Skip to main content
ProgrammingStrength ProgramsUncategorized

Simplifying the Heavy-Light-Medium Training System – Part 3: Pulling

By August 26, 2013May 11th, 201944 Comments

As with the squatting and pressing program, Starr’s basic template in The Strongest Shall Survive, called for just one pulling exercise to be done each week – the power clean.  Like the squats and bench presses, power cleans were to be done for 5×5 arranged in a heavy-light-medium sequence throughout the week.  Supposing I was forced to choose just one pulling exercise to do 3 days per week, for a group of athletes, power cleans would probably be my exercise of choice.  Deadlifts are the better strength builder, but doing them three days per week would be difficult for most athletes to recover from.  Snatches are also a good exercise, but cleans can be done heavier, so they would win out in our hypothetical scenario. 

Fortunately we are not in a scenario where we must make this choice.  Similar to the pressing program, most athletes will receive greater benefit from a more diverse pulling program. 

My favorite general pulling program is to deadlift on Heavy day, power snatch on the light day, and power clean on the medium day.  To build a strong pull off the floor, we can’t just do the Olympic lifts.  We need to be pulling heavy and deadlifts allow us to do this.  By default, snatches are lighter than cleans and so the two Olympic variants fall neatly into the organization of this system.  I’m a believer in variety when it isn’t just for variety’s sake.  Having three different types of pulls for the athlete to work on prevents staleness and mental boredom from creeping into the program. 

Example set up of a basic pulling program:

Monday:  Deadlift 1×5

Wednesday:  Snatch 5-8 doubles

Friday:  Power clean 5 triples

 There are however reasons to follow a different set up.  A few options are presented below.

Eliminate one Olympic variant from the program and do the other one twice

As an example, many trainees may be cursed with an anthropometry that makes effectively racking a clean difficult.  Many lifters cannot properly receive the barbell on the shoulders, and are forced to catch the barbell with their hands, out in front of the body.  This may be fine with lighter weights, but as the athlete’s strength grows, racking a heavy clean in this manner can lead to serious aggravation in the wrists and elbows.  Or it may simply result in a lot of frustration due to frequently missing reps.  In this scenario, the trainee may simply choose to deadlift once per week, and snatch twice – once heavy, and once light.  

The same scenario could potentially present itself with the snatch.  Older trainees in particular may find that that proper racking of the snatch is difficult due to a lack of range of motion in the shoulders.  Sometimes this can be remedied with stretching and practice, and sometimes it cannot.  An example might be where there is a history of rotator cuff surgeries or arthritis.  In this scenario the trainee may decide that it is more prudent to eliminate the snatch from his/her program and clean twice per week, once heavy, once lighter, and continue to deadlift heavy once per week. 

The benefit to this set up is that the trainee will likely get very good at whatever Olympic variant is getting trained twice per week.  For this reason alone, some trainees who are capable of doing both lifts, may still only choose to concentrate on one or the other as to not spread their focus too thin.  In this instance, it is my recommendation that the trainee select the clean over the snatch simply because you can do more weight, and heavier is generally better. 

On a programming note, the Olympic variants don’t need as much offset to be considered a “light day.”  Taking 20 lbs off of a 400 lb squat doesn’t really make it a “light day”  The lifter is still going to be exerting a tremendous amount of effort to squat 380 lbs.  This isn’t necessarily true with the Olympic variants.  The lifter who can clean 225 for triples will generally find 205 lbs fairly easy.  So when selecting your light day weights, a 5-10% offset should be sufficient.  As always, percentages are just guidelines.  Always use your own experience and common sense to select the appropriate amount of weight. 

Two slow pulls per week, one dynamic pull.

