How to Pullup #18 – Programming 3

This is an important episode for you. Let's look at how many reps and sets we should do in our training, how often we should be repeating it and how to record it down.

NOTE. My maths in the video is slightly wrong!
Apologies. The values of the volume in the video are slightly wrong. With the adjusted weight, I multiplied them by 3 in my head, rather than 5.

So instead the 43kg x 5 rep would = 215. NOT 213.

This is the same for the other adjusted values.

3 sets of 5 Reps

The program consists of doing five consecutive repetitions, three times. The reason for this is because we don't want to do a high amount of volume, we want to do a low volume, but with a high intensity with heavier weights.

This way, we will be focusing a little more towards the strength development, rather than endurance.

Remember though, the 5 reps should be HARD. As hard as you can bare them.

Repeat every 48 to 72 hours

The body needs to go through three stages:

• Training. This breaks down the muscle in your body.
• Fatigue. The body feels the effects of the training and tries to protect itself.
• Recovery. As fatigue sets in, the body starts the recovery stage to heal.

If you don't let the body recover properly your next training session will be working within the second/third stage and then the there will be even more fatigue to recover from.

Slowly, the fatigue will catch up and you won't be able to train, losing out on significant progress.

Therefore, you need to wait until you're recovered. This is between 48-72 hours after the training.

Small Increments

Even if you're a beast, you should increase by very small amounts. Sure, the training will go on for longer, but that's the point.

A slow, linear increase in strength is what we're aiming for, NOT an exponential explosion that leads to plateaus and depression.

Think smart and long-term.

Why write it down

I know writing down your numbers can be tedious, but recording your progress is absolutely essential. Here is a list of reasons to convince you:

• You have 100%, concrete, written-down proof of your increase in strength.
• You can look back on your progress historically.
• Checks for stalling and plateaus become easier.
• By recording your volume you can accurately change the program to different reps & sets but with the same amount of volume.
• Only amateurs go training without a plan and record progress.
• Stop being lazy.