As per
@get2choppaaa 's recommendation I'm going to be starting a conjugate routine this week. I wrote up a spreadsheet basing it off of how Andy Baker structures conjugate for raw lifters, he has a really in depth guide here -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYBz_O3ucLo&t=3052s
The only thing is that he has you test your maxes first and I unfortunately failed at 315 testing my bench the other day and now my rotator cuffs are feeling pretty beat up (have always had issues on and off with them since high school wrestling). Hoping it won't affect low bar squatting too much as I really want to try to hit 405 tomorrow on it but I may just have to do SSB if it's still feeling rough. Overall though I'm definitely excited to try out all the variations such as floor press that I haven't done and also try speed work.
@get2choppaaa do you always go for a top single for ME or is it better to sometimes go for a 2/3/5RM?
I try and keep it to under 3 and no more than 4 lifts above 90 percent on ME day... But sometimes you won't know that until you're done..
The trick is to vary your exercise. Fat bar bench (fat grips for 20 dollars) incline bench, pin press at different heights, whatever bars you have ect.
For me the basic ME template that has worked has been the below:
1Me lift heavy single (maybe once in a blue moon it will be a heavy double or triple... You just risk injury more there)
If there was low volume to get to the heavy single i might do 3x5 at 70 to 80 percent of that days max
2 Supplemental (3 or 4 sets of 4-8 rep)
And 3 accessories for your weak points (hypertrophy work)
For example last week:
Narrow grip with index fingers on the smooth bench i hit 325 for a single, then supplemental lift I did regular bench 275 for 3 x 5 (roughly 80 percent of that days max)
Then JM presses 225 lbs x 3x8
Low Pulley Rows 4x 12
low pulley highs Rows 4x12
Hammer curls 3x burnout set,
If i were going to try for less than 1 all out ME I'd do the below, and you could do singles at around 95 percent or doubles at 90 or 92.5 or whatever.
Had some shoulder and low back issues so I didn't feel safe doing a grinder so i took my 325 close grip bench and did 3 singles at roughly 95 percent so it looked like:
comp grip bench 315, 3 sets of 1 rep, working on technique and set up... 3rd single was tough.
The 280 x 3 sets 5 roughly 80 percent
Then 225 wide close and med grip for 14, 10 and 10 reps. (Volume)
Then mini band JM press (100 lbs tension roughly) with 135 on the bar x 12, 9, 9 reps
Then Bo rows 325 x 4 x 6
Then dumbbell Rows 100 lbs dumbbells 3 x 12 each arm
The. Hammer curls and fat bar db curls 3x supersets of 12-15 each.
Whole thing from warm up to end took 90 mins.
Now that's a lot of volume for a some, but that's like 1/2 the volume of the Dynamic effort day, on the main lifts at least...
Trick is not to over do it on the percentages so you don't Crush your CNS.
Next week I'll swap a couple things around that I've done in the last couple weeks and try and add 5 lbs to each accessory from the last time it was done along with 5 lbs to what ever ME lift.
Hope that helps
Edited to add: the trick is to add 5 lbs a lift each time you try the progression... And once you find your sticking points hammer those with accessories.
Also regarding the shoulder. Use a SSB it you have one. I straight bar squat 1x every 2 months and I've never had issues. If you have a bow bar (titan makes a cheep one that's ok unless you're putting up like 800lbs) that's good too.
