wasn't. I’ve found that in most and especially less experienced lifters
(less than 10 years total or less than 5 years smart), even myself, it’s
more frequent that what actually happens is closer to an RPE 9.5 than
an RPE 8.5 when we initially unrack the bar with the intent of landing on
an RPE 9. In other words, as we try to aim towards lifting a weight for
however many reps leaves just one left in the tank, during the split
decision moment of going for 1 more rep or stopping, we tend to either
let ego take control and/or overestimate our ability and strength rather
than underestimate our ability and strength. Somewhat often you will hit
an RPE 9.5 or an RPE 10 (or extremely close to RPE 10) going for an
RPE 9. Not only that, but we also tend to misjudge our sets, calling
them RPE 9’s when they really were RPE 9.5’s or close to 10’s. It’s only
a natural egoic tendency to tell ourselves and believe that we are
stronger than we really are, to look back at how hard a lift was and think
Ogus / OGUS753 / 27
“That was easy” versus “that was hard”. Over your training career, and
especially during the time spent training utilizing RPE, RIR and auto
regulation tools, you get better at aiming for, landing on, and actually
judging RPE (specifically RPE 9’s).
That said, I feel it’s better to land more on RPE 8.5’s than it is to land
on RPE 9.5’s, when it comes to maximizing training volume and
recovery, and therefore gains. Granted, on 7/5/3 original version, there
is only 1 week for every 5 where this even applies. Nonetheless, I
recommend that you try to be as objective as possible in any and all
lifts you complete, it’s only for your benefit in the long run, and heck,
your ego wants more gains anyway, right?
So, despite the intent to land on RPE 9 (1 RIR), after your top set,
judge how difficult it was, by feel and/or video recording if you happen
mohave it handy, and lower the weight for your "back off sets” based
on the following chart.
Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE) and Reps in Reserve (RIR) Chart
Drop
RPE
Description (Post-Set
Objective Analysis)
RIR
the
Weight
this
Much:
Advice:
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Drop the
Maximal Effort. (no more
10
reps, no more weight
0
10%
possible)
more rep. Could have
Leave more
-
7.5%
possibly added weight
9
Definitely Had One Rep Left
in the Tank. Great Job.
in the tank (probably
could’ve added weight too),
might’ve had 2 reps
in the tank
Next Time
1
5%
Absolutely had One Rep left
8.5
RPE 9 next
time
Very Small chance of 1
9.5
Ego, Hit an
Great Job
Good Job,
-
5%
better to be
conservativ
e here
Ogus / OGUS753 / 29
Why did
you stop?
LoL. Begin
“Back Off
Sets” OR
Rest up and
add weight
8 (or
Definitely Had Two Reps left
less)
in the Tank...
2 to
2+
(try to
match the
number of
reps) OR try
to go more
more reps
while hitting
an RPE 9
The “Back Off Sets"
The better you are at judging what actually happened on your top
set (i.e. the closer your perceived RPE/RIR judgement is to the actual
RPE/RIR), the more easily your back off sets will flow and the more total
(high intensity) work volume you’ll be able to jam into your tightly
packed workout and life schedule. As you can see above, after your
Top-Set, you lower the weight by 5%, 7.5%, or 10% based on the RPE/
RIR (rounding to the nearest 5 lbs or rounding to the nearest 0.5 lbs if
you own microplates).
Ogus / OGUS753 / 30
Using this new “back off” weight, you will be completing 2-5 “back
off sets”, or until you hit another RPE 9 (whichever comes first). You will
go for the equal number of reps per set as you did on the top-set. If you
hit an RPE 9 (or higher) on your first back off set, that is a very good
indicator that you either misjudged your RPE on the top set and didn’t
lower the weight enough, and/or you didn’t give yourself enough time to
rest between the top set and first back off set, and/or just really messed
up with technique, set up, etc. If you hit an RPE 9 on your second set,
the same reasons may apply, just to a slightly less degree. for most
workouts, 3-4 back off sets is where most people will land, granted they
did at least an okay job of aiming, hitting, and judging their RPE. Even if
you did an RPE 9.5 on the top set, if you back off accordingly, which is
7.5%, in most cases 3-4 back off sets before you hit RPE 9 again
should happen. On better days, with great recovery, good focus and
concentration, good RPE accuracy and judgement, 5 back off sets will
result.
A 10% drop to the weight for your back off sets because you hit an
RPE 10 on the top-set may seem like a huge reduction in weight, but
this is done to be conservative. Quite often, an RPE 10 on the top set
correlates with only 2 back off sets of equal rep count (with 10% less
weight), because RPE 10’s really wipe us out.
What if I get less than 3 reps when aiming for 3-5, or less than 8
reps when aiming for 8-10 on the top set?
Let’s start with the easier question; if you’re aiming for 8-10 reps
and an RPE 9 (leaving one rep left in the tank) on the top set, say for
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squats, but you end up only hitting 5, 6, or 7 reps, for whatever reason,
simply gauge how difficult that set was from RPE 8.5 to RPE 10, and
drop the weight accordingly, and perform 2-5 back off sets until you hit
an RPE 9 doing the same number of reps per set as that top-set.
Simple right? Most of the time these scenarios, where you end up
hitting reps below the intended rep range, will be RPE 9.5-10’s, as
common sense would tell us that. Now, don’t worry too much as this
scenario will not happen very often. It might happen during your first
initial Top-Set PR week when you’re still getting an idea of where you
stand strength-wise, but it really shouldn’t happen later on, especially
as you gain more experience with the RPE scale and with every aspect
of your own training.
What do you do if you’re aiming for 3-5 reps but end up hitting 1 or
2? The reason I’m even bringing this up as a separate point, is we want
you putting in some substantial volume, and we won’t be getting that
done with singles or doubles. We’d like your back-off work to be done
with sets in the 3-5 rep range. If you hit 1 rep and then had to rack it,
that means you were 2 reps below goal. Let’s have you drop the weight
15% and perform triples, for 2-5 sets until RPE 9. If you hit 2 reps on
your top-set (but were aiming for 3-5), let’s have you drop the weight
12.5% and perform sets of 4, for 2-5 sets until RPE 9.
Once again, you shouldn’t be coming up short very often, and if you
are, that could mean that you’re doing something wrong. Perhaps you
need to master the upper rep of a rep range (hit an RPE 9) before
increasing weight on the next Top-Set PR the next month. Look at your
sleep, recovery, and nutrition. More on that later.
Ogus / OGUS753 / 32
So what can this actually look like in application? Give me some
examples of Top Sets and Back off Sets
Cycle 1
Top-Set
Back off
Back Off
Fictional
PR set
%
Sets
Example
lifter had
great
Deadlift
405x5
7.5%
375 x (2-5
sleep,
sets) x 5
great
reps
focus, hits
5 back off
sets
(247.5
Benchpres
s
275x3
10%
round
Lifter hits
down)
RPE 9 on
245 x (2-5
3rd back
sets) x 3
off set
reps
Lifter hits
300 x (2-5
Squat
325x4
7.5%
sets) x 4
reps
RPE 9 on
4th backoff set,
great
workout
Ogus / OGUS753 / 33
Top-Set
“Felt
(147.25,
round
OHP
155x5
5%
down)
145 x (2-5
sets) x 5
reps
Easy”,
lifter
expected
4-5 back
off sets
but hits
RPE 9 on
2nd back
off set
*order of workouts doesn’t really matter, either lower body workout can be switched with the other, either upper body workout
can be switched with the other. OBVIOUSLY do not switch an upper body workout with a lower body workout because then
you’d be hitting two lower’s in a row and two upper’s in a row. Don’t do that. Use common sense. You should be alternating
between lower body workouts and upper body workouts*
Will the Top-Set RPE/RIR (and the back-off %) correlate with the
number of back-off sets achieved? (up to RPE 9 or max 5 sets)
This is a difficult question to give you a solid answer to. I’m still trying to
figure this out. One may assume that a lower RPE on the top-set (i.e.
entering the back-off sets more fresh) would equate to more back-off
sets before hitting RPE 9, but the adjusted (auto-regulated) back off
percentage nullifies that a little bit. Perhaps that is why I like working
with back-off percentages so much. Gym performance fluctuates so
much on a day to day basis, depending on so many factors. RPE
judgement also is never perfect and can even fluctuate. But, with that
said, utilizing this form of auto-regulation does help allow lifters to get in
Ogus / OGUS753 / 34
a lot of volume, at a load dependent on how recovered and able they
are on any given day. It also helps lifters not run themselves into the
ground, even when the intent is to set new records for themselves and
constantly be pushing the envelope.
Increasing Your Training Maxes
After running your current training maxes through the 5 weeks (4
training weeks and the deload) you will increase your OHP and
Benchpress training maxes by 5 LB’s each and your Deadlift and Squat
training maxes by 10 LB’s each. For females, cut this number in half.
Resetting Your Training Maxes
Over the span of several training cycles, there will come a point
when many working sets begin to get very difficult and grindy. This is
the point at which you want to reset your training max, ideally before
you actually begin to fail reps. Failing reps due to a fluke, such as it
actually being "just a really bad day", and not a true lack of strength,
won’t necessitate a reset of your training maxes, but if you’re constantly
failing throughout a training cycle, that’s no fluke. For those on Original
7/5/3, you’ll know you should probably reset your training maxes when
every set during percentage programming starts to feel like your TopSet PR sets. Your scheduled 7/5/3 programming should be a tad bit
easier than those generally RPE 9-9.5 sets that you do once a month.
Ideally, your 7/5/3 sets should only get as hard as an RPE 9 on the
latter set(s). When every set becomes RPE 9 or harder (probably 5-8
cycles in) reset your training maxes.
Ogus / OGUS753 / 35
Resetting your training maxes is simple. Just take 90% of what your
current max is and go from there. It’s best to do this when before
'entering a new cycle, but this can also be done mid-cycle, since it’s
better to reset then to keep grinding yourself to bits and pieces, and risk
injury. At the end of each cycle, try to look objectively at the RPE’s and
just how difficult that cycle was for each lift. Generally, around the 5 or
6 cycles-in mark is where things begin to get pretty difficult. Another
option that can be used in conjunction to resetting your training maxes,
or before you reach the point in which you should reset your training
max, is to decrease the weight increments in which you increase the
training max from cycle to cycle. More on that later.
Resetting your training max may seem like “FAILURE” but trust me,
it’s not. You’re being smart. You’re looking at the big picture, the long
term investment here. Don’t let this demotivate you. Not just that, but if
you’re doing Original 7/5/3, you’re constantly setting new benchmarks
for you to shoot over each month. You still have some pretty darn heavy
work on a regular basis programmed. Resetting your training maxes will
bring down the weights of your 7/5/3 work, but not your Top-Set PR
and back-off set work.
Should You Reset your “Top-Set PR” Training Weight?
No. Well… It depends. If you’ve been doing the Top-Set PR and
back-off sets work correctly, you aren’t absolutely destroying yourself
on that week. There’s no reason you need to lower your weights on the
Top-Sets if you’re doing things correctly. Besides, your Top-Sets are
Ogus / OGUS753 / 36
based on what you are capable of doing on any given day. We try our
best to top the previous top-sets from the month prior, but when it
comes down to it, we’re also just giving our best effort (at RPE 9) which
could fluctuate from day to day, week to week, month to month
depending so many different factors.