In this instance, the lifter may decide that cleaning and snatching isn’t doing much to drive his deadlifting weights up.  Often times this is the case when a lifter has a very strong deadlift, and simply is not very good at cleaning or snatching.  If technique on the Olympic lifts has the lifter muddled in say, the low 200’s, those lifts probably aren’t going to do much to drive a 600 lb deadlift.  In order to get his deadlift unstuck, the trainee may decide to implement another ‘slow’ pull such as a stiff legged deadlift, Romanian deadlift, or even a goodmorning.  If the lifter decided to use these in his program, they fit neatly into the medium day. 

Example model:

Monday:  Deadlift – work up to a heavy set of 5

Wednesday:  Power Clean – 6 doubles

Friday:  Stiff Leg Deadlift 3×5

Many lifters will find that their low backs simply cannot recover from two “slow” pulling days per week.  Others will do just fine, but may only be able to do so for short periods of time, say 6-12 weeks. 

As a final note on the pulling program, let’s address a common issue for some very strong deadlifters.  Assume that our hypothetical lifter is doing my standard program of pulling heavy on Monday, snatching on Wednesday, and cleaning on Friday.  In our hypothetical scenario the lifter is getting mentally and physically fatigued from doing standard conventional deadlifts every single week and progress is beginning to stall.  It may be in this trainee’s best interest to start working in a rotation of other heavy deadlifting variants.  This will keep the heavy day ‘heavy’ but will begin to introduce some fluctuation in loading each week.  This may break the lifter out of his rut.  We see this same method in Mark Rippetoe’s Practical Programming.   In Rippetoe’s text, the lifter alternates week to week between a heavy 5 rep set of rack pulls and an 8 rep set of halting deadlifts.  These are done in place of the regular deadlift workout.  Likewise, one of the corner stones of  Louie Simmon’s Westside Barbell program is the continual rotation of various ‘max effort’ exercises in place of the standard competition lifts.  In this scenario we are blatantly stealing from Louie, and using this concept on our heavy day.  

The lifter does not need 6,784 max effort exercises to choose from.  My advice is to select a maximum of 4, including standard deadlifts.  An example heavy day rotation might be:

Week 1:  Standard Deadlifts

Week 2:  Deficit Deadlifts (standing on a 2-4 inch block)

Week 3:  Rack Pulls

Week 4:  Stiff Leg Deadlifts

In this scenario, the trainee would continue to snatch on his light day, and clean on his medium day. 

 

Programming Review

Sample Heavy-Light-Medium Program (Powerlifting Focus)

Monday /Heavy:

Squat 3-5×5

Bench Press 3-5×5

Deadlift 1×5

Wednesday/Light:

Squat 3×5 (10-20% offload from Monday)

Press 3-5×5

Power Cleans 5×3 or 6×2

Friday/Medium:

Squat 3-5×5 (5-10% offload from Monday)

Close Grip Bench Press 3×5, 2×8-10 (back off set)

Stiff Leg Deadlifts 2-3×8

The trainee might follow this relatively high volume program for 6-12 weeks, until performance can no longer be improved .  The lifter would then transition into a phase of lower volume training (perhaps 4-6 weeks) where PR’s will be set on lower rep sets:

Monday/Heavy:

Squats: 5 heavy singles

Bench Press:  5 paused singles

Deadlifts:  1-3 heavy singles

Wednesday/Light:

Squats 3×5 (same weights as phase one)

Press 3×3

Power Clean:  10 singles (on a 1-2 minute clock)

Friday/Medium:

Squats 3×5 (same weights as phase one)

Close Grip Bench 3×3, 1×6-8 (back off set)

Stiff Leg Deadlift 2×5

After setting some new PR’s, the trainee might take a deloading week of less frequent training, lower volume, and light weights, and then start back over at phase one again. 

Monday:

Squats 3×5

Bench Press3x5

Power cleans 3×3

Thursday:

Squats 3×5

Press 3×5

Stiff Leg Deadlifts3x5

This program is not meant to be a cut and paste prescription for anyone who wants to embark upon a HLM training program.  It’s meant as a reference point as to how one might go about setting up their own training program using these principles.  Exact numbers of sets, reps, and exercise selection are an individual consideration at the intermediate and advanced levels. 

