About Average To Savage 2.0 Average To Savage 2.0 is a 21-week program, split into three 7-week blocks. The first block will have you training with loads from 60-82.5% of your max, and is mainly focused on building muscle and work capacity. The second block will have you training with loads from 65-87.5% of your max, and is a good general strength block. The final block will have you training with loads between 70-95% of your max, and is a strength/peaking block. If you want to run the program all the way through and peak at the end, that’s awesome. If you aren’t interested in peaking and testing maxes at the end, feel free to run either the first 14 or 17 weeks on repeat. By default, the program employs full-body training to allow for a higher training frequency. Though the effect isn’t particularly large, higher frequencies may be a little better for both muscle growth and strength gains. Practically, higher frequencies also allow you to spread your training stress out a bit more, which can help you tolerate higher weekly training volumes and preserve training quality (i.e. 15 sets of squats in one training session would SUCK, but 5 sets in three separate sessions isn’t too bad, and will generally allow for higher average training quality). If you prefer some other type of training split, the spreadsheets are easy enough to edit. More on that later. I honestly hate programming and periodization jargon, but enough people asked about this while AtS 2.0 was in beta that I figure it’s worth writing: the default structure of the 21-week macrocycle takes a block periodization approach. Each 7-week meso- cycle employs a weekly undulating wave loading approach, with two 3-week waves followed by a deload. Each training week employs a daily undulating programming approach, with core lifts (squat, bench, deadlift, and overhead press by default) trained at a higher intensity than auxiliary lifts. I felt dirty typing this paragraph. I hope you’re happy. One difference you’ll notice between AtS 2.0 and most other programs is that most of the workouts look really easy on paper (on spreadsheet, I suppose). Most powerlifting programs have you doing most of your working sets with between 0-3 reps left in the tank (whether reps in reserve is explicitly programmed or not). Especially during the early weeks of the program, you may be starting workouts with 6+ reps in reserve on AtS 2.0. Don’t worry; that’s by design. A growing body of research is finding that for strength development, it doesn’t really matter how close to failure you train (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8). It’s mostly just a matter of getting in practice with heavy enough weights. However, you probably DO have to get reasonably close to failure and accumulate high enough training volumes to cause substantial muscle growth (1, 2). The default AtS 2.0 template combines both of these insights. The first few sets of each workout should be pretty easy, but as you do more and more sets, you are simultaneously a) getting in more practice with the lifts to hone and perfect your technique and b) generating more fatigue, getting closer and closer to failure in order to build muscle. Well...that last paragraph is only half true. My approach to training and programming just evolved over time as I saw what worked for my clients. If they could do more high-quality sets, their technique got “crisper,” but they’d get worn down pretty quickly if a large proportion of those sets were even remotely close to failure. For a while, the compromise was doing 5-8 easy sets (for example, singles at 80% 1RM), followed by a single rep-out set, or keeping all of the training on the main lifts very submaximal, and just using bodybuilding-style accessories for all hypertrophy work. That worked pretty well, but some of my lifters started getting shakier and less confident when maxing because they were just out of practice with grinding. So, the next evolution resembled AtS 2.0 – not letting the core lifts be quite as easy, and simply having people do sets until they got challenging. Most of my clients liked that approach more than having to take the last set to failure, and it allowed people to still build muscle effectively without needing to do as much accessory work. Since they were still getting reasonably close to failure by the end of each session, they didn’t lose their ability to lock in and grind out heavy attempts either. The main AtS 2.0 program is the generalized and systematized version of this overall training approach, and the “Reps to Failure” and “Last Set RIR” versions are pretty similar to the prior iterations (they’re not my preferred way to implement this program, but they’re certainly still effective, and may be preferable for some people and certain contexts, which I’ll get into later). Another thing you’ll notice about the program is that a reasonably high proportion of the volume comes from auxiliary lifts rather than the Big 4 of squat, bench, deadlift, and overhead press. That serves two purposes. 