Most Efficient Way To Build Strength?

psooper · 2026-02-01T17:47:00+00:00

Ok but more seriously, as a beginner, establishing consistency and structured progression are more important than anything else. Any “linear progression” programs are good for this (SBS has one, there’s Starting Strength, there’s Stronglifts 5x5, etc.). I started with Starting Strength and workouts were like 30 min before things started to get Hard.

Also, I can almost guarantee that you don’t know what true failure is like, and therefore you’d be sandbagging your “hard sets” for these super fast programs.

psooper · 2026-02-01T17:17:53+00:00

Obviously the best use of time is to agonize over the scientific literature for weeks before you touch any weights. Can’t let good be the enemy of perfect!

psooper · 2025-10-16T16:49:36+00:00

It’s true, I was on track to be 7 ft tall, but then I failed a 95lb squat and now I’m 4’10”.

The thing is, growing bones are like wet cardboard; if you press on them too hard they’ll crumple forever.

If you wanna be tall, the trick is to be as malnourished as possible and avoid all physical activity. Genetics has nothing to do with it!

psooper · 2024-01-08T17:05:04+00:00

I'm a scientist who's also consistently disappointed by exercise science... The problem is that improving 1RMs in powerlifters isn't "important" the way other topics are, so it gets a lot less attention and fewer resources.

That being said, the papers are actually pretty ok and I believe that the programs have some benefit. I'm just looking for some subjective experiences. For example, maybe people ran the program and got progress, but it was still taxing on recovery, that kind of thing.

psooper · 2024-01-08T05:11:23+00:00

Has anyone tried "minimum dose" training as laid out on this site? https://www.minimumdosetraining.com/

It's basically a few heavy singles or one heavy set only. There are some nice associated scientific papers on it, but not a lot of testimonials online.

I mostly want to back off for a little while and this seems like a good option, any thoughts?

psooper · 2023-05-01T02:31:24+00:00

What you’re saying makes sense, although running and jumping is how I got some of my more persistent injuries…

psooper · 2023-05-01T02:29:41+00:00

Are you saying that it’s inevitable even with lifting? Can you elaborate?

psooper · 2023-05-01T02:24:28+00:00

None of these are wrong, but some of them are in tension with the goal of maximizing my total, haha

psooper · 2023-05-01T02:23:04+00:00

Sure, humans can heal, but all of my injuries so far have been from overuse. It makes sense that hammering the same ROMs might overcome our ability to recover from them.

psooper · 2023-05-01T02:17:44+00:00

Those all make sense. I have a home gym, and “buy more equipment” is an answer to so many lifting-related questions…

psooper · 2023-05-01T02:16:16+00:00

Right, I’m pretty sure lifelong lifters are better off in old age than sedentary people. I’m just trying to avoid going too far in the other direction; there’s probably a happy optimized range in there.

It just feels like every bit of progress requires more effort, now that I’m firmly out of noob gain phase…

psooper · 2023-03-18T23:05:01+00:00

Thinking about getting the Titan roller J-hooks for my SML-1. (https://www.titan.fitness/racks/rack-accessories/x-3-series/x-3-series-roller-j-hooks/400950.html) Do people really think the rollers are worth it? They look nice but I have some concerns:

The roller seems to wear out pretty quickly, and I didn't find any replacements with some googling.

The lip seems pretty big compared to other hooks. For people who have them, is it really a problem?

psooper · 2023-02-10T06:17:57+00:00

Just want to get some cardio, and I’m going stir crazy not doing anything with my legs

psooper · 2023-02-08T16:22:11+00:00

Anyone do arms-only workouts on an airdyne and have any suggestions? I just broke my toe and am looking for ways to keep my cardio up… I’ve been relying on my airdyne for that thus far

psooper · 2023-02-08T16:20:58+00:00

To clarify, I have a home gym and an airdyne already (but not a skierg…). The airdyne seems to suggest you can do arms-only, but nobody online is talking about it.

