Has anyone had any luck with bespoke plan creation with Dialed Health? I am over 50 with some damage to shoulders and seems I might need some modifications or workarounds the 7 essential movements. I have approached DH for bespoke advice through their website twice and never received a reply. To be clear this is not a complaint. I just want to know if DH is a rigid product/service or whether I am just unlucky.
Tx
PS I am aware of the fine print re this not being a substitute for medical advice….
I have always kept it simple with strength training and using programs that utilize training max as well as 3x5-5x5 schemes. I mostly trail run now for efficiency of time with a 1 year old but I never would come to the barbell after having some time off from a peak and throw the weight back on. I thought an easy answer to that is starting light? Not sure you need the whole endurance zone deal which will also make you super sore if you aren’t careful. I thought that was interesting.
IMO, an extremely simple lifting program is ideal for 99% of the population. Simple means based around the main compound lifts, and with a linear progressive overload of low reps. 3-5 working sets of 5, based on squats, deadlifts, bench press, and overhead press. Boring and effective.
The only exception to the above is if you have a physiological reason it doesn’t work, or if you are extremely strong and the linear approach no longer works. For me, this is when your bench, squad, and deadlift are 1.25x/1.5x/2x your body weight. That level of strength is just not needed for cycling.
Agreed - I follow the TR strength benchmarks which is essentially those compound lifts up to a certain % of your body weight. I trust TR for my bike training so may as well trust them for my strength prescription too. Maybe I’m leaving muscular development gains on the table by not doing split Russian-Turkish twist things, but I’m in and out of the gym in under 45’ and it fits in nicely to my working day twice a week.
I track my session using Apple Watch. Then export that to Strava through HealthFit. I do not track sets or anything as I’m not working to failure or anything.
I have made the change to only 2 sets of legs though now that I’ve started up a plan again. That was nice to hear on the podcast.
If your total, and gym based, loading, has a sequentially building slope over multiple weeks, then yes, it’s the same concept as your cycling specific work. If you view all your training through a long game lens (which is how real and sustainable progress happens), then days and weeks of unloading/reduced loading is critical. You can keep your strength training going during those times - just halve (or more) the volume and back right off the intensity for that period. The net effect over time will compound.
Thank you for your reply. Very helpful. A reduction in stress made sense but was harder for me to see he mechanism in comparison to on the bike training, where you just reduce to Z2 for the week. I will implement your ideas/recommendations going forward.
Glad my perspective could help. One other thing: with your strength training, and reducing the volume and intensity during those days/weeks/10day cycles, remember it can allow you more attention for other elements of good strength/body based training, such as movement skill and technique, optimal breathing, feeling out other exercises, etc etc. For some, this can be important for the psychology of framing things as a shift and variation, rather than just “not training properly”.