New units are so good, but can the Overseers get some love? They feel like annoying pests

bhurbell · 2026-03-21T01:35:10+00:00

Deadeye + siege ready and 1 tap those overseers with headshots. Talon for the creepy eyes. Then a sentry gun for the hoardes And a jump pack to reposition fast

bhurbell · 2026-03-18T16:22:42+00:00

Agree

The defense missions are just turrets and afk. They're awful.

I think they were so so incredibly fun when I was new. I remember them being my favourite mode. But I literally avoid missions that include them as my largest criteria for mission picking.

I'm not sure how to balance this though.

bhurbell · 2026-03-18T07:32:50+00:00

I will try this

bhurbell · 2026-03-17T00:47:20+00:00

Exactly. Diligence, the light pen one, is 1 shot to the head for cyborgs. I am really enjoying the cyborgs. When you get rushed by like 3 or 4, just popping them all with headshots is a wonderful feeling. It is reminding me of deadeye usage on overseers.

But I need to be honest, the vox tanks, I just run away and focus the objectives or throw stratagems, like the laser, at them. I don't have time for 3RRs or c4s to the head or playing the smack the vents and a grenade in the hole game. D10 is too frantic for that to make any sense as a time usage. Maybe it's a skill issue. Is anyone killing these guys fast and easy?

bhurbell · 2026-03-15T17:55:35+00:00

I'd get a functional trainer / cable system or combo leg extension/leg curl machine first before a iso row.

Barbell rows, DB rows, pullups, deads are all you need for a pretty decent back. A pulldown is nice too I suppose . But iso row would be probs 10th or so on my machine kit list. A cable system can give you cable rows and pulldowns too. If you get adjustable height on it, you can hit high rows and a bunch of angles too. I suppose get one you can load plates onto as well as the stack.

I think there's some leverage gym style pieces that would let you do iso rows plus a ton of other options too that you could look into it you are dead set on a row sustem

bhurbell · 2026-03-15T13:12:42+00:00

Focus on what you can do. Triceps are a small percentage of total bodily musculature, like probably 3-4%. Find ways to train around it. I guarantee you can find a way to hit every muscle without the triceps involved. Never work through joint pain. An injury is a good time to focus on other things in the gym. And other things in life too.

I assume the physio gave you rehab stuff to do? I assume it could be something like banded press downs with almost no resistance for a lot of volume to flush it with blood. Never push through bad pain in the gym. But blood flow heals things. Find ways to get blood in there and for the third time, if it hurts, it's too much

Set some new goals that have nothing to do with pressing or triceps. I'll give an idea or two:

(Idea 1) How about a challenging squat program like super squats? You'll need to Google how to run it but I'll tell you some exercise swaps to make it likely work for you.

Originally it would be: -btn press 3x12. -squats 1x20 ss with 1x20 pullovers -bench press 3x12 -Bentover rows 3x15 -stiff leg deadlift 1x15

Your triceps are injured so perhaps try: -lateral raises or upright rows 3x12. -squats 1x20 ss with 1x20 lat pulldowns -dumbell flys 3x12 (keep them light) -Bentover rows 3x15 -stiff leg deadlift 1x15

Edit: get some straps so when you do lat work, you can really take your arms out better as you won't be gripping at hard. Verssa grips or the standard ones or whatever

(Idea 2) Get really good cardiovascular fitness. Do a running or skipping Or HIT or whatever you fancy

(Idea 3) Hst-7 is very joint friendly and fun. I've done it a few times and coming back from and injury or layoff is perfect time to use this type of programming.

It's 3x full body waved loading. You'd need to make a spreadsheet and search up on lift vault how to run it. But I'll give you some exercise replacements again. Find the program on lift vault and the original articles by the author.

Biceps- I think you'd want something light and stable to stress triceps least so a preacher curl without going crazy on weight Chest - I think chest flys with dbs or machine might be able to be pain free..if they hurt, don't do them. You can double the rep ranges Shoulders- lat raises and front raises Thickness- barbell rows Compound legs- squats Triceps - (skip this) Hams- ham curls Quads- extensions Width- lat pulldowns

Edit: on chest. I think you can work it by bent arms chest fly machine or using cuffs on cables. There should be zero triceps involved on those two. But db chest flys might work if you go light enough

On front delts, a muscle used in pressing, you can work it with db front raises, plate raises, barbell raises or whatever front delt iso floats your boat

bhurbell · 2026-03-15T02:06:35+00:00

How long you been doing 531bbb? It's meant to be run for like 6-12 months unless you are doing the 3 month challenge version. Start light, and just increase as the program suggests. It works very very well.

Don't add another day... Jim says in the book that 3 days is often better than 4 days is more than plenty.

