Video summary
When a strength program begins to lose its effectiveness, the primary strategy involves adjusting intensity before modifying volume. A common and effective adjustment is to shift upper body lifts from a higher volume structure, such as three sets of five repetitions, to a more intense configuration of five sets of three. Following this initial change, one can implement top set and back-off set protocols specifically for intensity work. If progress still stalls after these adjustments, the next step is to alter the exercise selection for volume work by introducing a supplemental movement that is a variation of the original lift. This approach allows an athlete to maintain progress for extended periods, often running a specific supplemental movement for three to six weeks before rotating it out once performance plateaus again.
The selection and rotation of these supplemental movements are crucial for managing fatigue while continuing to build strength through progressive overload. For instance, in deadlift variations, a logical progression might start with Romanian Deadlifts (RDLs) to isolate the hamstrings and glutes within a shorter range of motion, followed by deficit deadlifts to strengthen the athlete off the floor despite the elongated range of motion, and finally advancing to rack pulls. Rack pulls allow for heavier loads because they utilize a partial range of motion that is easier to handle than full repetitions. By cycling through these variations every few weeks, an individual can effectively increase the total work done or volume over time while gradually increasing the load, ensuring continuous adaptation without hitting a ceiling too quickly.
As training evolves, it is possible to transition supplemental movements from a volume-focused role to an intensity-focused one by progressively reducing repetition ranges and increasing weight. This creates an inverse relationship where higher loads are paired with fewer repetitions, eventually leading to heavy singles or partial range of motion exercises like block presses or pin bench presses. The core principle remains consistent: as the load increases, the volume decreases to maintain optimal training stress. Whether dealing with weak points off the floor using deficit deadlifts or addressing stability issues in the squat hole with paused squats and slow eccentrics, the goal is to find specific weaknesses and address them through targeted variations that keep the athlete moving forward for months at a time.
Read the full video transcript
The first thing I'm going to do is I'm
going to go to intensity first, volume
second.
Then I'm often going to make that little
half uh step change on the upper body
lifts that go from three sets of five to
five sets of three.
Then I'm going to go to top set and back
off sets for the intensity work.
Then I'm going to change the exercise
selection for the volume work to a
supplemental movement. It's the same
kind of movement. It's a variation on
the movement. I have lots of those in my
toolbox. You you too, if you've listened
to the podcast for years.
And from there, I can start to make
progress. Now, that can go for a long
time because once I've changed that
supplemental movement, I can run that
supplemental movement often for about
four weeks at a time, sometimes three,
sometimes six.
And it starts to stall out and I change
the movement. So, if I started with a
deficit deadlift in the supplemental
movement,
after four to six weeks, then I might
change it to the rack pull. Or I often
will start with I actually like the
progression typically of an RDL first,
and then a deficit deadlift, and then a
rack pull. Why? Because you tend to RDL
less than you deficit deadlift.
You tend to deficit deadlift less than
you rack pull. So, the load continues to
go up over time, but the range of motion
is going to shorten as you get to the
rack pull. RDL's a little shorter range
of motion, but also really focuses,
isolates the hamstrings and the glutes.
The deficit deadlift gets you strong off
the floor, but it's elongated range of
motion, so it's more difficult to do.
All right, so theoretically you should
get more work done or even more, you
could say volume via extra work by the
increased range of motion, and then the
rack pull reduces the range of motion,
but increases the load because we can do
a partial deadlift more than we can do
an elongated deadlift or even regular
deadlift, right? So, that works really
well. So, I can continue in that cycle
of running that 5-3-1 cycle on the
intensity movement,
running the supplemental
movement, and changing those out every
four to six weeks, and can continue to
make progress often for say six months
or more to continue to rotate those. And
that supplemental movement I tend to
pick
for my clients, I'm trying to find the
spot where they have weak points. If
they're weak off the floor, we're going
to focus on the deficit deadlift. If
they're If they get loose in the hole in
the squat, we're going to focus on a on
a pause squat. Going to make them stay
really, really tight. It might just be a
tempo squat. It might be something that
they're going down very slow on the
eccentric, a 3-second eccentric, not
anything crazy, 5-6 seconds, like
3-second
eccentric, maybe a quick pause and a
fast concentric. Concentric typically is
fast. The eccentric tends to be slower.
So, that's the next step. Again,
remember, we'll take your questions.
I've got some that have already come
through.
At the end of the show, I've got 17
minutes left. I can keep knocking it
out. After that, I start to really have
fun with what comes after the first two
movements. So, now I have an intensity
movement on a 5-3-1 cycle.
I have a supplemental movement on
volume, and I can over time, I can even
take those supplemental movements and I
can move them from volume to more
intensity. I can make them heavier and
heavier. I can drop out the volume. So,
again, that intensity and volume,
intensity is just another word for load
or what percentage of one-rep max you're
dealing with. So, if I start with
something that's a a higher volume
movement, like an RDL,
over time, I'm going to move to the
deficit deadlift. I might go from sets
of six on the RDL
to sets of five, to sets of four, to
sets of three on the deficit deadlift,
and get to the rack pull, and I'm going
to do sets of three, sets of two, and
singles, and go very, very heavy. So, I
can actually then start to to transition
to make that inverse relationship
between volume and load. As the load
goes up, the volume can come down, and I
get back to pulling really heavy or
squatting really heavy or
bench bench press maybe do a block press
or or
a pin bench press, a partial range of
motion bench press, or a slingshot, or
something like that works really well as
well. So, all of the same concepts
apply.