Before

you embark on any physical fitness program, please consult a

doctor.


This book may not be reproduced or recorded in any form without
permission from the author.


Copyright 2016 by Kyle Hunt. All rights reserved.











Table of Contents

Part 1: The Big 3 Technique Guide
1- The Squat
2- The Bench
3- The Deadlift

Part 2: Programming Guide

Part 3: Bonus DUP Program

Part 1: The Big 3 Technique Guide
Learning the big three movements is an instrumental part in the quest
for strength.

The fact is, form is something that can always be improved. It doesn’t
matter if you are a beginner or a seasoned iron game veteran; there is
always room to improve technique.

Without further ado…let’s cut the chitchat and explore the big three!

How to Squat

The squat is king. There really is nothing else in the gym that produces
better strength and muscle gains than the squat.

This is not breaking news. You have probably heard this before, but the
squat really is the most useful exercise in the weight room. There is no
excuse not to incorporate the squat or a squat variation into your
programming. Not only do they build muscle/strength in the quads,
hamstrings, glutes and calves, they also help maintain lower body
mobility.
In my opinion the squat is the most difficult of the three powerlifts to
master. When executing the perfect squat you have to think about
proper bar placement, feet position, hip movement, knee travel and
more.

There is a lot going on.

To make it easier to master, I have broken it down into three steps.

Step #1: The Setup

A well-executed squat starts before you even get under the bar. The set
up is very important. You want to set up and take the bar out of the rack
the same way every time. Consistency is key.

First, grab the bar with the narrowest grip you can manage without
hurting your shoulders or wrists. This will ensure that you remain tight
throughout the lift. As the grip widens, it becomes harder to create
upper back tightness. I do not recommend the “hands on the collars”
grip a lot of bodybuilders use.

A grip slightly wider than shoulder width is going to be best for most
people. You want to grip the bar at a distance that will allow you to keep
your wrists straight and elbows underneath your shoulders. Upper back
and shoulder mobility will be a limiting factor here. In the end, do
what’s comfortable and always work to get into a better position.
Make sure when you pull yourself under the bar, the bar is centered on
your back. I know this seems like an obvious statement but you would
be surprised at how many people squat with the bar uneven. If
available, always use a bar with a center knurling for squats. This will
help you make sure the bar is centered but it will also provide extra
“grip” so the bar doesn’t slide on your back.

As soon as you get into position, get tight. Squeeze the bar and create
tension across your upper back. Always remember to get tight before
loading your spine, even with warm-up weight. A great quote I once
heard was “treat every weight like it’s heavy”.

Once you are under the bar, have yourself centered and “tight”, it’s time
to take the bar out of the rack. This is essentially a six inch squat.

Step #2: The Walk Out

The second step of the squat is often times the least thought about.

This should go without saying but always step backwards out of the
rack. Never walk the bar out going forward. This would require you to
re-rack the bar by stepping backwards, which is a bad idea.

Just like the setup, it’s important to walk the bar out the same way every
time. Repetition builds perfection.
Take short deliberate steps. Do not walk ten feet away from the rack,
anything more than 3 steps is a waste of energy. Take a couple steps and
try to put your feet in the position you want to squat in.

Remember to stay tight the entire time. I can’t emphasize this enough.

Foot placement is going to be highly individual. However, most people

are going to find a stance that is slightly wider than shoulder width is
going to work best. This will depend on your individual biomechanics
and bar placement. If you have longer femurs you will likely need a
wider stance.

Most people will benefit from pointing their toes out to a small degree.
This allows for better knee tracking. The knees should “track” directly in
line with the feet, so the femurs and the feet are in line. Toes pointed out
15-20 degrees will be optimal for most people. A wider stance squatter
may want their toes pointed out slightly more, around 30 degrees.

Once you get your feet set, you want to create tension in your hips. This
can be done with a couple different “cues”. My personal favorite is to
think “screw your feet into the floor”.

