Back · Deload / Test

Week 8 · ThuTarget 58 min
12 exercises · 20 sets ahead

Eat something 2-3 hours before this session — training under-fuelled costs you real strength on every lift. If you didn't and energy is under 5/10 today, cap this session at RPE 6 regardless of the week.

General Warm-up8 min

row

5 min steady · zone2 conversational

Easy pace, ~130 bpm for 5 min.

treadmill (backward, incline)

3 min steady · zone2 conversational

15% incline, 3 km/h, walking backward.

Mobility Primer6 min
Hip-flexor PAILs/RAILs (couch-stretch position)

Couch-stretch position. Ramp to effort 5-6 of 8 (moderate to strong) over 5-10s, hold peak 5-10s, release 5s (PAIL); immediately RAIL, draw the knee forward against resistance, hold 5-10s. 2 reps/side.

Video thumbnail: Couch Stretch PAIL RAILS TUTORIAL

External video — Couch Stretch PAIL RAILS TUTORIAL by SJC Physiotherapy.

How to do it
Setup
Kneeling lunge: rear knee down, rear foot up against a wall or bench behind you. Front foot flat on the floor, well out in front. Torso tall, ribs stacked directly over your pelvis — not leaning back.
Execution
PAIL: squeeze the rear glute and drive that knee down into the pad, ramping the effort up over 5-10s, hold at peak, release over 5s. RAIL: immediately try to drag the same knee forward off the pad against your own resistance, hold 5-10s. That's one rep. Repeat for the prescribed reps, then switch sides.
Common error
Arching the lower back to lean the hips forward and fake extra range — the stretch has to come from the front of the rear hip, not from your spine. Keep the ribs stacked down over the pelvis the whole time.
Feel
A building stretch through the front of the rear hip/quad during the PAIL, real muscular effort during the RAIL. Dull ache is fine. A sharp pinch in the hip means back off the depth now, don't push through it.

2 reps/side · ramp 20 s, hold 8 s · effort RPE 5–6 · rest 0:30–1:00

Banded Hip Distraction

Light — 1 set, 20s each side.

Video thumbnail: Banded Hip Distraction

External video — Banded Hip Distraction by The Active Life.

How to do it
Setup
Loop a heavy band around a low, sturdy anchor (a rack post works well). Step into the band so it sits high in the hip crease of the working leg, facing the anchor, then walk backward away from it until there is strong, obvious tension pulling that hip straight back toward the anchor.
Execution
Sink into a shallow squat or split-stance lunge on the banded side, letting the band's pull gently distract — open a small gap in — the hip joint. Rock or shift gently through a few positions for the prescribed time, breathing normally throughout.
Common error
Standing too close to the anchor so there is little or no real band tension — the whole point is the joint distraction, not just standing near a band. If you can't feel a clear backward pull on the hip, step further away.
Feel
A gentle "opening" sensation deep in the hip joint, not a muscular stretch — this is a joint-capsule mobilization, different from the muscle stretches elsewhere in the primer. No sharp pinch; if the hip sharpens, step closer to the anchor to reduce the pull rather than stopping outright.

20 s/side hold · rest 0:15

Cat-Cow

Spinal prep for the hinge — 10 reps.

Video thumbnail: Cat Cow - Exercise Library

External video — Cat Cow - Exercise Library by London Strength .

How to do it
Setup
Hands and knees. Wrists stacked under shoulders, knees stacked under hips.
Execution
Let your breath set the tempo, one full breath per position. Inhale into Cow: let the belly sink, lift the chest and tailbone, eyes look slightly up. Exhale into Cat: push the floor away, round the spine, tuck the chin toward your chest and the tailbone under, eyes look toward your navel. Flow smoothly from one checkpoint to the other for the prescribed reps.
Common error
Stopping in the rounded Cat position and holding it — the drill is the full alternation between both checkpoints, timed to the breath, not a static round-back stretch.
Feel
A smooth wave travels the full length of the spine each direction, checkpoint to checkpoint — eyes up and belly low at one end, chin tucked and spine rounded at the other. No sharp catching anywhere in the back.

2 × 10 · rest 0:10

Single-leg RDL (bodyweight pattern rehearsal)

Bodyweight pattern rehearsal — feel the hinge, not a working set. 1s pause at the bottom of each rep.

