Personal Trainers Cincinnati: A Simple 5 Week Progression for the "Big Lifts"

One of the most popular posts I've ever written on this blog had to do with progressive set/rep schemes. In that post, I discussed the "Husker Power" protocol, which looks like the following:

Set 1: 5 reps @ 65% of 1RM
Set 2: 5 reps @ 70% of 1RM
Set 3: 5 reps @ 75% of 1RM
Set 4: 5 reps @ 80% of 1 RM
*2:00 rest between sets

A nice variation of this protocol, and one which can be used by a more advanced lifter, is to drop the reps by 1 in a descending manner from one week to the next, while simultaneously increasing the percentages by 2.5% each week on every set. It would look like this:

Week 1 as listed above

Week 2
Set 1: 4 reps @ 67.5% of 1RM
Set 2: 4 reps @ 72.5% of 1RM
Set 3: 4 reps @ 77.5% of 1RM
Set 4: 4 reps @ 82.5% of 1RM

Week 3
Set 1: 3 reps @ 70% of 1RM
Set 2: 3 reps @ 75% of 1RM
Set 3: 3 reps @ 80% of 1RM
Set 4: 3 reps @ 85% of 1RM

Week 4
Set 1: 2 reps @ 72.5% of 1RM
Set 2: 2 reps @ 77.5% of 1RM
Set 3: 2 reps @ 82.5% of 1RM
Set 4: 2 reps @ 87.5% of 1RM

Week 5
Set 1: 1 rep @ 75% of 1RM
Set 2: 1 rep @ 80% of 1RM
Set 3: 1 rep @ 85% of 1RM
Set 5-9: 1 rep @ 90%+ of 1RM

This 5 week progressive protocol works very well for most any compound/multiple joint barbell movements. A few things to note:

On weeks 2-4, you can also work your way back down after the last set in order to get in more volume and/or technique work. I enjoy doing this. So, on week two for example, after your last set of 4 at 82.5%, you'd rest 2 minutes and drop back down to 77.5%, hit a set of 4, then down to 72.5%, etc. Alternatively, after your last set, you can drop back down to 60-65% and "rep out".
After the 5th week, you can either deload or start again at week 1. When starting again at week 1, you can estimate your 1 RM 1-3% higher (this will be an individual call) and adjust all the percentages accordingly.
These set and rep schemes are time intensive (especially week 5), and, given this fact, they should only be used for ONE major movement at the beginning of each workout.

If you are in a rut, give this 5 week a progression a shot, and let me know about your progress in the comments section. Happy New Year!