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Bulgarian method article on t-nation
0ni
Registered Rustler
That is true, singles do not build strength.
The daily 1RM is more the start of the training though. It acts as a primer for the rest of the workout. You then drop down into downsets. Taking 20kg off and doing lots of triples then adding 10kg and doing doubles was one of my favourite workouts. Now I like to do a single downset of max reps. On squats and deads this is normally just be taking all the "change" plates off so there are only 20kg plates on the bar. For bench I like to start at 65% and rep that out, adding 2.5kg to the downset each session. Weight is added until my downset is a 5RM. Then I start the cycle at the same weight (irrespective of if I got stronger) until I can hit 20 reps on that single downset and then I will start at 2.5kg more next time around until I git 20 reps with that.
Sounds complicated lol but it turns it into a game and I really like chasing the rep PRs like that. Different rep range every day which makes it never boring.
If I am feeling like shit I will do Westside style DE work with straight weight and chains for deadlifts (65% on everything)
Well, today was my 13th consecutive day lifting. So far so good, I feel like technique is getting consistent and everything is moving tight and fast.
Been working in more volume and higher %, but yet to exceed 90% on singles, which are about to start happening. Generally I start with triples for volume, ramping up to doubles and finish on a single. A few curls, rows or calf raises here or there. I walk in with no exact plan and train instinctively/make it up as I go.
A couple of days I've felt like shit and not wanted to train, but gone in, come good, got in quality work and left actually feeling more recovered than when I walked in. Which seems to be "your body is lieing to you" idealogy John Broz talks about.
Been working in more volume and higher %, but yet to exceed 90% on singles, which are about to start happening. Generally I start with triples for volume, ramping up to doubles and finish on a single. A few curls, rows or calf raises here or there. I walk in with no exact plan and train instinctively/make it up as I go.
A couple of days I've felt like shit and not wanted to train, but gone in, come good, got in quality work and left actually feeling more recovered than when I walked in. Which seems to be "your body is lieing to you" idealogy John Broz talks about.
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Some wierd shit does happen, I've had a couple of days where I had very little/no appetite, felt brain-dead, irritable and trouble falling asleep despite feeling utterly exhausted.
But I think it's just adapting to it, I experienced this last time I started a block of it as well.
Honestly, overall so far I find this easier than adjusting to 531, which left me often feeling muscularly sore/'beat up' and not wanting to train (maybe I went too hard on assistance). And it's far more enjoyable for me, I like doing bulk volume of main lifts for explosive triples doubles and singles, and not doing boring assistance or grinding out higher rep PBs etc.
But I think it's just adapting to it, I experienced this last time I started a block of it as well.
Honestly, overall so far I find this easier than adjusting to 531, which left me often feeling muscularly sore/'beat up' and not wanting to train (maybe I went too hard on assistance). And it's far more enjoyable for me, I like doing bulk volume of main lifts for explosive triples doubles and singles, and not doing boring assistance or grinding out higher rep PBs etc.
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Fadi
...
In addition to what you've said above Oni, Sir Ivan reduced the total weightlifting exercises from about 30 to 3, namely leaving the clean and jerk, the snatch, and the front squats.
I'll just give you (Ausbb) one of the reasons for such a move. Abadjiev did not want his lifters getting strong whilst lifting wrong. Put simply, if a lifter was to perform one set after another of (say) clean pulls, and that lifter's pulling path was somewhat out of alignment, then logically speaking, that lifter's repetitiveness of that clean pull over and over again would only serve as a detriment to his clean and jerk lift. Hence, rather than waste time correcting or rather focusing on correcting a lifter's wrong line of power, he thought it best to do away with, to fully eliminate such an exercise.
I don’t think here in the west we’re prepared to eliminate exercises from our training regime. On the contrary, we’re always thinking of devising more and more, as if by adding more supplementary exercises to the main two Olympic lifts would serve to improve the outcome on the lifting platform; it doesn’t!
