I’ve written about this before and I am going to touch on it again today:
The Value of Going OFF Your Program
As a Coach, I make my living partly by selling programming.
I program for Powerlifting (Raw and Equipped) and for what we call Training for Life (TFL).
I do this in person and online at TPSMethod.com.
I also discussed this topic extensively on the Barbell Shrugged podcast, but yesterday we had a moment in the gym, and I felt it worthwhile to repeat this message.
Let me being by saying that if you are paying a qualified coach for a program, you should stick to it!
A good program takes a lot of factors into account including:
- Load/intensity management
- Recovery
- Peaking
- Weak points
- Strength and GPP development
- And more
When a client goes off program (which you all do!) they often times get frustrated with the result and the less self aware often blame the program.
Well, if you went “off book” and got less than optimal results it wasn’t the program. It was you.
So is there a Value Going OFF Your Program?
Sometimes yes. 100%.
When?
.
.
Well, I feel that yesterday was an ideal situation to go off book.
One of my online clients Brian, at TPSMethod.com trains at the gym once or twice a week in the Noon sessions with my crew.
.
.
He does this for the environment and to get some help with technique. He also works very hard and follows the program to a “T”.
And, he gets great results consistently.
.
.
As a matter of fact, he has posted about the results and quality of coaching on his Instagram a few times.
.
.
Yesterday was a TEST day for him in preparation for an upcoming Powerlifting meet and it was Bench day. I saw when he was warming up that his head wasn’t in the game so we talked for a minute.
.
.
I told him what to take for the rest of his warmups so that he would hit the numbers that he expected.
.
.
His expectations were very reasonable. He was hoping for a 5-10 pound PR.
.
.
I’ll try and remember the numbers as best as I can.
.
.
Warm up set on the bench at 225-pretty good but a little loose.
Last warmup set at 265-absolutely FLEW up.
We planned on 285, 295 (PR), and then 300/305 for his last set.
At 285 which should have gone up like a lightning bolt, he got stapled half way up.
.
.
To me it looked 100% mental.
He said that he always gets stressed out on Bench test days and was pretty sure that was it.
.
.
I gave him some coaching gold and he seemed to take the advice.
We decided to take the same weight again, but with more purpose, confidence and intent.
Same thing happened. Stapled at 285.
.
.
Now, the plan was for three attempts and hopefully a PR. All indicators in his training videos and progress said that this would happen.
But it didn’t.
.
.
He was not mentally ready for a PR. As a matter of fact, it seemed that he had talked himself out of one.
.
.
.
.
I was also benching and in the Metal Jack shirt for the first time since I tore my bicep and had a plan.
.
.
Now this log isn’t about me, but there is some value here.
My plan was to take 315 to a 2 Board as long as there was no bicep pain.
.
.
I hit it to a 3 Board last week with no issues.
.
.
I had no intention of going heavy or hitting a PR, I just wanted to use more weight than I’ve been able to handle since the injury and get back in the groove of my gear. This would give me a foundation to rebuild my bench. Again.
.
.
Well, on my first set I mis-grooved the weight and my spotter took it. It was moving very fast but I made a technical mistake and the set was done.
He saw this and I don’t know how it affected him if it did at all.
.
.
On my second set, I took the same weight and it went up FAST, but I set up a little too far back on the bench and it hit the uprights hard, so no lift. Yeah I know, rookie mistake.
.
.
I went over to Brian and asked if he saw any difference in my approach to the first attempt or the second.
He said no, and I explained that you can’t let a miss get I your head and that I would nail the next set.
I gave him my Thomas/Luongo reference to illustrate the point.
.
.
I also told him that we were going to go off the program for the rest of his session.
.
.
After I smashed the next rep.
At that point, Russ asked me if I wanted to go now, and I said I would wait until his set.
He said: “I’ll go after you smash the next set”.
I than asked Brian if he heard what Russ said. He did and I asked if he understood the importance of this.
.
.
Russ didn’t say after my next attempt. He said after I smashed it. The power of words can’t be understated in a situation like this.
.
.
Brian also said he noticed that the misses did not affect my confidence. I explained that this is important because any self doubt here will seep in and cause a failure.
.
.
I went over and smashed the 315 to a 2 Board right after and I think that helped Brian see what I meant.
.
.
DISCLAIMER: 315 to a 2 Board is nothing impressive, but my point was the mindset. It was the plan for the day and the plan was not going as I wanted. This was by no means a reason to let self doubt sink in.
.
.
I told Brian that we would go back down to 225 for an authoritative single.
He did.
We then went to 235, and then 245, and then 255, all the way up to 285.
.
.
This was a lot more sets than the program called for, but it was the right call.
.
.
Had I let him leave the gym with a failure it would have sunk into his head and may have affected the meet performance.
Going off the program was the right thing to do here. He got back in the swing, he hit his previous PR and he had a little left in him, but I told him to stop at the 285.
.
.
Could we have pushed for a 5 pound PR?
Yes.
But what if he missed?
.
.
Instead, I pulled out the calculator and showed him how this would work in his favor for a PR at the meet, and isn’t that what counts.
.
.
Here is the scenario I laid out for him.:
- Opener: 265
- 2nd Attempt: 285 (Old PR)
- 3rd Attempt: 300
I think he realized the value of what we did and by showing him the math, or arithmetic he understood.
.
.
I told him to drop the pressing assistance for the day and just do the lat work and call it a day.
.
.
We went off the program because things were not going as planned, and we salvaged the day and the meet prep mentality that he needed for success.
.
.
So, when is there Value in Going OFF Your Program?
.
.
My opinion is in a case like this you need to. Leaving on a failing note is never good for you mentally.
.
.
What about days when everything is smoking hot and all the weights are light?
Should you go heavier?
I’d say no.
.
.
Stick to the program as long as you have a good coach writing it for you.
The discipline here will pay off later as I mentioned that many factors are taken into account when programming for people.
.
.
We want you to have days where everything feels light as a feather. If you go off the program because you feel this way, there is a very good chance that it will affect you in the days and weeks to come.
Trust the program.
.
.
I hope this helps you understand why sticking to your program has value and will pay off in the long run.
.
.
And I hope it tells you when to go off of it.
.
.
Oh, and please enjoy this video of Dave Tate’s doppelganger doing some ridiculous shit.
.
.
Scroll through all of them to see.
.
.
.
.
Thanks for reading and watching.
Did you miss last week’s log?
.
.
.
.
Oh, yeah, follow us on Instagram too.
@TPSMalden
@tpsmethod
DM ME QUESTIONS THERE TOO!
You might be featured in a Coaching Log
And @tpsmethod
SHARE THIS!
#bostonsstrongest
Vincere vel mori
C.J. Murphy
August 15, 2019