Step #3: The Squat

Your eyes should be directed straight ahead, slightly down or slightly

up. Do NOT crank your head back and look up at the ceiling like your
high school football coach told you to do.

Pick a spot in front of you and don’t take your eyes off that point. The
most important thing here is to stay focused on the spot you choose.
Even if there is movement around you, you should not lose focus while
you are squatting.

Before starting the downward motion, take a huge breath. Inhale as

much air into your stomach as possible and then hold it.

This is called the Valsalva Maneuver. This creates intra abdominal

pressure, which protects the spine under heavy loads and creates better
force transfer during the movement.

Your descent should be as fast as you can maintain control and

tightness. Do not “dive bomb” in an effort to try and get more of a
stretch reflex at the bottom. This will cause you to lose tightness and
miss lifts once the weight gets heavy.

As you are descending, focus on pushing your knees out and keeping
your chest up by forcing your elbows down.
Always use a full range of motion, never squat high. Once your hips go
below parallel reverse the movement and stand back up. Stand up as
explosively as you can while maintaining control. Drive your elbows
forward. Keep your air in until you are about ¾ the way up then you
can let it out.

The most common sticking point (the spot where they miss the lift) is
going to be just above parallel. Stay tight, maintain a good position, and
drive your hips forward to finish the lift.

Low Bar vs. High Bar

Bar placement is going to depend a lot on individual biomechanics.

Everyone is built differently.

The low bar squat is most often associated with powerlifting whereas
the high bar squat is more known as an Olympic weightlifting squat. The
high bar squat is more common to your average fitness enthusiast.

Generally speaking, the low bar position is going to allow most people to
lift the greatest amount of weight. That is why at a powerlifting meet
you will see the majority of the lifters squatting low bar.

If you are a powerlifter, I would recommend at least learning the low

bar squat. Once you learn it, devote some time training it. This does not
mean you have to ditch the high bar squat.
However, with all that being said, there have been a lot of big squats out
of the Olympic lifting community. I personally squat high bar even in
competition. I am built better for the high bar squat in my opinion.

Overall I don’t think it really makes a difference. If you are not a

competitive powerlifter I suggest squatting with the bar placement that
is most comfortable. From a “training” standpoint, both variations are
equally effective.

The high bar requires a more upright stance and tends to work well
with people who have short femurs like myself. The low bar squat
allows for more forward lean and is best suited for lifters with longer
femurs. Obviously this is an oversimplification and there is more to it
that.

Assistance Exercises to Build the Squat

To be honest, the best way to get better at squatting is by squatting.

That is true of all movements but out of the three powerlifts I feel the
squat is least benefited by assistance exercises.

However, with that being said there are a couple assistance movements
I like. Feel free to do these movements in addition to the traditional
back squat. The squat is a movement that responds well to frequency.
That is one reason why there are so many “squat every day” type of
programs. While it’s unnecessary to squat every day, I would deem it
quite beneficial to perform a squat and/or a squat variation more than
once per week.

My Top Squat Builders

Front Squat

Paused Squat

Box Squat

How To Bench Press

The barbell bench press is one of, if not the most popular barbell
exercises in existence.

I’m sure you know how to bench press to some extent. The bench is one
of the first fundamental lifts you learn after stepping foot inside a gym.
However, very few athletes outside of elite powerlifters will understand
all the variables involved in a proper bench press.

Any form breakdown in the bench press will quickly show up as
excessive soreness, poor performance, or even an injury. The fact is the
bench can be a very safe lift if done correctly. But like anything else if
done incorrectly the bench can be problematic. Incorrect form on the
bench press has probably caused more shoulder injuries than any other
exercise.

Step # 1: The Set Up

If the first thing you think about when starting a bench press is grabbing
the bar, you have already started down the wrong path. Despite what
the bodybuilding magazines will tell you, the bench press is a full body
lift. The pectorals are the main muscle group engaged in the movement
(that is why they tend to get the most sore) however, if you want to
maximize power you need to get the lower body involved.

