Easy as 1,2,3: The not so revolutionary strength program

There are a lot of great programs out there. You've got smlov, bulgarian, cuban, 5/3/1, and probably a million others. While all these programs are great for their specific sport, few can be integrated into multiple sports. That is the main goal of this program. It is not neccessarily set rules, but a philisophy which can be used for the rest of your lifting career.

First, lets go over important terms:

Wave loading: A simple progressive addition and subtraction of weights in a particular workout. The goal of wave loading is to find the days 1RM. This is done by starting with 45lbs and working up to a conservative single, double, or triple. Then you would drop the weight by 40% and work up to a new single. Continue, dropping the weight by 20% and climbing back up the laddar. If at any point you miss a lift, you stop. 

Reps: The number of times the wieght is lifted without letting go of the bar.

Sets: The amount of times you pick up, squat, or do whatever yoir little heart desires with the bar.

Assistance Work: Any movement which has direct carry over to the main lift.

Intensity: The amount of weight lifted

Volume: The intensity multiplied by reps

Linear Periodization: A continual addition of intensity by day, or week.

Non-Linear Periodization: A progression of intensity, volume, or time over weeks, months, and even years. 

Now then, lets talk about the program. This program can be applied to a 3 day, 4 day, 5 day, or even 6 day protocol. However, I would storngly suggest a 5 day protocol. Three days on, one day off, two days on, one day off. 

Going by a five day schedule, lets look at how each day would play out. On the first day, you would focus on two multijoint movements. The first movement will be waveloaded by one repetition and the secound movement will be waveloaded by three repetitions. Thats it.

The secound day would be assistance work, with three specific assistance movements. The order and rep scheme of the movements will be ciclucal, with the first movement, 6x1, the secound movement 4x3, and the final movement 2x5. These movements will not follow wave loading, for they tend to folow a more linear periodization.

The third day will again focus on your two multijoint movements. This time, you will wave load both movents by two reps. However, on this day, you can start with either movement.

The fourth day will be much like the first, but with opposite rep shcemes. The first move will be waveloaded by one rep. This should be the movement which you did by three reps on the first day. The secound move will be waveloaded by three reps.

On the final fifth day, you will have another assistance day. You can do the same assistance work as the secound day, or switch it up with new exercises, but same rep structure.

While that will work great for a begginner and intermediate weight lifter, a more advanced athlete cannot follow the same program. The pattern, however, can be followed. 

Notice how the pattern moves from one rep to two reps to three reps, and then back to one rep. When looking at this pattern over a matter of weeks or months, you get this upward wave like effect. By using this method, one can constantly improve, without needing to add weigth to the bar every session.

With this concept in mind, a more advance athlete could follow this rep scheme over a matter of weeks. The first week would be one rep, the secound week, two reps, and the third, three reps. After those three weeks, you would simply start over. 

What's great about this plan, is you can focus on just one movement a day. For example, lets say you're a power lifter. So you squat monday, bench wensday, and deadlift friday. The squat would be by one rep, the bench by two, and the deadlift by three reps. The following week you'd squat by two, bench by three, and deadlift by one rep. Thus, you'd continue on your endless journey for a greater 1RM.

One last thing before I get into the actual programs, lets talk about rest intervals. Looking at the research, any point after three minutes seems to have little use.If the goal is strength, which it always should be, then take as much time as needed between sets, but understand there is very little benifits after three minutes. 

On the other hand, I would strongly suggest taking upwards of ten minutes between exercises. This will gove the body extra time to recover, allowing you to start the next movement as a whole new session. Since the program is waveloaded, the warmup is built right in.

With these basic concepts in mind, lets go over a few different programs:

Weightlifting:

   Sunday: Snatch by 1 rep, Clean and   Jerk by 3 reps

   Monday (Assistance): Overhead Squat, Weighted Pullup, Strict Overhead press

   Tuesday: Snatch by two reps, Clean and Jerk by two reps

   Thursday: Snatch by three reps, Clean and Jerk by one rep

   Friday (Assistance): Front Squat, Bent over Rows, Push Press

Notes: 

1) Remember that the assistance work is ciclucal and the reps should be changed on a weekly basis. The movement with one rep should always be first.

2) Yes, I know I contradicted an earlier statement, but the snatch is a more technique driven movement. To do it in an even somewhat fatigued state could be dangerous. 

Powerlifting:

   Monday: Squat by one rep, speed squat at 50%/ Partial rep (Half Squat, ATG, etc.)/ Squat pause

   Wendsday: Bench by two reps, partial rep bench (board press, floor press, etc.)/Pause bench press/Speed at 50% 

   Friday: Deadlift by three reps, deadlift with pause at the knee/Speed deadlift at 50%/Partial rep (Deficeit deads, rack pulls, etc.)

Notes

1) Make sure to change the rep scheme each week. What is now one rep will be two reps, what is two reps will be three reps, and what is three reps will be one rep.

2) The Assistance work should change with each week. This way, you'll have an explosive, partial, and pause move each week.

3) When I say partial, that does not mean bad form. If anything, the form should be better. Furthermore, partials should be a different rang of motion than used in competition, more or less.

4) The rep scheme for assistance work varies on the movement. The explosive move should be 6x1. A pause is best at three by three. The partial can be a higher rep at 5x5, since it tends to be more of a sticking point movement.

Muscle Building

Follow either the weightlifting or power lifting program. The only difference is a bodyweight only AMRAP for 15mins each morning. These can consist of any two bodyweight movements from 3-12 reps. 

A few favorites of my own: pullups and dips, handstand pushups and burpees, and box jumps with toes to bar.

Many will argue there is not enough tension with the body weight movements, but I beg to differ. If you really push yourself for those 15mins, youll swell up like a baloon. Not only that, but the stength sessions in the afternoon will add some serious myofibular muscle.

So there ya have it. The quentessintial plan for the strongest man in the world. I realize there is a lot I didn't cover, and in the future will continue to tweak and mess with the plan. But until then, be strong.