So a few preliminaries:
1. I am a non-natural lifter. I am not going to elaborate on what this means, though. But technically by taking any drug that's banned in competition (including Adderall/amphetamine, which I've been prescribed) I am taking "performance enhancing drugs" and therefore "not natural" so I've been non-natural since before I even started lifting.
2. I am trying to maximize hypertrophy, not strength. To be more specific I am trying to maximize 8-10RM strength, but that basically means I'm maximizing hypertrophy. I'm also mostly interested in maximizing hypertrophy for areas that are used in competition lifts.
The very general structure of my workout right now is this:
Day 1: High volume upper body, low volume lower body
Day 2: High volume lower body, low volume upper body
Day 3: Off
Repeat
So, Day 1 might look like this
Day 1:
Flat bench warmup followed by 10RM test (figuring out how much I've progressed on my 10RM), then 3x8 (at 75% 1RM, so 8 reps of my 10RM) with 2-3 minute rest periods, then 4x10 at 60% 1RM (so 10 reps of my 15RM) with 90 second rest periods
Incline bench 3x10 at 60% 1RM
Pec flyes 3x10 at 60% 1RM
Barbell curls 4x10 at 70% 1RM
Lat pulldowns 4x10 at 60% 1RM
---
Romanian deadlifts 3x10 at 70% 1RM
Squat ATG 3x10 at whatever % RM feels comfortable
Day 2:
Squat ATG anywhere from 5-8 sets x10 at whatever %RM feels comfortable
Leg press for 3 or 4 sets x10 going as deep as the safety bars will allow
Leg curls 3x10 at whatever %RM feels comfortable
Paused goblet squats, 3 sets pausing for as long as I can each time
Calf presses, paused, followed by calf raises holding weights for 3 sets and then another 3 sets
Deadlifts, 2-3 sets, usually x10 each time
---
Overhead press, 3x10
Weighted dips, 3x10
Variable -- grip & forearm training accessories. Sometimes I will do these on Day 1 *or* Day 2 or split curls and grip training across days:
Support grip holds for as long as I can, 2-3 sets
Pinch grip holds, 2-3 sets
Wrist curls 4x10 at 65% 1RM
Reverse wrist curls 4x10 at 65% 1RM
Crush grip training holds at home
--------------------------------------------
The reason for this, by the way, is because I've noticed that I can usually hit upper body volume (and especially chest) harder than anything else; since muscle is repairing for 48 hours between training sessions, this more or less maximizes the recovery period. Adding some light upper body training to lower body days has been effective, but I've noticed that my lower body takes substantially longer to recover than upper body.
So, would it even be worthwhile to *have* lower body training on Day 1, since I might not even be fully recovered by that time?
1. I am a non-natural lifter. I am not going to elaborate on what this means, though. But technically by taking any drug that's banned in competition (including Adderall/amphetamine, which I've been prescribed) I am taking "performance enhancing drugs" and therefore "not natural" so I've been non-natural since before I even started lifting.
2. I am trying to maximize hypertrophy, not strength. To be more specific I am trying to maximize 8-10RM strength, but that basically means I'm maximizing hypertrophy. I'm also mostly interested in maximizing hypertrophy for areas that are used in competition lifts.
The very general structure of my workout right now is this:
Day 1: High volume upper body, low volume lower body
Day 2: High volume lower body, low volume upper body
Day 3: Off
Repeat
So, Day 1 might look like this
Day 1:
Flat bench warmup followed by 10RM test (figuring out how much I've progressed on my 10RM), then 3x8 (at 75% 1RM, so 8 reps of my 10RM) with 2-3 minute rest periods, then 4x10 at 60% 1RM (so 10 reps of my 15RM) with 90 second rest periods
Incline bench 3x10 at 60% 1RM
Pec flyes 3x10 at 60% 1RM
Barbell curls 4x10 at 70% 1RM
Lat pulldowns 4x10 at 60% 1RM
---
Romanian deadlifts 3x10 at 70% 1RM
Squat ATG 3x10 at whatever % RM feels comfortable
Day 2:
Squat ATG anywhere from 5-8 sets x10 at whatever %RM feels comfortable
Leg press for 3 or 4 sets x10 going as deep as the safety bars will allow
Leg curls 3x10 at whatever %RM feels comfortable
Paused goblet squats, 3 sets pausing for as long as I can each time
Calf presses, paused, followed by calf raises holding weights for 3 sets and then another 3 sets
Deadlifts, 2-3 sets, usually x10 each time
---
Overhead press, 3x10
Weighted dips, 3x10
Variable -- grip & forearm training accessories. Sometimes I will do these on Day 1 *or* Day 2 or split curls and grip training across days:
Support grip holds for as long as I can, 2-3 sets
Pinch grip holds, 2-3 sets
Wrist curls 4x10 at 65% 1RM
Reverse wrist curls 4x10 at 65% 1RM
Crush grip training holds at home
--------------------------------------------
The reason for this, by the way, is because I've noticed that I can usually hit upper body volume (and especially chest) harder than anything else; since muscle is repairing for 48 hours between training sessions, this more or less maximizes the recovery period. Adding some light upper body training to lower body days has been effective, but I've noticed that my lower body takes substantially longer to recover than upper body.
So, would it even be worthwhile to *have* lower body training on Day 1, since I might not even be fully recovered by that time?
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