Dual-factor Bodybuilding routine for Intermediate and Advanced lifters

[weighted chinup]

For anyone who might be interested: I plan on writing a primer / thread on programming for bodybuilding routines. It will be posted in the training forum.

The purpose of that guide will be to just share with readers the tools they can use to effectively create their own routines if they want to, using proven and effective methodologies with an emphasis on what works best for bodybuilding.

It will be centered around bb'ing because I feel there is a void of information regarding applying these methodologies for hypertrophy training. There will be a fair bit of subjectiveness regarding my own preferences but readers should come out of it with some useful information they can use to create their own routines that are periodized and sustainable if they are ever interested in creating their own programs.

This routine right here is still the gold standard though.

 

[gr8whitetrukker]

So I'm seeing some favorable changes with this new routine...
First big change is I have way more energy for the workout and the day that follows. That I believe is due in whole to dropping failure from the regimen. I always believed failure training is more of a character trait than a training method. Cuz it is hard to let go...

I don't believe failure is useless. No far from it. But it certainly taxes the CNS more and makes me deeply tired. The kind of tired that effects my job and in the long run makes me miss workouts. Which makes me cranky. I'll stick with this new training style and give my assessment on it. I always give everything a fair shot. Just like the 2x protein per body weight thing. Which failed my analysis you remember that eh chinup?

I added weight to my working sets (day 3) so clearly strength is up minus the fatigue I'm used to. All in all I feel optimistic. I'm looking to climb to a 315 front squat for 8 in say a couple months. Which isn't a lift I've been utilizing.

Metabolism is in full swing. My clothes looser and rebuilding what I neglected for the past 5 weeks. Coming back fast even without a cycle!

 

[Millard]

Regularly training to failure is more fun than anything else. The sense of accomplishment seems greater but in reality it's not necessary and often counterproductive for long-term progress.

 

[gr8whitetrukker]

Regularly training to failure is more fun than anything else. The sense of accomplishment seems greater but in reality it's not necessary and often counterproductive for long-term progress.

Agreed it is fun. Definitely counter productive long term
I'm not new you'd think it would of set in by now? I guess I just love kicking my own ass

 

[TANGO.ECHO.KILO]

So I'm seeing some favorable changes with this new routine...
First big change is I have way more energy for the workout and the day that follows. That I believe is due in whole to dropping failure from the regimen. I always believed failure training is more of a character trait than a training method. Cuz it is hard to let go...

I don't believe failure is useless. No far from it. But it certainly taxes the CNS more and makes me deeply tired. The kind of tired that effects my job and in the long run makes me miss workouts. Which makes me cranky. I'll stick with this new training style and give my assessment on it. I always give everything a fair shot. Just like the 2x protein per body weight thing. Which failed my analysis you remember that eh chinup?

I added weight to my working sets (day 3) so clearly strength is up minus the fatigue I'm used to. All in all I feel optimistic. I'm looking to climb to a 315 front squat for 8 in say a couple months. Which isn't a lift I've been utilizing.

Metabolism is in full swing. My clothes looser and rebuilding what I neglected for the past 5 weeks. Coming back fast even without a cycle!

Are you having any difficulty racking the weight for frontsquats? you have a lot of mass so to be that flexible is awesome, lots of guys struggle with that.

 

[gr8whitetrukker]

Are you having any difficulty racking the weight for frontsquats? you have a lot of mass so to be that flexible is awesome, lots of guys struggle with that.

No. I got some nice bruises on my front delts tho. I never would of thought that would be an issue? I did 225 today. So I'm not heavy yet

 

[TANGO.ECHO.KILO]

No. I got some nice bruises on my front delts tho. I never would of thought that would be an issue?

...costs to be the boss
you must bruise like a peach big boy

 

[gr8whitetrukker]

...costs to be the boss
you must bruise like a peach big boy

No not at all. Your the highlander not me.
The small abrasions gives them shoulders character. They'll be used to it b4 long

 

[weighted chinup]

So I'm seeing some favorable changes with this new routine...
First big change is I have way more energy for the workout and the day that follows. That I believe is due in whole to dropping failure from the regimen. I always believed failure training is more of a character trait than a training method. Cuz it is hard to let go...

