Incorporating squats and deadlifts

I've recently finished the SLS progression, so, as for Coach's recommendations, it should be ok to add some barbell work on top of the FLS elements. I've been looking forward to this moment for a while, so I'm excited. I'm going to start doing back squats and deadlifts 1x week on a dedicated day. The way I think about training has changed thanks to GB, so now I'm looking at mobility exercises to do between sets of these two exercises. Clearly, I'll take longer rest than prescribed by Foundation, by I would still like to do some kind of mobilization during that rest. Any suggestions on which drills would be beneficial?

Thanks for your suggestions!

I'll report back to document how 15 months of training with GB affected those movements!

A shot in the dark: Why not just continue doing the SLS iMs in between sets here? You could extend your rest by combining multiple iMs.

Pretty much, I guess if you only do one day a week of weightlifting, you're still going to do at least one SLS session during the week, so you'll still be doing the SLS proper with GHR and/or Lunges with weighted archups.

 

So just do the other iMs in between your squatting/deadlifting so you have a good coverage of all the iMs. The most important ones, in my opinion, are inside squats and twisting squats but that also depends on your own deficits.

Thanks guys! Yes, I obviously will continue working on the lunges/ arch ups, and I always warm up for them with pretty much all the previous iMs. I thought doing them in between sets of heavy squats/ deads that have such a high intensity could be kind of detrimental to the all porpoise of resting the CNS and recovering APT for the following set. That's why I was thinking more of low intensity drills (not that things like 5r of inside squats are a big deal for me now), focusing on mobilizing hamstrings/calves and overall hips, all things that tend to get tight with squats and deadlifts. Any thoughts on this?

I guess I'll also have to experiment a little to decide what will do the trick for my own body.

the times I did a modified DL / Hang Clean / push press WOD, I programmed dislocates, an oblique stretch(PE4-5iM) as rest and then get back to the lifts.

so far, i know my lower back recovers well when I mobilize it between lifts instead of stretching prior or after. I feel like something else for the Trapz could go well but the dislocates help me in relation to my upper back. thinking something post workout, tho. dislocates is more than enough for rest(with 6-8lbs).

I'm willing to bet a twisting or circular arch up would make the lower back feel really nice between sets or keep it light with the iM's and post workout do some arch ups / twisting arch ups. #thinkingoutloud

I suggest you to work on exercises that will improve automatically your cold flexibility:

-straight legs deadlift

-lunge with good distance between legs, and the posterior leg,always straight

-sumo squat

So, today was my actual first day squatting and deadlifting in about 1.5 years. It felt amazing. The mobility I've gained training with GB made my squats look so much better (before I had some problems with lumbar flexion when in the bottom of the squat, but now that's not the case anymore, mostly thanks to mobility  - and some thanks to better technique). Special mention of dorsiflexion, which improved immensely thanks to all the calf work in the stretch series. I didn't do any particular mobility drill during my sets today because i wanted to test the waters being the first time, but I'll more than likely add some hip mobility for squats and hamstrings/lower back drills for deadlifts.

 

As far as strength, I wasn't that strong to begin with, before GST. Not knowing my 1RM and being the first day back, I took it very easy to focus on proper form and re-learning the proper motor patterns. Nonetheless I was happy to see how much strength carryover there is from Foundation work. I've squatted 60kg 6x6 and it felt like nothing, literally (Note that my max 1.5 years ago was around 84 kg. Embarrassing, I know ). So I'd say that, if anything, I haven't lost any leg strength, and I may in fact gained some. For deadlifts, I went for 2x6r with 100kg, leaving 2-3 reps in the tank. Again, it felt like walking my dog (previous max was 120ish).

 

One thing that I've noticed is how easy it is for me to correctly brace my core now. That's something that GST emphasize a whole lot and can be transferred to any kind of physical activity, For instance, I had never had sore abs from squatting. Today I have. I must be doing something correctly

I knew coming in that this would have been the outcome, having read a bunch of similar stories on the forum, but it's always surprising when it actually happens to yourself.

I'm confident that when my CNS will re-learn to efficiently execute the movements, then I'll really see how much strength Foundation has built. Exciting things to come!

Nice. I've also just recently included deadlift drills and hitting the squats more aggressively; keep updates coming as you get back into the swing of it

I just started using the 5/3/1 method for my squats and deadlifts. It incorporates well with GB programming since it follows the same 4 week deload cycle.  It also isn't 100% effort every workout, so it allows for better recovery to focus on GB.

 

I do bent arm planche as my IM between squat sets since I need the extra work there.  I like working on my front splits between deadlift sets.  But next time I deadlift I'm going to try Alessandro's long & straight lunge variation.

I was thinking about doing 531 too, but for the time being I'll be doing a program based on linear progression, since my lifts are pretty low as of right now. When that kind of progression will stall, I'll jump on 531!

Just as a side note, in case you missed it, Wendler changed the 4 weeks cycle into a 6 weeks cycle in the new edition. I find that to be the "optimal deload frequency" for myself too.

Alessandro Mainente said:

I suggest you to work on exercises that will improve automatically your cold flexibility:

-straight legs deadlift

-lunge with good distance between legs and the posterior legs always straight 

-sumo squat

 

I tried the first two yesterday; really great stretches. Thanks for this suggestion.

I figured it was time for an update. First off, this is what my current "programming" looks like (mixing GB and the texas method):

Wednesday: Volume day

Squats 5x5

Bench 5x5

Deadlift variation/Speed deadlift 4x3

Some kind of pull-ups, usually taken from the mastered elements of the RC progression

Some very brief arm work if I still have some energy/time

 

Thursday: H1 work and sPL

Friday: Recovery day

Front squat 3x5

OHP 3x5

HBP, RC, MN, SL, FL

 

Saturday: H1, H2 and TBs

 

Sunday: Intensity day

Squat new 5RM or 3RM or 1RM (usually i go with 5 for now), followed by an AMRAP set at 70% of the top weight.

Bench press (same as above)

Deadlift (same as above)

BB rows 3x6-8

 

Monday: FSs

Tuesday: MSs

 

So, as you can see, powerlifting style training is taking over the bulk of my training (that was my goal anyways). GST works great on "recovery days" since it has lower intensity but it's still challenging and provides an awesome training stimulus.

It looks too much on paper and it looks like there's no way I can progress in GST with this kind of schedule, but funny enough I'm progressing better now than when I was only doing GST. I have no idea how that's possible, but I'll take it  

Glad it's working out for you. Couple questions, purely out of curiosity, why do you separate sPL from the rest of your Foundation work, and how far along are you in Foundation?

I do sPL on a separate day mainly because of time issues. I can only spend so much time in the gym, so I do sPL at home (since it requires no equipment) and it pairs really nicely with handstand work IMO.

As far as where I'm at: I've finished the SLS progression, and I'm in the middle/end of F2 with most elements (still in F1 for sPL). 

I'd like to add that I chose this particular schedule because between work and university (and graduation coming up) I'm veeery busy, so I can't go to the gym more than 3xweek. A upper/lower split (so 4xweek) would be optimal in my opinion, and it would make it even easier to balance Foundation work with the other barbell training. I'll go back to that schedule as soon as I have a little more time. 

Makes sense, thanks for the answer.