Strength Testing Protocol

[George Grigoryan]

I am trying to put together a strength testing protocol for myself in order to keep track of progress and make sure everything is in balance.

The idea is that every now and then I will dedicate a workout or a week to testing my strength qualities.

Questions:

1. Which lifts? My gym is limited in that there are no barbells, so my exercise choices reflect that.

DB Flat Bench Press
Bench Supported One Arm Bent Over Row

DB Shoulder Press – could use an with an EZ Curl Bar, but sticking with DBs for consistency with above
Chin-up

Zercher Squat – with an EZ Curl Bar
Deadlift - with an EZ Curl Bar

DB Bulgarian split squat
RDL - with an EZ Curl Bar

2. How frequently?

How often does it make sense to do this? I was thinking 2, 3, or 4 times a year.

3. When?

Should I do it immediately after a training cycle or after a week’s break?

4. Which rep ranges.

I care about both strength and hypertrophy and I was thinking just the 6RM to keep it simple.

5. One workout or multiple workouts?

I was thinking over 2-3 workouts. Something like:
W1 – Deadlift, H Push/Pull
W2 – Squat, V Push/Pull
W3 – whatever

6. Strength balances (vertical/horizontal push pull, knee/hip)

What kind of proportion should I aim for with the above lifts?

1:1 DB Flat Bench Press:Bench Supported One Arm Bent Over Row

?:? DB Shoulder Press:Chin-up (bodyweight + external resistance)

?:? Z-Squat or Deadlift : RDL

[gobbla]

over thinking things

[Jason B]

Sorry, I stopped reading at "my gym doesn't have barbells," that made advice pretty easy: FIND A REAL GYM!!

[George Grigoryan]

Originally Posted by Jason B

Sorry, I stopped reading at "my gym doesn't have barbells," that made advice pretty easy: FIND A REAL GYM!!

I understand where you are coming from and I considered it.

On the other hand, I am able to squat, deadlift, bench, row as heavy as I can handle and then some. So I am not deadlifting with barbell, but with an EZ curl bar (+ weights from the smith machine), so what? So I have to use Zercher Squats and that same EZ curl bar, so what? No barbell banching, only DB bench, dips, and push-ups, so what?

And this gym is in the building where I work, I go any time I have an opportunity, often during the day, and it's only $30 a month (cheap for NYC).

Sure a real gym would be nice, but this is a compromise I am willing to make.

[Chiron]

If you want to use a few exercises to measure progress don't use too many. Just pick one push, one pull and one leg exercise. Like bench (db's ok), Pull-ups or rows and squats. If you want to be anal about it then do a vertical push, vertical pull, horizontal push, horizontal pull, and compound leg exercise. Either way, there's no need to max. Just throw them in your workout and compare it to the last time you used those exercises and you'll get an idea of how you're progressing strength-wise. If you want to estimate your 1 rep max then use regression formulas. So if you're going for sets of 5 reps use a weight you can barely get 5 reps with in good form. That's about 85% of your max. If you REALLY just have to know your max and the regression formulas aren't good enough then go ahead and test it on 3 lifts (1 push, 1 pull, 1 compound leg). But what good does it do unless you're a powerlifter? Using a few key lifts is good for measuring progress but there's not much point to maxing, especially on a bunch of different exercises. It's just over-analyzing things.