 

Summary

I want to make it very clear to the readers of this article that I am in no way degrading the work or the writing of Bill Starr.  I am not qualified to do so, nor am I arrogant enough to try.  The Strongest Shall Survive belongs on the shelf of any strength coach or personal trainer, and Bill Starr is an icon of the industry.  I have it, and have read it many times.  I am also well aware that the basic program I have referenced throughout this article, is not the only program presented in TSSS.  My attempts in this article series to clarify and simplify, are meant to clear up some of the confusion and misinformation that has arisen and lives on the internet….NOT within the pages of TSSS.  Starr’s program presented in TSSS was his program, for his audience, and for his trainees.  What is regarded on the web as the “Starr 5×5 Program” was an example of a Heavy-Light-Medium program; it is not the Heavy-Light-Medium program.  Much of the confusion and misinformation that lurks in forums and articles on the internet has been propagated by those who have never read Starr’s text, and overall do not understand strength programming. 

I want to thank everyone for indulging me on my initial excursion into the blogosphere.  I hope you have found something useful and practical within this series of articles.  Your comments, feedback, and requests are welcome in the comments section or to my direct email at kingwoodstrength@gmail.com 

If you are interested in additional help with your own programming, check out the Products & Services section of my website.  If you are in the Houston area, feel free to set up an appointment with me at my facility in Kingwood.  If you have questions about these services, send me an email and we can discuss. 

Thanks again,

Andy

[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]

44 Comments

  • Randy Herington says:

    You need to write a book to address over 40 lifters. I know all the programs out there can be “adapted”. But sometimes people want to be just told what they need to do!!!
    Think of it like this. A VP of sales. He uses a computer daily. He does not really care how it works, or the geeky tweaks to it. He just wants it to work so that he can get his work done.

    He wants to get stronger and fitter. He knows there is no magic pill, but he does not want spend hours tweaking and figuring out what he needs to do.

    I have not found a book out there that specifically addresses weight training for early intermediate over 40. I would there would be a niche for this.

  • LeonidasfromSparta says:

    Andy, these articles are pure gems. Shared them as they went online, b/c they are useful for those that want to really learn more about programming. Hope you keep on posting more on this.

    Thanks a lot,
    Leonidas

  • Rob says:

    Great information. Where would you put bodyweight chins?

    • Andy Baker says:

      Basically anywhere. They are an assistance movement that doesn’t disrupt things in the way that barbell movements do. If done once per week, I would do 3-5 sets on Friday’s workout, since this is the spot where they are least likely to interfere with any training day, due to the 2 days of rest following the workout. If done twice per week, I would do Monday/Friday. You could even do like 2 sets on MWF at the end of every workout. Bodyweight only movements can generally tolerate a lot of frequency.

  • Ricky says:

    Any exercise you would recommend for people who can’t do Olympic lifts? I work out at home and don’t have a platform or bumper plates yet (I will someday). Amazing close to the articles by the way!

    thank you!

    • Andy Baker says:

      I’d probably deadlift on heavy day, chin on light day, and row on medium day. I might do a follow up article on using the HLM system for mass that excludes the olympic lifts and replaces them with bodybuilding style back exercises.

      • LeonidasfromSparta says:

        Really looking forward to this – a HLM system a little more focused on hypertrophy (but still having most of the focus on strength).

      • Ricky says:

        Any idea when your next article will be coming? Your way of explaining hlm is better then any other articles on the subject and I would be excited to see a hypertrophy specific hlm.

        • Andy Baker says:

          Right now, I’m working on Practical Programming 3rd Edition with Rippetoe. In the little bit of free time that I have available for writing, I’m dedicating it to this. Website blog posts might be put on hold until around mid-October.

          • joe says:

            Hi Andy,

            Any idea when you’ll have the hypertrophy HLM article available?

