Nope.
But wouldn’t it be best to use the relatively optimal strength plan and interchange it every so often with an optimal mass plan?
Didn’t you just point that out in Question of Power 5?
I think many in this thread would be well served to order Paul’s book, LRB 365.
IT takes you through an entire year of training with different phases, and takes most of the guess work out of it which is where many people get tripped up (myself included).
For those who don’t know whether they are doing things right or not, Pay $10 and have the man himself guide you through it
- Amazon is actually offering a $7.49 credit on an ebook purchase if you buy this book, so this entire program effectively costs $2.50 …
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Being jacked > any amount of strength
Trust me, when I walk around at various BBing events with my friends who are pros, the looks they get and the amount of attention is insane. You get to take that with you everywhere you go. Benching 500 and pulling 800? You only get that in the gym.
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Thats a really good point.
Does being stronger lead to faster muscle gains?
So if I have a max bench at lets say 140 lbs and I begin a mass building phase for 12 weeks. Or if I work on strength for 4 weeks and get my bench up to 170 and then do a mass building phase for 8 weeks. Which will I gain more?
There’s no way to answer those kinds of really weird af questions. Seriously.
If I buy a Honda Civic, will it go faster if I put better tires on it and then take it through a run at the nurburgring or if I put a turbo on it and run 1/4’s down at the drag strip?
Let me get back to you on that one, lol.
So a person should stay in a mass gaining phase most of the time in which he gains muscle quicker and gains strength but slower than a strict strength gain program?
You should read Paul’s book called base building. It’s all about building strength with sub max weights. It’s worth the money.
You could also look into phase potentiation. Or block training. Newer lifters should be focusing on building muscle more regardless. Strength and peaking really only for comp or testing but you can’t stay in a peak all the time anyways. And really think about the amount of work you can do in a peak.
I think the answer to that question, getting stronger leads to gaining muscle faster, sounds intuitively correct but actually is hard to answer like you said.
If that were the case, then your gains would actually accelerate as you left the newbie phase and not taper off, which we all know doesnt happen. After all, the argument from those people would be a “315lb bench for reps leads to more gains than a 135lb bench” … but its entirely possible to gain more muscle going from 135 to 225 to 315 than it is going from 315 to 405.
And certainly when you go from 405 to 495 you arent gaining slabs and slabs of muscle like you were from 135 to 405, even though the weights are heavier. Obviously the person who can lift those numbers has to keep going up, they will get smaller using a 135 bench, but I think you get my point.
This is why the whole “Get strong before you body build” crowd is misguided, in my opinion… Some else is the main driver of muscle growth, as discussed in your other thread.
Getting stronger in the right rep ranges will get you larger, faster.
The problem is so many guys want to do stupid shit like hit maxes in the 1-3 rep range, and there’s literally almost no reason to ever do that. A fast triple to set up programming is a good idea. But why is anyone doing max singles? When I head their reasons I want to punch them and myself in the crotch. “Because I like to” or some stupid shit like that.
Do you also like getting injured? Or reinforcing horrific technique with your maxes?
Most guys like to have sex with a lot of beautiful women. But if you’re committed to one girl, it’s a shitty thing to do. In a metaphorical sense, it’s not dissimilar. You’re cheating on your body. Take care of it. Take care of the connective tissue by not doing stupid shit like that when lifting is supposed to lead to longevity.
Ranting now…point is…
You want to grow? Get stronger in the 8-20 rep range.
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Man I feel you on this. I’m competing Saturday and after that I’m retiring from powerlifting. It’s most likely going to be low volume high intensity Bro splits for me. I doubt I’ll flat bench or low bar squat anytime soon. And dead lifting is out of the question. This training cycle has been terrible on injuries and has given me some perspective.
I will never squat or pull from the floor conventional style again. Literally no need, and were never good movements for me at all.
Even front squats? What is the best squat if I do not have a hack squat?
Where does flat benching sit on the chest activation and muscle building?
And how do the 5x5 stronglifts justify their method?
Also, I read somewhere I can’t find on the forum that you said if someone wanted to do SSP for four days, and I don’t remember what your answer was? Since the SSP is hitting a muscle 1.5 times a week, how could it be increased to 2 times a week?
I didnt think hitting a muscle twice a week was the be all and end all it’s meant to be?
I really hope all of those questions are sarcasm.
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Basically everything except for the last two.
I think the answer is if you are getting stronger with properly executed techniqe and in a controlable, slow manner, then you build more muscle. I mean it’s only natural that growing muscle = being stronger = handling more wieght = growing even more. But we are not talking about max rep. with terrible technique, but actually getting stronger at your reps. In other words we are talking progressive overload here - getting progresively stronger at your actual training, not at your rep max.
Doesn’t change the fact the question is strange though, as we are talking obvious things here.
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Every person who wants to be more muscular should be made to write this down a 1000 times before they are allowed to touch a weight.
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Squats only did something for me when I pre-exhausted with leg extensions and did heels elevated. Other than that they are a low back and glute exercise for me. Little to none quad growth.
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