This makes me really believe you could find that 20 minutes. As a matter of fact, I know you could.
Itās a 10.5 hour work day for me, but my office allows a 60 min gym break if I use their gym. I have to drive there, park, change, warm up, then change and drive back to my office. and the gym is too crowded when we are allowed to take off work to use it.
That is a good exercise selection and done in the proper order. Now itās just a matter of which sets/reps schemes you will be using
Is the top 1/2 press a bench or overhead? In any case I would likely put the bench press second, not 3rd.
The RDL is more for the deadlift day. If you put it here the whole week becomes way too hard on the lower back IMHO. A split squat might be a better option especially with the front squat AND Zercher which both tax the lower and upper back quite a bit.
Thatās fineā¦ hat stuff doesnāt require much warming up and if you use an antagonist superset pattern you can get it all done in 40 minutes.
Given the lifts I chose for the deadlift day already, is the RDL worth moving there or would you suggest dropping it out? Iād probably save it for the next time I change out the SGHP.
Itās overhead but Iāll move it to after bench. Thank you.
CT to reopen an old topic (inspired by your recent frequency articles), what do you think of full body style training?
There are many variations but the one I think is fruitful, and not too particulalry stressful, is an āeasy strengthā style program (I think you had linked the authorās blog on facebook)
Basically it is 3x a week, do only 2 sets of 5 reps (bench, squat, deadlift) and thats it. Add 5-10 lbs every session and you basically end up āMagicallyā getting stronger at program end (1-2 months i think).
Another version is your built for bad style, which was truly brutal. But I wonder if a less intense/long term version could be something as follows (2 on 1 off):
Day 1: 3 compound lifts 8/6/4/2 starting at 70% of 1RM (training)
Day 2: 3 different compound lifts 8/6/4/2
Off
Day 3: 3 compound lifts 5/4/3/2/1 at 80% of 1RM (training)
Day 4: 3 different compound lifts 5/4/3/2/1
Built for bad, circuit style or straight sets (depending on equipment availlability).
Some chins, dips, pushups, and 2-3 isolation exercises thrown in there as needed.
My perfomance usually falls by the 4th/5th exercise. And the higher rep range should produce good size gains.
Thereās only 6 or so main exercises that i really love doing and alternating them each day (while hitting full body) will be fun and hopefully stimulate growth.
Incline tilt, front squat, weighted chins
SGHP, weighted dips, snatch grip deadlifts (or trap bar dl)
Any thoughts? Thx
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Can you please explain why you donāt like the double progression with anything over 8 reps?
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Does that mean my isolation lifts should not be higher than 8 reps?
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Could you give me an example of how to use isolation lifts above 8 reps without the double progression?
Thank you.
Because with higher reps you build up too much fatigue from set to set. It will work if you are someone who slower twitch dominantā¦ Iām fast twitch dominant and most of the people I work with tend to also fall in that category and for them/me it will take a lot of time to progress to the next weight and by the time we are able to do all āfull setsā the weight is actually too light to have the effect I want.
Isolation can be done for higher than 8 reps mostly because of the lower neural demands. But I still rarely go over 8-10 for isolation work.
Here is the thing with isolation exercisesā¦ progression doesnāt matter as much as simply killing the target muscle. With isolation work my goal is not to get more reps or use more weightā¦ it is to reach the point of failure and from there I often add either partial reps or negative-only reps. As long as I reach that point the isolation work will do its jobā¦ there is no burden of progression like with the big liftsā¦ as Meadows would sa, there is no such thing as hypertrophy periodization.
CT - Given your current thoughts on training days per week, the 4 day template youāve presented, cautioning against being a stimulus addict, etc., do you still use spec phases to bring up a weakness? Particularly for the non-competitor lifter.
Dennis, sure you can still use spec phases. In which case you could do 2 full workouts for the spec muscle(s), a full workout for half of the rest of the body. The fourth workout your be half for the spec muscle(s) and half for the remaining muscles.
Is that a 4-6 week phase still? Thank you.
Yeah that doesnāt change but I do prefer to stick to 4 weeks.
Hey CT!
I would like to ask a couple of questions regarding the article if you donāt mind:
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If your main goal is size/bodybuilding instead of strenght would you modify the layout anyhow? Could āmachine workā be used as assistance lifts? Would you use more isolation work?
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Regeneration wise nowadays I do better with 3 days/week and not doing squat-deadlift the same week (I pull either Sumo or trap bar). Would alternating the two days solve the issue?
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Reading what you posted above lat. work. So basically one could add rows to bench days, and pulldown/pullups on overhead days. If oneās back need more work, where would add more exercises? (like mid back, etc)? Just do two types of row of bench day? or add a rowing variation to the overhead day? or do it after deadlift?
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you said that you want to bring up your delts so you are doing delt work on both overhead and bench days. Could the same be done with pecs?
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Again the bodybuilding mentality: Would it be over the top for shoulders to do overhead-overhead assistance- side delt- side delt assistance? Or side delts should just be treated like any other isolation work?
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Iāve been getting great sucess in the past with growth factor style shoulder training. How could that be adapted to this layout? Simple do growth factor giant sets as isolation work?
+1 where would you put rear delts? Or that really doesnāt matter? 
Thanks for your time and effort in advance
I would use the same breakdown of main lifts. But instead of having 2 big lifts as assistance I would go with more isolation work or non-CNS draining exercises.
I changed my mindset a bit about assistance work when the goal is to build muscle. I prefer to pick exercises with the least amount of neural demand. That allows me either more volume or to use intensification methods.
If size if your main goal , it is fine. BUT make sure that you have the isolation work to cover the main parts of the lower body.