With the exception for those who may be dieting, experiencing
injury, etc., “resets” aren’t applicable or necessary on your Top-Set PR
weeks because you generally shouldn’t ever be stalling or regressing in
your Top-Set work, because each week you either add a rep or
increase weight (and take down the reps), or hit a specific weight for a
specific number of reps, easier (i.e. at a lower RPE than the last week),
like squatting 315x5 at RPE 9 whereas last week you hit 315x5 at RPE
9.5 or RPE 10). For those who are dieting, you have to look at your TopSet PR weeks in relation to your bodyweight, and if you hit equal weight
at a lighter bodyweight, that’s progress. This is also helpful for those
who aren’t dieting, so you can be aware of your relative strength
(strength compared to bodyweight).
Decreasing the Weight Increase Increment for your Training Max
I personally went about 6 cycles in before I chose to decrease the
weight increment at which I was increasing my overhead press and
squat. I did this so that I could train for longer (more cycles) before I’d
have to reset the training max. This is a similar strategy as resets in
general, giving us more overall time in which to progress before a wall.
This isn’t something you do when things get really grindy and you’re
Ogus / OGUS753 / 37
approaching a mandatory reset, this is something you do just BEFORE
you get to the point where things are about to get really difficult. D
Decreasing the weight increments is an arbitrary decision that you
have the option of making. But, when you decide to do it, it’s pretty
simple. Just cut the weight increments in half. Each cycle, raise your
upper body maxes by 5 Lb’s and your lower boy maxes by 2.5 LB’s
each. This is where microplates can really come in handy, and I’d
recommend them to everyone on 7/5/3, but especially for those who
want to make 2.5 and 5 Lb jumps in training maxes.
Warm Up Sets
I highly recommend doing a general warm up before even doing your warm
up sets of your first exercise. On every exercise, I usually recommend
beginning with a pump-up set or two with extremely light weight (or
bodyweight, depending on the exercise)
Here is how I’d warm up to squat or benchpress 225 for sets of 5
•
Typical general warmup/mobility
•
Bodyweight x 8-10
•
45 lbs (bar) x 8-10
•
135 lbs x 5-6
•
175lbs x 3-4
•
200 lbs x 1-2
Here is how I’d warm up to squat 405 for sets of 5
•
Typical general warmup/mobility
Ogus / OGUS753 / 38
•
Bodyweight x 8-10
•
45 lbs (bar) x 8-10
•
135 lbs x 8
•
225 x 5
•
275 x 3-4 (optional)
•
315 x 2-3
•
365 x 1-2
When warming up, it’s important to get the blood pumping, but also to
practice the movement pattern. Hit the warm up sets (okay maybe except for
that first 1-2 “blood pump-up sets” or bodyweight sets) with the kind of force
you would on your working sets.
Ogus / OGUS753 / 39
Chapter 2: More Work
Don’t Call it Accessory Work
For a few years, percentage based training programs were becoming all
the rage in the fitness world, especially ones like 5/3/1 and such.
Overall, I believe programs like 5/3/1 helped and still help a ton of
people get themselves focused on some of the main points and
fundamentals of weight training, like lots of big compound lifts, a focus
on progression, and a higher training frequency per muscle than a
traditional bodybuilding bro-split. This helped advance the collective
training intelligence quite a bit. I loved and enjoyed doing 5/3/1 for
almost a full year.
On the flip-side, and I’m sure this doesn’t apply to everyone but
surely a lot of people, many lifters who originally were in the iron game
for bodybuilding began, perhaps unknowingly, shifting away from
bodybuilding style training, further and further. Also, came the phrase,
“accessory work”, which is generally work done to improve a main lift or
to help work the antagonist muscles. Benchpress days included bench
pressing and “accessory work,” squat days included squatting and
“accessory work”, and so on. For a lot of people, “accessory work"
wasn’t just a label, but a reality. A lot of people began to deemphasize
direct arm work, direct calf work, “less important” compound
movements, and several isolation movements that when added up over
the span of months and years, can play a significant role into the
development of our physiques. Now this is fine and dandy if strength
goals are the priority, but what happens when someone changes their
mind and wants to put their focus back onto bodybuilding? Well,
naturally one would go back to training their smaller muscles with more
Ogus / OGUS753 / 40
volume and frequency, but how many of these people wish they’d been
doing that all along, during their strength-focused phases of their
training careers? I think a lot of us who were partially or wholly
bodybuilders at heart, who once or twice went through this phase, wish
we had not neglected all the hypertrophy work that we could have been
doing.
I used to be in this bunch. I’d hit my benchpress numbers, do a few
sets of a pull exercise, a few sets of another push, then decide if I
wanted to do some more pulling, and from there I might do some arm
work but it was pretty optional. In fact, I thought for a while it was
pointless to do “more work", since I figured my arms and shoulders (all
three heads) got plenty of work as is from the pushing and pulling. And
while they do get work and do grow from the major compounds,
especially during your beginning phases, if you want the maximum
hypertrophy in a muscle such as biceps, triceps, rear delts, and calves,
you have to hit ithem directly.
It's Necessary Work
To give a brief personal example, from summer 2011 to the end of
2012, I trained very focused on my “core work” (the Big 4). What had
improved the most were the muscles I worked the most, via the
exercises I did the most volume on. Once again, think “CORE WORK”
aka the big 4. High-bar squatting improved the heck out of my quads,
sumo deadlifts my glutes (and hamstrings a bit), bench pressing
improved my chest, and OHP’ing made my front delts explode. Now, I
did a fair bit of “accessory work” in the form of pulling exercises but not
Ogus / OGUS753 / 41
at all enough on my calves and arms, and guess what? When I did my
bodybuilding shows in 2013, those were the areas that had the least
improvement, if any. Those were the places that I wish I had hit with
way more volume, exercises, and frequency. My back and hamstrings
had improved, but still were far from where I wanted them to be. I had
wished I did even MORE pulling and hamstring work.
Once I realized how much growth I missed out on, I began to see
“accessory work” much differently. I began to see “accessory work” as
my friend Corey puts it... “necessary work.” Call it what you want, but
don’t expect your triceps to grow as much as they could be if you aren’t
doing any sort of isolation work on them. If you’re not doing direct calf
work, unless you have incredible genetics, don’t expect for your calves
to grow (proportionally) at the same rate that your legs may be growing,
just because you took your one rep max on squat from 315 to 405. This
doesn’t mean you have to have dedicated arms or calves days, but by
making sure you hit each smaller muscle with at least a minimum
number of sets each lower or upper body workout, you’ll be writing
yourself a solid insurance policy towards growth.
Full Upper Body and Full Lower Body Workouts
Because of your desire to grow every muscle in your body (I’m
assuming this is what you want), you will want to work every muscle at
least once week. Muscle growth and protein stimulus aren’t elevated for
an entire week from one single workout, so we’re better off fitting
multiple sessions per muscle in each week. Ideally, something between
two and three times a week is best for most natural lifters, but on THIS
Ogus / OGUS753 / 42
program, it’s not quite feasible for most people to hit each muscle three
times a week while still hitting the 7/5/3 lifts. I like to play it safe, and hit
everything twice a week on this program.
With that said, this means we’ll be doing things like direct arm work,
direct rear deltoid work, and direct calf work. Now before some of you
say it, yes, back exercises do work the biceps and pushing exercises
do work the triceps, but you’ll have bigger arms 6 or 26 months from
now if you hit them directly in combination with plenty of compound
movements rather than neglecting direct arm work. It doesn’t mean you
have to do tons of sets either; just at least a couple sets of biceps and
triceps each upper body workout and you’ll thank yourself down the
road when your arms have made progress. I’ve seen a lot of
intermediate lifters end up regretting not having done the fluffy isolation
work because they thought their core compounds were enough.
How much “necessary work” or “more work” should we be doing?
The simplest way for me to answer that question is: you should do as
much “more work” as you need to achieve your goals, assuming you
have the time of day, and assuming you can recover from it.
Considerations for More Work - Time
The first thing to consider when setting up “more work” is to look at
how much time you are allocating towards the gym. Is your time flexible
or is it set in stone? Generally, warming up and completing the 7/5/3
work can take 30 to 90 minutes, depending on how fast you warm up,
which week you’re on, how many cycles it’s been since a reset, how
you feel, how hydrated you are, and how much time you need to
Ogus / OGUS753 / 43
recover between sets. How much more time after the 7/5/3 lifts can you
afford to spend in the gym?
Many other programs promise you fast, quick, miracle solution
workouts but 7/5/3 promises you nothing of that nature. This is because
anyone who has been lifting for longer than a few years, naturally,
knows that in general, the bigger and stronger you get, the more
volume you need to keep progressing in strength and hypertrophy.
More volume directly or indirectly means more longer workouts, over
time. Most of these “quick and effective” snakeoil-advertisement style
workout programs are marketed to beginners who are seeking fast
results but who also CAN HAVE fast results... from simply lifting weights
consistently for the first time in their lives. From there, with the help of
validation from their gurus, beginners sometimes enter a mindset of “Oh
hey, fast and quick workouts are how muscles grow”.
If you’re reading this, you’re most likely at least a couple years into
the lifting game. The fast results are long gone. The quick and short 30
minute workouts are fine if you are just trying to maintain your muscle.
You bought this program because whatever you were doing wasn’t
working, or you weren’t doing it long or smart enough to find out. Short
30 minute workouts… Haha. what was this program you bought about?
Oh yeah. Building strength (in 4 major lifts) and overall muscle
simultaneously. Basically the maximum number of fitness goals you
could attempt to reach at the same time… Please don’t tell me you
think you can get incredible results without putting in incredible time
and effort. For anyone who is two, five, or ten years in this game, good
luck trying to get BOTH bigger (in every muscle) AND stronger (at 4 key
lifts in the 1-5 rep range) at the SAME TIME with 4 short 30 minute
workouts a week. Seriously, good luck, from the bottom of my heart.
Ogus / OGUS753 / 44
Considerations for “MORE WORK” - Goals, Rep Ranges… (and Time)
Your goals will strongly dictate what you do with the time you have. If
you have exercises that you really want to get strong in, train them in
the rep ranges you want to be strong at in those given exercises.
Nobody is stopping you, and this is your one and only life. Just
understand what you’re getting yourself into, of course. Understand
that the more goals you want to achieve at one time, the less you
probably will. Don’t spread yourself too thin. Keep in mind you’re
already prioritizing 4 big lifts: the benchpress, squat, overhead press,
and deadlift, how many more exercises do you want and need to get
brutally strong at right now, you greedy bastard?
