One Man One Barbell Cycle 2015

In 2013, I first followed a few training cycles of One Man One Barbell with great results.
After that, I tried various other programs as well, like Smolov and Wendler 5/3/1, but earlier this year I decided to give it a shot again, since I really enjoyed the programming and results.

A small recap of the program:

Establish a 1RM for each lift, and follow the prescribed templates for 3 weeks (x sets @ x reps @ x % of True Max, followed by a EMOM (Each Minute on the Minute) session @ x % of true max, still follow?) Each week the numbers go up and the EMOM sessions get a bit longer.
Then off-load on the 4th week.

Personal Stats

For weightlifting, I don't have the most ideal build. I'm a 37 year old female, 176cm tall and weigh somewhere around 61kg. A lightweight with a small frame :-)
On top of that, I have hypermobility, wich causes my joints to be more flexible and hyperextend. Putting heavy loads on these joints is hard on the muscles and ligaments, so caution is important.

The Program 

Like last time, I followed the OMOB Version 2, with training weight percentage based on your true max. The weight increments after each cycle were between 1-5 kg, depending on the lift.

During all the 4 cycles I played around with power cleans and power snatches, but the main 4 lifts were always:
  • Squat (heavily reduced max due to injury)
  • Deadlift (97 kg max)
  • Shoulder Press (39 kg max)
  • Bench Press (49 kg max)
Progress after 4 cycles (January-April 2015)

Squat:


















My squat is slowly coming back up again, after a period of injury at the end of 2014. Turns out I have a starting case of arthrosis in both knees (mostly because of hypermobility) so the squat load had to be a lot lower in order to work on better form first.

Deadlift:



After every cycle I was able to set a new deadlift PR. Before, for the longest time I was stalling a little below 100kg, and straight after the 1st cycle I broke the 100 barrier and got to 110kg.
At the end got to a 115kg PR, which is a big improvement.

Shoulder Press


Got my first PR in February, moving into the fourty number and eventually got to 42.5kg. In the last cycle my schedule got a bit messed up, and I wasn't able to complete the full shoulder cycle.
Still very happy with the progress.

Bench Press


With bench press, the same type of improvements came, but in March I decided that bench press shouldn't be a main lift anymore, and that my energy was better spent on improving my overhead squat. Still, a gain of 4kg total is great.

Conclusion

The One Man One Barbell program works really well for me every single time I use it. 
It's applicable to any lift and provides a great training tool that doesn't take a lot of time and is easy to combine with other activities, like crossfit.

Give it a try, you  will not regret it!


Disclaimer: The links in this post are affiliate links. You don't HAVE to click on them or buy anything, but if you do, I will get a small commission. Not so much that I can buy a house with a pool, but it helps to keep this site alive. Just so you know :-)




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