HP Mass with Power Clean / Chins

After a six-week layoff last Spring (my longest period without lifting at all in years), I found CT’s “6 Weeks to Superhero” article and starting reading all the stuff he’s written. I did the 6 Weeks to Superhero program with solid gains (improved work capacity, regained strength, lost a few lbs), then did a 6-week cycle of HP Mass, which led to some of my best strength gains in years. Basically I’m as strong now at 177lbs as I was a couple years ago when I weighed 200.

Due to work / travel I had to switch to a lower-frequency 3x week program for a few weeks, but now I’m starting a new cycle of HP Mass, and want to customize it per my goals. I know customization is a tricky subject but I’m hoping I’m experienced enough at this point to do it intelligently and not mess up the program.

My goals are upper body strength and mass, with a focus on mass. Despite lifting for basically a decade now, in terms of pure muscle my physique is not impressive at all. For years I followed the advice of lifting for strength (full body 3x week) and eating to grow, and eventually I made it to 200 lbs bodyweight but I looked terrible. My shoulders are naturally narrow and I’m much more lower-body dominant, so while my squat and deadlift kept going up my bench struggled. I was “pear-shaped”, and kind of fat. I’ve dieted down now and as I mentioned my strength levels are good but my trunk is still thick and I don’t have a good V-shape.

Point being… I want to focus on upper body mass / strength and just maintain lower body strength without adding any mass. So I’m limiting the lower body work in HP Mass and adding Power Cleans and some additional back work based on the exercises I don’t want to completely stop doing. I’m 5’11, 177lbs, 30 years old.

Here is what I’m thinking:

MONDAY

Power Snatch warm-up
Push Press – ramp to MTW and wave load. Staggered with shrugs.
Incline Bench Press – ramp to MTW and wave load. Staggered with ab strap face pulls.
Bench Press – ramp to MTW and wave load. Staggered with rear delt flyes.
Farmer’s Walk – heavy – 1 set.
(Abs, first two weeks, blitz)

TUESDAY

Power Snatch warm-up
Push Press – ramp to MTW and wave load. Staggered with shrugs.
Incline Bench Press – ramp to MTW and wave load. Staggered with ab strap face pulls.
Bench Press – ramp to MTW and wave load. Staggered with rear delt flyes.
Weighted Chin-ups, 3 x 6, add weight each week
Cable curls, superset Reverse / Wide Grip / Close Grip, 5 x 10
(Abs, first two weeks, blitz)

WEDNESDAY
Neural Charge.

THURSDAY

Clean / Press / Front Squat Complex, warm-up
Power Clean from Hang – ramp to MTW and wave load.
Push Press – ramp to MTW and wave load.
Front Squat – low volume, max effort.
Farmer’s Walk – heavy – 2 sets.
Kroc Rows – 3 x 15
(Abs, first two weeks, blitz)

FRIDAY

Clean / Press / Front Squat Complex, warm-up
Power Clean from Hang – ramp to MTW and wave load.
Incline Bench Press – ramp to MTW and wave load. Staggered with ab strap face pulls.
Deadlift – low volume, max effort.
(Abs, first two weeks, blitz)

SATURDAY

Thib Lat Pulldown, 6 x 10
WG Lat Pulldown / Straight Arm Pulldown superset, 4 x 10
Preacher Curls, 5 x 10, plus rest/pause or partials
Hammer Curls with hold, 5 x 10

Eccentric-less Circuit (I live in a city and my gym doesn’t have a sled.)
Drop Pull-ups
TRX Strap Low Pulls, re-set / minimize eccentric btw reps
TRX Strap Curls, re-set / minimize eccentric btw reps
DB Rows, drop weight btw reps

Farmer’s Walk – heavy – 3 sets
Back Squat – 1 set high reps (e.g. 225 x 20, try to add reps each week)
(Abs, first two weeks, blitz)

SUNDAY

Neural Charge.

I also do a few sets of non-maximal pullups throughout each workout (e.g. one set between the main lifts), something like 3 x 15. (Except Neural Charge workouts).

I’m taking Plazma, 3 doses (one 20 minutes before workout, other two throughout workout). 1 dose MAG-10 an hour after training, very big meal 1 hour after that.

My plan is to do this for 6 weeks, then switch to Indigo Hypertrophy once work capacity and strength is up. But really I want to build muscle, and I’m at a time in my life right now where I can devote a lot of energy / time to it, so want to do everything possible.

Thanks for any feedback.