          • Andy Baker says:

            Summer. Finishing up the Old Guy strength book right now with Dr. Sullivan. No time right now for other serious writing

      • Fred says:

        Hi Andy, I am 51 years old and have been doing the starting strength program since last October, after reading your articles on H-L-M, i am now going to try the H-L-M program as I have been stuck for a few months now and can’t get past 190lbs on the squat.I will be squating all three days, Bench and deadlifts on Monday, Press and Pulldowns on Wednesday, followed by Incline Press and Pendlay rows on Friday.Assistance exercises are Situps and backextensions Mondays, chinups Wednesdays, followed by Dips on Fridays.

      • Ryan says:

        I decided to go:
        Monday: Squat (H), Weighted Dip (M), Pendlay Row (M Upper Pull/L Lower Pull), Arm isolation
        Wednesday: Front Squat (L), Deadlift (H), Press (L), Face Pull (Light Upper Pull)
        Friday: Pause Squat (M), Bench Press (H), Weighted Chin-up (H Upper Pull), SLDL (M Lower Pull)

  • Squats says:

    Andy,

    Love the clear explanation of the HLM system.

    Have you ever used with any success a waved type of HLM like so

    Monday— Squat (heavy) Press (light) P.Clean (medium)

    Wednesday— Squat (light) Incline (medium) Deadlift (heavy)

    Friday— Squat (medium) bench (heavy) snatch (light)

    Only problem I could see is the Heavy Dead on weds might need to be swapped to Friday to allow more recovery.

    Do you think it is possible or do you need a true “single” heavy day to disrupt homeostasis.

    Thank you

    • Andy Baker says:

      I think that is absolutely a viable option. I myself have no direct experience programming it that way, but it makes some sense. I think the heavy day is good for the systemic disruption of homeostasis, but at the same time, certain trainees may not be able to recover as well from the single heavy day. Having only one really hard lift to do each day might be beneficial under some circumstances. Nice suggestion.

      • Dave C says:

        Bill Starr has talked about this. I have used HLM for a long time and migrate from this to VRI and back. The important thing I have found is maintaining H-L-M, in each lift as well as in the days. Calculate daily workload and make sure that you have a heavy day followed by a light day followed by a medium day. Shift heavy lifts around, remembering to respect the HLM ordering for the lifts, and recalculate daily workload. For me, I always maintain Monday as heavy day, Wed as light day and Fri as medium day. This is where Madcow’s template falls apart. Calculate the workload and Friday is heavy, followed by medium on Monday and light on Wed. When I first noticed this, I changed the core lifts on Monday and Fri, so I did the heavy triple + back off on Monday and then the heavy set of five on Friday and the program started working for me.

        • Squats says:

          Dave,

          Very interesting reporting on Madcow, I myself and several friends have used Madcow in the past unsuccessfully I might add because fridays work was so heavy we would come back Monday and stall. Please forgive me what’s VRI?

          • Squats says:

            Volume Recovery Intensity?

          • Dave C says:

            Yes, Volume-Recovery-Intensity, such as Texas Method

          • Dave C says:

            Same here. I made it to week 4(5RM week), and 1, maybe 2 more weeks and then stalled every time. After I switched Monday and Friday I always made it several weeks past. I found that there are better ways to reorganize the program though.

  • Squats says:

    Dave, what have you found to be more beneficial? I’m actually giving Andy’s H-M-L a go. I started yesterday and did a 5×5 ramping to a top set. I’m just uneasy because of the idea of it not being enough volume with the sets across style of 3×5 or 5×5.

  • Dave C says:

    More than just volume stimulates strength increases. Take a simple example of someone lifting 200x5x3. The volume is 3000lbs and the intensity is 200lbs. On the other hand look at 3×5 ramped using 12.5 percent steps, our sets are 170×5, 200×5, and 230×5. This also gives a volume of 3000lbs and an intensity of 200lbs, but you have still lifted 30lbs more than before. Volume and intensity contribute to fatigue so you can lift heavier while accumulating the same amount of fatigue.

