What’s up everyone.
I’m coming to the end of this cut in about a weeks time in which I’ll be taking a week away from the gym on holiday.
Much needed break if you ask me.
But what am I going to be doing in the gym when I return after a 9 day break you may ask?
Get even bigger of course haha.
This leads me into the point of this post which is planning your training.
I sat down last night and came up with a plan for the next 2-3 blocks of training which is about 16-20 weeks of work.
Everything from exercise selection, rep ranges, loading zones and the thread of progressions I plan to take.
Now obviously there will always be some moving parts with your training as you go through a training block, but having a general gist of what you’re gonna do is the sign of a serious lifter.
Not just going in the gym and winging it like most do.
Let’s get into the things you need to consider when making your plan.
-What’s your goal?
-Diet
-Exercise selection
-Rep ranges
-Thread of progressions
What's your goal?
First off we need to decide on what the underlying goal is for a training block.
Are we trying to build muscle, drop body fat, prioritise strength or peak for a competition?
Once you have your answer to this, that will dictate how we approach the next few points.
Again, we need to be clear with the main goal and can’t have wishy washy approaches to anything.
“I wanna gain muscle, drop body fat and deadlift 600lbs”
Ain’t gonna happen brother.
For me, I’m trying to build muscle.
So everything I’m gonna do will be centered around optimising hypertrophy.
Diet
What’s the plan of attack here?
Are we trying to get bigger? Gonna be in a slight surplus
Trying to get leaner? Gonna be in a calorie deficit
Trying to get stronger/peak? Could be at maintenance.
Each specific goal will require a different plan with your nutrition.
Exercise selection
If either hypertrophy, strength or peaking for a meet are your main goals, that will dictate your exercise selection.
Hypertrophy - You can use anything really that provides sufficient mechanical tension, muscular damage and metabolic stress to the muscle.
Strength - Big multi-joint movements are gonna be your go to here.
Peaking - Squat, bench, deadlift.
Now let’s use me as an example in this upcoming hypertrophy block.
I’m gonna be using exercises that are gonna take my muscles through a greater range of motion and force me to use less weight.
I like to call these self limiting variations which will have a high stimulus to fatigue ratio.
Exercises like stiff legged deadlifts, heel elevated high bar squats, close grip bench presses and deficit snatch grip deadlifts to name a few.
Get stronger in these movements over the course of the next few months and add some muscle mass to my frame.
That’s the game plan.
Rep ranges
Again, what's the underlying aim of the block of training.
Hypertrophy - 6-30 rep range.
Strength - 3-6 rep range.
Peaking - 1-3 rep range.
For me, a lot of my work is gonna be done in that 8-12 rep range on the bigger movements and 12-20 on some of my assistance work.
All sets taken to within that 0-3 reps in reserve mark.
Just a caveat to this, if you’re a powerlifter going through an hypertrophy block, you need to use exercises/rep ranges which will transfer over to a strength phase better than others.
For example look at these two movements/rep ranges and see which you think is better for a powerlifter.
Hammer strength incline press - 3x12-15
Close grip bench press - 3x8
If you picked the latter option, congrats, you’re smart.
But why would we pick that?
It’s a closer variation to the competition lift, and the muscle we build from this exercise will be much more transferable over to our competition lift than a machine press.
Something to be aware of.
Thread of progression
This topic is a minefield and to be explored fully is for another article.
But what periodisation scheme are we gonna use?
Linear, block, or concurrent.
They all have similar aspects of each other but they’re slightly different ways to progress your training variables.
Periodisation schemes are more important for strength athletes than a pure bodybuilder who is trying to get bigger.
However what if we’re trying to get bigger, what's the plan of attack for purely hypertrophy?
Adding more reps, more weight to the bar or adding an extra set (up to a point) are all viable options for progression through a training block.
The important thing is that you’re trying to beat the books over a period of time to ensure progression in the gym.
Take a group of exercises that work for you.
And progress them over the next few months.
Progress stalls and finding it hard to progress?
As long as diet, recovery and sleep are in check, switch out the exercise for a new variation and go again.
Here’s an example below of what I’ve been working on.
Still gotta make some tweaks but the general outline is in place.
Anyway, just wanted to share with you a few of my thoughts.
It’s extremely important that you have a plan with what you’re gonna be doing with your training.
Just going in the gym randomly and doing what you feel like is a surefire way to keep spinning your wheels.
Your body will adapt to the specific stimulus you provide.
Might as well do it properly.
Talk to you all soon.
Francis.
DISCLAIMER
This is not Legal, Medical, or Financial advice. Please consult a medical professional before starting any workout program, diet plan, or supplement protocol. These are opinions from a jacked scouser.