Single-leg RDL (bodyweight pattern rehearsal)~200-400KB demo

Showing: Dumbbell Single Leg Deadlift — closest verified demo. Shows the Dumbbell Single Leg Deadlift performed with load. The primer's "bodyweight pattern rehearsal" is the identical hip-hinge pattern performed with empty hands, purely to groove the balance and hinge before the loaded Romanian Deadlift work later in the session.

2 × 6/side @ RPE 3 · rest 0:20

Main Lift — Conventional Deadlift14 min
Conventional Deadlift

Easy, full reset every rep. Hip: dull ache is fine, sharp or pinching pain means stop the rep and reduce range/effort — shorten the range, or switch to a rack pull from just below the knee for the rest of the session.

Conventional Deadlift~200-400KB demo

2 × 5 @ RPE 5–6 · tempo 1-0-2-0 · rest 2:00 → 3 @ RPE 7–8 · tempo 1-0-2-0 · rest 2:30

Accessories (light)20 min
Barbell Row — Bent-over

Easy.

Barbell Row — Bent-over~200-400KB demo

2 × 8 @ RPE 6 · tempo 1-0-2-0 · rest 2:00

DB Row (single-arm, bench-supported)

Easy, still hold the 2s squeeze.

Demonstration of DB Row (single-arm, bench-supported), start position

2 × 8/side @ RPE 6 · tempo 2-0-2-2 · rest 1:30

Lat Pulldown (wide-grip)

Light.

Demonstration of Lat Pulldown (wide-grip), start position

2 × 10 @ RPE 6 · tempo 2-0-2-0 · rest 1:30

Barbell Shrug

Light.

Barbell Shrug~200-400KB demo

2 × 12 @ RPE 6 · tempo 2-0-2-0 · rest 1:00

Mobility Finisher9 min
90/90 shin-box PAILs/RAILs

Effort 5-6 of 8 (moderate to strong), 2 reps/side.

Video thumbnail: Hip Mobility Drill: The Shin Box

External video — Hip Mobility Drill: The Shin Box by Balance In Motion.

How to do it
Setup
Same 90/90 shin-box seat as the primer drill — front shin across your body, back shin behind you. Settle onto one side and stay there; this is a hold, not the switching flow.
Execution
PAIL: press the front shin/knee down into the floor, ramping the effort over 5-10s, hold the peak, release over 5s. RAIL: immediately lift that same shin/knee back up off the floor against your own resistance, hold 5-10s. That's one rep. Repeat for the prescribed reps, then switch which leg is in front and repeat on the other side.
Common error
Rushing the ramp instead of building it over the full 5-10 seconds, or letting the torso collapse forward to fake extra depth — sit tall throughout.
Feel
A deep, controllable stretch through the front hip during the PAIL, real muscular effort during the RAIL. Dull ache is fine and expected. A sharp pinch in the hip crease means back off the depth immediately.

2 reps/side · ramp 20 s, hold 8 s · effort RPE 5–6 · rest 0:30–1:00

Couch Stretch

Passive hold, 75s each side.

Video thumbnail: Couch Stretch

External video — Couch Stretch by Functional Bodybuilding.

How to do it
Setup
Kneeling lunge, rear shin up against a wall or couch/bench behind you, rear foot pointing up. Front foot flat on the floor, well out in front. Torso tall, ribs stacked over the pelvis.
Execution
Squeeze the rear glute to sink the hip forward and deepen the stretch. Hold completely still for the full prescribed time. This is a finisher drill only — never do it before lifting.
Common error
Arching the lower back to bring the torso closer to vertical instead of actually moving the hip forward — this fakes depth without touching the hip flexor. Keep the ribs pulled down and let the glute squeeze do the work.
Feel
A steady, building stretch through the front of the rear hip and thigh that should ease slightly the longer you hold it. Dull ache is normal. A sharp pinch in the hip means come out of the position, don't fight it.

75 s/side hold · rest 0:15

Pigeon Stretch

Passive hold, 60s each side.

Video thumbnail: PIGEON STRETCH

External video — PIGEON STRETCH by Atomic Athlete.