When setting up on the bench, the first thing you need to do is get your
feet set. Your feet can either be flat on the floor or tucked underneath
you. The key is finding what is most comfortable and allows you to
create the most tension. Note – some powerlifting federations require a
flat foot.

In my opinion, your foot placement should resemble a squat stance –a
little wider than shoulder width and toes pointing slightly out.

The second point to consider during the set up process is scapular
retraction (pinching your shoulder blades together). To accomplish
scapular retraction, you will need to arch your back while squeezing
your shoulder blades together. This puts the shoulder joint in a more
favorable and healthy position as well as shortens the range of motion.
Get your shoulders retracted and KEEP them in that position
throughout the entre movement. Your shoulder location on the bench
should place the bar directly over your eyes while in the rack.

Next, we need to look at grip position. Where you grip the bar is going to
largely depend on personal preference and limb length. Longer arms
will require a wider grip. The key is to find a grip position that allows
your forearms to remain vertical throughout the entire lift. You want to
have a tight grip on the bar. Never use a thumbless or “suicide” grip. It’s
too dangerous and does not allow you to effectively create tension on
the bar. Always wrap your thumb around the bar when bench pressing.


Step # 2: The Lift Off
This is the part of the bench press most people pay no attention to. That
is a big mistake. The lift off can make or break the entire lift.

Most people tend to lose the shoulder retraction during the lift off,
before the actual exercise even takes place! The key is to get into
position and then have a partner give you a good lift off so you do not
need to reach at all. You want to pull the bar off the rack not lift the bar
off the rack. A good lift off requires the bar to be pushed straight off the
rack into your starting bench position. There is an art to giving a good
lift. I recommend actually practicing self-lift offs and saving using a
partner’s assistance for maximal attempts.

Once you get the bar off the rack you want to bring it into position to
where the bar is directly above the forearm bone. The arm should be
completely straight in the starting position.

Step # 3: The Bench Press

Once the bar is in the starting position you are ready to bench.

The first thing you should do is put tension on the bar. This can be
achieved by trying to “break the bar” or “pull the bar apart” with your
grip.

Before you start the downward motion it is important to take in a huge
breath of air. Just like when squatting, the Valsalva Maneuver is used to
create intra abdominal pressure.

Elbow position is another aspect of the bench press where people often
need some work. A “bodybuilding bench press” involves flaring the
elbows throughout the range of motion. Keeping your elbows out wide
provides the most stimulus to the chest but it’s not the best or safest
way to bench the most amount of weight.

On the negative (eccentric) you want to tuck your elbows in and then
about half way up (concentric) flare the elbows out to finish the lift. If
this seems like a strange concept go on YouTube and watch the elbow
position of strong benchers. This way of benching is also a lot safer for
the shoulders.

Where the bar touches the chest will largely be determined by grip
width, the degree of elbow tuck and arch. For most people this will be
somewhere just underneath the nipple line.
Just like the squat, lower the bar as fast as you can control. This will be a
different speed for everyone. The key is to maintain control of the bar at
all times.

To pause or not to pause?

There is a debate in the powerlifting community weather or not
powerlifters should pause their bench press reps in training.

If you are not aware, the competition bench press requires a deliberate
pause on the chest before reversing back to the starting position.

I have recently changed my stance on this matter. I used to think it
wasn’t necessary to pause in training. My line of thinking was as long as
you practice staying tight all the time, the pause was not really needed.

However, staying tight at the bottom during a pause is a skill in itself.
The touch and go bench press takes advantage of the stretch reflex,
whereas the paused bench press does not, at least not to the same
degree.

I recently came to the conclusion that there really is no benefit for
competitive powerlifters to use touch and go more than paused in
training.

So, if you are a competitive powerlifter I recommend pausing all your
reps in training. Make sure you base your numbers off from a paused
max not a touch and go max.

With the being said if you are not a competitive powerlifter feel free to
just touch and go your reps.