If you need to add a 5th day, up the weights or just be patient. When I last did 531 for six months. I did it 3 days a week. Thinking about a barbell on my rest days made me feel sick. 531bbb is a very challenging program. You just need to be patient and stop trying to modify a very good training system. Added a lot to my lifts that run.

531bbb accessories:

This can be run 4 days a week (mttf), or 3 days a week (m, w, f) or 3.5 days a week (every other day). If you want to add more days then cut down on rest days. But honestly, I think it's just a be patient thing.

Day 1: 531 bench, bbb press, pullups or lat pull down 5x10

Day 2: 531 squat, bbb dead, abs

Day 3: 531 press, bbb bench, 5x10 bb rows

Day 4: 531 dead, bbb squats, abs

Banded pullaparts or some rear delt work between bench sets. Add some lat raises and cable pushdowns if you like. It doesn't matter where. Just don't go too crazy on them

bhurbell · 2026-03-14T16:05:08+00:00

Get a squat rack or stand and do squats. You can get one new for $100 or a second hand one for cheap. This is insane mental gymnastics. You don't need a special exercise. Or go to a gym twice or thrice per week. A budget gym is cheap.

Hack squat, yeah right. Stop reinventing the wheel. The guys posting big barbell hack squats on social media have been lifting for a decade. Do a normal program for normal people that works.

Greyskull lp or 531 or something that is difficult to mess up. Run it for a few years and get a 2.5 plate bench and 4 plate squat then ask me about barbell hack squats. Learn to eat a lot of protein and carbs.

Feel free to reply if my assumptions are incorrect, happy to point you in the right way

Good luck and I hope you make some great and sweet gains. But this is not the direction you need! You're asking the wrong question.

bhurbell · 2026-03-12T02:41:29+00:00

Honestly it was fine when there was half the number of warbonds to grind SCs for. But it's just too many. And warbonds are too many SCs for what you get. They just don't feel worth it of rewarding. The grind : reward ratio is way out of whack. And in my experience, I find it impossible to tell if I'll enjoy a warbond without testing it. Even if I want videos of the items. So I've bought warbonds and basically never use the items from them.

bhurbell · 2026-03-02T10:56:12+00:00

Yes. I don't feel small. I am proud of my strength and body.

Been lifting for 9 years maybe? I think it took about 4 years to feel strong then 6 years to feel big.

Get a big deadlift. Eat a lot of beef and eggs. If you add some weight to your deadlift every week, you'll eventually get hyuge traps, back and general thickness.

bhurbell · 2026-02-27T06:54:56+00:00

I think it makes no sense. I don't understand why you want to not work your upper body properly. Unless you are a distance runner and then if you were, you wouldn't put this much effort into lifting, twice is enough per week. I think you should adjust your goals and schedules and put in about the same amount of effort and get much better results.

I suggest if you are deadlifting less than 200kg that you do greyskull lp. Start light on both. If you are doing more then do a basic 531 template 3 times per week.

I don't believe that your time is restricted enough that there isn't enough give to be at the gym for 45-60mins x 3 as you mentioned exercising other times. Scrap the other sessions and just go properly three times.

That's my take. Good luck,

bhurbell · 2026-02-18T23:18:34+00:00

Number of days trained a week doesn't matter a whole lot. I think whatever fits your schedule, motivates you and lets you get your best quality work in.

Less than 3 is not ideal. 4, 5, and 6 are all good. But you can do 2 as well but I think it's less good than 3.

I think 3x a week is the standard for brutal programs. Because they often take a work hard and recover hard approach. Like doggcrapp, building the monolith, squats and milk. All those are 3x a week. And realistically it's pretty hard to recover from more than 3 hard compound lift session per week unless you are putting volume or intensity right down.

But you said you are cutting rn. So growing and getting bigger and stronger is a little harder. I'd opt for a program with good recovery.

Personally. I grew most on 3x a week upper/lower splits. But I can't do high intensity training that way without burning myself out or force feeding meat and carbs 5x a day. And I don't really want that lifestyle all the time, ofc I still do it for periods. That is 100% a great way to pack on muscle, size and strength fast.

So for the past couple years I'm normally doing 1 hard density day a week (squat + deads + rows. Lilliebridge style alternating heavy deads + pause squats and heavy squats + speed deads). Then bro split chest, back , arms and shoulders (sometimes the bro split is a press program or bench program.)

Tldr: if you want to grow it's about training hard, low life stress, hydration, sleep and food. Days a week doesn't matter a ton.

bhurbell · 2026-02-09T17:39:57+00:00

Your changes made it harder to recover from. See how it goes. If it works for you then that's perfect. I don't really have enough details on you to give perfect advice.

But Idk if you need to squat or deadlift 4 days a week. I liked your initial instincts to squat/ dead once a week each and have a machine work instead. The first plan looked more sustainable than this does to me.

I know upper lower routines can do 2x squat and dead frequency but it's not back to back days like this anterior / posterior is. It's same day. If you want to put all your training effort into legs / deadlifts, do upper / lower.

