Blut Wump - Korte 3x3

It's time to hit the Korte 3x3 so for the sake of posterity or my posterior I'm planning to run my first log.

I'm planning to do all weights in Kilos. Convert them how you will. Americans will count every 20Kg as 45 pounds and then deal with the pennies. So,
20 - 45
40 - 90
60 - 135
80 - 180
100 - 225
120 - 270
140 - 315
160 - 360
180 - 405
etc.

For any calculations for the Korte percentages, I multiplied by 2.2 and then added 25 for squat, 10 for bench, 15 for dead. I used these numbers in pounds for the Korte percentages and then converted back to Kilos, by dividing by 2.2, and rounded to a nearby 2.5Kg.

For example,
Max Dead: 185
185 * 2.2 -> 407 + 15 -> 422. I'd then use the 422 for all my deadlift calculations and then convert back to Kilos and round off to a 2.5.

Despite all my bluster and bravado, I've decided to stick with the basic percentages until I've started the program and experienced the volume. I can always change them once I'm under way if they do turn out to be too light or, perish the thought, too heavy. I could even think about adding in assistance work. I think if I ran the madcow 5x5 again I could expect greater increases than the Korte increases so I'm expecting to find this load too light.

Another option is to increase the volume by doing more sets since the Korte allows for ranges of 5-8 sets in squat and deadlift and 6-8 sets in bench. I was already intending to do extra sets on specific days: Mon - dead, Weds - Bench, Fri - squat, to begin to accustom myself to the nature of the intensity phase.

Recent Maxes:
ATF Squat: 140 -> 308 + 25 -> 333
Bench: 135 -> 297 + 10 -> 308 (don't ask)
Dead: 185 -> 407 + 15 -> 422

My calculations, then, are based on poundages of 333, 308 and 422.

Volume Phase...W1 (58%).....W2 (60%)......W3 (62%).....W4 (64%)
Squat................87.5.............90................95...............97.5
Bench................82.5.............85...............87.5.............90
Dead................112.5...........115..............120..............122.5

Intensity Phase......60%.....80%.....85%.....90%......95%
Squat...................90.......120......130.......137.5....145
Bench...................85.......112.5...120.......125.......132.5
Deadlift...............115.......152.5...162.5.....172.5....182.5

For more info on the Korte 3x3 look to the top-right corner of this page:
http://www.deepsquatter.com/strength/archives/

Good luck to me.

Nice layout. Looks like a template I can use to set mine up when I try it.

One thing you mentioned that I was wondering about:

I think if I ran the madcow 5x5 again I could expect greater increases

Click to expand...

Right now I'd like to bring my lifts up as much as I can; Korte 'only' has increases of ~15lbs on, say, the deadlift. While this is probably pretty good for world class guys, at my level I'd like to bring it up (a lot) more than that.

Plus 5 x 5 has room for some other exercises that I enjoy doing, like PP and BB rows.

Any thoughts on the pro's and con's of both programs? I've heard Korte is 'harder' but I don't want harder just for the sake of doing it, at least right now. I mean I've heard Madcow say there is 'zero' room for assistance. It may bring up work capacity, perhaps?

Anyway, good luck with the program, looking forward to following your progress.

I feel just the same: that these expected increases are too small, at least for my squat and deadlift. Still, I've had such a long-term ambition to do 3 plates on bench for reps that I'm happy to spend the rest of this year getting there if this is what it takes. I achieved my deadlift target of 400 pounds on the last 5x5 and I've no real idea where my squat is going.

I'm expecting that the 16-20 working sets per day will increase something worth having and have a good effect on loading and correspondingly on strength gains.

I hoping that I'll be bumping the values once I get a feel for the volume and that I'll get the 10% that I've come to expect from a run of the 5x5.

Regardless of the above, it's going to give me a lot of practice on my deadlift form and ATF squatting form at 15-20 sets per week on each. For the bench it recommends switching positions through wide/shoulder/narrow from set to set so that'll get me to work a greater variety too. Overall, I decided it was worth a two-month investment for the experience.

Blut Wump said:

Regardless of the above, it's going to give me a lot of practice on my deadlift form and ATF squatting form at 15-20 sets per week on each. For the bench it recommends switching positions through wide/shoulder/narrow from set to set so that'll get me to work a greater variety too. Overall, I decided it was worth a two-month investment for the experience.

Click to expand...

good call IMO.

Cheers (wow it feels strange to type that )

Closet Brit.