1) by training different variations of a lift, you can do a better job of developing the general motor pattern, which could help you attain better overall proficiency with the core lift than being hyperspecialized 2) by varying the motor patterns slightly, you make the tissue stress a little bit less repetitive, possibly reducing the risk of overuse injuries. If you don’t like to do auxiliary lifts, you can feel free to simply do one (or more) of the Big 4 as both a core lift and as an auxiliary lift. Accessory lifts in AtS 2.0 are entirely up to you. By default, there are slots where you can work in upper back exercises (rows, pull-up, and pull-down variations). Other accessories are entirely at your discretion (exercise selection, loads, sets and reps, etc.). I’d recommend not working in too many accessories at first, at least for muscles that are trained hard by the core lifts. For example, if you want to add in some biceps, rear delt, and calf work, be my guest. However, I’d caution against adding in extra work for your pecs, front delts, triceps, quads, hamstrings, glutes, and lower back until you see how well you’re recovering from and adapting to the compound lifts in the program. As I mentioned, the version of this program I personally prefer is the one simply labeled “AtS 2.0.” So, when might you be better off choosing the “Reps to failure” or “Last set RIR” versions of the program? The first advantage of the other two versions is time efficiency. AtS 2.0 uses set performance to autoregulate and adjust training loads. By default, if you get fewer than 4 sets with the prescribed load for the prescribed number of reps prior to hitting the RIR target, your training max goes down. If you get 4-6 sets, your training max doesn’t change. If you get more than 6 sets, your training max increases. Especially early on, and especially if you start with a conservative training max, you may be doing 8-10+ sets before you reach your RIR target, which can make for some long workouts. Furthermore, since the number of sets in each session is based on your performance, session length will be variable – longer when you’re feeling strong, and shorter when you’re having a bad day. With the “reps to failure” and “last set RIR” versions of the program, you do a fixed number of sets per session, which allows you to avoid really long workouts and maintain a more predictable session length. An additional benefit of the “reps to failure” version of the program is that it doesn’t require you to estimate reps in reserve (which some people aren’t very good at, and some people just don’t like). Increases or decreases in your training max are dictated by how many reps you get on the last set of each exercise when taking a set to failure (true failure, technical failure, or to the point where you grind out a rep but know you can’t get the next one; any definition of failure works here, as long as you’re consistent with it). An additional benefit of the “last set RIR target” is that it’ll ultimately let you train the heaviest of any of the iterations of the program. As mentioned, AtS 2.0 (all three versions) autoregulates load progressions based on your performance. This allows it to “work” for lifters of all skill levels. If you’re a relatively new lifter and you’re getting strong at a fast rate, you’ll beat your performance targets more frequently, and so your training loads will progress faster. If you’re a more experienced lifter and you’re getting strong at a slower rate, you’ll beat your performance targets less frequently, so training loads will progress a bit slower, and remain appropriate rather than ramping up arbitrarily fast. Whether you start with conservative training maxes or enter in true 1RMs to start the program is entirely up to you. Since the program will adjust your training loads up or down based on performance, you should naturally find yourself training with appropriate loads within 3-4 weeks, regardless of where you start your maxes out. For this same reason, if you don’t know your 1RM for one of your auxiliary lifts, a decent estimate is completely fine. As long as you’re anywhere near the right ballpark, it’ll be fine. Regarding terminology, the only thing you need to know that’s not squarely within virtually all lifters’ lingo is “reps in reserve” or “RIR.” This is exactly what it sounds like. If you do a set of 8 reps, but you’re pretty sure you could have done 10, you had two reps in reserve. Research has shown that most lifters are pretty good at estimating reps in reserve as long as they’re within 2-3 reps of failure. RIR cutoffs are used in the “main” version of the program and the “last set RIR” version. If you don’t trust your ability to estimate RIRs, feel free to use the “reps to failure” version. One thing you may notice is that there appears to be a discord between the “reps to failure” and “last set RIR” versions of the program. The last-set targets and the last set RIRs don’t necessarily match up. For example, in your first squat workout on the “reps to failure” sheet, you’ll do 4 sets of 5, followed by one set where you’re aiming to complete at least 9 reps. That would imply that, if you stopped at 5 reps on the last set, you should have at least 4 reps in reserve. However, the critical RIR (determining whether to increase or decrease your training max) on the “last set RIR” sheet is 3. There’s a method behind the madness with this decision. I want all three versions of the program to provide similar levels of training stress. If there was a perfect correspondence between the “last set RIR” and the “reps to failure” versions (i.e. if critical RIR in the first squat workout was 4 rather than 3, corresponding to 9 reps to failure), the only difference between the two programs would be that “reps to failure” version would finish each exercise with one very hard set to failure, while the “last set RIR” version would just finish with another submaximal set, decreasing overall training stress. However, with a lower critical RIR threshold for load increases, you’ll naturally be able to advance your training maxes a bit quicker with the “last set RIR” version, allowing you to train with slightly heavier loads during your working sets. So, a few weeks into the program, the difference may be 4 submaximal sets and one set to failure with 200 with “reps to failure”, versus 5 submaximal sets with 210-215 with “last set RIR.” AtS 2.0 Basic Instructions There are three nearly identical programs here that differ in how they progress loads. For the sheet labeled “AtS 2.0,” your training max goes up if you exceed a certain set threshold, and it goes down if you fall below a certain set threshold. For the sheet labeled “AtS reps to failure,” you do a fixed number of sets, and you take the last set to failure. Progression is based on how much you exceed or fall below the rep target for that set. For the sheet labeled “AtS 2.0 last set RIR,” you also do a fixed number of sets and record your reps in reserve (how many more reps you think you could do before failing). Progression is based on whether your RIR for the final set was above or below the RIR target for the day. Other than the mechanism used to progress, the three spreadsheets are the same. There are two different ways you can approach these spreadsheets. The first way is to just assume I know what I’m doing, fill in a little information to start with, and run the program as-is, using the mix of variables that I think will work well for the vast majority of people. The second way is to tinker. I built a lot of features into these spreadsheets to let you customize the program, or even change it entirely. If you want to tinker, I’d recommend downloading two copies of the spreadsheets, in case you accidentally mess something up. Basic Start on the “Quick Setup” tab. Begin by filling in the “rounding” cell (A2). This tells the spreadsheet how granularly you can load the bar. If you want to round everything to the nearest 5lbs, choose 5. If you want to round everything to the nearest pound or kilo, choose 1. 1, 2, 2.5, and 5 are the default options, but you can choose something else if you want (i.e. if you have fractional plates and want to load to the nearest half pound, or something of that nature). Next, choose what lifts you want to train. Squat, bench, deadlift, and overhead press are the defaults for your main lifts, but you can change them if you’d like. For your accessories, the default is 2 squat accessories, 2 bench accessories, 1 deadlift accessory, and 1 overhead press accessory. Choose whatever variations of the main lifts you like (or really any lifts you’d like to focus on that use normal sets and reps; so not things like farmers walks) in cells C11-C16. Then, fill in your maxes for the lifts you chose in cells D5-D16. If you don’t know what your maxes are, that’s fine. Just put in reasonable estimates. I’d advise you to estimate low if you don’t know. For basic use, you’re done with the “Quick Setup” tab at that point, and you can ignore the “Setup” and “Untouched” tabs. Just choose how many days per week you want to lift by going to the tabs labeled 2x-6x, and choosing the one corresponding to the number of days per week you want to train. Values in white are calculated by the spreadsheet – don’t touch them. Blue cells are ones you can type in. For “AtS 2.0,” your training max will be updated for each exercise based on what you fill in the “sets completed” cells. For “AtS 2.0 reps to failure,” your training maxes are updated based on what you fill in the “reps on last set” cells. For “AtS 2.0 last set RIR,” it’s based on the “sets completed” and “last set RIR” cells. For “AtS 2.0,” pay attention to the RIR cutoff. When you reach that RIR, call it a day. For example, on day 1, you’re doing sets of 5 squats until you reach an RIR of 3. When you finish a set, and you think that you could have done, at most, 3 more reps before failure, you’re done. DON’T grind to hit a set target and ignore the target RIR. That’s a recipe for running your training weights up too high, until you’re grinding everything. Also, for the set targets, don’t just stop within that range if your RIR hasn’t dropped to the target RIR yet. Your training max only increases if you exceed the set target. Basically, always make sure your RIR is dictating when you stop. For “AtS 2.0 reps to failure,” pay attention to the “reps per normal set,” “rep out target” and “set goal.” When you initially download the sheet, you’ll see 5 reps per normal set, a rep out target of 9 reps, and a set target for 5 sets on day 1 for squats. That means you’ll do 4 sets of 5 reps, and on the last set, you’ll do as many reps as you can. If you fall short of 9, it’ll bump your training max down. If you exceed 9, it’ll bump your training max up, with the size of the increase depending on how far you exceed 9 reps. For “AtS 2.0 last set RIR,” just pay attention to “reps per set” and “set goal.” For example, for squats on day 1, you’re doing 5 sets of 5 squats. If you complete all 5 sets, fill in “5” under “sets completed,” and record your reps in reserve (how many more reps you think you could have done before failure) under “RIR on last set.” Progression depends on whether you met the set target, and how far above or below the target RIR you were on the last set. Be honest with your RIRs; otherwise, your training maxes will run up really quickly, and you’ll wind up missing reps or grinding everything. Finally, fill in the upper back exercises you want to do using the dropdown menus under your main lift for the day (or feel free to choose exercises not on the dropdown menu), and fill in any other accessories you want to do in the blue squares at the bottom of each training day. Choose exercises that aren’t going to negatively impact your ability to perform the main compound lifts in your training session. If you want to do more accessory lifts, just add more rows (and don’t feel obligated to do any accessories if you don’t want to). Feel free to program accessories however you see fit. My personal recommendation is just to have a rep target over 3-4 sets, and move up in weight when you hit it. For example, aiming for 40 total reps across three sets of hamstring curls; once you hit 40 reps across three sets, go up in weight. That’s about it! Just fill in the blue squares, and the sheet will do the rest of the work for you. The “notes” and “video” cells are just for your personal use; they don’t affect anything else about the spreadsheet. Tinkering As mentioned, you can edit virtually any part of the program, or even change it all together. Starting on the “Quick setup” tab, you can fiddle with the “Single @8 percentage” cells. On the 2x-6x tabs, you have the option of updating your training max each session by working up to a single at an 8 RPE (2 RIR), rather than relying on the increases or decreases in training max based on prior performances. So, for those cells, fill in the percentage of your 1RM represented by a single at an 8 RPE. For most people, it’s around 90%, which is why 90% is already filled in by default. However, if you have experience autoregulating training loads by starting your session with a single at an 8 RPE, and you know that it’s actually closer to 88% of you max for one lift and 93% for another, you can edit those percentages. In the “AtS 2.0” sheet, you can edit your set targets for each exercise in cells H6I15. If you know you can do way more sets of overhead press than deadlift, for example, you could change your lower threshold to 7 and your upper threshold to 9 for OHP, and change your lower threshold to 2 and your upper threshold to 4 for deadlift, for example. You can also edit how much you want to increase or decrease your training max if you fall above or below your set target. By default, your training max increases by 2% if you beat your set target, and decreases by 5% if you fall below it. If you think a 2% increase is either too conservative or too aggressive, you could increase it to a higher percentage, or decrease it to a lower percentage. Next, in cells C34-W43, you can change your rep prescription at each intensity. The defaults are pretty conservative, to allow pretty much anyone to do a bunch of sets. If you want to make them more aggressive because you know you fatigue slowly during training, go for it. Or if you want to make them more conservative in a particular intensity range you know you struggle with, you can also feel free to do that. You may also want to make them different for each exercise if you know you struggle more with reps or recovery between sets with certain exercises. In cells C48-W57, you can adjust your RIR targets at each intensity. By default, RIR targets decrease as loads increase, to reflect the fact that you have a little less “slack” (i.e. you’re 80% of the way to failure if you do a set of 8 with a load you can do 10 reps with, giving you an RIR of 2; if you’re 80% of the way to failure with a load you can do 20 reps with, your RIR is 4). If you know that you can push close to failure and still recover just fine, you may want to decrease some RIR targets. If you know that even sniffing failure doubles your recovery time, you could increase your RIR targets. Or, again, if you know proximity to failure affects you differently for different lifts, you can manually adjust RIR targets for each lift. In cells C61-W70, you can see the intensity progression in the program itself. If you just want an entirely different program (say, straight linear periodization, or larger differences between main lifts and accessories for more of a DUP feel), edit those as you see fit. This should be particularly useful for people who are preparing for a powerlifting meet, and want to make edits to accomodate a meet that’s, say, 12 weeks out instead of 21 weeks out. Moving on the to “AtS 2.0 reps to failure” sheet, you can edit how many sets you want to perform for each exercise in cells H6-H15. You can also edit how much you want your training max to increase or decrease based on how far you fall short of your rep out targets to exceed your rep out targets in cells I6-P15. The “normal set rep targets” are the same as on the “AtS 2.0” sheet. However, the “last set rep targets” (C46-W55) are new. These are the number of reps you’d be aiming for in your last set for each exercise and intensity. Feel free to make these different than the numbers that are pre-filled on the sheet if you know you’re particularly good or bad at rep out sets, or if you know you’re better at high reps on some exercises than