My friend Charlie is a masochist in the gym. I don’t think he would mind me saying that. We met when we were both training in a little hole-in-the-wall gym in the town where we both went to college. He was on Martin Berkhan’s reverse pyramid training program at the time, the main tenant of which is “add more weight to the bar whenever possible.” Well, Charlie took this to heart, and I’d watch him deadlift his warm ups and look like he was about to crap his spine with 75% of that day’s working weight. Then, when he finally got up to the working weight for the day, he’d grab the bar, hunch his back like a scared cat, and pull 5 or 6 reps, each of which took about 8 seconds to complete. After a short break, he’d strip about 20 pound off the bar and get 6 or 7 more reps. But, to Charlie, that wasn’t crazy. That level of insanity is what you were supposed to bring to every training session.
So, now that you know what type of lifter Charlie is, I can tell you this little story.
He sent me a Facebook message asking if I could write him a squat program. Although I always charge for programming, this guy’s my best friend, so I wasn’t going to leave him hanging. If I’m being honest, though, the friendship was only half the reason I did it Pro Bono. The other half was his second request: “Give me your worst.”
It’s very rare as a coach to have a request like that dropped into your lap. It was too good to pass up. Plenty of people THINK they can take a lot of abuse, but I knew first hand that Charlie is the type of guy who SEEKS and THRIVES on that type of abuse. Of course, I’m not going to just give him a program that’s blatantly just seeking a trip to the PT (i.e. “do a Sheiko program, but start each session with a 1rm on each lift, and triple the volume.”), but I didn’t want to give him something that would stretch him without making it impossible to train his other lifts.
There was another wrinkle as well. He trains with his wife Chaney. She is NOT the same glutton for punishment he is. Not only would I get to see how Charlie would respond, I’d also get to see how Chaney (unaware of Charlie’s request that the program be terrible) would respond. It’s like a science experiment on the reaches of human capacity without having to get your experiment cleared by an ethics board. Me = as excited as a kid on Christmas.
So, here was the program:
Monday: Squat to a 10rm. This was the easy day, so it’s also when deadlifting usually happened.
Wednesday: 90% of Monday’s 10rm 3×10. Then drop 5%x10. Drop 5% morex10 (so if you hit 200×10 on Monday, you’d hit 180 3×10, 170×10, 160×10 on Wednesday).
Friday: Squat to a 5rm. Drop 10%x5. Drop 10% morex5
Looks hard, but not terrible, right? I mean, there ARE more difficult programs out there. Except, there was one more stipulation: they had to move up in weight each week. Sort of like Smolov, but it’s been going for 8 weeks straight (with no end yet in sight) rather than just 4.
The result: they’ve been PRing for 2 months straight now, and are now hitting their old 1rms for sets of 5. They’ve both put over an inch on their thighs. Chaney didn’t even find out until this weekend that the program was even SUPPOSED to be hard.
Lessons learned:
1. You can probably train a LOT harder without overtraining. I also know Charlie is meticulous about his nutrition and sleep, but if you have your recovery ducks in a row, you can recover from, and adapt to, a TON of work.
2. You don’t have to live in the gym to do a program like this. Charlie works a 40 hour a week job on his feet, and Chaney was finishing up a vocational program where she was on her feet all the time. This didn’t affect them negatively. You don’t have to revolve your life around training to train like this.
3. Mindset is everything. When Charlie tells me to write him something terrible, it doesn’t intimidate him. He sees it as a challenge. Chaney, on the other hand, didn’t know that it was SUPPOSED to be that difficult, and just aloofly dominated for 2 months straight. If you go into a program thinking it may be too much, it can own you and crush you. If you think you can master it, you probably can.
4. Next time someone tells me to write a hard program, I’ll know I can write something much harder. Because, apparently, this was a cake walk. 😉
Ryan S says
I 100% agree. Most people would probably consider what I do overtraining. I squat three times a week. But I must be doing something right. I hit a PR on squats today for the ninth workout in a row. I started this program in December and have put over a hundred pounds on my squat.
Greg Nuckols says
what?!?! 100 pounds in 10 months is sick! congrats man!
Josh S says
Hi, i know this is quite old but I’m beginning to slow on my current programming so I’m gonna give this a try. My question is how you would recommend implementing front squats into the program, as i find my low bar form tends to start breaking down when i dont include front squars somewhere. I was planning on putting them in on monday after the 10rm, before i hit deads.
Cheers, josh.