I don't believe failure is useless. No far from it. But it certainly taxes the CNS more and makes me deeply tired. The kind of tired that effects my job and in the long run makes me miss workouts. Which makes me cranky. I'll stick with this new training style and give my assessment on it. I always give everything a fair shot. Just like the 2x protein per body weight thing. Which failed my analysis you remember that eh chinup?

I added weight to my working sets (day 3) so clearly strength is up minus the fatigue I'm used to. All in all I feel optimistic. I'm looking to climb to a 315 front squat for 8 in say a couple months. Which isn't a lift I've been utilizing.

Metabolism is in full swing. My clothes looser and rebuilding what I neglected for the past 5 weeks. Coming back fast even without a cycle!

Good to hear. Day 3 and 4's intensity and volume goals are always really hard for me, 3x5 @ 85% might not seem like a lot of daily lift volume for a movement, but it's surprising difficult and the workload is very high.

That's the nice thing about high frequency, running this routine following a brief break is probably the best thing someone could do, they will pretty much fill up again in such a short amount of time due to the frequency (almost every muscle is being worked every day).

It might be too early to gauge this, but how are you liking the changing of intensity/volume every time a session is repeated during the week? That's the best part of this program, the wave like changes in intensity / volume are really good at progressing for advanced guys.

 

[gr8whitetrukker]

Good to hear. Day 3 and 4's intensity and volume goals are always really hard for me, 3x5 @ 85% might not seem like a lot of daily lift volume for a movement, but it's surprising difficult and the workload is very high.

That's the nice thing about high frequency, running this routine following a brief break is probably the best thing someone could do, they will pretty much fill up again in such a short amount of time due to the frequency (almost every muscle is being worked every day).

It might be too early to gauge this, but how are you liking the changing of intensity/volume every time a session is repeated during the week? That's the best part of this program, the wave like changes in intensity / volume are really good at progressing for advanced guys.

It is a bit early yet but I just do what my pad and paper tells me. I like the program and I'm genuinely enthusiastic at 0300 in the morning to do it! The alternating rep ranges are a nice touch. Today was sets of 5 tomorrow is sets of 12 I think? Cant wait

 

[weighted chinup]

It is a bit early yet but I just do what my pad and paper tells me. I like the program and I'm genuinely enthusiastic at 0300 in the morning to do it! The alternating rep ranges are a nice touch. Today was sets of 5 tomorrow is sets of 12 I think? Cant wait

Day 3 and 4 are both 3x5 @ 85% days, 5 and 6 are 3x10 @ 75%. 5 and 6 are very hard too, that's a lot of volume and those sets will all be challenging. Enjoy

And the fact that you are looking forward to each session is pretty much going to guarantee success here.

 

[gr8whitetrukker]

So I'm on the last day(6) 1 complete week under the program tomorrow. I added 20 lb to everything I was doing whether I wanted it or not.
+20lbs to:
-front squat
-bench
-palms up pulldown
Over what I was doing on day 1

To my suprise I completed the sets! I'll continue to force extra weight progressively each workout. The mind is strong. The body will follow.

To be honest I find day 1,3,5 the hardest. Why? Because they all start out with front squats then bench then heavy pulldowns. There's alot of mass worked all in one workout. Thennnnnnnn you gotta do the accessory stuff. I kinda monitor the situation and ensure I get to a trash can if I need to. It's been a while I'm due for a good heave.

On a side note...
I'm not sure if it's the 20lbs I lost or the change from back to front squats but I'm having close to zero lower back pain as I've had in a while. It's really pretty awesome life changing actually!

I've incorporated incline crunches EOD. That wasn't in the program
I'm also looking to add calf raises in. Probably EOD as well

As of right now life is GOOD and I'm more than excited to plow thru day 6

 

[jaymaximus]

So I'm on the last day(6) 1 complete week under the program tomorrow. I added 20 lb to everything I was doing whether I wanted it or not.
+20lbs to:
-front squat
-bench
-palms up pulldown
Over what I was doing on day 1

To my suprise I completed the sets! I'll continue to force extra weight progressively each workout. The mind is strong. The body will follow.

To be honest I find day 1,3,5 the hardest. Why? Because they all start out with front squats then bench then heavy pulldowns. There's alot of mass worked all in one workout. Thennnnnnnn you gotta do the accessory stuff. I kinda monitor the situation and ensure I get to a trash can if I need to. It's been a while I'm due for a good heave.