others. Everything on the “AtS 2.0 last set RIR” sheet should be pretty self-explanatory by now, if you’ve read this far, as all of the sections of this sheet also appeared on one of the other two sheets. For all three sheets, the “Setup” tab allows you to make changes that are even more granular. It’s auto-populated based on the information filled in on the “Quick setup” tab (do everything you’d want to do on the “quick setup” tab first; once you edit things in the “setup” tab, some changes you make in “quick setup” won’t automatically transfer over anymore), but if you want to make particular changes to certain weeks of training, the “Setup” tab lets you do so. For example, let’s say the default set target of 4-6 sets on the “AtS” sheet generally suits you, but you know you’re always wrecked if you do more than 3 or 4 sets with loads exceeding 85% of your max. You could go in on the “Setup” tab and change your set targets from 4-6 to 3-4 for weeks where the intensity is above 85%. Or if you intentionally want to start with a very conservative max but work up to a more realistic training max pretty quickly, you could increase the percentage by which your training max increases if you beat your set target for the first few weeks of training, but leave the rate of increase at default levels for the rest of the program. On the 2x-6x tabs where you actually log your training, you can expand the hidden rows (just click the arrows on the left side of the sheet). That lets you see your training maxes, and also lets you auto-regulate load in a different way. To the right of your training max, you’ll see a cell labeled “single @8,” and you’ll see a blue square next to that. You can work up to a single at an RPE of 8 (RIR of 2) before your working sets, fill it in that square, and that will determine your training max for the day. If you’ve been beating your set/rep/RIR target for several weeks in a row, and your training weights feel like they’re starting to become unmanageable, you can reset your training max using this method (or you could just straight up edit your training max to a number that seems more appropriate). The tab labeled “untouched” is just a distilled version of everything you entered on the “quick setup” and “setup” tabs. The only places where the programs on the 2x6x sheets differ from the setup tabs are the deload weeks. However, if you want to make wholesale changes to the program, those changes won’t be fully reflected on weeks 7, 14, and 21 on the 2x-6x sheets due to manual changes I made to make them deloads. The “untouched” tab gives you all of the training variables and progressions you just defined for all of your main lifts for you to arrange as you see fit. By default, AtS 2.0 uses full-body workouts. However, during beta testing, quite a few people said they preferred upper/lower or push/pull/legs splits. Of all of the aspects of this program, the actual training split you use is probably the least important factor, so feel free to edit the sheet to make a training split that’s amenable to your preferences. If you want to move exercises around, first, unhide all hidden rows. Then cut and paste rows to move them around the sheet. Make sure you move the row for the exercise and the row for the training maxes/single @ RPE 8 rows together. If you copy and paste rows, it’ll mess everything up. You MUST cut and paste. That’s it! Like I said, if you find any glitches, or if you have any UX feedback, let me know! -Greg Some other random notes, advice, and customizations If you want to hit an “overwarm single” at 85-93% before your work sets, but want to stick with the built-in autoregulated load progression used in the program, you can just do the overwarm single and just not log it in the corresponding “single @8” cell. Especially during the first block of the program, I’d actually encourage you to do this, especially if you’re someone who loses comfort with heavy loading pretty quickly. If you’re someone who gets worn down quickly from constantly training with high relative loads, you may want to slot in a deload between weeks 17 and 18. Otherwise, you’ll be training at 85% or above for 5 straight weeks. That’s totally fine for most people, but if you know that doesn’t work well for you, feel free to add in that deload. If you want to do a true “work capacity” block, do the original version of the program (AtS 2.0 sheet. Not reps to failure or last set RIR), start with very conservative training maxs (~88% of the training maxes you’d typically use), and run the first block twice. By the end of your first run, assuming you beat the set target each week (which you should), your training maxes will be “caught up” to where they should be, and during your first run of the block, you should be able to do a TON of sets, building awesome work capacity in the process. If you want to make this a “powerbuilding” program, do the “last set RIR” version of the program, but bump the RIR targets up so that they match the “reps to failure” version. So, if you’d be doing sets of 5 with a last set target of 9 reps on the reps to failure version, make your RIR target is 4 reps. This way, none of the main lifts should be all that hard, and recovery from your heavy compounds should be a breeze. That will allow you to slot in a lot more accessory work that you can take to failure or close to failure for hypertrophy. Remember, you don’t need to