I’ve been training seriously for about a year and three months. But I had a decent base from being a sprinter. I was on ws4sb for that year and 3 months and I’m looking to tailor a program to focus more so on size but also keep getting stronger.
I’ve read some of Christian’s articles on programming, but I was wondering if there are any ways to keep up strength (such as pyramiding, which im only vaguely familiar with and haven’t tried)
stats:
5"11
wt 196 (bulked up to 200 in the winter)
can’t get a proper bf% since i cant grab my back
Bench: 230 x 4
Close Grip: 230 x 3
Low Box Squat: 335 x 4
High Box Squat: 405 x 5
Deadlift: yesterday did 375 x 5 then 385 x 2
Rack pulls: 415 x 4
Powerclean: 225 catching with knees above parallel
I’ve made excellent strength and size gains while on ws4sb. I’ve managed to recently keep things alive with a little more variety and playing with tempo, but I’m looking for a new program to reach my goals.
I havent seen any programs arranged like this but is it feasible to have something along the line of:
I feel like with my second options I could do some sort of pyramiding as my main exercise (is that good for keeping up strength?) where I work up to 3-5 RMs on M/Th for a few weeks then switch off to Tu/Fri.
Its commonly said that your split is one of the least important parameters. Excerise selection is probably more important. I would go with the version that you find the most exciting, give it a good go and if it doesn’t work for you then adapt it.
Personally I found a 5-way like your first option didn’t suit me. Two rest days a week just wasn’t enough. I would have to do a 5 way over 8 or 9 days but the frequency per body part would be too low and I like the predictability of 7 day cycles.
The 4-ways look pretty standard. Depends what you mean by pyramiding. I use Wendler’s 531 for my main lifts. It gives a bit of variety in the rep scheme each week and predictable progression. I had a tendendecy to put the weight up too fast and stagnate when not using a progression scheme.
Day 1 â?? Shoulders and triceps
Day 2 â?? Back
Day 3 â?? Off
Day 4 â?? Chest, biceps, and abs
Day 5 â?? Off
Day 6 â?? Quads, hamstrings, and calves
Day 7 â?? Off
you only need to train arms once…
i suggest you read the professor x request thread at the top of this forum…it will give you a better idea of how bodybuilders actually train…
Train your first exercise of the day for powerlifting, and your other exercises for bodybuilding. Like, on leg day do squats with some kind of cycling program. After that, do a normal bodybuilding workout targeting the muscles and whatnot. It compliments each other pretty well anyway.
[quote]daraz wrote:
Train your first exercise of the day for powerlifting, and your other exercises for bodybuilding. Like, on leg day do squats with some kind of cycling program. After that, do a normal bodybuilding workout targeting the muscles and whatnot. It compliments each other pretty well anyway.[/quote]
This is similar to my current strategy. I generally start with an activation exercise, followed by a power/strength movement. From there, I will target specific muscles with a bodybuilding approach. I feel like it balances out pretty well.
[quote]daraz wrote:
Train your first exercise of the day for powerlifting, and your other exercises for bodybuilding. Like, on leg day do squats with some kind of cycling program. After that, do a normal bodybuilding workout targeting the muscles and whatnot. It compliments each other pretty well anyway.[/quote]
Agreed.
The whole strength vs size “controversy” is very silly really. Main difference between the two is slightly more volume (for size), and slightly less load to enable the higher volume.
But the further one gets away from strength training, the further they are from their goals. And diet is often the deciding factor - as many say, diet is more important. With training you just have to keep getting stronger and stronger while focussing on weak parts, with diet you have to vary it according to the goal.
Having said that, I’d stick to a slightly higher training frequency to start with, and lower if needed (e.g. start off by training most muscles twice a week). Don’t over-complicate it now just because you are now “Bodybuilding”…it’s not that much different.