Hi im thinking of starting a hybrid strength and hypertrophy program consisting of 2 strength days and 3 hypertrophy days something like this. My goal is to get stronger but still aesthetic af Can you critic it?
Monday and friday: heavy Squats and bench 5x3 followed by heavy deadlifts 1x3
Tuesday: hypertrophy back and biceps exercises with moderate weight 3 sets of 8-12 reps
Wednesday: hypertrophy chest and triceps (same rep scheme as above)
Thursday: hypertrophy shoulders, abs, and calves
Sat and sun: off
i dont have hypertrophy lower body because im squating and deadlifting heavy 2x a week. I consider myself a intermediate lifter been lifting on and off for 5 years i have tried 5x5 westside and 5/3/1 and had awesome gains with them. Have achieved 9% body fat. Im 5’3 at 130lbs and my PR in my lifts are 220 bench 300 squats 315 deadlifts.
Edited: I increase the weight of each strength lift every week as long as i hit 5 sets of 3 if i dont hit or i fail to complete the 5 sets of 3 i would stay on that weight until i hit that mark. Increments will be 5lbs increase in bench every week while 5lbs to 10lbs for squat and deadlifts
Sorry i forgot to add that i increase the weight of each strength lift every week as long as i hit 5 sets of 3 if i dont hit or i fail to complete the 5 sets of 3 i would stay on that weight until i hit that mark. Increments will be 5lbs increase in bench every week while 5lbs to 10lbs for squat and deadlifts. I will edit my post thanks for pointing it out. As for 5/3/1 i love the program but i wanted to test benching squatting and deadlifting twice a week if it would increase my lifts faster than my gains in 5/3/1
I read about an article about powerlifters doing bench squat and deadlift 2-3times or more a week. Depending on the rep scheme and how heavy they do it. Some have heavy moderate and light weight template on their week. I was wondering if that would increase my lifts more than 5/3/1 did to me. If not i would return to 5/3/1. Thats why im asking for opinions of others.
I already considered korte’s 3x3 program i like it but the only problem is that i wanted hypertrophy sessions for my aesthetic reasons plus it gives me a different pump than strength lifts. Personal preference i guess what do you think should i try it out? Thanks for the opinion
Check out Juggernaut, if you haven’t already. I have been doing that for a couple years, after switching from 531 in 14 or 15. I have made some modifications for my goals, but I use the loading pattern, rep/sets, etc from Juggernaut.
I dropped back squats for front squats (my 1RM was 500, but my lower back, hips, shoulders, and wrists were constantly cranky - just couldn’t keep up), and I super set back work with bench and military press (row/bench, weighted pullup/military press - same set/rep scheme for pullups, random scheme for rows with bench). Boring But Big as opposite assistance, followed by direct assistance.
IF that was confusing, here’s bench day for an example:
1A. Row (some variation) 8-10 reps, same number of sets as bench
1B. Bench (whatever the set/rep scheme is for that week/day)
BBB Military Press variation, 5 x 10 @ 50% working max
2A. another row variation, 3 x 8 - 12
2B. Incline bench variation, 3 x 8 - 12
No super-setting on leg days. Boring But Big sets are done using the opposite main movement (Deadlift on Front Squat day, and vice versa).
Gets your strength work in, followed by solid assistance work for hypertrophy. Every thing gets hit twice per week (if not more). Love doing this, but then I’ve always responded better to volume when it comes to size.
Thanks for your opinion. I dont have a hypertrophy leg day because im fine with the size and aesthetics of my legs i just wanted to get strong with deadlifts and squats. At 5’3 having bigger quads would make me look like a penguin walking. What would you suggest i do for powerbuilding and hypertrophy?
What are your actual goals? Like numbers and such? Time frames? Your program is very all over the place. Also, training time does not count as a gauge for whether you are beginner, intermediate or advanced; progressions does. If you can make weekly progress you’re just bridging the gap between beginner and intermediate. It doesn’t mean you don’t put in work, and it is actually a good thing because you can progress much faster. Also, the way you look is going to rely more on diet than anything. Doing a ton of hypertrophy work isn’t going to do much if it isn’t programmed correctly. Size and strength can be built simultaneously, but you need to decide on which is more important and start from there.
PS- Don’t write your own programs yet. There’s are a ton of people way stronger and bigger than yourself who have been training much longer who do prewritten programs. Try those first and build from there
If your thighs are over 28 inches, then do your silly program. It’s just badly organized.
Or, do PHAT as is for three months and learn, then adapt to your particular needs. Maybe omitting lower body hypertrophy day for conditioning day. No shoulder anything.
But, at the end of the day, do what you enjoy. That is more important.
This looks kinda bro-centric to be honest…I mean you are hitting chest 3 times week & back only once a week…which is clearly unbalanced.
The way I personally like to pb or hybrid train as I prefer to think of it is to is to simply split training days into: Push days, pull days & legs days. I then figure out how to gain strength through using an appropriate rep scheme like 5x3 or 3x3 & then add in some higher rep bbing stuff afterwards to cater for more hypertrophically geared gains.
As a generic rule, 5/3/1 usually is not a powerlifting specific approach to strength training.
True powerlifting programs have one purpose and one only: to increase your bench, squat and deadlift numbers. Those are the competition lifts and powerlifters need to have the highest possible total.
The simple fact that most 5/3/1 programs have the same ratio of bench and press (1 each a week, usually) is enough to make it suboptimal for powerlifting. Press is not a competition lift.
Most PL specific programs have you squat 2-3 times a week and bench 2-3 times a week. There’s something in 5/3/1 that can be used for PL preparation, Jim made a specific template long ago, plus a peaking program, then with Beyond programs and Jokers you can tailor something closer to a true PL program.