That's the other thing about having my own thread: I can type all kinds of crap without feeling guilty about it.

Blut Wump said:

I can type all kinds of crap without feeling guilty about it.

Click to expand...

The flipside is that others will feel the same way.

Like the time I went to Shelbyville because I needed a new heel for my shoe. So I hopped the ferry over to Morganville, which was what they called Shelbyville in those days. To ride the ferry cost a nickel, and in those days nickels had pictures of bumble bees on 'em. "Gimme 5 bees for a quarter" you'd say. Now where was I... So I tied an onion to my belt, which was the style at the time. They didn't have white onions then becasue of the war. The only ones you could get were those big, yellow ones...

Guinness5.0 said:

Like the time I went to Shelbyville because I needed a new heel for my shoe. So I hopped the ferry over to Morganville, which was what they called Shelbyville in those days. To ride the ferry cost a nickel, and in those days nickels had pictures of bumble bees on 'em. "Gimme 5 bees for a quarter" you'd say. Now where was I... So I tied an onion to my belt, which was the style at the time. They didn't have white onions then becasue of the war. The only ones you could get were those big, yellow ones...

Click to expand...

lol. Cue falling asleep.

Guinness5.0 said:

The flipside is that others will feel the same way.

Like the time I went to Shelbyville because I needed a new heel for my shoe. So I hopped the ferry over to Morganville, which was what they called Shelbyville in those days. To ride the ferry cost a nickel, and in those days nickels had pictures of bumble bees on 'em. "Gimme 5 bees for a quarter" you'd say. Now where was I... So I tied an onion to my belt, which was the style at the time. They didn't have white onions then becasue of the war. The only ones you could get were those big, yellow ones...

Click to expand...

Point taken but, please, don't mention the war!

I just read through the program and it looks very sound and solid.

Now, about the concerns that the projected increases are too small......you're right that a world class lifter would be overjoyed at the ''small'' increases. But for the majority of people who are probably nowhere near their physical potential, you want more.

This is my problem with programs revolving around percentages. With the dual factor 5x5, the heavy day is your test day and the rest of the week's %'s are based upon that. If you follow it as a dual factor approach, the workload tonnage gets rammed up just like in Korte's program. The thing is lifters who are not elite aren't the same lifter from week to week. They get stronger from week to week at a high rate, and therefore the %'s of maxes aren't accurate from one Monday to the next.

This is a great program. Don't sweat the lack of assistance work for now, The Bulgarians didn't do much assistance and their record speaks for itself.......Give it a shot and see what you think.....worst case senario, the weights are too easy, and you get a little stronger and you try something else next cycle.....things could be much worse. I hope you give it a shot and I will be following the journal closely.

Good luck.

Week1 Day1

This is not a trivial program and I think these next four weeks are going to be gruelling. I was taking reasonably short rests between sets and none of the sets can actually be called hard but you feel the fatigue building as the workout progresses. When I'd finished, my lower back was not happy with me.

Warmups were a bit strange. Typically my first warmup weight is 60Kg (135) for both squat and bench. For bench I typically do five speed reps with a wide grip immediately followed by five more with a narrow grip. I'll then slap another 20Kg on and do another five reps. Well, for squat and bench, adding 20Kg put me straight into my work sets. I can see I'm going to have to do lighter warmups: they might also help loosen me up for all the volume.

Towards the end I kept remembering that madcow often says that the 5x5 can be made much harder by eliminating the ramps on days 1 and 3 and doing them as 5 sets at your top weight. Welcome to the Korte.

Cycling through the three grips, Wide, Shoulder, Narrow, on bench added to the fatigue. I'm not sure my elbows like the shoulder-width grip.

I tried to make an effort to get closer to the bar on the deads. Just as I thought my shins were healing, too.

I think this program is likely to give good results or bury me and I'm glad I left my ego at the door when I plotted out the weights. By the time I'd finished I did some hammy stretches and a few crunches and reckoned I was done for the day. I didn't feel any inclination to add any assistance work. I have to remember, though, that I've lost some conditioning with having done mostly low-rep work for the past month or so.

All weights in Kilos
Bench: N - Narrow, S - Shoulder width, W - Wide
ATF Squat: 60x10, 80x4, 87.5 x 5 for six sets - nothing much to report
Bench: 60x5W, 60x5N, 82.5 x 6 x 6 SWSNSW - last two sets were starting to feel tiring and I was looking forward to deadlifts
Dead: 60x10, 80x5, 100x3, 112.5 x 5 for 7 sets - no strain but tiring