I recently competed the Power Look workout and was hoping to transition into your 6 weeks to Superhero program. You told me though was told It would actually be best to do more of a bodybuilding program, like a Meadows plan for 4 weeks or so before doing something neural again.
I’ve never really switched types before, I mostly just did 5x5 full body my whole life. I was curious as to if there’s a rule of thumb or anything for:
A- How often I should switch routine types (every workout cycle?)
B- Which types I should switch between … I’m guessing just rotate mass/athletic or strength /leaning programs in a “ do then switch” rotation since those are my goals? Vs just doing multiple mass routines with an occasional variation sprinkled in?
That is a really tough question to answer because it depends on many factors.
Your main goal… someone who is only interested in getting stronger without necessarily getting bigger will not need the same frequency of change as someone who wants both size & strength equally… someone who wants to be stronger, bigger and leaner will need even more frequent changes
Your neurotype/psychological profile… some people naturally crave changes. I personally have a hard time sticking to the same plan for more than 2 weeks while some people can stick to the same plan or months (even years) and actually do better if they don’t change often.
Your capacity to handle stress. For example if someone recovers VERY easily from neural-dominant workouts he will be able to focus on heavy lifting for much longer than someone who gets trashed when they lift super heavy.
Your training objective… similar to a goal but with a specific date. For example if you need to reach a certain level on a specific date (competition, photo shoot, training camp, etc.) you might have a different structure than if you simply want to keep getting better but with no set date to peak.
With most people I like to use an accumulation / intensification rotation. Accumulation is higher in volume (but for that person, high volume for a powerlifter is not the same as high volume for a bodybuilder) and lower in weights. Intensification is higher in weights but lower in volume.
If someone doesn’t have to peak at a certain date I normally like to alternate phases of accumulation and intensification lasting 3-6 weeks depending on the person.
The Power look program is a peaking program so that is essentially 10 weeks of intensification (well, the first phase can technically be called an accumulation phase) which is why I said that you should do bodybuilding work for 4 weeks,
Personally I often do…
3 weeks accumulation
3 weeks intensification
3 week accumulation (heavier than first accumulation)
3 weeks intensification
But some people will be more comfortable with 4-6 weeks per phase.
Thanks coach! Last last one- I can’t find the meadows B.B. program …can I just do your zombie one instead for the 4 weeks prior to Supehero? If not, which one of your workouts would you recommend for the 4 weeks?