The more exercises that you want to get brutally strong in, at lower
rep ranges, the longer you can expect workouts to become. This is
because load highly dictates resting periods. Load is a simple way of
referring to “Percentage of One Rep Max”, or in other words, Intensity
(a word too many bodybuilders misuse all too often). The heavier the
weight in relation to your one rep max, the more time required for you to
rest before you are ready to hit that weight again, assuming you want
the same number of reps or something close to it. So, holding the
number of sets constant, the longer the resting periods, the longer
doing a given exercise for all those sets will take. To give an example
with something besides the big 4 lifts, let’s say you’re really strong at
chin-ups and pull-ups. Four sets of weighted chin-ups for triples (let’s
say with 90 Lb’s strapped to you) will generally take longer to complete
than four sets of weighted chin-ups for 6’s (let’s say with 45 Lb’s
Ogus / OGUS753 / 45
strapped to you), which will take longer to complete than four sets of
bodyweight chin-ups for 10-12 reps each. This is because you’ll
probably want and need to rest longer between those heavier sets, than
between the lighter sets. (Remember that the words “heavy” and “light”
are relative, they should generally be in reference to your one rep max.)
This is one reason why I highly recommend the vast majority of
“more work” to be done in the hypertrophy rep ranges. This is why I
recommend looking at all of “more work” as bodybuilding work. You’ll
be able to fit in more high effort sets, and more overall volume, both key
factors for muscle hypertrophy, by lifting in the 8-15 rep ranges on most
lifts. Let the 7/5/3 work scratch your itch for lifting heavy crap. Train as
much as a bodybuilder as possible for “more work”. The real key to
building STRENGTH and MUSCLE simultaneously, is to minimize the
number of exercises that you are doing lower rep training in (down to
the big 4 here), carefully periodize and prioritize those lifts, and spend
as much time and energy as you can realistically afford training like a
bodybuilder outside of those big 4 lifts.
Considerations for “MORE WORK” - Recovery
This one ties into the previous consideration. The more exercises
you attempt to get brutally strong at, in low rep ranges, the more careful
you have to be that you are recovering properly. Overtraining is
generally the popular term here, but the real issue is that when the
workload is too great in a given workout, or in a given string of
workouts, workout week, or workout month, and you don’t recovery
from it in time for the next workout (or next string of workouts, workout
Ogus / OGUS753 / 46
week, or workout month), you aren’t able to perform at the same level
that you did during the first workout (or string of workouts, workout
week, or workout month). Think of it like this, you were able to get that
first workout or set of workouts in, but then only later does the “WOW, I
feel like utter CRAP” feeling which we tend to call “overtraining” set in.
You generally don’t get that feeling during the workout in which we’d
later describe as part of the “overtraining”. You sure didn’t feel like you
were overtraining in the workouts you felt great at. Yes, eventually you
entered into an over-trained state, but it was from not recovering
properly. I could go on, but usually when we speak about underrecovering or overtraining, we’re usually talking about the same
combination of factors.
I’ll go over maximizing recovery later in more detail. For now, just
know that there is generally a level of total volume, highly influenced by
how much high intensity (think compound lifts, 75-85% and above
1RM) volume inside that total volume, that you can handle on a regular
basis, dictated by how much sleep you’re getting, your diet, outside of
gym activity, and anything that (negatively or positively) affects your
stress levels.
Considerations for “MORE WORK” - strong points & weak points
The second thing to consider when setting up your “more work” is to
identify which body parts you want to give a little extra attention to. For
example, if you have really strong arms due to working them a ton in the
past or great arms genetics, you’d program very minimal direct arm
work, if at all. If, genetically, you have an amazing chest and it grows
Ogus / OGUS753 / 47
easily, we wouldn’t have to add a ton of more chest work since by
default you’re already doing 5-10 heavy work sets per week; you’d be
better off giving more time and energy to your back, shoulders, and/or
arms muscles.
That said, just because you have a strong point or two, doesn’t
mean to neglect them completely. They still should be getting hit
around twice per week, granted,at lower volumes than if they were
weak points. It’s smart to keep a little volume on your strong points and
still focus on progressing at the exercises involved at hitting them just
as an insurance policy. In my opinion, making a strong point stronger
with minimal effort isn’t a bad thing, but letting a weak point stay weak
usually is.
General Tips for “MORE WORK”
Some of this will seem obvious. Please don’t take the following as an
insult to your intelligence, but some people need to hear this or I’d be
getting 600 emails, tweets, and Facebook/Instagram messages a day
about it.
•
If you’re in a hurry, do less sets, not more sets.
•
Usually 3 sets for most exercises is plenty, if you have time to do
more, go ahead, but make sure you’re balancing the rest of your
core work appropriately
•
If you get an emergency phone call, it’s okay to leave the gym
•
If you have more time to allocate towards the gym, feel free to do
more sets in the given range of a set recommendation
Ogus / OGUS753 / 48
•
If you leave the gym before finishing your workout you can finish
the work the next day if you want
•
Be deliberate and do what you set out to do, (including the “More
Work” you decided on)
•
Don’t train to failure on compound exercises, especially in earlier
sets, especially in lower rep ranges (Keep most sets RPE 9)
•
Feel free to train to failure on isolation exercises, especially in
latter sets, especially in higher rep ranges (I encourage it)
•
There is no need for obvious exercise redundancy. If you do a flat
dumbbell benchpress, you don’t need and probably shouldn’t
want to do a flat hammer strength benchpress later that workout.
You could if you want, but we’re trying to maximize the time we
spend in the gym
•
Hit muscles you want to grow
•
Hit muscles that you may not care a ton about, but you know you
should hit; do it for the cosmetic symmetry but also structural
symmetry
•
Keep the rep ranges for most compound lifts 8-12 (with some
work in the 12-15 rep range)
•
Keep the rep ranges for most isolation lifts 10-15 (with some work
in the 15-20 rep range)
•
Try to do face pulls at least once a week
•
When in a time crunch, alternating sets seems to be a good
option (Exercise A, 1 minute rest, Exercise B, 1 minute rest, etc)
•
When you get a semi-urgent phone call or decide you have to
leave the gym ASAP, only then are giant/drop sets permissible
Ogus / OGUS753 / 49
Legs/Calves/Abs Tips for “MORE WORK” on Squat Day
We generally want to place a hip-dominant compound exercise after
the squat, so we can work our glutes and hamstrings. Calves will also
want to be thrown in as a default. From there what you do is extra
credit. The following is advice for what to do in terms of leg work after
your 7/5/3 squats on squat day.
For Those With More Time:
•
If you have a Moderate to Massive Amount of Time and need
more Quad Work than Hamstring/Glute Work
◦
Do 3-6 sets of 6-10 Stiff Leg Deadlifts (stay UNDER RPE 9
on all sets) OR 3-5 sets of 8-12 Barbell Hip Thrusts, 3-5 sets
of Leg Press (I recommend Cybex leg press), 3-5 sets of
6-12 hamstring curls or 3-5 sets of 12-20 leg extensions, 5
sets of 5-6 standing calves, 3-4 sets of 8-10 seated calves,
3-5 total sets of abs
•
If you have a Moderate to Massive amount of time and need more
Glute Work than Quads/hamstrings Work
◦
Do 3-4 sets of 6-10 Stiff Leg Deadlifts (stay UNDER RPE 9
on all sets), 4-5 sets of 8-12 Barbell Hip Thrusts, 3-5 sets of
Walking DB Lunges or Reverse DB Lunges OR 3-5 sets of
Glute Ham Raises / Reverse Hyperextensions if you need
more hamstring than flute work) , 3-5 sets of 6-12 hamstring
curls, 5 sets of 5-6 standing calves, 3-4 sets of 8-10 seated
calves, 3-5 total sets of abs
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•
If you have a Moderate to Massive amount of time and need more
Hamstring work than Quads or Glute Work
◦
Do 5-6 sets of 6-10 Stiff Leg Deadlifts (stay UNDER RPE 9
on all sets), 4-5 sets of 8-12 Barbell Hip Thrusts, 3-5 sets of
Glute Ham Raises or Reverse Hyperextensions or
equivalent/similar exercise, 3-5 sets of 8-12 hamstring curls,
5 sets of 5-6 standing calves, 3-4 sets of 8-10 seated
calves, 3-5 total sets of abs
For Those With Less Time:
•
If you have a short amount of Time and want to prioritize glutes
over hamstrings/quads, or your back is very sore from squats, or
hamstrings too tight for SLDL's:
◦
Do 3-4 sets of 8-12 Barbell Hip Thrusts. 2-3 sets of 5-6
standing calves AND/OR 2-3 sets of 8-10 seated calves, 2-3
sets of abs
•
If you have a short amount of time and want to prioritize
hamstrings
◦
Do 3-4 sets of 6-10 Stiff Leg Deadlifts (stay BENEATH RPE
9 on all sets, RPE 9 okay on last set), 2-3 sets of 5-6
standing calves AND/OR 2-3 sets of 8-10 seated calves, 2-3
sets of abs
•
If you have a short amount of time and want to prioritize quads (I
seriously would not recommend this option to the majority of
people)
◦
Do 2-3 sets of leg press, 2-3 sets of leg extensions, 2-3 sets
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of 5-6 standing calves AND/OR 2-3 sets of 8-10 seated
calves, 2-3 sets of abs
Legs/Calves/Abs Tips for “MORE WORK” on Deadlift Day
After the deadlift, especially if you deadlift conventional or narrow
sumo, the first thing we’re looking to add is a quad-dominant
compound exercise. You’ll also want to make sure you get calves in
there too, that’s the minimum. I’ll be making separate suggestions for
those with a very wide (quad heavy) sumo deadlift so that these guys
can get in more hamstring work (narrower sumo deadlifts and
conventional deadlifts are more hamstring heavy than wide, sumostance-standing-leg-press-lookalike, sumo deadlifts)
For Those With More Time, and a conventional or narrow/moderate
stance sumo deadlift:
•
If you have a Moderate to Massive Amount of Time and need
more Quad Work than Hamstring/Glute Work
◦
Do 3-5 sets of front squats AND/OR 3-5 sets of Leg Press/
Hack Squat, 3-5 sets of 6-12 hamstring curls, 3-5 sets of
12-20 leg extensions, 5 sets of 5-6 standing calves, 3-4 sets
of 8-10 seated calves, 3-5 total sets of abs
•
If you have a Moderate to Massive amount of time and need more
Glute Work than Quads/hamstrings Work
◦
4-5 sets of 8-12 Barbell Hip Thrusts, 3-5 sets of Walking DB
Lunges or Reverse DB Lunges, 3-5 sets of 6-12 hamstring
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curls, 5 sets of 5-6 standing calves, 3-4 sets of 8-10 seated
calves, 3-5 total sets of abs
•
If you have a Moderate to Massive amount of time and need more
Hamstring work than Quads or Glute Work