How to do it
Setup
Front leg bent, shin angled across your body with the front foot pointing toward the opposite hip. Back leg extended long behind you. Hips square to the floor, not twisted or hiked to one side.
Execution
Fold your torso forward over the front shin, letting your weight sink down. Hold still, breathing, for the full prescribed time.
Common error
Letting the hips rotate or hike up to force the front knee flatter — this fakes extra rotation from the hip instead of finding it honestly. Keep the hips square first, and accept whatever depth that leaves you with.
Feel
A deep stretch on the outside of the front hip and glute. A sharp pinch in the front of the hip crease means the angle is too aggressive — back the front shin off toward a less rotated position.

60 s/side hold · rest 0:15

RPE — lifting sets

Rate of Perceived Exertion — reps in reserve (RIR) is how many more reps you had left.

10
RIR 0
Maximal effort.
Never programmed as a target in this plan.
9
RIR 1
One more rep was there, barely.
8
RIR 2
Two clean reps left in the tank.
7
RIR 3
Three left — working hard, not grinding.
6
RIR 4
Solid work, far from failure.
≤5
RIR 5+
Warm-up / ramp effort.

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Effort — mobility & primer sets

Effort against your own end range — RIR ("reps in reserve") doesn't apply to a hold or an isometric, so this scale describes how hard the contraction felt instead.

8
Hard end-range contraction — right at the edge, just barely maintained for the prescribed hold.
The peak-week PAILs/RAILs target — held, never exceeded.
6–7
Strong contraction, real effort, comfortably sustained for the hold.
4–5
Moderate — a working ramp, noticeable but not straining.
2–3
Light ramp — could hold this all day.

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Tempo

What to do: pick a weight that lets you hit the prescribed reps at the prescribed RPE while moving at this tempo, then log what actually happened. That's the whole job — everything below is only for when you want to know why.

Reading the four numbers

3-1-1-0
Eccentric (lowering) · pause at the bottom · concentric (lifting) · pause at the top — each number is seconds. This example, this programme’s Week 1 back squat, is 3s down, 1s paused in the hole, 1s up, no pause at the top.
3-3-X-0
"X" in place of a number means move that phase explosively — as fast as you genuinely can, not on a count. This example, Week 6’s back squat, is 3s down, 3s paused at the bottom, drive up as hard and fast as possible, no pause at the top.

Why this programme prescribes it

It standardises the stimulus. A rep's difficulty depends on how fast it's performed, not only the weight and rep count — the same weight moved faster is an easier rep. Writing the tempo down is what makes “RPE 7” mean the same thing this week and next; without it, RPE stops being comparable week to week.

This is a measurement/programming argument, not a muscle-growth claim on its own.

It removes momentum. A controlled lowering phase and a real pause at the bottom take away the free elastic rebound a rushed rep gets from the muscle and tendon stretching and snapping back (the "stretch-shortening cycle"). Without that assist, the muscle has to start the lift from a dead stop — why a paused rep feels harder at the same weight, and why it’s obvious immediately if a rep gets bounced instead of controlled.

Evidence: solid, well-established muscle physiology (Komi PV, "Stretch-shortening cycle: a powerful model to study normal and fatigued muscle." J Biomech 33(10):1197–1206, 2000) — a mechanical fact, not a hypertrophy-specific finding.

Tendon and connective tissue load differently under a controlled tempo. Tendons adapt to how they're mechanically loaded, and a slower, controlled rep holds real tension in the tissue for longer per rep than a bounced one — relevant here because this programme leans corrective (the shoulder/hip work).

Evidence: real but broader than this exact prescription. Bohm S, Mersmann F, Arampatzis A, "Human tendon adaptation in response to mechanical loading: a systematic review and meta-analysis of exercise intervention studies on healthy adults." Sports Med Open 1:7, 2015 (27 studies, 264 participants) found loading INTENSITY was the strongest driver of tendon stiffness gains, with duration a smaller factor — applying that general principle to this programme's tempo choice is this programme's own reasoning, not a trial that tested this exact tempo.

What it does NOT do: make a set better for muscle growth by itself. A slower or paused tempo is not shown to build more muscle than a rep performed under your own, honestly controlled pace.

Evidence: the best current evidence points the other way. Schoenfeld BJ, Ogborn DI, Krieger JW, "Effect of repetition duration during resistance training on muscle hypertrophy: a systematic review and meta-analysis." Sports Medicine 45(4):577–585, 2015 found similar hypertrophy across repetition durations from 0.5 to 8 seconds each — and very slow reps (over roughly 10s) came out WORSE, not better.

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