4 day universal appropriate program results

Hi,

I ran the 10 week universal appropriate program as previously posted on this site (but has since been removed).  I have been lifting for 15 months and am 33 yrs old and weigh 89kgs (177cm).

My gym lifts went from 380lb squat, 260lb touch and go bench and 405 deadlift to my first competition results of 391lb squat, 265lb paused bench and 429lb deadlift.  These to me seem like pretty solid gains (I also gained 4lbs of bodyweight).  I am not sure whether to continue this cycle again with new maxes or to do a three day program (I do like the four day program, but am just concerned why it got removed).

What are people's thoughts here?  Is it too high volume for an advanced-intermediate lifter like me?

I also had quite decent progress with it. Squat from 260 to 265 kg, bench press from 145 to 155 kg (though in competition I did hit 150 only) and deadlift from 305 to 310 kg. Must say I recently came of a Smolov squat cycle, so I did not expect an increase in the squat again.

Do it again with your new maxes and make any changes you feel are needed. The program is fine it's just that it being a Universal Program it's not optimal for anyone as is. It needs to be personalized according to your needs and that type of guidance wasn't really around before the forum opened.

I saw your post on reddit. It's good that you have videos of your lifts. Look carefully at those and think about what needs to be done. You can leave the basic structure intact and switch some special exercises. You can also scale the volume up or down. Take a look at the two three day templates to see how you can scale volume.

Right now the forum doesn't have everything covered yet so as you encounter issues be sure to ask.

Hi,

I ran the 10 week universal appropriate program as previously posted on this site (but has since been removed).  I have been lifting for 15 months and am 33 yrs old and weigh 89kgs (177cm).

My gym lifts went from 380lb squat, 260lb touch and go bench and 405 deadlift to my first competition results of 391lb squat, 265lb paused bench and 429lb deadlift.  These to me seem like pretty solid gains (I also gained 4lbs of bodyweight).  I am not sure whether to continue this cycle again with new maxes or to do a three day program (I do like the four day program, but am just concerned why it got removed).

What are people's thoughts here?  Is it too high volume for an advanced-intermediate lifter like me?

Absolutely not too high volume.  The higher a lifter's rating gets, generally the more volume that they would use (at least this would be the popular opinion round these parts).

Thank you Robert.  I think upper back tightness is a big issue for me upon reviewing the videos.  The program as it sits does have lot of seated goodmornings (which I am now performing with a safety bar) in an effort to strengthen this area.  I am doing higher rep leg press work than suggested, since I need a lot more lower body mass for sure. 

On the whole I would say at my experience level, just a lot of continued practice with the mains lifts will be beneficial.  We made massive technical strides on Dealdift and Bench in this cycle, Squat was the only real disappointment, if I don't see at least another 10lbs from this cycle I think I may add in some more volume next time around. 

I feel the only one weakness of these types of programs vs something like Texas method is that it is hard to see when it is working or not working only testing every ten weeks (obviously it has a lot of other advantages).

The link Robert Refers to is on Reddit at: http://www.reddit.com/r/weightroom/comments/2910ya/sheiko_4day_universal_appropriate_cycle_results/