◦
Do 5-6 sets of 6-10 Stiff Leg Deadlifts (stay UNDER RPE 9
on all sets), 4-5 sets of 8-12 Barbell Hip Thrusts AND/OR
3-5 sets of Glute Ham Raises or Reverse Hyperextensions
or equivalent/similar exercise, 3-5 sets of 8-12 hamstring
curls, 5 sets of 5-6 standing calves, 3-4 sets of 8-10 seated
calves, 3-5 total sets of abs
For Those With Less Time and a conventional or narrow/moderate
stance sumo deadlift:
•
If you have have a short amount of Time and and need more
Quad Work than Hamstring/Glute Work
◦
Do 2-3 sets of front squats AND/OR 2-3 sets of Leg Press/
Hack Squat, 2-3 sets of 12-20 leg extensions, 5 sets of 5-6
standing calves, 3-4 sets of 8-10 seated calves, 3-5 total
sets of abs
•
If you have a short amount of time and need more glute work than
quad/hamstring work
◦
Do 3-4 sets of 6-10 Stiff Leg Deadlifts (stay BENEATH RPE
9 on all sets, RPE 9 okay on last set), 2-3 sets of 5-6
standing calves AND/OR 2-3 sets of 8-10 seated calves, 2-3
sets of abs
Ogus / OGUS753 / 53
•
If you have a short amount of time and need more Hamstring
work than Quads or Glute Work
◦
Do 2-3 sets of leg press, 2-3 sets of leg extensions, 2-3 sets
of 5-6 standing calves AND/OR 2-3 sets of 8-10 seated
calves, 2-3 sets of abs
For Those With More Time, and a very wide stance (quad heavy) sumo
deadlift that practically looks like a sumo-standing leg press:
•
If you have a Moderate to Massive Amount of Time and need
more Quad Work than Hamstring/Glute Work
◦
Do 3-4 sets of 6-10 Stiff Leg Deadlifts (stay UNDER RPE 9
on all sets), 3-5 sets of Leg Press (I recommend Cybex leg
press) or hack squat, 3-5 sets of 12-20 leg extensions, 5
sets of 5-6 standing calves, 3-4 sets of 8-10 seated calves,
3-5 total sets of abs
•
If you have a Moderate to Massive amount of Time and want to
prioritize glutes or if your back is very sore from deadlifting:
◦
Do 3-5 sets of 8-12 Barbell Hip Thrusts, 3-5 sets of walking
DB Lunges or Reverse Lunges, 3-5 sets of 8-12 hamstring
curls, 5 sets of 5-6 standing calves, 3-4 sets of 8-10 seated
calves, 3-5 total sets of abs
•
If you have a Moderate to Massive amount of Time and want to
prioritize hamstrings
◦
Do 5-6 sets of 6-10 Stiff Leg Deadlifts (stay UNDER RPE 9
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on all sets), 4-5 sets of 8-12 Barbell Hip Thrusts AND/OR
3-5 sets of Glute Ham Raises or Reverse Hyperextensions
or equivalent/similar exercise, 3-5 sets of 8-12 hamstring
curls, 5 sets of 5-6 standing calves, 3-4 sets of 8-10 seated
calves, 3-5 total sets of abs
For Those With Less Time, and a very wide stance (quad heavy) sumo
deadlift (that practically looks like a sumo-standing leg press:
•
If you have a short amount of time and want to prioritize quads ( I
probably wouldn’t recommend this one)
◦
Do 2-3 sets of leg press OR front squat, OR hack squat, 2-3
sets of leg extensions or 2-3 sets of seated leg curls, 2-3
sets of 5-6 standing calves AND/OR 2-3 sets of 8-10 seated
calves, 2-3 sets of abs
•
If you have a short amount of time and want to prioritize glutes
◦
Do 2-3 sets of barbell hip thrusts, 2-3 sets of walking or
reverse DB lunges, 2-3 sets of 5-6 standing calves AND/OR
2-3 sets of 8-10 seated calves, 2-3 sets of abs
•
If you have a short amount of time and want to prioritize
hamstrings
◦
Do 2-3 sets of 6-10 Stiff Leg Deadlifts (stay UNDER RPE 9
on all sets), 2-3 sets of seated leg curls, 2-3 sets of 5-6
standing calves AND/OR 2-3 sets of 8-10 seated calves, 2-3
sets of abs
Ogus / OGUS753 / 55
Chest Tips for “MORE WORK” on Benchpress Day
•
If your chest needs work and you have a moderate to high
amount of time:
◦
Do 3-5 sets of 8-12 on an incline press (between 20 and 45
degrees) and 3-5 sets of 12-20 on some sort of chest fly
•
If your chest is already very strong or you have very little time
◦
Do 2-3 sets of 8-12 of an incline press OR 2-3 sets of 12-20
of a chest fly
◦
OR program yourself to do more shoulder work instead of
more chest work
Shoulder Tips for “MORE WORK” on Benchpress Day
Most people’s front deltoids are going to explode in size from doing
Ogus 7/5/3. All of the bench pressing and OHP’ing will be why. Vertical
Presses are great for working the front deltoids but will also have better
carryover to the OHP and benchpress than doing front raises. With all
the front deltoid growth, it will be important to focus on your rear delts.
Everyone can use more rear deltoids. For the medial head, side lateral
raises, especially done 1-arm at a time with cables are recommended.
•
If your anterior deltoids are weak and you have a moderate to high
amount of time:
◦
Do 3-5 sets of 8-12 of a vertical press (like dumbbell seated
shoulder press), 3-5 sets of 12-15 on side lateral raises (1arm cable side laterals), and 3-5 sets of 12-20 on reverse
Ogus / OGUS753 / 56
flyes/rear delt flyes, and 3-5 sets of 10-15 reps on face pulls
•
If your anterior deltoids are strong and you have a moderate to
high amount of time:
◦
Do more incline chest work instead of vertical pressing, 3-5
sets of side lateral raises (1-arm cable side laterals), and 3-5
sets of reverse flyes/rear delt flyes, and 3-5 sets of face
pulls
•
If you have weak front deltoids and very little time:
◦
Do 2 sets of a vertical press (dumbbell shoulder press), 2-3
sets of side lateral raises (cable side laterals), and 2-3 sets
of face pulls
•
What About Traps?
◦
The amount of deadlifting you do should cover it
◦
If after 6+ months of 7/5/3 you disagree:
▪
If you have plenty of time do 3-5 sets of shrugs in the
8-15 rep range
▪
If you have little time, do 2-3 sets of shrugs in the 8-15
rep range
Back Tips for “MORE WORK on Benchpress Day"
The general flow for a benchpress day is 7/5/3 bench, then pull, then
push, then pull, then other work, but the question I expect is, “should a
vertical pull or a horizontal pull follow the benchpress? In other words,
Ogus / OGUS753 / 57
“should it go benchpress, horizontal pull, vertical/incline push, vertical
pull, OR benchpress, vertical pull, vertical/incline push, horizontal pull?"
Honestly, I’m not sure if one is better than the other because a logical
case could be made for either order. I’ve done both and found I prefer
to do a vertical pull after bench pressing, thus, the order I recommend
you start with is 7/5/3 bench, vertical pull, vertical/incline push,
horizontal pull.
•
If you have a Ton of Time:
◦
Do 2-3 pulling exercises for 3-5 sets each, with at least one
vertical and at least one horizontal pull
▪
Order can be Benchpress, vertical pull, incline/vertical
push, horizontal pull, optional pull of choice
•
If you have very little time:
◦
Do 1-2 Pulling Exercises for 2-3 sets each
▪
Do a vertical pull (and then if time allows, your incline/
vertical push and a horizontal pull)
Arms Tips for “MORE WORK" on Benchpress Day
•
If you have a fair amount or a ton of time
◦
Do 2-3 sets of standing cable triceps pushdowns, 2-3 sets
of a compound biceps curl, 2-3 sets of a cable or machine
long head triceps exercise, 2-3 sets of a high rep cable curl
or machine preacher curl
◦
If you’re an overachiever, before the arm work above, you
Ogus / OGUS753 / 58
can do 2-3 sets of a triceps dip (bodyweight+attached
weight, or on a machine)
•
If you have very little time
◦
Do 2 sets of a standing cable triceps pushdown or long
head triceps exercise
▪
You could do triceps pushdowns on bench day and a
long head triceps exercise like preacher extensions on
OHP day
Chest Tips for “MORE WORK” on OHP day
•
If your chest needs work and you have a moderate to high
amount of time:
◦
Do 3-5 sets of a decline, flat, or incline press (between 20
and 45 degrees), or weighted dips, and 3-5 sets of some
sort of chest fly
•
If your chest is already very strong or you have very little time
◦
Do 2-3 sets of a decline, flat, or incline press, or dips, OR
2-3 sets of a chest fly
Shoulders Tips for “MORE WORK” on OHP day
I would not recommend more vertical pressing after your 7/5/3
OHP’s. If you want more vertical pressing, do it on the benchpress day.
•
If you have a moderate to high amount of time:
Ogus / OGUS753 / 59
◦
Do 3-5 sets of side lateral raises (1-arm cable side laterals),
and 3-5 sets of reverse flyes/rear delt flyes, and 3-5 sets of
face pulls
•
If you have very little time:
◦
Do 2-3 sets of side lateral raises (cable side laterals), and
2-3 sets of face pulls
•
What About Traps?
◦
The amount of deadlifting you do should cover it
◦
If after 6 months of 7/5/3 you disagree:
▪
If you have plenty of time do 3-5 sets of shrugs in the
8-15 rep range
▪
If you have little time, do 2-3 sets of shrugs in the 8-15
rep range
Back Tips for “MORE WORK" on OHP day
The general flow is 7/5/3 push, then pull, then push, then pull, then
other work, but the question I expect is, “should a vertical pull or a
horizontal pull follow the OHP?”
•
If you have a Ton of Time:
◦
Do 2-3 pulling exercises for 3-5 sets each, with at least one
vertical and at least one horizontal pull
▪
Order can be OHP, horizontal pull, incline/horizontal
push, vertical pull, optional pull of choice
Ogus / OGUS753 / 60
•
If you have very little time:
◦
Do 1-2 Pulling Exercises for 2-3 sets each
▪
Do a horizontal pull (and then only if time allows, your
incline/horizontal push and a vertical pull)
Arms Tips for “MORE WORK" on OHP day
•
If you have a fair amount or a ton of time
◦
Do 2-3 sets of standing cable triceps pushdowns, 2-3 sets
of a compound biceps curl, 2-3 sets of a cable or machine
long head triceps exercise, 2-3 sets of a high rep cable curl
or machine preacher curl
◦
If you’re an overachiever, before the arm work above, you
can do 2-3 sets of a triceps dip (bodyweight+attached
weight, or on a machine)
•
If you have very little time
◦
Do 2 sets of a standing cable triceps pushdown or long
head triceps exercise
▪
You could do a long head triceps exercise on OHP
day, and a lateral head focused triceps exercise like
pushdowns on Bench day
“More Work” Templates
These templates will give some examples with what you can do with
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your time allotted to the gym. These templates are based around overall
physique development. Don’t let the choosing of a specific template or
creating your own custom “more work” plan take up too much of your
time or cause you a mental breakdown.
Keep it simple. What muscles do you want to grow? Program
exercises that hit those muscles. How many sets should you do per
exercise? You can set guidelines for yourself but ultimately… Do you
have a ton of time or not very much time? The more time you have, the
more volume you can try to fit in. For example, if you have a really busy
day and have only 1-1.5 hours to lift, just do 2 sets of each “more work”
exercise after your Core Work, but on days with more time, do 3-5 sets.
Common sense goes a long way here and if you’re reading this,
I’m assuming you’re a sensible person. I won’t be your therapist if you
decide to ignore your family and friends to spend all day at the gym.
That’s your problem. Just know that sometimes there is such a thing as
“too much” and other times there is such a thing as “not enough.”
Squat day and Deadlift days are interchangeable. Benchpress and
OHP days are interchangeable. Practically any exercise can be changed
out for another of similar movement pattern.