train super close to failure for positive strength effects, so keeping things submaximal during your working sets on your main and auxiliary lifts is fine. There’s a slot for upper back work every session. I’d recommend doing a few sets of rows or pull-ups/pull-downs every workout if you decide to train twice or three times per week. If you use one of the higher frequency programs, don’t feel obligated to train your upper back every workout. You certainly can, but 3ish times per week is fine. You really can make the main lifts whatever you want, within reason. If you don’t want to overhead press, you can sub in more benching (or just drop the overhead work altogether). If you know you can only recover from deadlifts once per week, you can sub in the deadlift auxiliary work for something else (maybe more squatting), or just drop it. If you want to train weighted pull-ups as a core lift, you can do that too; just make sure you count your bodyweight along with any added weight when estimating your 1RM and when calculating training loads. Don’t worry too much about your calculated training maxes in the spreadsheet. They’re simply numbers used to calculate your training weights for the day, and they may be considerably heavier or lighter than your true max. For example, if you have great strength endurance and recover well between sets, your training max will probably exceed your actual 1RM by a considerable margin, but in doing so, it’ll make sure the training weights you end up using are correct. For sets that are “easy,” make sure you are still moving every rep as explosively as possible. This is extremely important. Lower the eccentric under control, and then move the bar on the concentric like you’re trying to throw it through the ceiling. Rest periods are what you make them. I’d recommend resting AT LEAST 2-3 minutes between sets, but if you use super long rest intervals, you’ll naturally fatigue at a slower rate, and thus be able to do more sets before hitting the target RIR using the original program. This could inflate your training max to the point that loads become unmanageable once things get heavy. That’s not the end of the world (if you get fewer than 4 sets, the program will bump your training maxes back down automatically, so it’s self-correcting), but it’s something to be aware of. Seriously, feel free to tinker in the “quick setup” and “setup” tabs if you scan the workouts and think, “this looks like it’s just going to be way more challenging for Lift A than Lift B.” There are pretty big differences in strength endurance between people, and there can be big differences in strength endurance between lifts within the same individual. The defaults in the sheet should get more people “close enough,” but don’t be shy about making the program your own. I wrote these programs to be feasible for busy people with a “normal” amount of time to spend in the gym. Realistically, my actual preference is for set counts to be even higher, especially since the first few sets are generally quite easy. If you have the time, I’d recommend “centering” workouts on 7 sets instead of 5. So for the last set RIR and reps to failure versions, you do 6 sets, and either assess RIR or rep out on the 7th, and for the original version, you bump your training max down if you get fewer than 6 sets, keep it the same if you get 6-8 sets, and increase it if you get 9+ sets. That’s editable in the “Quick Setup” tab. To save even more time, you can do some supersetting if you want. I’d recommend sticking with either agonist/antagonist supersets (i.e. bench and rows) or supersets for two unrelated motor patterns (i.e. OHP and deadlift). As long as you aren’t supersetting two pressing exercises, a deadlift and a squat exercise, or any of the core lifts with an accessory lift training the same muscle group, you should be fine. To be clear, I’m not necessarily recommending that you do supersets (I do think results will be at least a bit better if you do all of your sets with one exercise before moving on to the next one), but if you’re pressed for time, supersetting is a good option to make your workouts more time-efficient. Near the end of the program, you may want to play things by ear, especially if you’re someone who recovers really well between sets, and your training max has maybe crept a bit too high. A few people have reported that week 19 is doable (singles at 90%) but week 20 (singles at 95%) is just too heavy. The goal of the last few weeks is to be ready to hit some big maxes at the end of week 21/start of week 22. So, for week 20, feel free to go off-script and just work up to a “conservative max” – a weight that’s heavy, but you’re 100% sure you can hit. If you’ve competed in powerlifting before, it would be somewhere between a first attempt and a second attempt at a meet. For most people, the programmed 95% will be perfect, but don’t feel completely beholden to that number. Also, don’t worry too much about the sets/reps to failure/last set RIR goal; you’re at the end of the program, so if the sheet bumps your training max down, it won’t actually impact anything. You just want to get a few heavy reps in so that you’ll be ready for your upcoming maxes. If you want to switch between versions of the program for whatever reason, it’s easy enough to do. Simply make sure the “quick setup” and “setup” options of the new version of the program are to your liking (rounding is correct, the correct auxiliary lifts are selected, and you make any other tweaks that you made to the prior version you were using), and fill in your current training maxes on the actual tracking sheet (3x, 3x, 4x, etc.), on the week of the program you’re currently on. So, if you were doing AtS 2.0 training 4x per week, and you want to switch to the “last set RIR” version, and you’re currently on week 7 of the program, you’d expand the hidden rows where your training maxes are, you’d get your training maxes for each lift on week 7, and you’d fill those training maxes in on week 7 of the “last set RIR” version. From there, you should be able to dive right into the “last set RIR” version of the program as if you’d been doing it all along. If you want to run this as a hypertrophy program, and you don’t want to rely on accessory exercises for your hypertrophy work, here’s what I’d recommend: do the “reps to failure” version of the program. On the Quick Setup tab, adjust the “normal set rep targets” so that they’re only about 2 reps per set lower than the “last set rep targets.” So, for example, instead of sets of 5 at 70% with a last set rep target of 10, you’d be doing sets of 8 at 70%, still with a last set rep target of 10. Only do the first 14 weeks of the program. If you would need two different “rounding” increments (for example, if you’d be increasing loads on the bar by 2.5kg, but you’re using a dumbbell lift as an auxiliary lift, and dumbbells go up in 2kg increments), I’d recommend just setting “rounding” to 0.5. You’ll need to invest a little mental effort to round numbers in your head, but that shouldn’t be too hard. If you’re confident with editing spreadsheets, you could also just change the rounding increments for the lift(s) that need different rounding increments, but I wouldn’t recommend going that route unless you’re really confident about your ability to edit the formulas without messing anything up. If you’re primarily strength training for non-strength sports (football, basketball, real football, etc.), the last set RIR version, in particular, would be a good option. I'd probably bump the RIR targets on the quick setup tab up by 1-2, though (so if it's currently 2 with a particular load, make it 3-4). Staying a little further away from failure may aid in power/velocity development, which will carry over even better to most sports than raw strength gains (though the loads should still be heavy enough to get stronger). Once you’re done with the program, feel free to run it again. I wrote this to be a program that you should be able to stick with for a long time. If you completed all 21 weeks and hit new 1RMs, you can just download a fresh version of the sheet, plug your shiny new maxes in, and go for it. If you just want to run the first 14 weeks, you can plug your training maxes at the end of week 14 in as your new training maxes to start another run. Since the program adjusts your training maxes based on performance, it should be able to accomodate you regardless of what’s going on in your life. If you’re in a caloric surplus, your stress outside the gym is low, you’re sleeping a bunch, etc., that just means you’ll beat your performance targets more often and progress faster. If you’re in a calorie deficit, you’re stressed out, sleep is dodgy, etc., that just means you’ll beat your performance targets less often and progress at a slightly slower rate (or, you may regress, but the sheet will at least bump your training maxes down instead of telling you to attempt unmanageable workouts week after week). If you’re doing the original version of the program and you started with conservative training maxes, you may be able to just do sets until the cows come home. I wouldn’t recommend doing more than ~12 sets, if that’s the case. If you notice things are still really easy after set 6, consider shortening your rest intervals to make things more challenging for yourself. If you want a more fixed progression scheme for accessory lifts, this works well. Start with a weight you can move for about 10 reps. Try to do 3 sets of 8 reps. If you fail to complete all three sets, use the same weight next week, trying to beat your prior performance by at least one rep. Once you complete all three sets of 8, add a set. Once successfully complete all four sets of 8, add a set. Once you successfully complete all five sets of 8, drop back to 3 sets, but do sets of 10. Then build up to 4 sets of 10. Then 5 sets of 10. Then drop back to 3 sets of 12. Then 4 sets of 12. Then 5 sets of 12. Then go up in weight and start back over with 8s. You can also feel free to use any little piece of this progressing you want (i.e. just building up to 5 sets of 8, then going up in weight and dropping back to 3 sets of 8. Or just doing the 8s and 10s, but skipping the 12s). During the deload weeks (weeks 7, 14, and 21), you just do 5 sets of each lift with the programmed weight. You don’t do a rep-out set if you’re using the reps to failure version, and you don’t just keep doing sets until the loads get challenging if you’re using the original version. If you have ANY questions about the program, or struggles with the spreadsheet, feel free to post in the Average to Savage subreddit. If you’re not already a member, you’ll need to request access. Make sure you search past threads first to make sure your question hasn’t already been answered.
