Currently doing the “power” program from fitnessculture .com, its a program that has been started since january and its been written by jacob hutton and steve cook. Its a live program so you get new workout weeks every week on your app. It focusses more on strength development but also some hypertrophy work. More classical powerbuilding as i would say.
Six day split:
Upper (heavy - typical strength work)
Lower (heavy - typical strength work)
Upper (dynamic effort - explosive stuff + shoulder & arms)
Lower (dynamic effort - explosive stuff)
Upper (volume/hypertrophy)
Lower (volume/hypertrophy)
Its actually a lot of volume which I like, but got sick a couple of times maybe due to the heavy workload or just sickness floating in the air, so had some weeks off.
Did it for half a year, but now im doubting to do mountaindog programming again which i did in the past and I liked also, but feels lacks some direct strength work and got me big but slow and maybe not as strong as i could be.
Im also looking to trim down a little bodyfat so im currently in a deficit. I guess im confused which road to take, could do a couple of months longer in the power program or maybe do a meadows program now and do some strength stuff for a block later this year?
You’re falling into the classic beginner trap of worrying too much about strength vs size.
Strength can be built using submaximal weights, and size can be built lifting heavier weights for lower reps.
If you’re applying yourself properly to a Meadows program, you absolutely, positively, unfuckingdoubtedly will get stronger. If you were to bust your ass to get stronger, then you absolutely would get bigger.
Now, if at this point you feel the need to tell me that strength increases can come as a result of improved neural efficiency or technique, then I will come crawling out of your screen and unleash all the hellish forces of darkness upon you. Yes - you can get stronger without getting much bigger but it matters very little past the beginner stage. There’s a reason why all the record holders are well North of two hundo.
So forget strength and forget size, and think more in terms of awesome.
Turning your 10RM into a 20RM is awesome. Increasing your 1rm is awesome. Adding 10lbs of muscle is awesome. Losing 10lbs of fat is awesome.
So pick a training program, any training program you like the look of, and run it for at least 12 weeks. After that you can either repeat the program or pick something new.
In a few years’ time, provided you apply yourself and eat right (which is a really big, important caveat), you will be big and strong and jacked and awesome.
Thanks for bringing me back to reality lol. Although I would not say I’m a beginner, Im certainly thinking like one sometimes. Getting too much entangled into strength vs size etc. As im thinking back through the years I used a lot of meadows programming and got much bigger and certainly much stronger.
@Yogi1, that might be the best response I’ve ever read regarding this type of thread. You should bookmark that and repost every time one of these pops up.
@bigcell101, if you’re not a beginner then it’s time to start acting like it. It’s ok to take what you like from one program and combine it with the things you like from another.
I’ve been training for 15+ years and I still follow programs written by others. I also write my own. I learn best by doing and experiencing things. After I run a program I can add what I like to my toolbox and forget the rest.
If you ran a program years ago and had good luck then it’s understandable that you feel yourself drawn to it. I’ve done the same thing; unfortunately, my progress/experience wasn’t the same. The things I did in my really early years got results because I put in the effort and I was a newb. I don’t think the programming was magical, but it seems that way in hindsight.
Prioritize your goals and train accordingly. I’m not running it, but you might look up our own @Alpha 's Dark Horse Program. It’s free and on his YouTube page. It has conjugate training like the program you listed along with a little volume and some conditioning work. You can make it what you want. I have no doubt that if you run that and put in the effort then you’ll see progress in terms of strength, size, and athleticism.
@RampantBadger@Frank_C Thanks for the help! I did a personalized program once from @Alpha to pass the police test. It was brutal and effective, maybe I will make some program myself based on these ideas or problably follow one of meadows high frequency programs.
@Frank_C it was like a circuit. 50m sprint → 50m sled push → placing 3 medicine balls on a three different floormats(these were killer) → jumping over a gabinet in two directions → 50m sprint back. This circuit x5 for time. Have to stay around 3 min total. It was a challenge!