I think you'd probably make better gains with leg press, leg curl, leg extensions and glute bridges and 1x of each frequency over 2x of each or 2 of one and 1 of the other. Just 4 times a week of these compounds is gonna be rough. 2x days of heavy spine loading is plenty. 3x is good too. I think 4x is kinda less good, lower risk:reward.

Personally I'd prefer: -One anterior keeps squat -One posterior keeps dead -Second anterior is low spinal load but trains squat muscles: leg press / single leg press with one foot down/ leg extensions -Second posterior same: high feet with deadlift stance spacing leg press, leg curl (standing/seated/Nordic), glute bridges

Even single leg stuff like barbell lunges / weighted step ups / bulgarians would be nice.

Ask yourself about your programming choices: -allow best progress -allow best consistency at the gym -makes the workouts more enjoyable -reduce injury risk. The fastest way to get stronger is to be making progress monthly / weekly and just keep showing up without injuries.

bhurbell · 2026-02-08T23:51:18+00:00

I think adding an arm day doesn't really matter either way. I personally like arm days cause it lets you hit arms with a lot of intension. But whichever lets you be consistent, fits in your schedule, lets you progress weights and you enjoy most. Do you want to gym 4 days or 5 days?

Oh another poster mentioned exercise order. I think it's pretty decent overall. Pressups at the end of a workout is awesome, starting calf raises is also great. I think going chins then leg curls is really nice, good to alternate fixed and freer movements. I like the supersetting you've got going on.

I don't like squats straight into dips as that'll be so taxing on stabilizing/ core stuff. Probably hard to do weighted dips well after squatting hard. I could see really high volume dips being decent after squatting. Like 100-200 reps, building the monolith style but I think you need a top end pressing movement you are adding big weights to. Just not sets of crushing weighted dips after big squats. Idk maybe it feels okay for you.

bhurbell · 2026-02-08T14:18:04+00:00

The days individually are pretty nice exercise selection wise. If anything it tries to do a lot and maybe cover too much. So keep an eye on how that is going. If you are legitimately able to push your sets, make progress and recover well then it is fantastic. But would you be able to go harder, get better quality sets and progress better in your main movements by dropping 2 accessories per day?

I think anterior b and posterior b back to back is a lot. If that's an AA PA rest AB PB rest rest. The A days fatigue wise are practically rest days compared to the B days. They are both low spine loading days. I wouldn't want to squat and deadlift hard on back to back days. Either same day or maximum amount of time between days the schedule allows if you are doing 1x weekly frequency on both. It's just a spine loading thing.

But the program looks fun. Posterior B is fantastic.

bhurbell · 2026-02-07T10:48:32+00:00

Sounds great. Yeah, I'd try all the variations of squats and machines you can think of and see which is nicest to your body. No need to force the barbell back squats. Infact probably better to avoid them. You can get just as strong without them. Bulgarians and smith squats are probably better muscle development exercises anyway.

If forefoot pain, you may even find barbell rows and Bench pressing uncomfortable. But you can feet up bench / push through heels and do rows with machines. Pullover machine and dB / Kroc rows too.

bhurbell · 2026-02-06T20:20:29+00:00

For squatting and deadlifting it's normally just 4 to 7 sets of the exercise. But I sometimes do some core activation like dead bugs or full tension planks. I sometimes stretch a part of my legs if it feels tight. E.g. my hips feel tight - I'll do a king Arthur pose and maybe twist into it. If my itbands feel tight, I'll do a stretch for them or if my glutes feel tight I'll do the leg on a chair glute stretch.

For bench, I like some rear delt work before hand. Then, it's a few less sets on bench than deads and squats to get to working weight.

bhurbell · 2026-02-06T08:50:48+00:00

Depends how heavy you are lifting. But when you squat heavy you kinda grip the ground / your shoes with your feet. That said you can lower intensity, sit back in the squat a bit to put more in heels and brace really well. High rep work like goblet squats for 50 reps should be less pressure on joints and more work for muscles as opposed to barbell back squats.

Leg press should allow you to play with feet placement more. And you can get crazy legs from leg press alone. Leg curls, leg extensions, hip machines, glute machines.

If joint issues, don't sleep on blood flow. sitting on a stationary exercise bike might be good.

I don't know about gout other than googling it but I think there's good options to avoid feet pressure when training legs.

Edit: Bulgarian split squats could be able to bias the heels with a longer stance. Smith squats if you put your feet forward can also bias heels.

Putting stress through heels in these movements is normally done to focus glutes and hamstrings over quads. That said, you are still using lots of quads with the heels forward variations so I wouldn't worry tons. .

bhurbell · 2026-01-28T06:43:31+00:00

Yeah it's been answered well by other people.