[quote]craze9 wrote:
After a six-week layoff last Spring (my longest period without lifting at all in years), I found CT’s “6 Weeks to Superhero” article and starting reading all the stuff he’s written. I did the 6 Weeks to Superhero program with solid gains (improved work capacity, regained strength, lost a few lbs), then did a 6-week cycle of HP Mass, which led to some of my best strength gains in years. Basically I’m as strong now at 177lbs as I was a couple years ago when I weighed 200.

Due to work / travel I had to switch to a lower-frequency 3x week program for a few weeks, but now I’m starting a new cycle of HP Mass, and want to customize it per my goals. I know customization is a tricky subject but I’m hoping I’m experienced enough at this point to do it intelligently and not mess up the program.

My goals are upper body strength and mass, with a focus on mass. Despite lifting for basically a decade now, in terms of pure muscle my physique is not impressive at all. For years I followed the advice of lifting for strength (full body 3x week) and eating to grow, and eventually I made it to 200 lbs bodyweight but I looked terrible. My shoulders are naturally narrow and I’m much more lower-body dominant, so while my squat and deadlift kept going up my bench struggled. I was “pear-shaped”, and kind of fat. I’ve dieted down now and as I mentioned my strength levels are good but my trunk is still thick and I don’t have a good V-shape.

Point being… I want to focus on upper body mass / strength and just maintain lower body strength without adding any mass. So I’m limiting the lower body work in HP Mass and adding Power Cleans and some additional back work based on the exercises I don’t want to completely stop doing. I’m 5’11, 177lbs, 30 years old.

Here is what I’m thinking:

MONDAY

Power Snatch warm-up
Push Press – ramp to MTW and wave load. Staggered with shrugs.
Incline Bench Press – ramp to MTW and wave load. Staggered with ab strap face pulls.
Bench Press – ramp to MTW and wave load. Staggered with rear delt flyes.
Farmer’s Walk – heavy – 1 set.
(Abs, first two weeks, blitz)

TUESDAY

Power Snatch warm-up
Push Press – ramp to MTW and wave load. Staggered with shrugs.
Incline Bench Press – ramp to MTW and wave load. Staggered with ab strap face pulls.
Bench Press – ramp to MTW and wave load. Staggered with rear delt flyes.
Weighted Chin-ups, 3 x 6, add weight each week
Cable curls, superset Reverse / Wide Grip / Close Grip, 5 x 10
(Abs, first two weeks, blitz)

WEDNESDAY
Neural Charge.

THURSDAY

Clean / Press / Front Squat Complex, warm-up
Power Clean from Hang – ramp to MTW and wave load.
Push Press – ramp to MTW and wave load.
Front Squat – low volume, max effort.
Farmer’s Walk – heavy – 2 sets.
Kroc Rows – 3 x 15
(Abs, first two weeks, blitz)

FRIDAY

Clean / Press / Front Squat Complex, warm-up
Power Clean from Hang – ramp to MTW and wave load.
Incline Bench Press – ramp to MTW and wave load. Staggered with ab strap face pulls.
Deadlift – low volume, max effort.
(Abs, first two weeks, blitz)

SATURDAY

Thib Lat Pulldown, 6 x 10
WG Lat Pulldown / Straight Arm Pulldown superset, 4 x 10
Preacher Curls, 5 x 10, plus rest/pause or partials
Hammer Curls with hold, 5 x 10

Eccentric-less Circuit (I live in a city and my gym doesn’t have a sled.)
Drop Pull-ups
TRX Strap Low Pulls, re-set / minimize eccentric btw reps
TRX Strap Curls, re-set / minimize eccentric btw reps
DB Rows, drop weight btw reps

Farmer’s Walk – heavy – 3 sets
Back Squat – 1 set high reps (e.g. 225 x 20, try to add reps each week)
(Abs, first two weeks, blitz)

SUNDAY

Neural Charge.

I also do a few sets of non-maximal pullups throughout each workout (e.g. one set between the main lifts), something like 3 x 15. (Except Neural Charge workouts).

I’m taking Plazma, 3 doses (one 20 minutes before workout, other two throughout workout). 1 dose MAG-10 an hour after training, very big meal 1 hour after that.

My plan is to do this for 6 weeks, then switch to Indigo Hypertrophy once work capacity and strength is up. But really I want to build muscle, and I’m at a time in my life right now where I can devote a lot of energy / time to it, so want to do everything possible.