A few extra points to consider
- Do not look at the bar as it moves. Always keep your head pressed
into the bench.
- Always keep your butt on the bench at all times.
- The shortest distance between two points is a straight line. Try to
avoid any unnecessary horizontal bar movement. During the
concentric portion of the lift (way up) it’s ok if the bar moves
toward your face. A lot of people find this to be the strongest bar
path.

Assistance Exercises to Build the Bench
The movements that have the most carry over to the bench press are
going to be the ones that look the most like the bench press.
As with all lifts, specificity is very important.

Here are my go to bench press assistance movements. I like to program

these in after I do my main bench press work for the day. Don’t be afraid
to use the barbell for assistance work. Somewhere down the line people
got the impression that assistance work was supposed to be done
exclusively with dumbbells and machines. That is not necessarily the
case.

My Top Bench Builders

Close Grip Bench Press

Spoto Press

Floor Press

Board Press

Barbell Incline/Decline Bench Press

One Arm Dumbbell Press

How to Deadlift

In powerlifting the deadlift is performed last, after the squat and bench
press. It has been said, “the meet doesn’t start until the bar hits the
floor”. I tend to disagree although I fully understand the argument. The
deadlift is the exercise you should be able to lift the most weight with.
It’s the ultimate test of raw strength.

But the truth is…I hate the deadlift.

I’m just not built for it. My short, t-rex arms that make the bench press
come easy are the same dimensions that make pulling a nightmare. On
the other hand, for those of you who struggle with the bench press, the
deadlift might be your calling.

The deadlift is the most basic of the three powerlifts but also the most
likely to be performed with sloppy form. Even though I hate the word,
the deadlift is a very “functional” movement pattern. Every time you
bend over to pick something up, you are essentially performing a
deadlift.

Like the squat, there are two distinct ways to perform a deadlift –
conventional or sumo.

Determining which stance is right for you can get tricky and
complicated. Things such as height, weight, hip structure and limb
lengths all play a role.

The easiest way to figure this out is to train them both for a few months
and stick with the stance that you are strongest and most comfortable
with. Don’t make it any more difficult than that.

Step #1: The Stance

To figure out a good conventional stance, think about where your feet
would be if you were to perform a vertical jump. For most people that
will be a pretty good starting position, maybe slightly narrower but not
much. Taller people with wider hips will need a wider conventional
stance.

The conventional deadlift should be a narrower stance than the squat.
For sumo, feet placement is going to be much wider. There is also a
wider range of possibilities. You will probably have to play with it a little
bit to determine how wide is optimal. Some will find an ultra wide sumo
stance to be most confortable while others will end up using a
conventional/sumo hybrid stance.

Toes pointed slightly outward; roughly 15 degrees will probably be best
for most people.

Position the bar over the middle part of your foot. The bar should be just
in front of your shins but not touching them. To create tension, “screw”
your feet into the ground. You should feel your hamstring and glutes get
tighter.

Before reaching out and grabbing the bar, create more tension by
loading the hips and hamstrings. The more tension you can create, the
more force you can apply to the movement.

Hinge at the waist, kick your butt back and maintain a straight back.
If you don’t have the mobility to reach the bar with just a hinge, you can
bend your knees a little in order to maintain a neutral spine.

Step # 2: The Grip / Set Up
Grip strength is crucial to the deadlift. There are three ways to grip the
bar.

1: Double over hand: palms are facing you.

2: Mixed grip: one palm facing out and one facing you.

3: Hook grip: like double over hand but the thumb is “hooked” by the
fingers. This is a grip that Olympic weightlifters use.

Try to use double over hand as much as you can. There will come a point
where your grip will fail before your legs/lower back does. At this point
you will have to switch to either a mixed or hook grip. I recommend
using a double over hand grip for all warm-up sets. This will be an
indirect way to get extra grip work in. Mixed and hook grip will be used
for working sets.

On conventional deadlifts your hands should be placed just outside of
your legs. About a thumbs length will allow room to press knees out.

For sumo deadlifts your hand will be placed in between your legs. Do
not grip the bar too narrow. Your arms should hang straight down and
be locked out.