  • Kaylib says:

    Andy, Thanks for the great read. Wondering if you could take a quick look at my H-L-M plan.
    60 years old training since I was 20. As I get older I find it more difficult to find the balance between appropriate volume and recovery. Did Rip’s SS novice for a while and then went to the Texas Method which was OK but I prefer more volume v.s. intensity. May replace cleans with rows.

    (H) Front Squat 4×6–Bench 4×6–Rack Pulls 2×6– Chins 2xF

    (L) Front Squat 2×20 (the old breathing squats)–Press 4×6–Snatch 4×4

    (M) Front Squat 4×6–Incline DB Bench 4×6–Cleans 4×4–Curls 3×8-12–Close Grip Bench 3×8-12

    Thank you for your time and comments and I look forward to more contributions by yourself as well as practitioners.

    • Andy Baker says:

      Couple of things, first, I don’t like front squats for a guy in his 60s. I’d much rather see you back squatting if possible. Second, doing hard sets of 20 doesn’t really qualify as a light day. Even though the weight on the bar is light, 20 rep squats are still extremely stressful. Also, if you are attempting to clean and snatch heavy, you may consider lowering your rep range to 1-3. Other than that, I think its okay.

      • Kaylib says:

        Thanks so much for the prompt response. Hurt my back three decades ago back squatting during my powerlifting days. Never really healed fully and susceptible to unbalanced twisting activities (i.e. hitting a golf ball or baseball, bowling, shoveling snow). Front squats seem tolerable without much discomfort. Perhaps I can try the back squats again. On another consideration sometimes I think four sets of each exercise may be one too many yet three seems like not enough. Any suggestions at my age? Thanks again.

        • Andy Baker says:

          Three sets is most likely plenty. Especially if you are doing the exercise multiple times per week. At your age, I would err on the side of being conservative. Back squats are a technical exercise, so good coaching is a worthwhile investment.

          • Kaylib says:

            Thanks again. One other thing. I am assuming that additional assistance exercises like curls and tricep pushdowns are performed after medium day allowing for the two days of rest before going heavy again?

  • Vladimir Ivanov says:

    Hi Andy,

    Thank you for the fantastic HLM articles. I can’t wait for the new edition of PPST with your input in it.

    Regarding the HLM template, if I only have two days a week to train, Tuesday and Friday, do you think the following break-down would work: Friday – H, Tuesday – M/L. The two-week cycle would be H-M-H-L. Or should I just follow H-L-M?

    • Andy Baker says:

      HLM spread out over a longer training week. So Tue-heavy, Fri-light, Tues-med, Fri- heavy, etc,etc. Of just cut out the medium day and do a HL schedule

      • Vladimir Ivanov says:

        Thank you Andy. I will stick to the standard HLM spread over two day week schedule.

  • Kundahli says:

    Andy,

    Just popped over from the StartingStrength forums. Ive really enjoyed reading your articles, this one especially. Your programming ideas (and writing) are extremely clear and easy to understand. I want to thank you for providing a programming oasis in the internet desert. These articles have kept me from doing some asinine things with my training and that is worth more thanks then I can give.

  • Brian King says:

    I am trying to develop a format that will accommodate the additional conditioning I would like to add.
    I figure that having a light day that is focused on bodyweight and speed will provide me the opportunity I need to recover from the Heavy Monday
    Squats
    Monday – Squat 3×5(5×5?), Wed – Box Jumps, Bounding, Fri – Front Squat 3×5 (5×5?)
    Pressing
    Monday – Bench 3×5, Wed – Bodyweight (Plyo Pushups/Handstand Pushups), Friday – Press 3×5
    Pulls
    Monday – Deadlift 1×5, Wed – Back Extensions or Banded Good Mornings, Friday – Power Clean 5×3 or 6×2

    Do you see this as a viable HLM template?

