Thread: Goal/periodization feedback

Hi, I'm looking for feedback on this periodization model to reach my goals. And, if my goals seem unrealistic, feedback on those would be great too. I'm concerned about horizontal pull volume and the coordination, in general, of the exercises. Any/all feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Starting stats: 5'4" male, 142 lbs, ~15% bf; training age: ~2 serious years, 3ish medium-seriousness, basically nothing trained at all before; last max test on 4/8

Bench - 247.5 lbs (232.5 lbs last max attempt)
Press - 180 lbs (172.5 lbs)
Squat - 317.5 lbs (estimated; currently rehabbing a strained adductor)
Deadlift - 380 lbs (360 lbs)
Pull-up - 75 lbs (65 lbs)
Curl - 95 lbs (estimated)

Goal (end-year or before) stats: I'm currently torn between cutting to 132 lbs (60 kg class) and grinding for 1k total (~265 bench, 335 squat, 400 deadlift) or bulking up to 145-149 lbs (66-67.5 kg class) and just maxing out all of my lifts. Either way, I'm cutting down to ~135 lbs or 10% first and then picking a reasonable calorie level for whatever comes next. The goals below are completely arbitrary, but seem reasonable? Around 6% gain on all of them at the low end, which would be my goal if I was cutting to 132 and making minimal (but substantial) strength gains, and random milestones at the upper end. E.g., 2x weight bench, 1.5x weight press, 2.5x weight squat, 3x weight pull, 2-2.5 plates pull-up, and 1 plate curl.

Bench - 265-300
Press - 200-225
Squat - 335-375
Deadlift - 400-450
Pull-up - 100-115
Curl - 110-135

Nutrition: I've found that I'm very bad with long cuts (even only a few weeks) because I have inordinately high hunger from being fluffy and inactive on a US diet for the first 30 years of my life, so I'm currently rotating between 3 days at 700 cal deficit (~1700 cals) and 1 day at maintenance (~2400 cals). I shoot for ~100-150 g protein and 40-60 g fat per day. Sometimes this is hard since I'm vegan. Luckily, my micros and fiber are always taken care of.

Cardio: I do ~1 hour of walking every day. This probably doesn't help me lose much (~1 lb/month of energy expenditure), but it helps slightly with my GPP, rehabbing my adductor, and gives me ~1-2 lbs/month of leeway in my dieting.

Split:

Accessories - calves, abs, traps, inverted rows, prone rear delt flies - all of these are trained at 3x12ish 3ish times per week
Main work - heavy days are 3x3 @ 80% 1RM; medium days are 3x6 @ 75% 1RM; light days are 3x12 @ 67% 1RM; all of these should be ~2 RIR/8 RPE
Monday - heavy bench, light press, abs, calves, flies
Tuesday - medium deadlift, heavy pull-ups, heavy curls, traps
Wednesday - light bench, light curls, abs, calves, flies
Thursday - light pull-ups, light curls, light inverted rows, traps
Friday - medium bench, heavy press, abs, calves, flies
Saturday - heavy deadlift, medium pull-ups, medium curls, traps

Progression:

Each exercise progresses independently from the others.


Load progression - increase 1RM by 2.5-10 lbs per lift, which amounts to 1.25-7.5 lbs increase on work sets
Failure - workout completed with reduced weight, load not increased next week
Second failure - week at half weights, then try again
Deload - if more than 1 muscle group reaches a second failure at the same time, all exercises reduced automatically to deload weeks
More than 8 RPE or less than 2 RIR on any set - workout completed as planned, load not increased next week
Less than 8 RPE or more than 2 RIR on all sets - workout completed as planned, volume increased by 1 set on lightest training day in addition to load increase