Arms should always be straight. Lock out your elbows. Think of your
arms like ropes with your hands being the “hooks”. Deadlifting with
bent arms not only leaks power, it also can cause elbow or bicep
injuries.
Your shoulder blades should be positioned directly over the bar.

Once you grab the bar you need to reclaim tension. Do this by raising
your hips and pulling your knees back, this creates tension on the hips,
hamstrings and back.

Hip position will be dependent on each individual’s limb lengths. You
want to avoid “squatting the bar” or turning your deadlift into a stiff leg
deadlift.

Step # 3: The Pull

Engage your lats before lifting the bar. The coaching cue “take the slack
out of the bar” is typically used to help lifters engage their lats prior to
yanking on the bar. Engaging the lats/taking the slack out, preloads the
bar.

Your upper back should be pulled together, retracted and down.

Keep head in an anatomically neutral position. I like to look at a spot on
the floor about 12-15 feet in front of me.

Before pulling up on the bar, remember the valsalva maneuver. Take a
big belly breath and push your abs out. Create as much intra abdominal
pressure as you can.

Keep the natural arch in your lower back. If you deadlift with a rounded
lower back there is a good chance you will get injured. It might not be
the first time, or even the hundredth time, but eventually it will catch up
to you.

The legs should initiate the first movement. I like to tell my clients to
imagine you are doing a leg press – lift the bar off the ground by pushing
with your feet not pulling with your back. Drag the bar up your legs. The
bar should never lose contact with your body.

A correct pull will show no change in back angle for at least the first
couple inches off the floor.

During the movement I like to think, “butt down, chest up”. This little
cue helps me stay in a good position throughout the movement.

Lock knees out at the top of the movement and hold the bar for a full
second before returning the bar back to the ground. Don’t exhale your
air at the top. Return the bar back to the ground fast but controlled.

A few things to avoid
Do not bounce reps. Always reset in between reps during a set.

Do not over-extend at the top of the rep. Just come to an anatomically
neutral position.

Do not shrug your shoulder at the top of the rep.

Assistance Exercises to Build the Deadlift

Out of the three powerlifting movements, I feel the Deadlift benefits the
most from assistance exercises. I typically include at least one deadlift
variation in all my programs.

My Top Deadlift Builders

Romanian Deadlift

Stiff Leg Deadlift

Paused Deadlift

Deficit Deadlift

Block Pull

Trap Bar Deadlift

Part 2: Programming Guide
What is Periodization?
The definition straight out of the text titled “Periodization” by Tudor
Bompa is: “the logical and systematic sequencing of training factors in
an integrative fashion in order to optimize specific training outcomes at
pre-determined time points.”

That’s a mouthful.

My definition for periodization is much simpler:

Periodization is having a training plan that goes beyond one week. It’s
how you organize your training.

Theory of Planning
Training programs are broken down into three main phases –
microcycle, mesocycle and macrocycle.

Microcycle: A microcycle refers to a single training cycle or training
week. Typically between 4-10 days.

Mesocycle: A mesocycle is a group of training weeks combined to equal
one training phase. This cycle is usually 3-6 weeks in duration.

Macrocycle: A macrocycle is the overall training plan. A training
program usually lasts between 9 – 16 weeks.

Now let’s look at the most common forms of periodization. There are
three main elements to define how programs are periodized.

It’s important to note that most training programs will utilize all three
forms of periodization. It’s rare to have a program designed exclusively
with one form of periodization. There is a lot of overlap between
periodization models.

Linear Periodization: Linear periodization is the simplest form of
periodization. It’s basically just progressive overload. But, just because
its basic does not mean it lacks effectiveness. Some of the best lifters in
history got that way by following basic linear periodization programs.

Linear periodization is a tried and true method of adding more weight
to the bar. Every good program will utilize some form of linear
periodization.

In traditional linear periodization models, you start out with high
volume/low intensity and over a period of time lower the volume and
increase the intensity.

