Has anyone here tried Chad’s Strength-Focused Mesocycle?
I’ve been following WSFSB, but my squat and deadlift have gone nowhere in the last month and a half (and I’m a beginner, so they should still be rising nicely!). So I want to give something else a try. This programme looked pretty decent, but I’m a bit leery about the extreme shortness of the workouts; 12 working sets total per day, and two out of the three days can be completed in under half an hour.
Can anyone tell me if they’ve had good results from Chad’s programme or if they have any other recommendations?
I did it as written for one month and made great progress. All my lifts went up, and I gained 5lbs.
Although there are not many sets, the workouts will still take you about 45-60 minutes (including warmups) and you will be glad when they are over. It doesn’t appear tough on paper, but the workouts are hard if you’re using heavy weights for all sets and adding weight each week.
Don’t do too much cardio or additional work. I was trying to do too much GPP on my off days and by the third week, I had to cut it almost completely out.
Follow it to a “T” and you will progress.
Nate Dogg,
Thanks for your input. It’s always much appreciated!
Okay, thanks. I’m currently tring to lose a bit of fat (not hardcore cutting or anything; just trying to drop from 18% bf to something more reasonable), so was looking at doing a fair bit of cardio as well. I’ll see how it goes.
Have you tried Chads TBT? My lifts have gone thru the roof in a short time.
+90lbs on squat
+50lb on bench
+70lb on dead
all in only 2 months.
http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=508697
I wouldn’t recommend trying to lose too much fat on this program. You will be burned out quickly if you do any other intense workouts. I was doing 2-3 days of GPP and sprints for the first two weeks, I cut down to one day by the third week and didn’t do any additional work on the fourth week. It’s not well suited for fat loss, but you can always try.
Some of CW’s other programs would be better suited for strength gain and fat loss (Next Big Three).
Strongman: thanks, I looked at it but I’m not really aiming for hypertrophy at the moment.
Nate: this programme may not be ideal, then! I’m looking at doing a couple of easy cardio sessions and a couple of tabata workouts a week in addition to the three sessions prescribed. I’ll try it this week, and if I just burn out then I’ll reconsider for next week.