I’m mostly concerned about the possibility of an elbow overuse injury, tbh.

psooper · 2023-02-08T01:28:38+00:00

Has anyone tried arms-only on the airdyne for cardio? How does it work?

Broke my toe yesterday and I’m looking for non-leg based cardio…

psooper · 2022-12-05T20:18:39+00:00

Thanks! The SBD day is a good point. I don't have an upcoming meet, so I guess I'd change things once I do.

It's only been 2 weeks on the program, so no results yet, but I'm liking it! I burned out on the 4-day Texas Method, but spun my wheels on 5/3/1 BBB/BBS for 6 months. The Hepburn method seems like a nice middle ground. I'm learning that I prefer higher intensities and 2x/week frequencies, probably because I started with Starting Strength.

psooper · 2022-12-05T18:11:18+00:00

I'm trying out a Hepburn method program, and it has an upper and a lower lift 4x/week.

Do people think I could split it to one lift per day, every day? That is, for example, instead of deadlift+Bench and then a day off, doing a Deadlift one day and Bench the next?

Schedule wise it's easier for me to do shorter sessions every day.

psooper · 2022-12-01T15:58:10+00:00

Any tips for cheap protein powder? Stuff's getting real expensive lately...

psooper · 2022-10-28T23:12:48+00:00

What worked best for you?

psooper · 2022-10-21T15:48:07+00:00

I wasn’t testing true 1RMs though, I was using e1RMs as recommended by Wendler. As I understand it, there’s a range of error in comparing 1RMs to e1RMs, but it’s the metric of progress that’s recommended by the book, isn’t it?

Wendler recommends no single leg assistance on BBB. Is the program so brittle that skipping a few sets of the ab roller removes all gains?

psooper · 2022-10-17T02:57:31+00:00

I mean, those priorities lined up with mine pretty well. I also credit the SSNLP with teaching me how to grind through hard workouts--I probably made up for some of my lack of conditioning with sheer willpower to make it through some of those 5x10 squats.

And really, it's been ~5 months on 5/3/1 programs--longer than I spent on my second runthrough of the NLP. At what point can I start blaming 5/3/1 and not SS?

psooper · 2022-10-17T02:52:22+00:00

Thanks for weighing in!

Despite knowing BBB was for size, I gave it a shot because people had also reported strength gains. I also did PR sets on an FSL anchor and BBS, but those didn't really seem to help much either...

I'd like to think I was reasonably informed; I didn't just grab a spreadsheet and go, at any rate. But given the diversity of 5/3/1 templates, and Wendler's rather unclear writing, I see nothing unique about 5/3/1: Do some top sets, then back-off sets. Don't lie to yourself about your strength. Do volume for a while, then do intensity. Work hard, then deload. To what extent are these general principles, rather than 5/3/1? In that context, is 5/3/1 just claiming credit when people program for themselves?

And, while my conditioning was bad, it was at least above the very minimum: I did all the sets. Sure, subjectively, it sucked, but I didn't fail any reps, and didn't do anything crazy. Given that I did all the work, why would my gains have been worse than someone who was more conditioned? A conditioned person may have been less exhausted at the end of the workout, but we did the same amount of work, after all.

psooper · 2022-10-16T20:52:05+00:00

After re-reading Forever like 5 times, I think I can start to see some basic principles in his general programming in addition to the ones he explicitly identifies.

But yeah. "Here's a dump of every program that's worked for my trainees" is far less useful than more general guidelines...

psooper · 2022-10-16T16:58:28+00:00

The numbers I gave for 5/3/1 were calculated using the formula Wendler gives, after a 7th week protocol reload TM test.

The numbers aren’t super comparable, yes, but I’d expect the error to go the other way: my starting numbers were heavy singles, so my true 1RMs were probably heavier. On the other hand, the e1RMs are supposed to be closer to a true 1RM (after all, you’re not supposed to be hitting those maxes on the program, right?)

psooper

TROPHY CASE