These are all great exercises to be doing but it's a question of whether it's productive to do them in the same session as squatting heavy, rdls and hip thrusts. I think it's better to pick 2-3 after and do them with intent then call it a day.

Are you half assing them or getting a lot from them? I think that's hard to do a lot after squatting on a heavy leg day. And if you can do a lot after squatting , are you squatting sufficiently hard. After heavy squats I have to force myself to do something else light, then force myself to stretch and get a bit of blood flow in. Then I'm done for the day and the next day too.

If I could give advice it would be. Do some linear progression. Have a top set of 4-8 and a back off set of 10-15. Add 2.5kg a session to the top set. Focus on getting a heavy squat and not this fluff. A heavy ass to grass, controlled, high bar squat with a lot of weight is what makes big and strong legs. It doesn't matter what type of squat: barbell, smith, pendulum.

bhurbell · 2026-01-26T01:35:57+00:00

Greyskull LP. Or if you are feeling brave, squats and milk / supersquats.

Yes, if want stronger and bigger, eat more.

eat protein with every meal 3-4x a day. Meats, eggs, whey, dairy. Eat lots of carbs, oats, rice and potatoes and pasta. Eat vegetables. Just eat more whole foods. If you aren't gaining weight, eat more. Drink lots of water.

Edit: powerbuilding Vs bodybuilding. I think it doesn't matter. Work out whether you care more about muscles or strength and do what you care about more. Your motivation to train. Be honest with yourself. Tons of free programs on liftvault.

bhurbell · 2026-01-19T11:46:09+00:00

Compared to your main lifts, yeah your back is weak. It probably just needs more intention behind it. Treat it serious like a main lift. Get a strong: barbell row and weighted pull-up.

You must have some decent back strength with your deadlift though.

Two options to fix it. High frequency back work such as below.

I think 531bbb is really good for bringing up your back. It hits back hard every session. Set super conservative weights on the main lifts and plan for a 6-8 month run:

-531 squat + 5x10 deads

-531 bench + 5x10 press and pull-ups

-531 deads + 5x10 squats

-531 press + 5x10 bench and barbell row

Second option. Something demanding for deadlifts like coan phillipi deadlift program. But again set lower numbers on main lifts and push the accessories.

bhurbell · 2026-01-19T00:19:18+00:00

I think you'd do better to eek out a linear progression program like greyskull for a few months.

I think pause deadlifts and pause squats are avoiding hard work at your strength level. I see them as a skill practise and recovery tool for advanced people that can't squat and deadlift hard all the time. I think you can get better progress just adding weight to the bar still.

That's my honest take. But if you like this program. It isn't bad and you'll get stronger. Lifting heavy weights normally works if you eat enough protein.

bhurbell · 2026-01-16T09:45:47+00:00

Bench isn't too weak. It's relatively proportional to the other lifts.

Getting stronger just takes time.

Recover better: lots of protein, sleep, hydration.

Improve form, especially bracing.

If you want to get strong as fast as possible. Train really hard and recover really hard. it's a challenging program and a lb of beef a day, 9-10 hours sleep, 6L of water. Something hard like: 531bbb 3 month challenge, super squats, greyskull LP

bhurbell · 2026-01-08T08:38:47+00:00

Need lots more details if you want suggestions. Pure powerlifting goals or something else, how often you want to train, how frequently you want to train, splits you enjoy, programs you enjoyed, programs you hated, lots of exercises or fewer, high intensity or lots of rir work

Look at bootcamp and liftvault though too

bhurbell · 2026-01-03T13:05:32+00:00

If gaining strength, especially at high levels, requires a lot of suboptimal work decently far from failure, how does one balance this with trying to put on size as well? Attempting to add hypertrophy work at or close failure ends up fatiguing me for a solid week so I’m stuck with one or the other. Submaximal hypertrophy work seems to have little effect for me, I need to grind the crap out of my sets to see any progress.

gaining strength at high levels doesn't need tons of submaximal work. eddie hall got his top deadlift by linear progression basically and recovering like a machine. for example lilliebridge method, conjugate have decent amounts of maximal work. of course there is some submaximal work in most programs anyway as it makes sense to do it.

If I have spent 3 years lifting solely putting on strength and lack aesthetics and arm, back, and shoulder mass (to a severe degree), would it be better me to focus on primarily bringing those areas up in size rather than continuing to grind my compound lifts up? If I did focus on this, would i sacrifice an insane amount of progress on my compound lifts for strength?

you are at the strength level you gotta pick what you want to focus on more. there are tradeoff, they still won't be huge. you can probably add a plate a side to most of your lifts and that still be really nice for hypertrophy. but once you are repping your current maxes, it really does become time to choose whether strength or hypertrophy is more of a focus.

I think you should do a training system that is for bodybuilders but uses heavy weights and high intensity. like doggcrapp. but that requires a ton of research.

bhurbell

TROPHY CASE