    • Andy Baker says:

      Not technically HLM but may be ok. I’d probably just do a heavy day and an explosive day ala Westside

      • Brian King says:

        Can you elaborate on how this does not qualify as HLM?

        I had previously been running a slightly modified WS4SB template. As I slowly began adding bits of conditioning I found myself quickly falling into a recovery deficit.
        When I was running starting strength, I became very conscious of how any extra exertion would slow my progress.
        It was my understanding that HLM was useful for those that had physical demands outside of the gym (i.e. Football practice) and figured my sprints, jogs, and other conditioning would replace sports practice.
        I thought that by placing front squats on my medium day and body weight work such as jumps of single leg squats on my light day that my overall weekly volume would be low enough to accommodate the conditioning without halting all of my progress on Monday.

        Is my understanding of volume flawed?

  • Jason says:

    Andy-
    I am a huge fan. Thank you so much for writing these articles and helping on the SS Forums!
    QQ in terms of accessory work:
    Where in the General HLM (no OLY lifts) program would you put Dips, Chins and Curls?
    Taken from PP3 General HLM:

    Monday/Heavy:
    Squat 5×5
    Bench Press 4×5
    Rows 4×8
    CHINS 3×5
    Dips 3×10
    Curls 3×10

    Wednesday/Light:
    Squat 3×5 (10-20% offload from Monday)
    Press 4×5
    Deadlift 1×5
    CHINS 3×5
    Dips 3×10
    Curls 3×10

    Friday/Medium:
    Squat 3×5 (5-10% offload from Monday)
    Inclide Press 4×5
    Stiff Leg Deadlifts 3×8 ???
    CHINS 3×5
    Dips 3×10
    Curls 3×10

    Thanks,
    Jason

    • Andy Baker says:

      I’d probably chin on Mon/Fri and Curl on Weds. Dips could be alternated every other week with Inclines or Bench Presses

      • Jason Acerra says:

        Makes sense. Thank you.
        Assuming rows Monday (H) and Deadlifts wed (easier on light day, recommended by Jordan f. )
        What about the third pulling exercise for Friday (M)?
        SDLs or rotate the 4 replacements you mentioned above?
        Is that order feasible?

        • Andy Baker says:

          If you don’t wanna DL on Heavy day, then do it on medium day. Stiff leg on heavy day and row on light day.

  • Jason says:

    Oops, sorry I mean RDL not stiff leg. Same as SLDL in your mind? I think RIP prefers RDL over Stiff leg as well.
    I know it depends on the individual, but what rep range do you prefer for the Assistance work like Chins, Dips, Rows, Curls and RDL?
    Thanks Andy.

  • john says:

    Hi Andy,

    Thanks for you article. What do you think about this program? I am starting HLM this coming Monday (5/11) due to getting stuck with LP. My ending weights on LP were:

    Squat: 345x3x3; 315×5 last set
    Deads: 420x2x3 (sxr)
    Bench: 245x3x3; 225×5 last set
    OHP: 157.5x3x3; 135×5 last set

    I’ve been researching HLM to be in time for Monday. I’m trying to get my arms bigger (16.25inch on my 6’4 236lbs body) as well.

    Monday(H)
    Squat: 5×5 @ 285lbs (not sure what my 5×5 weight is;add 10lbs if needed next week till I am at 300lbs5x5)
    Deads: 1×5 @ 375lbs (add weight during warm ups till I feel my back is too tired)
    Chins: 3xAMRAP
    Curls: 3×10 lightweight

    Wednesday (L)
    Squat: 3×5 @ 240lbs
    Press: 3×5 @ TBD after fixing my form issues.

    Friday (M)
    Squat: 3×5 @ 270lbs
    Incline Bench: 3×5 @ TBD have to find my weight
    RDL: 3×8 start @ 135lbs add if needed
    Chins: 3xAMRAP
    Curls: 3×10 lightweight