Linear periodization is also called block periodization. The “block”
refers to a period of time focusing on one training variable –
hypertrophy, strength, muscular endurance, etc.

Like previously mentioned, the downside to traditional linear
periodization is detraining outside of the specific training blocks. During
the hypertrophy block you build muscle but lose absolute strength and
vise versa. Utilizing undulating periodization is a way to counteract this
issue.

Conjugate Periodization: The next form of periodization I want to talk
about is conjugate periodization. Louie Simmons and Westside Barbell
popularized the conjugate method. According to Louie, “the conjugate
method is a complex method of rotating special exercises that are close
in nature, in our case, to the power lifts.”

Conjugate periodization refers to constantly changing training stressors
in order to train multiple characteristics at once. I’m not going to spend
much time on this model because we don’t use a lot of it in this program.

However, you will notice a lot of carryover ideas between conjugate and
daily undulating periodization.

Daily Undulating Periodization (DUP): This is the periodization
model I am going to spend the most time on.

Daily Undulating Periodization, known in the lifting game simply as
DUP, has made a resurgence in the lifting community in recent years.

Although I’m not sure where or when the concepts of DUP surfaced,
non-linear periodization has been well supported at least scientifically
for quite awhile.

Daily Undulating Periodization sounds very technical and confusing, but

in reality DUP is actually a pretty simple concept.

Daily Undulating Periodization is exactly what it sounds like.

Let’s break it down:

Daily: literally we are talking about days of the week.

Undulating: Undulation simply means a flowing motion, up and down in

a wave like pattern. In reference to training it means sets and reps
progressing in a nonlinear fashion. Just picture a wavy line, not a
straight line.

Periodization: Having an organized training plan.

Daily Undulating Periodization plays a big role in the Absolute Strength

program. You will see it referenced multiple times throughout the rest
of the book.

Programming Variables

Training is based off the process of adding stress, recovering from the
stress and then adapting to the stress. This is how progress is made.

It can be argued applying stress is the single most important component

of any training program. Stress is caused by anything and everything the
human body encounters, not just in the gym but also in everyday life.

Stress is sometimes thought of as a bad or negative thing but in reality,

stress is just a signal that something needs to change. If a stressor
(training program) is strong enough, it will trigger that change in the
form of adaptation.

This discussion on stress leads into the idea of the General Adaptation
Syndrome (GAS), developed by Dr. Hans Selye.

General Adaptation Syndrome

The General Adaptation Syndrome details how stress is handled in the

body as it builds up over time. This provides us with a framework for
understanding how training makes us stronger.

Stage 1 – Alarm or Shock

The alarm phase is the immediate response to the application of stress.

In our case, the application of stress is training. This stage can be
thought of as the acute response to a training session. The training bout
disrupted the body’s homeostasis and now it has to react by adaptation.

Training = stress

Stage 2 – Adaptation or Resistance

Stage 2 is all about recovery. This stage begins after the training bout.
Adaptation is the body’s response to stress. Remember, stress is just a
signal that something has to change. The training bout provided a new
stimulus (stress) that disrupted homeostasis. To avoid this happening
again, the body is adapting by growing and getting stronger.

Stage 3 – Exhaustion

This is what happens if the stress becomes to great for the body to adapt
to it. We want to apply as much stress (training response) as we can
without hitting the exhaustion phase. This is what quality training
programming is all about.

We will get into overtraining, overreaching and super-compensation at

the end of the chapter.

Progressive overload

In simple terms, progressive overload is the gradual increase in stress

placed on the body during exercise.

As training experience increases, the body gets progressively better at

recovering from the workouts. The stress that once produced a big
training effect no longer does so. Anyone who has exercised before has
experienced this. Progressive tension overload is very important for
continued progression week-to-week, month-to-month and year-to-
year. If you want to get better you’re going to have to continually work
harder in your training over time.

Lack of progressive overload in training is one reason why you see

people in the gym who look the same and lift the same weights year
after year. No progressive overload = no progress.