Thanks for any feedback.[/quote]

It’s not a bad plan, but there is a little too much volume IMHO. I like the staggered work for upper body (I do that with a few clients at the moment) but you have to take this volume into account when designing the plan. Even if it’s not stressful compared to the big lifts, it still requires energy and neural activity.

The volume you have is higher than what I’m having my clients do, and they are normally training 4-5 days a week when using this program. When frequency is high, volume has to be reduced. And when doing the staggered work we never do more than 5 working sets of the big lift, otherwise it can build up too much.

I find that with the upper body big lifts + staggered lift 12-16 work sets (of the main lifts) is as much as one should use if training the upper body twice a week. If one is training the upper body more frequently I would use even lower volume than that 9-12 working sets (of the main lifts).

Thanks for the response. So, what would you suggest I change / cut out, if you don’t mind me asking? I go pretty light with the staggered assistance work. Should I not do any heavy chins / rows? Or do you think the basic structure of upper body pressing wave load 2 days then power clean wave load 2 days plus back/biceps day is too much?

craze9,
It is really interesting to see CT’s volume recommendations. I arrived at a similar conclusion to what CT just recommended- I just thought I had poorer than average recovery.

For the second and third upper body exercises, I did one feeler set (or none) then a set at the MTW, followed by one wave of three sets and -10, MTW, and -20. For week 2, I added one set, so the wave went -20, -10, MTW, -20. For week 3, I added a 2nd MTW set before doing the wave from week 2.

I also don’t think I’d be doing the weighted chins on Tuesday, the Kroc rows on Thursday and I would not do the Saturday workout at all (other than NC and maybe some sled/farmers) until I stopped making progress on the staggered back work on M/Tu. HP Mass is already high volume, high frequency, so less is more when it comes to the supplemental lifts.

IMHO - The upper body grows when you can work through partially fatigued muscles (lifting while sore) but not getting injured. The back is made up of so many different muscles, you should plan to rotate through the angles over a period of weeks, instead of trying to hit every angle in one week. I feel a rhomboid spasm coming on reading your first post.

[quote]orcrist wrote:
craze9,
It is really interesting to see CT’s volume recommendations. I arrived at a similar conclusion to what CT just recommended- I just thought I had poorer than average recovery.

For the second and third upper body exercises, I did one feeler set (or none) then a set at the MTW, followed by one wave of three sets and -10, MTW, and -20. For week 2, I added one set, so the wave went -20, -10, MTW, -20. For week 3, I added a 2nd MTW set before doing the wave from week 2.

I also don’t think I’d be doing the weighted chins on Tuesday, the Kroc rows on Thursday and I would not do the Saturday workout at all (other than NC and maybe some sled/farmers) until I stopped making progress on the staggered back work on M/Tu. HP Mass is already high volume, high frequency, so less is more when it comes to the supplemental lifts.

IMHO - The upper body grows when you can work through partially fatigued muscles (lifting while sore) but not getting injured. The back is made up of so many different muscles, you should plan to rotate through the angles over a period of weeks, instead of trying to hit every angle in one week. I feel a rhomboid spasm coming on reading your first post.[/quote]

That’s interesting, thanks for the response. But I’m a little confused, because the upper body pressing and staggered assistance is copied directly from the basic HP Mass template: http://www.T-Nation.com/free_online_article/most_recent/highperformance_mass_upper_body_pressing. And it’s what I did on the last HP Mass cycle, with good results. The changes I made were really just adding cleans and some additional back work.

I dropped the Kroc rows and am going pretty easy on the pullups and assistance work (i.e., not to failure). Maybe I’m not doing the assistance work correctly, though. What do you mean by making progress on those lifts? Are you recording your weight / reps and trying to increase every week? I’m basically just doing a bunch of sets between 8-12 reps and not worrying about going much heavier or hitting failure.

The workouts are long and not easy but I’ve been getting all the work done so far. I haven’t adhered 100% to the wave loading protocol as I’ve gone a bit lighter on certain sets, and have just been trying to focus on moving the weight fast and never grinding. I guess I’ll see if I burn out, but am optimistic at this point and it’s only 6 weeks…

I think that CT’s comment is that if you are going to add in all that back work, then you are going to have to cut volume somewhere else.

Progress doesn’t necessarily have to be a rep record. Muscle growth, easing perceived effort, increase in your clean strength - all of those would count as progress with upper back work.

