What do you think of my training system

[iForce Dave]

I posted this by request on another board, curious to see what you all think

here is my offseason program:

Let me give you the basic idea: its an 18 day cycle, done in three, six day rotations.

I am a BIG believer in maximizing muscle/cns recovery ESPECIALLY for ectos. That being said the program is EOD training.

The workouts are split like this:

Hamstrings/Quads/Calves, Back/RearDelts/Biceps, Chest/Front&sideDelts/Triceps taking one day of rest in between each day

Each 6 Day rotation has a specific design for hitting the muscle differently. Im a big believer in going as heavy as possible with good form, so the idea is to build strength each cycle so that you can increase poundages every time you return to the lift (every 18 days)

Cycle one - 6 Reps per Exercise Straight Sets
Cycle two - 8-12 Reps Per Exercise Straight Sets
Cycle three - 10-20 reps Per Exercise with Supersets and drop sets.

So now that we have that, we just plug and play:

Cycle One (Heavy cycle, focus on maximum weights)
Legs - Goal of 6 Reps Per Exercise
Off
Back/bi - Goal of 6 Reps Per Exercise
Off
Chest/delt/tri - Goal of 6 Reps Per Exercise
off

Cycle Two (Moderate Cycle, stay as heavy as possible but bring the reps up for max hypertrophy)
Legs - Goal of 8-12 reps for each exercise
Off
Back/bi Goal of 8-12 reps for each exercise
Off
Chest/delt/tri Goal of 8-12 reps for each exercise
off

Cycle Three (use drop sets and supersets to get up to higher repetitions)
Legs - Goal of 10-20 reps for each exercise
Off
Back/bi - Goal of 10-20 reps for each exercise
Off
Chest/delt/tri - Goal of 10-20 reps for each exercise
off

NOW the question is... How many exercises?.... Which Exercises?
- I recommend 2-3 exercises for Chest, Back, and Quads
- I recommend 1-2 exercises for Bis, Tris, Shoulders, Calves, Hamstrings

You will have to decide how many is best for you. For instance I do 1 bicep exercise because they are more developed and grow easier than my triceps, which I do 2 exercises for.

As for which exercises... it depends on what works for you. For instance, I have a disk problem that prevents me from doing Barbell Deads/Squats, so I have to sub in Rack Deadlifts and Leg Press.

i take as many warmups as I need, which could be anywhere from zero to four. For instance, my first exercise (heavy compound like rack deads or Leg press) i will take 3-4 warmup sets before getting into working sets

3rd cycle is more confusing but the idea is to get a total of 20 repetitions, so 12 drop --> 6 drop --> 4 total 2 reps or maybe 8 drop --> 4 total 12 reps
or you could do superset one exercise with another 10 reps + 10 reps = 20 reps total

the 3rd cycle is made to not be so specific and allow you a good 6 days where you dont have to hit specific reps but moreso BLAST THE HELL out of the muscle, get creative, and try to just make it hurt by volumizing the muscle with blood and excessive repetitions and post-failure intensifying strategies like drop sets, supersets, rest pausing, etc

Each of the 6 rep and 8-12 rep workouts you should be increasing the weight each time or staying at the same rate and working up to the rep range. for example this is my incline progress:

6 rep workout - 1st cycle
Incline Barbell 225 x 6 x 5 x4
-2nd cycle
Incline Barbell 225 x 6 x 6 x 6
-3rd Cycle
245 x 5, 225 x 6 225 x 4

 

[wearedbleedblue]

I think it looks good but a little too involved for the beginner. Most people would have a hard time putting together a routine like this but it looks good nonetheless.

 

[bolt10]

I may try this for my next training program. Thanks for posting it up!

 

[EasyEJL]

I'd wonder if it would be even more advantageous to instead of having heavy/moderate/high rep rounds, to have each round 1 exercise by heavy, moderate and high rep. so one round legs is heavy, back is moderate, chest hi rep, then next legs high rep, back heavy, chest moderate, and finally legs moderate, back high rep, chest heavy and repeat.

 

[iForce Dave]

I'd wonder if it would be even more advantageous to instead of having heavy/moderate/high rep rounds, to have each round 1 exercise by heavy, moderate and high rep. so one round legs is heavy, back is moderate, chest hi rep, then next legs high rep, back heavy, chest moderate, and finally legs moderate, back high rep, chest heavy and repeat.

thats possible, it would definetely be worth a try.

this is working great for me now though I have put on a lot of muscle since starting this.

Ive never made such consistent strength gains

 

[coldseed]

Thanks for sharing.

 

[shizz702]

Looks like a pretty solid routine.

I like the ample rest inbetween training days, the focus on heavy weights and progression, and the intensity cycling.

 

[GeekPoop]

interesting routine

 

[wood23]

routine looks interesting but i personally would be woried that the time you get around to cycle 1 again you might lose strength as it has been a couple of weeks since doing 6 reps per set. How has it been for you? Has your strength increased from cycle 1 back to cycle 1 again?

 

[iForce Dave]

routine looks interesting but i personally would be woried that the time you get around to cycle 1 again you might lose strength as it has been a couple of weeks since doing 6 reps per set. How has it been for you? Has your strength increased from cycle 1 back to cycle 1 again?

Yes, it has every time.

If you hit the 8-12 days just as hard you should be making gains on those days as well.

The last cycle is there to let your joint rest up before going back to the heavy weights. While also hitting muscles with higher repetitions and post-failure intensity techniques like supersets and drop sets. making up for the lack of poundage with intensifiers.

The reason I do it this way is so that EVERY workout is different.. i hate doing routines where you are trying to gain strength every 5-7 days because it jusT ISNT GOING TO HAPPEN unless you are a freak and/or on a lot of drugs.


Using this program you can build strength, build muscle, and do it consistently, which is most important. The 18 days between a specific goal gives you PLENTY of time both MENTALLY and PHYSICALLY