One man had the courage to do it, but I don’t know of any who have followed in his proven footsteps. Having said that, you may be thinking that I’m favouring Abadjiev method over others, the Russians for example; I’m not. I’m simply pointing out that if a method has worked for someone, the least we could do here in the west would be to give it a go. But we don’t do that. What we do is, we begin to combine different methods or bits of methods, like the Bulgarian, plus some of the Russian, and bit of Romanian thrown in for good measure and so on and so forth. I’ll leave it here
Fadi.
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0ni
Registered Rustler
Exactly Fadi, you pick out what works for you and keep it after giving it a good shot. I alternated between "bulgarian" and "russian" style training since January and it's the bulgarian training that I like best. I haven't felt the need to combine the two yet. Don't know how you would!
I just do low bar squats, front squats, paused squats, bench press, deadlift as my exercise pool at the moment. Also a fair bit of things like chin-ups, curls etc. that don't really need mentioning
I just do low bar squats, front squats, paused squats, bench press, deadlift as my exercise pool at the moment. Also a fair bit of things like chin-ups, curls etc. that don't really need mentioning
Inducer
New member
So at the end of our programme where I train there r usually singles (for me at 110% of previous 1RM), which follow say 3x3 @ 95% from the previous wk. would those singles be the icing on the cake for that session? And even tho u say they don't build strength would the cumulative effort for the whole session moreso contribute to strength development?
Agree with that to a large extent, but I think there is certainly an application for singles in developing strength
For example, John Broz's version of Bulgarian recomends working up in doubles to ~80% for back squat, then several singles working up to a max. Seems to me, the doubles are mainly for warming up, and the singles are the 'work sets'.
I agree resting for 7 minutes and then grinding out a slow and ugly max is probably not going to develop strength. But perhaps multiple explosive singles in the ~80-95% range with shorter rest intervals does?
Having said that, most of my sessions are majority triples, with less doubles and singles - I reckon this is probably a better way to go for less developed lifters like myself.
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underground
SSG Brisbane
Oni, i think it would be fair to credit/reference Paul Carter of Lift-Run-Bang fame for the majority of the information you are re-producing in your posts on these forums.
No need to try make it look like it's you coming up with the information (not sure if that's what you are trying to do or not?).
Anyone looking for great training info look him up on the google.
No need to try make it look like it's you coming up with the information (not sure if that's what you are trying to do or not?).
Anyone looking for great training info look him up on the google.
RyanF
Member
With regards to singles and building strength, I'm not inclined to agree entirely with the statement that they don't build strength, but instead I'd say that lifting a weight once proves that you can lift it, and lifting it more than once results in being able to lift more next time. Doing just 1 single at 90-100% 1RM probably won't make anyone other than a novice stronger/able to lift more next time. But 10 singles at 90% 1RM probably will make you stronger. 5 doubles at 90% 1RM is probably even better. Repetition gives stimulus, and if you can get that repetition within the one set, I'd argue that you probably should, but singles can certainly be repeated.
0ni
Registered Rustler
If everyone had to reference everything they wrote they would spend their time trying to find the source and not posting on the forum.
@Ryan, if it's hard work, then it will most likely work to accumulate stress. That's what you're doing, you're accumulating stress then you're recovering from the stress to realise it. With the Bulgarian system, working up to a max single WILL accumulate stress if you're not used to it but eventually you will begin to adapt and you will need to supply more stress. Just how much stress can you give on singles? 20 singles with 30 seconds rest at 90% would give a whole load of stress but it's far from the most efficient method. Eventually you will run out of time and it will be very difficult to rack up a decent amount of stress with just singles if you're doing them for accumulation. Sets of 5-20 are much more efficient in this regard. As you said, repetition gives stimulus.
In my training, the singles are just a primer or a strength tester. This is what they do each day. Because of this I know that I don't have to hit a true max every time, I am just taking up to a level where I can accurately gauge how strong I am on that day. For instance (inb4 lightweight) today I smoked a 77.5kg bench, I knew that I could have hit 80kg but what's the point? I would have ground it out just to confirm what I already knew... and it's not what is giving the training effect, the reps are, so I may as well just go straight into the reps instead of wearing myself out for ego's sake. I may have got only 4 reps on my downset instead of 5 and would have been training an extra 5 minutes, which adds up when you train daily