"In-N-Out" Work (for those who have 30 minutes to do “more
more")
You can alternate sets of antagonistic or non-like exercises to speed
through these workouts faster. Keep your rest periods between 60-120
seconds on the compound upper body lifts and 60-90 seconds
between the isolation upper body lifts.
Keep your rest periods between 90 and 180 seconds on the compound
Ogus / OGUS753 / 62
lower body lifts, and 60-90 seconds between the isolation lower body
lifts. It may look like too much work in 30 minutes, but if you keep the
pace and use weights that are appropriate and don’t make you hit
failure in lower rep ranges, you should be fine.
•
Monday (7/5/3 Squat)
◦
Stiff Leg Deadlift: 3-4 sets of 6-8
◦
Standing Calves: 5 sets of 6 (begin these between sets of
SLDL, done in alternating fashion)
◦
Hanging Leg Raises: 2 sets of 10-12 (alternating sets with
standing calves if necessary)
•
Wednesday (7/5/3 Benchpress)
◦
(weighted) Pullups: 2-4 sets of 8-10 (alternating sets w/
slight incline DB press)
◦
Slight Incline Dumbbell Press: 2 sets of 10-12 (alternating
sets with pull-ups if necessary)
◦
Triceps Pushdowns: 2 sets of 10-15 (alternating sets with
curls if necessary)
◦
Cable Curls: 2 sets of 12-15 (alternating sets with Triceps
Pushdowns if necessary)
◦
Rear Delt flies: 2 sets of 15-20 (alternating sets with curls/
triceps if necessary)
◦
Face Pulls 1-2 sets of 12-15 (alternating sets with curls/
triceps if necessary, but not with rear delt flies)
•
Friday (7/5/3 Deadlift)
◦
Front Squat: 3-4 sets of 8-10
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•
◦
Seated Calves: 2-3 sets of 8-10
◦
Seated Hamstring Curls: 2-3 sets of 8-12
◦
Seated or standing cable crunch: 2 sets of 10-15
Saturday (7/5/3 OHP)
◦
Cable Row: 2-4 sets of 10-12 (alternating sets w/ flat db
press)
◦
Flat DB Benchpress: 2 sets of 10-12 (alternating with sets of
rows)
◦
Seated Preacher Triceps Extension: 2 sets of 12-15
(alternating with sets of cable curls if necessary)
◦
Standing Dumbbell Supinating Curls (alternating or both at
same time): 2 sets of 8-12 (alterating with sets of triceps ext)
◦
Rear Delt Flies: 2 sets of 15-20
◦
Face Pulls: 1-2 sets of 12-15
“Dedicated Work" (for those who have around 60 minutes to do “more
work”)
•
Monday (7/5/3 Squat)
◦
Stiff Leg Deadlift: 3-5 sets of 6-8
◦
Leg Press OR Hack Squat: 2-3 sets of 8-15
◦
Standing Calves: 5 sets of 5-6
◦
Hamstring Curls of Choice: 2-3 sets of 8-12
◦
Hanging Leg Raises: 3-4 sets of 10-12 (alternating sets with
standing calves if necessary)
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•
Wednesday (7/5/3 Benchpress)
◦
(weighted) Pullups: 2-4 sets of 8-10 (alternating sets w/
slight incline DB press)
◦
Slight Incline Dumbbell Press: 2-3 sets of 10-12 (alternating
sets with pull-ups if necessary)
◦
Chest Supported Row: 3-5 sets of 10-12
◦
Triceps Pushdowns: 2-4 sets of 10-15 (alternating sets with
curls if necessary)
◦
Cable Side Lateral Raises: 2-3 sets of 12-15
◦
Cable Curls: 2-4 sets of 12-15 (alternating sets with Triceps
Pushdowns if necessary)
◦
Rear Delt flies: 2-3 sets of 15-20 (alternating sets with curls/
triceps if necessary)
◦
Face Pulls 2-3 sets of 12-15 (alternating sets with curls/
triceps if necessary, but not with rear delt flies)
•
•
Friday (7/5/3 Deadlift)
◦
Front Squat OR Leg Press OR Hack Squat: 3-5 sets of 8-10
◦
Reverse DB Lunges: 2-3 sets of 10-15
◦
Seated Calves: 2-3 sets of 8-10
◦
Seated Hamstring Curls: 2-3 sets of 8-12
◦
Seated or standing cable crunch: 3-4 sets of 10-15
Saturday (7/5/3 OHP)
◦
Cable Row: 2-4 sets of 10-12 (alternating sets w/ flat db
press)
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◦
Flat DB Benchpress: 2 sets of 10-12 (alternating with sets of
rows)
◦
Seated Preacher Triceps Extension: 2 sets of 12-15
(alternating with sets of cable curls if necessary)
◦
Cable Side Lateral Raises: 2-3 sets of 12-15
◦
Standing Dumbbell Supinating Curls (alternating or both at
same time): 2 sets of 8-12 (alterating with sets of triceps ext)
◦
Rear Delt Flies: 2 sets of 15-20
◦
Face Pulls: 1-2 sets of 12-15
“Ultimate Work” (for those who have 90 or more minutes to
do “more work”)
•
Monday (7/5/3 Squat)
◦
Stiff Leg Deadlift: 3-5 sets of 6-8
◦
Leg Press OR Hack Squat: 3-5 sets of 8-15
◦
Standing Calves: 5 sets of 5-6
◦
Seated Calves: 3-4 sets of 8-10
◦
Hamstring Curls of Choice: 3-4 sets of 8-12
◦
Hanging Leg Raises: 3-4 sets of 10-12 (alternating sets with
standing calves if necessary)
•
Wednesday (7/5/3 Benchpress)
◦
(weighted) Pullups: 2-3 sets of 8-10 (alternating sets w/
slight incline DB press)
◦
Neutral Grip Pulldowns: 2-3 sets of 10-12
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◦
Slight Incline Dumbbell Press: 3-4 sets of 10-12 (alternating
sets with pull-ups if necessary)
◦
Chest Supported Row: 3-5 sets of 10-12
◦
Triceps Pushdowns: 2-4 sets of 10-15 (alternating sets with
curls if necessary)
◦
EZ, DB or BB Curl: 2 sets of 8-12 (alternating sets with
Triceps Pushdowns if necessary)
◦
Cable Side Lateral Raises: 3-5 sets of 12-15
◦
Cable Curls: 2 sets of 12-15
◦
Preacher Triceps Extension: 2-3 sets of 12-15
◦
DB Hammer Curls: 2 sets of 12-15
◦
Rear Delt flies: 2-3 sets of 15-20 (alternating sets with curls/
triceps if necessary)
◦
1-arm Cable Rope Hammer Curls: 2 sets of 15-25
◦
Face Pulls 2-3 sets of 12-15 (alternating sets with curls/
triceps if necessary, but not with rear delt flies)
•
•
Friday (7/5/3 Deadlift)
◦
Front Squat OR Leg Press OR Hack Squat: 3-5 sets of 8-10
◦
Reverse DB Lunges or Hip Thrust: 3-5 sets of 10-15
◦
Standing Calves: 5 sets of 5-6
◦
Seated Calves: 3-4 sets of 8-10
◦
Seated Hamstring Curls: 3-4 sets of 8-12
◦
Seated or standing cable crunch: 3-4 sets of 10-15
Saturday (7/5/3 OHP)
◦
Cable Row: 2-4 sets of 10-12 (alternating sets w/ flat db
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press)
◦
Flat DB Benchpress: 2 sets of 10-12 (alternating with sets of
rows)
◦
Triceps Pushdowns: 2-4 sets of 10-15 (alternating sets with
curls if necessary)
◦
EZ, DB or BB Curl: 2 sets of 8-12 (alternating sets with
Triceps Pushdowns if necessary)
◦
Cable Side Lateral Raises: 3-5 sets of 12-15
◦
Cable Curls: 2 sets of 12-15
◦
Preacher Triceps Extension: 2-3 sets of 12-15
◦
DB Hammer Curls: 2 sets of 12-15
◦
Rear Delt flies: 2-3 sets of 15-20 (alternating sets with curls/
triceps if necessary)
◦
1-arm Cable Rope Hammer Curls: 2 sets of 15-25
◦
Face Pulls 2-3 sets of 12-15 (alternating sets with curls/
triceps if necessary, but not with rear delt flies)
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Chapter 2:
The Big Lifts
You’ll be doing a ton of squatting, deadlifting, benchpressing, and strict
overhead pressing on #Ogus753. We’ll generally be referring to these
lifts as “The Big 4”, “Core Work”, or “The Main Lifts”. We’re focusing on
these lifts to keep things simple and to get you strong.
If you’re reading this book, it’s assumed that you’re not a
beginner, so I’m not going to treat you like one. Normally for the squat
I’d have to teach the bodyweight squat, the goblet squat, and so on,
before ever having someone put a barbell on their back. I won’t do that
here because I’m assuming you can already squat at least your
bodyweight for reps.
This isn’t a book on biomechanics, but here are some basic
fundamental tips for your Big 4.
The Squat:
Squatting technique is highly individual and preferential. There are so
many variables at play. For the most part, the two distinct styles of
squatting are high bar The key difference here is whether you place the
bar on top of your traps, or somewhere downstream from the top of the
traps. Don’t switch back and forth between one and the other during
this program. It doesn’t really matter which you go with. It’s not like low
bar squatting doesn’t work out your quads, and rest assured, high bar
squatting converts quite well to low bar squatting strength if you plan
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on low bar squatting in the future. Pick whichever you prefer, whichever
feels most comfortable for you at this time, or whichever you plan on
doing long term.
If you’re focused on lifting the most weight possible during your
time with #Ogus753, try the low bar squat. For a greater demand on
range of motion of the knees and ankles, and slightly greater load on
the quads, go with the high bar squat. The high bar squat and low bar
squat are different in that the bar always travels above the mid-foot, so
wherever you place it on your back, changes how much you lean
forward, how much the hips come back, how forward the knees will go,
etc. Place it higher on the back and your torso in the squat will be more
vertical, there will be more forward knee travel. Place it lower on your
back and you will naturally lean forward more, and prefer to have a
wider foot stance (more hip opening). First let’s go over some
fundamentals for all squats, then we’ll get into some focused tips for
squatting high bar or squatting low bar.