Greg Nuckols says
why not just use front squats on monday instead of back squats?
Josh S says
I have been adding in a few sets of fronts after the 10rm set, seems to be going well so far. Put 10kg on my 10rm already within 2 weeks. Form is getting better from all of the reps too. Cheers for putting this up online, it’ll be fun to experiment with it as I prepare for my first meet in a few months.
Ryan S says
Thanks but its not as impressive as it sounds. It shows how weak I was 10 months ago. Also, my technique has improved alot. I know that has alot to do with it. But I’m real happy with how it’s coming along. I’ve already surpassed my goal for the competition and I got 11 weeks yet so hopefully I can keep it up til then.
Steven T says
Do you think this program would be effective push press?
Greg Nuckols says
In general, I think pressing movements respond even better to volume and frequency than squats do. As such, I bet it would work quite well for push press. Just make your weekly jumps small and start a bit conservative.
Let me know how it goes!
JZ says
Hi. I guess your friend is still quite young like you. Would you write something like this up for someone 40+?
Greg Nuckols says
Monday:
5rm, -10%x8
Wednesday:
10rm, -10%x12
Friday:
65% 3×10
How’s that look?
JZ says
Thanks! Looks like something I could try out for a while. What’s the reason you don’t mix in some low rep stuff? Like doubles or triples.
Greg Nuckols says
The whole point of a program like this is to give your body the very most volume it can handle to improve work capacity.
Michael says
I’ve tried this program for both back squats and push presses and found it very effective. +20lbs on my squat and +30 lbs on my push press. Thanks for writing this!
Greg Nuckols says
Awesome! What time frame was that in?
Michael says
5 weeks for squats and 4 weeks for push presses, although I hadn’t maxed either lift in a few months. With the squats I didn’t modify the program at all, but with the push presses Wednesdays ended up being 90%x10x3 then -10%x10 and -10%x10.
Greg Nuckols says
That’s sick man
Matthias says
Once I’m done with this PSMF crap this is the program I will hop one since my squat seems to be the only lift that has suffered. How much would they typically move up in weight per week?
gnuckols says
5-10 pounds
Jason says
Thanks Greg, this is a very motivating article and interesting yet simple routine. My squats (and bench too) have been stalled on Texas method ever since I switched from SS (which I spent way too long on). Part of this came from a switch from low-bar to high bars squats, and my squat form feels much better than before at the same weight, but still few gains. I also need to eat and sleep more -working on this.
I’ve been thinking I need a higher-volume program to move forward but been lazy about moving to a new program. I think I’m going to try to PR tomorrow, and if it doesn’t happen, switch things up to this program. Thanks a ton Greg.
gnuckols says
You got it man! Keep me posted it on how it goes!
Jason says
Will do. PR attempt came and went unfulfilled, though it might be the cold I’m fighting off. Either way, I think a change-up to a higher rep program is in the works. I’m 36, not as able to recover as I once was, so maybe I’ll try something between the program you posted and the 40+ one.
Thanks man. People like you are making life a lot better for many people.
Jack says
I know this post is very old but im interested in trying it. I will use this template for both Squat and Bench. What accessory work did you implement and what did the Deadlift work look like?
Greg Nuckols says
There wasn’t really any accessory work, and the deadlift work was just some singles at 75-80% once or twice per week.
Jack says
Are the 10rm and 5rm complete maxes or non-grinders? What was the upper body template they used while doing this?
Greg Nuckols says
Upper body was just bench and a few sets of pull-ups. And the 10rm and 5rm left a few in the tank early on, but were grinders by week 4 or 5.
Jack says
What kind of results did they achieve with this, how long did they run it and did you see any problems present?
Greg Nuckols says
If memory serves (keeping mind, this was about 2 years ago), Charlie put about 40lbs on his squat, and Chaney put about 25lbs on her squat in 2 months.
Josh says
How long did Charlie and his wife end up staying on this program before they stalled?
Greg Nuckols says
they were on it for 4 months. They hadn’t stalled yet by that point, but they just moved on to something else because they got bored.
Jonne says
Hey Greg!
How am I supposed to read this – do you work up in weight with sets of 10 (on mondays) until you hit a weight which you feel you’ll fail on the 11th rep? Or do you just warm up as usaul (1×10, 1×8, 1×5, 1×3, single, single, etc) until you reach a weight you want to try for 10 reps for that day?
Thanks!
Greg Nuckols says
The latter at first, and then try to beat it each week.