Strength routine

Hi guys . I am planing on finising up a strength phase these next two weeks(maybe 3). Afet talking to a couple very knowledgable people, I learned that the volume shouldn’t go higher than say 12-15 sets during a strength phase. I had been following Berardi’s bridge workouts an had been doing a 6x4 (with four exercises a day…for 24 sets total)two days a week with two lghter days of training mixed in. These next two weeks was planning on keeping cals at maint. and doing a Mon/Wed/Fri routine that would look like 54321 for Bench(I had been doing dips but don’t have DB’s high enough for doubles and singles) and Deads on Mon, Clean and Bent over Row , Squat and Push Press on Fri. Each lift besides the clean would be followed witha back off set of higher reps. After this program I plan on doing Meltdown. Any suggestions guys…How does this look, Thanks, Mike

Mike, I’ve used a program similar to this in the past. It has done wonders for getting stronger! I like power programs like this. But I would not do more than 3-4 exercises per workout. It will take you a lot of time to complete the sets with appropriate rest periods. And you want to keep your workouts under an hour. So unless you are going to superset all exercises (as Poliquin suggests), I would only do three exercises per workout.

As for dividing your workouts, I’d do back or leg work on Monday. Do the benching and shoulders or arms on Wed and then do either the back or leg stuff on Friday. This way, you’ll have more time to recover. Let me know if you need any help setting up the program.

How would you set up this type of workout-what are the loads/pctges for the weights and could you possibly post a sample workout??previously had used Westside Techniques and juts looking for so,mething a bit fresh to gain some strength-also does anyone know where Berardi’s articles on this type of training are posted thanks.

The article that Mike is referring to is JB’s “Creation of a T-man.” Check it out. As for a routine, you could do something like this:

MONDAY - Deadlifts, barbell or seated rows, and barbell curls. Do the 5/4/3/2/1 set/rep scheme or try the 5x5 or 6x2. Rest periods will be 3-5 minutes per set. You should be working with 80-100% of max depending on the rep scheme you use. WEDNESDAY - Bench press, push press, close-grip bench or dips. Same set/rep scheme as Monday. FRIDAY - Cleans, Squats and Weighted Chins. Same as above.

This is a very simple, but effective, way of gaining strength. Diet of course will be extremely important, as you will be tapping into your nervous system and not burning as many calories. So depending on if you're trying to maintain weight or gain, you'll have to watch it closely.