Hybrid Program Report (Disbrow-GZCL Squats-MagOrt)

TL;DR Bench was tough but did manage some gains, squat went really well and deadlift progressed well. Check the table below for a quick snapshot summary

As a fair amount of people have been using my sheets (LBS and KG) of these three programs, I thought it would be beneficial to give a report on how the hybrid of the three programs went for me.

#Background
The last time I tested my maxes was on the first week of April, a little more than a week before my competition (which went pretty bad overall). I weighed in at 73.3kg (161.6 lbs) but it was a 24 hour weigh in and i was probably around 165lbs during the actual meet. My maximum lifts before the meet was a 355lbs squat, 235lbs bench, 425lbs deadlift. To give even more perspective, I'm tall for my weight to train in powerlifting (5'11"), and i've been training for about a year and a half (no previous weight training before...I had never squatted or deadlifted previously. I think I had maybe done 5 reps of bench in my life). I'm currently 34 years old.

#Nutrition
I didn't modify my nutrition almost at all during the training. I wanted to mostly maintain my weight. I've been tracking calories meticulously for years, as I was a runner prior to weight training and always wanted to make sure I stayed within the same weight range when I ran. As a result, I may have gained 1-2 lbs overall during the training period. I follow IIFYM...so I was just aiming for 1g protein/lb of body weight (just to be on the safe side), 0.4g fat/lb of body weight and the rest a mix of carbs (fibre, simple, complex, etc.). I don't "eat clean"...but I don't pig out either because those numbers (along with my micronutrients) would be hard to hit if i ate poorly. That being said, if I wanted to eat a pizza, fast food, etc., I would. It just wasn't an every day thing. The supplements I took were whey, multivitamins, tumeric (this is mostly to lessen my Crohn's inflammation but I've heard it may have other positive side effects...so i'll mention it), glucosamine/MSM, and creatine.

#Training Misc/Schedule
There are two things that some people might want to consider when I describe this training. I do a lot of cardio. Like a crazy amount compared to most people here. I biked minimum 30 minutes a day at a medium to high intensity pace. As I said previously, I track my calories...so whatever I burn, I eat. Despite my weight, I eat about 2800-3000 calories per day to maintain. Another factor was because I had a lot of scheduling flexibility (and wanted a daily distraction from the various issues in my life), is that I trained for 31 straight days at one point during this program. I felt little to no negative effects except for the second squat day, which is the day after deadlifting...and even then, I never failed a set. My right knee was just a little tired. Then I did bench day and I was ready for squat day again two days later. I wouldn't necessarily recommend this, but similar to bulgarian style training or whatever high frequency training, it's amazing how your body can adapt (even when you're old like me.).

#Progression/Results
Now the most interesting part! I did have pretty good increases in all three lifts (bench surprised me as how I struggled in the last two weeks, but more on that in the afterthoughts). I don't have videos of my max attempts on deadlift or the original 355 squat, but i'll post the 347lbs squat i did at the meet to show the progression/comparison. I want to explain something about the table below regarding deadlifts; I wasn't able to do a true max/PR on the deadlift. On the before last week of the program, I ended up tripling my old max. I know you're only supposed to do sets of 1x2 but 425 came up really easy twice and the guys I was training with told me to just do another. I probably had a fourth in the tank. Now the problem is that my right knee was tired (as I mentioned before) often. The last three weeks of the program, I did them with two days rest per week...but my knee still got really bad near the end (I was doing other things outside work and being more active..which probably didn't help). On the day I was supposed to attempt my deadlift PR, I almost passed out from the pain. I couldn't even lift 425 once. I tried again two days later when it started to feel better and although I got 425 once, the pain was still pretty bad and I couldn't get 435lbs. Another frame of reference I want to give is how the calculated 1rms build confidence. I'm going to post it below and even though I wasn't anywhere near my calculated 1rms (i'm a high repper....I don't tire out), it gave me a great gauge on how the strength was progressing.

#Afterthoughts
The bench part was the toughest part by far. Disbrow is an amazing bencher and just like Cody, I/we are grateful for sharing their knowledge and programming with us. However, I do think that this style of training, where you go heavy all the time and focus on accessories, is probably best for people with very high benches, since the progression is a bit more stagnant and you're always going heavy. I failed on week 8 (on the third set of 3x3 and only got one rep in each of the 2x2 sets) and it completely discouraged me. Not only for the failed reps but how every week, it seemed that it was a tough week, even the ones that I completed without too many problems. I did see progression, which is the most important thing...but for being 2.5 hours of lifting per bench session, I would have wanted/expected to see more (especially versus the time spent on squats and deads). Based on my video of 237 and how easy it went, I used 240 and I probably had a little more in me on the day of the comp. The 250 touch and go I posted went up well, so realistically, I could have made a competition lift there with a pause. I decided to try 255 with a pause and failed but it didn't go horrible

For squats, it couldn't have gone better. I was building confidence and calculated 1rms as it went along. The only caveat is that it's quite possible that my true max was closer to 360 when I started, but I put 355 as that was the max i had ever lifted and only two weeks prior to starting this program. Squat depth could have been a little better but the people that were there with me said it would have probably passed everything but IPF.

Deadlifts went well with MagOrt. I love the AMRAP scheme at the end and repeating the same weight twice on most weeks. It gives you a better gauge on relative progression. If something goes up easier the second week with the same weight, you know you're gaining strength. I really wish I could have PRd for real instead of just tripling my old max, but you have to listen to your body.

#Going Forward
I am switching the bench to GZCL-type training. I just don't think i'm strong enough on the bench to warrant going heavy all the time and working accessories. I will be doing:

• Day 1 Bench:
• T1: Bench
• T2: Bench/Paused Bench
• T3: DB Flyes/Hammer Curls/DB Rows
• Day 2 Bench:
• T1: Slingshot Bench
• T2: CGBP
• T3: DB Incline and weighted dips

Disbrow's program did help me realize the importance of tricep work so i'll be incorporating some of that. The slingshot is a great confidence builder as well to give you chance to either do higher reps with very heavy weights or even super-maximal training. Squats will mostly stay the same but I'll be switch my T3 work for one of the days. I did leg press and hamstring curls for both days in the past program and i'll be switch one of the days to leg extensions and front squats (yes, as T3 work...just to get some reps in) based on the recommendations and good carryover those accessories have. As for deadlifts, they are staying the exact same. I'm keeping deficits, good mornings, and pull ups as my accessories and following MagOrt programming on the main lift. I'll be using 435 as my new max, even though I probably could have pulled 445 if I wasn't a bit wrecked. Better to be a little conservative and have modest gains then to hurt or fail later on trying to overreach.

That's pretty much it. If people want me to share my new sheets, let me know. I made a LBS and KG sheet of the new GZCL-MagOrt programming. Thanks to everyone who tried it our and stuck around and special thank you to Matt and Cody for sharing everything with us.

 
EDIT: Here is the KG sheet of the next cycle i'm doing..GZCL Bench/Squat with MagOrt
Here is the LBS sheet