On a side note...
I'm not sure if it's the 20lbs I lost or the change from back to front squats but I'm having close to zero lower back pain as I've had in a while. It's really pretty awesome life changing actually!

I've incorporated incline crunches EOD. That wasn't in the program
I'm also looking to add calf raises in. Probably EOD as well

As of right now life is GOOD and I'm more than excited to plow thru day 6

Ive only been doing front squats for about a month. But they seem to be much more forgiving on my back and activate some muscles that werent getting utilized before.

Looking good Trukk, im really interested to see where this takes you. I like the layout WC had. I wouldve jumped on myself, but I still have a little while left in my current program.

 

[weighted chinup]

I'm not sure if it's the 20lbs I lost or the change from back to front squats but I'm having close to zero lower back pain as I've had in a while. It's really pretty awesome life changing actually!

That is really great to hear! Putting on size or strength is one thing, but seeing improvements in your day to day from old injuries or aches and pains is on a whole other level. Not to mention this improvement is taking place while squatting 3x a week and doing a deadlift variant / rdl's 3x a week. Impressive.

Nice work on the strength increases too. The next weeks are going to get very interesting (in a good way).

 

[gr8whitetrukker]

Nice work on the strength increases too. The next weeks are going to get very interesting (in a good way).

Yes, they are getting interesting
Today was the start of my second week DAY 1.
Operating on minimal sleep just about 5.5 hrs last night. Minimal carbs and about 3000 cals a day. I'm losing about 1.5-2 lbs a week. Sitting right at 262. After a full days eating. In the morning I weigh about 259ish empty.

I'm astonished to see today I performed all my big 3 compounds with the weight I was using last week on the heavy day. In other words what I was doing last week on the heaviest day (5 reps) I was doing today for 8. So tremendous gains in a weeks time!

I'm continuing to see lower back improvements. This is easily the best part
Almost makes me feel new. Unless I get ahead of myself I may try to do real deadlifts if this trend continues

I think the most profound thing is I'm working out less intense than usual and seeing gains. It's nice to let programming work for me instead of obliterating each muscle ED. I think another 4-6 weeks I'll be working with my typical cycle poundages. I'm on track too. Thanks WC

 

[Docd187123]

Yes, they are getting interesting
Today was the start of my second week DAY 1.
Operating on minimal sleep just about 5.5 hrs last night. Minimal carbs and about 3000 cals a day. I'm losing about 1.5-2 lbs a week. Sitting right at 262. After a full days eating. In the morning I weigh about 259ish empty.

I'm astonished to see today I performed all my big 3 compounds with the weight I was using last week on the heavy day. In other words what I was doing last week on the heaviest day (5 reps) I was doing today for 8. So tremendous gains in a weeks time!

I'm continuing to see lower back improvements. This is easily the best part
Almost makes me feel new. Unless I get ahead of myself I may try to do real deadlifts if this trend continues

I think the most profound thing is I'm working out less intense than usual and seeing gains. It's nice to let programming work for me instead of obliterating each muscle ED. I think another 4-6 weeks I'll be working with my typical cycle poundages. I'm on track too. Thanks WC

You're actually working out more intesmely than normal bc the percentages you're working with of your 1RM are higher now than when you went to failure.

 

[whontime]

I find this program intriguing as well. I've decided to give it a run as my pre-summer time cycle workout. I've been doing a lot of powerlifting focused training and was looking for something a little different to run for a while. I'm gonna do my best to devote a full 12 weeks to it. About to go hit workout #2 this morning.

 

[weighted chinup]

I find this program intriguing as well. I've decided to give it a run as my pre-summer time cycle workout. I've been doing a lot of powerlifting focused training and was looking for something a little different to run for a while. I'm gonna do my best to devote a full 12 weeks to it. About to go hit workout #2 this morning.

I'm glad to hear you're running the program! Keep us updated with how the program treats you. It really is a great routine.

 

[whontime]

I'm glad to hear you're running the program! Keep us updated with how the program treats you. It really is a great routine.

I may actually start a log to track progress and keep me honest and motivated. I actually did workout #1 this morning, made a typo in my previous post. It may not appear to be a lot of volume at first glance, but 24 working reps of front squat at 80% 1rm is a killer.

 

[turcao]

@weighted chinup what's your opinion on substituting OHP for the Incline Barbell Press?