I was also doing a bunch of light sets in that rep range, though I tended to do more 6-8rep sets with a 1s hold at the peak contraction. I need to “feel” my back work to have it make any difference. I also did a lot of 1+1/2 rep sets to get that.

If you are going lighter on the waves, is it to maintain speed? At the weights prescribed, your speed should not slow down. If it is, you are losing neural drive, or you are losing weight. Rest and diet should be rechecked, and maybe drop the volume back on the alternating sets. I tended to not to a set of pulls right before any pressing set at the MTW, just to make sure I was dialed in.

Yeah, I’ve been doing a 1s hold with pretty much all the back work (except cleans, obviously). And sometimes I skip the assistance right before the MTW sets.

But the bar speed is going to slow down over the course of a lift to some degree, isn’t it? I mean, fatigue is going to accumulate. My bench press MTW is something I could usually get 8 reps with, but after 10-15 sets of push press, then incline press, then benching (without a lot of rest) by the final set or two the bar is going to be slower than the initial sets (even if not quite a grind). At least it has been for me. But to answer your question, yes I went lighter on some of the waves to maintain speed and avoid grinding reps.

I just finished Week 3 and while the workouts were long I got all the volume in and am feeling pretty good about the next (3-week) cycle. Next week (only 1 ramp to MTW) should be pretty easy, at least.

Thought I might as well update with my results, now that I’ve finished the program.

To recap, I did my first 6-week cycle of HP Mass starting in mid-July. I was coming off a kind of long layoff in the Spring, and my lifts weren’t that strong. I decided to focus on upper body pressing and chose the Push Press, Incline Press, and Bench Press, though I hadn’t ever really BB push-pressed before and hadn’t incline pressed in years. Anyway, my starting max training weights were:

Push Press: 135 lbs
Incline Press: 170 lbs
Bench Press: 215 lbs

After the first 6-week cycle I tested my maxes on these lifts:

Push Press: 185x3
Incline Press: 200x3, 185x6
Bench Press: 265x3, 225x7

This was great progress, pretty close to all-time PRs on all three lifts, though not quite. I was very pleased, though, and would have gone straight into another cycle except that I had to travel during September. I adopted a 3-day week 5/3/1 program to maintain strength. I was just doing the basic template though and it was probably too little volume (to maintain work capacity).

In mid-October I started the 2nd HP Mass cycle, adding Hang Power Cleans, per the OP of this thread. BW was 176.5 lbs. MTWs were:

Push Press: 155 lbs
Incline Press: 175 lbs
Bench Press: 225 lbs
Hang Clean: 155 lbs (based on 185x3 max)

I increased MTW by 5 lbs after the first 3 weeks as usual and tested maxes on Week 7. I think I might have overreached a little with the upper body volume, though, because my first max test (push press, on the Monday of Week 7) I got crushed. It might have been wise to do a deload for Week 7 and test on Week 8. As a result I tested certain lifts (Push Press and Bench) a second time the week after.

Push Press: first test I barely got 190x2, so I retested the following week and got 185x4 (almost 5, kind of screwed up the last rep attempt).

Hang Clean: 205x3

Incline Press: 205x3, 185x8

Bench Press: first week attempt I barely got 265x2, then did 225x8. The week after I did 275x1, and 225x9.

Bodyweight went up about 5 lbs to 181.

Looking at the new max tests, it’s pretty clear my maximal strength didn’t go up very much on this second HP Mass cycle (except the Hang Clean, where I set a 20 lbs PR – but this was my first cycle for that lift). However, my rep maxes went up quite a bit, as I was able to set all-time PRs for Incline Press (185x8) and Bench (225x9). This actually makes sense to me, as those max-rep tests are using weights very much in line with the MTWs I was lifting throughout the 6 week cycle. It’s logical that doing lots of fast low-rep sets with ~225lbs on bench would improve my 225 lb max.

To summarize the results of this second cycle using a 1RM calculator:

Push Press: 196 → 202
Incline Press: 215 → 230
Bench Press: 281 → 289
Hang Clean: 196 → 217

BW: 176.5 → 181

Though I’m a little disappointed I wasn’t able to set new 3RMs for Push Press and Bench, I still got stronger on those lifts and overall am very satisfied with this progress. It was my first time training like this (high volume, low intensity) and I learned a lot. HP Mass is definitely a program I’ll come back to in the future. For now, I’m going to try to take advantage of my new rep maxes and do some higher-rep hypertrophy-focused training. Thanks CT for a great program and all your work, from which I’ve learned a huge amount.