Intensity, Volume and Frequency

Intensity – Despite what you may think, intensity does not refer to
extent of effort. Intensity is in relation to a percent max. Basically
intensity is how heavy the weight on the bar is.

Volume – volume is an important measure of training stimulus. Volume

breaks down into the following formula.

Volume = Sets x Reps x Weight

A common misconception when it comes to training volume is
forgetting the “weight” aspect of it. As weight on the bar increases so
does volume.

Frequency – Frequency can be defined a number of different ways. For

our purpose we are going to define frequency as how many times we
are training the big three (squat, bench, deadlift) in each training
cycle/week.

Overtraining/Overreaching

Lastly, before we end this section I want to touch on the topic of

overtraining/overreaching.

I want to point out that there is a difference; it’s not just a matter of
semantics.

Before we get into that, first we must define overtraining.

Overtraining is the cumulative result of excessive high volume and/or high

intensity training without adequate recovery, which leads to a decrease in
performance that takes more than 2-3 weeks to return back to normal.

The key difference between “overtraining” and “overreaching” is the

time it takes to get back to normal after stopping the hard training.

Overreaching is pretty much the same thing as overtraining. The only

difference is, overreaching only takes about a week or two to recover
from. The idea is, train really hard (overreach) and then take a de-load
week to recover and reap the rewords of the training cycle. This is the
basis for the idea of super-compensation.

This program will cause you to overreach if you follow it to the end. The
fact is an athlete must “overreach” to cause the necessary adaptations to
make progress. Every quality-training program should include periods
of overreaching.

Most people left to their own devises will never overreach let alone
overtrain. Overtraining is not something that happens overnight or by
accident. The symptoms creep up slowly and most people just back off
their training as soon as the symptoms show their face.

Part 3: Bonus DUP Program
This is a sample DUP program. This would work great for beginner or
intermediate lifters.



A few things before starting the program:

1- You need to have a good idea of what your maxes for Squat, Bench
and Deadlift are.

2- “lw” = last week. So “lw+10” means last week + 10lbs


3- The program is set up to max out on week 4. After concluding
week/cycle 3 take a few days off and then come in and attempt a
max for squat, bench and deadlift. You can also just max out on
one or two of the lifts if you want.


The RPE Scale

• RPE 7: Speed was fairly quick, very easy set

• RPE 7.5: You could maybe have done 3 more reps
• RPE 8: You could definitely have done 2 more reps
• RPE 8.5: You could maybe have done 2 more reps
• RPE 9: You could definitely have done 1 more rep
• RPE 9.5: You could maybe have done 1 more rep
• RPE 10: Absolute maximal effort. No more weight or reps
are possible.

 3 Day Sample DUP Program

Hunt Fitness Week 1 Week 2 Week 3

Day 1: Hypertrophy Sets Intensity Reps Intensity Reps Intensity Reps
1. Back Squat 3 65% 10 lw+5 10 lw+5 10
2. DB Bench Press 3 8 rpe 12 8 rpe 12 9 rpe 12
3. Stiff Leg Deadlift 3 8 rpe 8 8 rpe 8 9 rpe 8
4. Optional
x 8 rpe 12 8 rpe 12 8 rpe 12
Assistance Work


Day 2: Strength Sets Intensity Reps Intensity Reps Intensity Reps
1. Back Squat 3 75% 5 lw+5 5 lw+5 5
2. Close Grip Bench
3 8 rpe 6 8 rpe 6 9 rpe 6
Press
3. Paused Deadlift 3 8 rpe 3 8 rpe 3 9 rpe 3
4. Optional
x 8 rpe 6 8 rpe 6 8 rpe 6
Assistance Work


Day 3: Absolute Str. Sets Intensity Reps Intensity Reps Intensity Reps
1. Back Squat 3 80% 3 lw+10 3 lw+10 1
2. Bench Press 3 85% 2 lw+5 2 lw+5 1
3. Deadlift 3 90% 1 lw+10 1 lw+10 1
4. Optional
x 8 rpe 5 8 rpe 5 x x
Assistance Work









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