General Squat Setup:
•
Set up the squat J-Hooks and/or the bar at a height so that the lift
off is comfortable
◦
You don’t want to have to do half a squat just to get the bar
off the rack
◦
You shouldn’t have to do a calf raise and get onto your tippy
toes to unrack the bar
•
Every set should begin the same way
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•
Use a grip width that allows you to create a tense upper back
shelf for the bar to rest upon
◦
Try to grip as narrow as possible while still keeping the
wrists straight
◦
A thumbs around the bar grip is recommended, but a over
the around the bar grip is okay, to avoid wrist pain or if
preferred
◦
Break the bar with your grip, pulling it apart, externally
rotating the shoulders, tensing the upper back
◦
Pull the chest up, the shoulders down and back
◦
Grip the bar evenly, and tightly
◦
You can step underneath the bar before placing it on your
back, or vice versa, doesn’t matter, just keep it consistent
•
Once the bar is on your back, find your proper feet positioning for
the lift off
◦
Feet should be placed somewhere around shoulder/hip
width for the lift off
◦
Screw the feet into the ground to engage and stabilize the
hips (create outward feet pressure)
◦
•
Tense the upper back and keep the torso vertical
Initiate the lift off
◦
Keep the neck relatively neutral, looking at a point directly
ahead of you
◦
Elbows underneath the bar
◦
With a neutral spine, breathe into the diaphragm, not
uncomfortably hard
◦
Brace the core (like someone was going to hit you in the
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torso
◦
Extend the knees to lift the bar off the rack
◦
Wait for the weight to stabilize; for the plates to stop
spinning and the bar to stop shaking
The Walkout:
•
Take a breath and brace before taking one step back with the
dominant foot
•
Take a step back and out with the other foot, placing it into it’s
squatting position
•
Readjust the dominant foot into it’s squatting position
•
Finally then, breathe out, the walkout should only take but a
moment
•
The wider the feet placement, the more outward foot angle (foot
flare) you’ll probably find necessary
◦
The wider your feet, the more open your hips must be
during the squat
◦
Experiment over time to find the right amount of foot flare
Squat Execution:
•
Take however many breaths necessary
•
Stare straight ahead or slightly down; pick a point and keep your
eyes on it. Don’t look around
•
Feel your WHOLE foot on the ground
◦
Feel the ground
◦
all 3 balls of your feet in contact with the ground
◦
Weight not distributed all on your toes
◦
Don’t lift your toes
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◦
•
Weight is distributed around or just behind midfoot
Brace your core
◦
Take a final deep breath to 70-85% capacity
◦
Tense your core as if someone was going to hit you
somewhere (anywhere and everywhere) on your torso
◦
Keep your core neutral (not flexed with your ass sticking out,
not crunched down)
•
Initiate the descent
◦
Depending on bar placement and preference you will prefer
to initiate the descent by breaking at the knees first or
simultaneously at the knees and hips. Some people may
prefer moving the hips back before breaking at the knees.
◦
Keep the torso as braced and vertical as possible while the
bar travels above midfoot
◦
With outward rotation of the hips and knees, have the knees
track with the direction of mid to outer toes
◦
The placement of the hips and forward travel of the knees
will depend heavily on your body structure and bar
placement
◦
Squat down to around parellel, keeping your air in and
keeping tight
◦
Parellel is when the hip crease is at the same height as your
knee joint, or when the line from the hip crease and the knee
joint are parallel to the ground
◦
Utilize the stretch reflex at the bottom but don’t dive-bomb
(unless you’re advanced and know exactly what you’re
doing)
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•
Squat the Weight Up
◦
Keep the Core Braced, Explode Up
◦
Breathe out only after a full rep is complete, or once you’re
at least 3/4 the weight up
◦
Make sure the knees track with the toes, keeping the hips as
open as necessary
◦
For some people REALLY driving the hips out is very
important
The High Bar Squat (It’s key differences from the low bar squat)
Equipment:
•
Most high bar squatters find olympic lifting shoes more helpful
than flat shoes
•
Among olympic shoe wearers, many also prefer larger heels over
smaller heels.
•
Flat, thin, hard soled shoes are
Feet Placement:
•
High bar squatters generally squat a bit narrower than low bar
squatters - with the feet usually somewhere between below the
hips to below the shoulders
•
Feet flare should be appropriate, based on how wide your feet are
placed, and your individual preference
Execution:
•
To Initiate the descent, once completely tensed all across your body,
especially your core, simply drop in place by breaking at the knees
•
To maintain as vertical a spine as possible, the knees must come
forward - if they aren’t coming forward, you’re probably sacrificing
depth, the torso is going to be leaning forward, and you’ll probably
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notice more buttwink once you go a certain depth with the hips back
(what you don’t want) versus the hips and knees more forward (what
you do want).
The Low Bar Squat (It’s key differences from the high bar squat)
Equipment:
•
Flat shoes like converse’s are far more common amongst low bar
squatters than high bar squatters, but nowadays more and more
casual lifters and competitive powerlifters are using olympic lifting
shoes.
•
Wrist wraps can be helpful for low bar squatters to cushion the
wrist pressure caused from a low bar position
Feet Placement:
•
Feet just outside shoulder width, or wider
•
The feet will flare out according to your personal preference and
based on how wide your feet are spread apart
•
Track your knees with the direction of your toes
•
Focus on keeping the ENTIRE foot on the ground; not just the
heel, but the whole entire freaking foot
•
Push through the mid foot
The Descent:
•
Many people like to drive the hips back a bit before they break at the
knees and that’s fine
⁃
Some people like to momentarily flex the glutes and then
“unlock” them to “reset” to initiate the beginning of each rep
•
Because of feet and bar placement, a greater demand is placed on
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opening and using the hips, they must be engaged and forced open,
especially the wider you set your feet on the ground, and the wider you
flare out those feet
•
The torso will always lean forward as much as it needs to, to keep the
bar above your midfoot - film yourself directly from the side and you’ll
see biomechanics right before your eyes
Hybrid Squat
The Hybrid Squat is a funny guy. I’d say Most people who barbell squat do it.
Well, a really shitty version of it. It usually comes as the result of a high bar
placement but low bar body language. I usually see it (often improperly) performed
by people who fear letting the knees go over the toes and people who have an
unexplained fear of squatting to parallel or deeper. People who quarter or half squat
are usually doing an improper hybrid squat. Or by people who think the high bar
squat is initiated with an overexagerated breaking of the hips. Or by people who
combine all of the above. Very rarely will you find someone doing a high bar squat
that you would sub-categorize as a proper hybrid squat. Usually it’s done
(improperly) by accident.
The hybrid squat does look a lot like it sounds, like a hybrid. Like something
between a high bar squat and a low bar squat. And even then, it’s going to very from
person to person. Let’s break it down, and assume anything not described has
already been covered.
•
High bar placement
•
Feet placement wider than normal high bar - somewhere between high bar
and low bar, and feet usually not a ton flared out
•
Hips come back more than with a regular high bar squat
•
Break at knees and hips simultaneously
⁃
If this is uncomfortable, you can initiate by setting the hips back first,
before you break at the knees and drop into the hole
Ogus / OGUS753 / 76
•
Because hips come back, knees aren’t coming as forward as the high bar
squat
•
Don’t bring the hips back up into yesterday, practice makes perfect. Find the
sweet spot of where the hips go and where the knees go, such that the lift
“looks right” when viewing yourself from the side
⁃
•
Filming yourself from the side is an extremely invaluable tool for this
Because of the hips coming back and the knees not coming as much forward,
depth is sacrificed since we’re not trying to overly round/buttwink the lower
back
•
Hitting parallel is about as low as you want to go
•
Squat Shoes (raised heels) are recommended, low or high heel
Since many people have ankle mobility issues and their knees simply can’t get go
forward a whole ton (at least right now) the hybrid squat is what a lot of people end
up doing. It’s a bit more “hip-dominant” than a regular high bar squat, just as the low
bar squat is more “hip-dominant” than the hybrid squat, but don’t get confused into
thinking that the glutes and/or hamstrings are the prime movers in any squat - the
quads are always the prime movers.
Benchpress:
Just like the squat and deadlift, the benchpress is also an
extremely unique exercise from person to person. Shoulder anatomy
differs from one guy to the next just as hip anatomy does, not to
mention everyone’s benchpress is highly influenced by previous
injuries, setbacks, and how they’ve done it in the past. We all have
different preferences and our benchpress is even dependent on who we
look up to on Instagram and other social media. If you look around,
everyone is going to have more or less elbow flaring, they’re going to
bring the bar higher or lower on their body, have more or less arch, and
Ogus / OGUS753 / 77
have more or less hip opening and hip drive than the next guy. Just go
to a powerlifting meet or watch a full length meet on YouTube and you’ll
see what I mean. Some guys plant their traps before their feet, other
people set their feet before their back arches. The setup for the
benchpress is perhaps the most unique of all lifts.
With that said, I’ll cover some of the fundamentals that should
apply to the vast majority of you benchpressing. Then I’ll cover the
step-by-steps of how I recommend setting up to benchpress for most
people and most purposes
Benchpress Fundamentals
•
Properly warm up the shoulders, chest, triceps, and even lats
prior to your sessions of benchpress
•
When setting up the benchpress and during the execution KEEP
THE SHOULDERS DOWN AND BACK ⁃
Same as when you’re standing up - down meaning towards
your hips, back meaning retracting your shoulder blades
and popping that chest up - do this while lying on the bench
•
You don’t want a completely flat back, no matter how much you’re
trying to target and isolate your chest and no matter how often
you say you’ll never do a powerlifting meet, and no matter how
much shit you used to talk about that Russian 12 year old girl who
benchpressed 300 lbs with a huge arch
⁃
If your back is completely flat, it means you’re not doing
your upper body correctly; you’re not sticking out the chest
and bringing down and back the shoulders enough - You’ll
probably hurt yourself if you haven’t already
Ogus / OGUS753 / 78
•
The larger arches (the ones you see on YouTube and that you
share and talk shit about on Facebook) tend to come from a
combination of intentional spinal flexion and proper upper body
benching position.
⁃
•
It’s usually down for powerlifting purposes - to limit the ROM
Mild to moderate arches come from simply doing what you’re
supposed to do on benchpress involving the upper body
musculature.
⁃
There’s a strong correlation between the people who don’t
follow/haven’t followed these guidelines and shoulder
injuries
•
The feet should never leave the floor unless you’re intentionally
doing legs-up benchpressing
•
The heels don’t necessarily have to be on the floor, and such is
the case if you position your feet towards the bench as opposed
to out from it, but you should always be driving through the heels
and the entire foot.
•
Keep your butt on the bench - no matter how much leg drive you
use
•
Do not bounce the weight off your chest - don’t use momentum
Now that we’ve covered the fundamentals of proper benchpressing,
let’s go over a few of the different ways
Setup
As I’ve mentioned before, benchpress setups are as unique as
snowflakes. Everybody who’s serious about their bench has some sort
of ritual they go through every time. The ritual itself isn’t as important as
Ogus / OGUS753 / 79
what you’re actually doing through the setup - and that’s positioning
yourself in a safe and powerful place to benchpress. The main goal with
the setup is so that you cover the benching fundamentals and that you
get into the same starting position every single time that you
benchpress. What a ritual helps with is creating a habit of doing the
same exact setup every time, giving you a consistent, reliable
benchpress. I’m going to give you an example of just one way you can
set up. Over time you should create and find your own groove.
▪
You want the bar to be racked at a height that is proper for you,
such that unracking the bar doesn’t require you to do half a
benchpress to get it off, but also such that your shoulder blades
don’t get “unpacked” when you lift the bar off the rack
▪
Unless you know exactly where your feet go, I’d recommend just
guesstimating where your feet are going to go but focusing on
setting up your upper body first.
▪
Lay back onto the bench with the bar somewhere above your face
or neck
⁃
Some people begin their setup by putting their feet up on
the bench, and then putting them on the floor only after their
upper body is exactly where they want it
▪
Pick your grip width that is most comfortable and best
accomplishes the goal at hand, whether it be maximum chest
stimulation, maximum weight you can lift, or a combination of
both
⁃
Wider grip will involve more flaring of the elbows and
appears to beat up the rotator cuffs in many lifters more
than a more moderate width grip
Ogus / OGUS753 / 80
⁃
Your “perfect grip” is a journey; it will change over time and
that’s perfectly okay. When you do, only make but small
adjustments and be cognizant
▪
In a one-swing movement, lift your upper body off the bench and
plant it a little lower on the bench, the bar somewhere above your
forehead or the space above your head, except this time with your
chest puffed up, and your shoulders down and back - Remember
that, DOWN AND BACK
⁃
Instead of lifting yourself into this position, you can also
slide
⁃
The key here is upper back tightness and arching the upper
back, making it look like you’re turning this movement into
more of a “decline” press
⁃
A lower back arch comes as a side effect of an upper
back arch and planting the feet on the ground
▪
This is usually where the benchpress setup ends for most
people, even those with decent setups (except with the bar
above the forehead). I like to add in this next part
▪
Next, while keeping complete tightness, In the opposite direction,
Scoot or Slide your upper body just a half an inch or an inch back
up the bench towards its head, ending with the bar directly above
your eyes or eyebrows.
⁃
This is done to keep the meat of the traps down towards the
bottom of the bench and keep the upper back stable during
the bench press
▪
Open the hell out of your hips and make sure your feet are where
you want them
⁃
Your feet can be placed in towards the bench/butt, or out
Ogus / OGUS753 / 81
directly underneath the knees
⁃
When the feet are set closer to the bench/butt, you have to
be careful of bridging, which is when your butt leaves the
bench
⁃
Just like we usually don’t want your feet in the air, we don’t
want your heels out further than directly underneath your
knees. You lose foundation and most of the benefit that the
legs have to offer during the benchpress
▪
Re-assess your grip if necessary
⁃
Make sure the bar is placed in the lower meat of your palm,
and not in the middle of your hand as if you were doing a
pushup
⁃
I ALWAYS recommend a thumbs-around grip, they don’t call
the thumbless grip “Suicide Grip” for no reason
▪
Apply tension through the legs, and take one final deep breath
into your diaphragm and then unrack
Before discussing the unrack, let’s have a quick word on the use of
spotters.
Using a Spotter on the Benchpress
Despite the warning signs in most gyms to always use a spotter, I
recommend becoming self-dependent and not needing one in everyday
training. Yes, even during your heavy top-sets where you’re hitting new
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PR’s (but if any situation calls for a safety-spot, that one would be it).
I’m not advocating recklessness here, I’m advocating mastering your
craft, unless of course, you’re into being dependent on somebody
helping you with every the majority of your work sets for the rest of your
life.
I feel that it’s better to not need one than to need one and not
have one, or worse, to need one every single rep of every single set in
every single benchpress workout. Get used to not having to use a
spotter. If your gym has a benchpress that sucks so bad that you need
a spotter because the unrack point is so high that without a spotter you
completely lose your upper back tightness and shoulder retraction…
you know where I’m going with this.
As a lifter independent of spotters during normal training, in terms
of the unrack, you want to be as high up on the bench as you can, while
not hitting the pins when you’re actually benchpressing. The lower on
the bench you are, the more impossible it is to unrack the bar by
yourself, especially with weight on it. I’m assuming you’re using a
typical standard benchpress and not one of those magical “Easy
Unrack” benchpresses. Anyway, let’s move on.
Unrack:
▪
Before, during, and after the unrack, remember that maintaining
all fundamental benchpress elements I mentioned above is
incredibly important
▪
Take a deep breath into the diaphragm before the unrack, and
before each rep
▪
Press the weight up just enough that you can bring the bar out
from its supports
Ogus / OGUS753 / 83
▪
Keep everything tight, and don’t allow yourself to lose the
retraction in your shoulder blades while unracking
▪
Do not begin the descent until the bar is in its starting position
and the weight has completely settled
Benchpress Execution
•
•
•
•
Break the bar with your grip and keep everything tight
With a deep breath, flex your lats as you lower the bar to your chest
(where you lower it will depend on your grip, your arch, your
goal, your preference, past injuries, etc)
Tuck your elbows during the descent and inversely flare the elbows to
the same degree during the ascent.
⁃ The extent of tuck is incredibly individual
Let the bar either touch the chest or pause it for a 2 count
⁃
•
•
•
•
•
Whether you do touch-and-go or pause reps, just keep it
consistent from one workout to the next. Keep in mind that you
can touch-and-go more than you can pause rep, so don’t do pause
reps with your touch-and-go training max.
Don’t bounce the weight off your body, or double-dip if you’re pausing
(where you pause it on your chest, and then let it sink further just
before pressing)
If you do pause reps, don’t change elbow position while paused
Once you’ve pushed the weight up, allow the weight to settle before
beginning the next rep
Maintain the same high level of tightness and shoulder blade retraction,
lower the bar to the same place, have the same pause count if you’re
pausing, on every rep of every work set
On the last rep, complete the repetition and let the weight settle before
racking it, don’t start begin racking it during your last rep
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Benchpress Miscellaneous
Head Position: It’s very common for people to lift their heads off the bench
as they keep there eyes on the bar during the descent. As long as it’s not
excessive, I don’t see a big issue.
Wall Slides: As an insurance policy, I highly recommend incorporating
wall slides during your upper body warmup routine, and perhaps between
your first few sets of benchpress warmup. Heck, maybe even between
working sets.
Maximizing your benchpress on 7/5/3:
If you’re leaning more towards maximizing your benchpress (say,
versus getting in more upper chest work), during “more work” on your OHP
day you may consider doing close grip benchpress for 2-5 sets of 6-10 reps.
This will give you more bench work and help you strength the triceps for a
bigger “normal” benchpress. Don’t do so much that it negatively impacts your
normal benching. Try to stay beneath RPE 9 on the majority of sets if
possible.
It’s advisable to structure and customize each mesocycle a bit differently,
having slightly different goals for the sake of specialization, variety/fun, and
to “back off” in terms of volume on certain muscles or movements so that you
can push even harder on them later. If going ham on everything equally is
working for you right now, that’s great, but if/when you feel like you don’t
want to do that any more,
The Deadlift
The only thing more painful to watch than someone doing quarter squats
with the neck pad while wearing Air Jordan’s is seeing that same person do
deadlifts. Notice I don’t even have to explain how they deadlift because you
can already imagine it.
The deadlift is the reason that parents tell their children “Be careful, don’t
hurt yourself” as they drop them off in front of the gym. The thing is, it’s not
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the deadlift’s fault. It’s not any lift’s fault for anyone getting hurt, ever. That’d
be like blaming the sport of basketball for your broken ankle. When it comes
to all lifts, the deadlift included; it’s all about engaging the right muscles and
using the right movement pattern; engraining that into your muscle memory,
and then getting brutally strong. When you focus on how much weight you
can lift, before making sure you’re lifting correctly, injuries happen. Don’t say
I didn’t warn ya.
We’ll cover the conventional and sumo deadlift separately, but much of the
fundamentals are the same for both. Let’s take a look at some of the plain
differences between conventional and sumo. Neither is “better” than the
other. Which to go with just depends on preference, goal, and how your
perceive your experience is with each.
Conventional:
• More ROM (range of motion)
• More work for the glutes and hamstrings
• Higher energy expenditure per rep/set
Sumo:
• Less ROM (Range of motion)
• Less glute/hamstring, more quad and adductors (inner thigh)
• Easier on lower back
The following tips on deadlifting are under the assumption that you’re using
standard sized 45 lb weight plates per side and that the bar starts at it’s
typical height.
Conventional Deadlift:
Setup:
There are hundreds of ways you can set up for the conventional
deadlift. Here’s how I recommend the setup, if you happen to want my
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recommendation.
•
Feet stance (width and flare) will differ from person to person, but
for most people, feet directly under the shoulders seems to be a
decent spot
•
Step up to the bar until it is above midfoot or against your shins
•
Toes generally pointed forward, but flared out a tad, depending on
how wide your hips are going to be opening
•
When you’re ready to go down and grab the bar, remember to
load up your hamstrings and glutes as you pivot your torso
downard - essentially do a Romanian Deadlift down to the bar, if
possible
•
Keep your back straight and neutral as you go down to grab the
bar
•
Keep your weight at all times evenly distributed throughout the
entire foot
•
Grab the bar wider than your feet, and wider than the degree at
which your knees will be opening up
•
Your shoulders should be above and slightly forward from the bar
•
Pull slack against the bar, have the elbows locked out, as you
pack the shoulders and lats down and raise the chest up
Execution
•
Fill your diaphragm with air as you’re pulling tension from the bar
and hold your breathe throughout at least the entire concentric
(ascent/positive portion) - you can breathe out at the top but I
recommend if possible holding your breath during the entire
repitition, during both the ascent and the majority, if not all, of the
descent
•
Through a combination of using the quads, the hamstrings, and
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glutes, (and not necessarily imagining using JUST the quads to
initiate the lift) pull the bar off the floor
•
I like to load the hell out of my hamstrings, and then imagine
feeling and tensing the hell out of my glutes, thrusting them
forward, as I’m pushing the ground down
•
Complete a full hip extension and don’t worry about shrugging the
weight or over exaggerating the back extension. From the side it
should look like you’re standing straight up with good posture.
•
Maintaining tightness and keeping your hamstrings loaded,
reverse the moment by breaking and hinging at the hips, allowing
the bar to go straight down against your thighs and then against
(or just very close to) your shins
•
The speed of the descent is up to you, but I recommend at least
maintaining control of the bar and weight
•
Reset - take a breath or multiple and get tense all over again, take
a final deep breath while pulling slack and getting even tighter and
execute another repetition
•
Head position is a widely debated topic. Some people believe it
should be kept neutral (aligned with the spine) at all times and
others don’t think it’s that big of the deal since there is no weight
placed upon the neck or head. I’ve seen huge weights lifted by
both camps, but in my observation, the majority of the biggest or
most impressive deadlifts I’ve ever seen, done in many different
weight categories, were done with the head not necessarily kept
perfectly neutral
•
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Sumo Deadlift
First and foremost, let’s clear some things up with the sumo
deadlift. Despite popular belief, they are not “more hamstrings” than
conventional deadlifts, and conventional deadlifts are not “more quads”
than sumo deadlifts. It’s actually the opposite. Crazy, right? The wider
your foot stance/knees/hips, the less you’re using your hamstrings and
the more you’re doing a sumo squat, or a weird-looking wide-foot
standing leg press involving holding a barbell.
Also, there’s a popular idea that sumo deadlifts are for cheaters
who eat butt. In my opinion, what someone does in the bedroom is
completely their business. Who are we to judge? In fact, if sumo deadlift
allows people to spend time in the gym moving big weights, with less
occurrence of injury, I’m all for it. That said, the sumo deadlift requires
less total work per repetition. If you’re looking for maximum muscle
stimulation, I recommend just sticking with conventional deadlift.
Most of the key concepts are the same as conventional deadlifts.
Load the hell out of the posterior chain, pull slack from the bar, keep
everything tight, and keep the movement efficient.
The major difference between sumo and conventional is that with
sumo, your legs are on the outside of your arms. This allows you to
have your hands directly beneath your shoulders, which is the most
efficient grip width for your sumo deadlift.
There are no rules as to where your feet must be placed. The
wider your feet are spread, the lower the ROM, and the less hamstring
but more quads involved in the movement. The wider your feet, the
wider your knees, the more open your hips must be, but the closer the
hips are to the bars path. The narrower your feet, the closer to a
conventional deadlift your sumo deadlift will be. Many people have hit
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huge weights in all forms of conventional and sumo deadlifts. The wider
your feet are spread, the more flared out your toes must be, but be
careful not to flare out your feet too much. You’ll know you’ve done this
when you notice a decline in balance.
If you’re new to sumo deadlifting, start with a feet placement
that’s around double shoulder width apart. If you’re not sure what this
means, stand with your feet beneath your shoulders, look at your feet,
and then imagine doubling the distance between your feet. This will be
a medium-ish foot width for most people. Over time feel free to open up
the feet (and hips), little bit little, but only if it’s comfortable and only as
much as your flexibility allows. You can also narrow in that foot width,
just know the mechanics get closer to a conventional deadlift when you
do so.
The sumo deadlift helps a lot of people get rid of middle and lower
“back rounding” for two main reasons; the torso is more vertical in the
starting position and many people find they’re able to load up their
posterior chain better with the sumo deadlift. Anyway, let’s talk about
the setup and execution, once again, assuming that the bar is at the
standard shin height which occurs using standard 45 lb gym plates.
Setup
•
Feet placement makes a huge difference in muscles worked, the
mechanics of the lift, and the total range of motion as well as total
work required per repetition - there is no right or wrong, just know
that this stuff makes a difference. Be conscious of where your feet
are
•
Step up close to the bar and while standing straight up, make
sure the bar is in place against your shins
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•
Let your feet flare to the degree in which your feet are widened,
more wide = more foot flare, less wide = less foot flare;
experiment with foot flare
•
You want your knees to track with your toes and to never cave
inside of them
•
Since the feet are wider, you’re able to keep your hips closer to
the bar path at all times. The wider your feet are and the more
open your hips are, the more you can practically “drop in place”
versus having to set your butt back like with a conventional
deadlift
•
As you descend to grab the bar, keep your knees above your feet/
heels by really opening your hips
•
During the descent, try to keep the core relatively tight, back
neutral, chest up and shoulders down, torso relatively vertical but
not trying so hard that you’re overspending energy
•
Grab the bar straight down from the shoulders (grips explained
later)
•
Head position can be kept neutral or level with the floor and gaze
stuck on a fixed object in front of you
•
Take a final breath into the diaphragm as you are pulling slack and
positioning the torso as vertical as possible, the hips as wide as
necessary, shoulders down and lats packed…
•
Initiate the lift
Execution
•
Exerting outward pressure with the feet, pull the bar off the floor
and violently thrust your hips as the bar passes your knees
•
Squeeze the glutes and I recommend staying locked for at least a
split second or up to 1-2 seconds before descending again
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•
The descent is the opposite motion of the ascent - in a fluid
motion break the hips and then immediately the knees while
maintaining complain tension throughout your entire body, the
same tension you had during the ascent
•
The speed of the descent is up to you, but I recommend at least
maintaining control of the bar and weight
•
Reset - Breathe out (if you were holding your breath) and get
tense all over again, take a final deep breath while pulling slack
and getting even tighter and execute another repetition
Deadlift Grips
Normal Grip: No explanation necessary, I hope. I can usually handle
50-60% of my 1RM for sets of 5+ but once it goes over that, I choose to or
have to do hook grip.
Over/Under Grip: One hand goes over (pronated), one hand goes under
(supinated). Most people deadlift this way. If you do over/under, I
recommend even doing your work up sets over/under. Which hand goes over
or under is up to you. Feel it out. Just be careful that both arms are
completely locked out when deadlifting at all times. Jerking the bar or
deadlifting in general with an over-under grip where the supinated arm is
flexed can be very risky to your biceps. There’s always the element of risk
involved, minimize it by keeping that supinated arm extended and not bent
while deadlifting.
Be aware of possible mechanical imbalances that over-under grip can pose
when gone unnoticed. Use your proprioception to help you feel that both of
your shoulders are in equal positions, and that your upper back musculature the left side and the right side - are in equal positions.
Hook Grip: Hook grip is more common on sumo deadlift than
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conventional deadlift. It basically exchanges pain, for a “locked in” kind of
hold over the barbell. If you do it right, it can be even better than an overunder grip, with a decreased risk of bicep tear and better left to right
symmetry. The only problem is that it hurts like hell.
If you don’t know what it is, make a fist but with your thumb inside your
fist. That’s what hook grip looks like. Let’s take it to the next level. Put a
pencil, pen, or a stick in the meat of your palm and then make that same fist.
Now that’s hook grip. Hook grip can feel like hell on earth to your thumbs. It
usually gets less painful over time and the less you think about deadlifting like
this.
Straps: Use them if you want, but I recommend that you don’t.
Chalk: Yes. Yes. Yes.
Overhead Press:
In the world of benchpressers, the OHP’er is King. Many of the
fundamentals of OHP’ing are similar to benchpressing. Proper shoulder/
upper body warmups are very helpful, wall slides, elbows underneath
wrists, chest up, etc. Let’s get to it.
Setup
•
Set the bar or J-hooks so that the bar is at or around your collar
bone before unracking
•
Grip will be extremely individual, from just outside shoulders to 6
or more inches outside shoulders
⁃
The wider your grip, the more you’ll feel your shoulders
doing the work
⁃
I recommend a grip that is a middle ground between
comfort, safety, and power
⁃
Rest the bar on top the meat of your palm with the weight
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evenly distributed and not just all on the meat under your
thumb
•
A thumbs around grip is recommended, even though suicide grip
may feel better
•
Wrists cocked back just slightly, but not to the extent they are
when you are doing pusups
•
Shoulders down and back, and chest up
•
The Unrack can be done with a staggered stance, or both feet
under the bar - I recommend the one foot forward unrack
Unrack
•
Squat the weight up and step away from the rack and let the
weight settle
⁃
Over time you may want to replicate the same walkout every
single set. I usually do: right foot forward, squat weight up,
right foot back, adjust left foot back slightly, and I’m ready
•
Keep the shoulders down and back, upper back tight, chest up
⁃
This helps get the bar above your center of gravity so that
you can produce more force against it
•
From a side angle looking at yourself, the elbows should be
tucked forward slightly - this also keeps the shoulders in a
healthier position
•
Although the elbows are tucked forward slightly, the forearms are
actually vertical, which is what you want - the under belly of your
forearm will seem to be at an angle due to its shape and
musculature, but when you look at yourself from a side angle, the
front side of your forearms and your wrists should be above your
elbows and perpendicular to the floor.
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•
The bar should be resting near your neck, above your collar bone,
such that you have to cock your head back or else you’ll hit
yourself in the chin
Execution
•
Keep your knees extended and straight but not completely locked
out, this is not push pressing so no bouncing, please.
•
Similar to the other big exercises, take a solid deep breath and
keep it until the repitition is over or almost over
•
Keeping the shoulders down and back, core braced, press the
weight straight up (film yourself from the side to see)
•
As the bar begins to clear your head, allow your head to drift back
into neutral position
•
Naturally the elbows flare out the higher you press and the
concentric is complete when the elbows are fully extended and
the bar is above center of gravity
•
Whether your shoulders are to be shrugged up at the top or not is
up to you, and I’ve seen this topic debated quite a bit. I generally
keep my shoulders down and back. I imagine keeping them
packed and sofar so good.
•
I recommend allowing the weight to come to a dead stop for a
split second before initiating the eccentric/descent.
•
Reverse the movement, controlling the weight down back to the
starting position with elbows tucked a bit, shoulders down and
back, chest up
•
Maintain a fair amount of flex in the glutes during the entire set to
protect your back, not completely locked-in, but not completely
loose, which unknowingly occurs often during the concentric for
many people, myself included
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You do not need a spotter for this exercise. If you think you do, you’re
probably not doing it right
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Chapter 4: Warming Up/Injury Prevention
A solid warmup drill before each and every workout can save you a lot of
future heartache, even if it’s just a quick one. Here are some links to my
warmup drills, showing several warmups that you can incorporate into your
everyday training. Pick and choose whichever serve you, discard what you
find unnecessary.
My Upper Body Mobility Warmup Routine: https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=EBbSV-ZndRs
Matt Ogus - Lower Body Mobility Warmup: https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=eoSqYMaOOAI
Chapter 5: A Quick Word on Nutrition, Cutting, and Bulking
This program was made mainly for bulking. You can handle and recover
from higher volumes when in a caloric surplus than when in a caloric deficit.
For those using this to build muscle and strength, I'd recommend a 300-500
calorie surplus per day as well as 0.8-1.0 grams of protein per pound of
bodyweight per day.
Sure, you can use this program during cutting too, but you'd want to
adjust things like volume, if and when necessary. The simplest option I can
think of would just be to take a training max reset going into your cut, and
then again if and whenever necessary. You'd also want to decrease volume
slightly via the number of total works sets in your "more work". You don't
have to do as much volume to retain muscle as you do to build it. Then, after
you've shedded the body fat that you wanted to, you could go back to normal
"More Work" volume levels, and continue to increase your training max from
cycle to cycle.
For some more information on calories and macronutrients, check out the
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following videos:
Nutrition 101: Macronutrient Set Up Guide (5 Minutes or Less): https://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkCT-hAP8SU
Nutrition 101: Calories, Maintenance, Cutting, Bulking - Matt Versus 3.1:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UabqqP-XPqo
Nutrition 101: Refeeds, Carb Cycling, Cheat Days, Diet Breaks
https://www.youtube.com/my_videos?o=U&sq=nutrition+101
The 7/5/3 Excel Workbook
Included with your purchase of #Ogus753 is an excel workbook with 6
spreadsheets. Two are dedicated to Original 753, two are for 753 Mayhem,
and two are for Simple 753. After you’ve picked which kind of 753 you’re
doing, you can hide or delete the other worksheets.
If you have microsoft excel, you should be good to go and be able to easily
open the file. If you don’t, I recommend installing a program called
“OpenOffice” on your computer. You can get that at http://OpenOffice.org .
There are a handful of other programs that can open up excel sheets too.
I’m not necessarily an excel wizard, which is why there are two sheets per
style of program and not just one. I’ll clean everything up one day, but for
now let me explain. You have a Maxes CHART and a training sheet. The
maxes chart will help you get started and find your training maxes, as well as
show you, based on those training maxes, what weights you’ll be hitting in
each and every mesocycle, assuming you make non-stop progress. We know
that won’t/can’t happen forever, so I made it such that on any max chart, if
you change your training max for a given lift in a given mesocycle, it will
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affect all of the following mesocycles accordingly.
You can also change the weight increment in which you raise your maxes,
if you change the weight increment in a given mesocycle it affects all future
mesocycles.
Basically, the maxes chart will act as a signpost and show you which way
to go. The tracking sheet is where you write down the weights you lift on
each given day, and the maxes chart is where you can always go back and see
what you were supposed to hit. Just remember to adjust the maxes chart
accordingly, if and when you need to change your training max.