As you know, you will train for 10 consecutive weeks before taking a week off.
At the end of week 8 and before week 9 commences, you have a choice of whether or not to lower the rep range.
If you are progressing well, do nothing.
If, however, you have reached a plateau, or are just plain bored, drop the rep range to 4 – 6 reps.
This lower rep range will help build strength, blast plateaus, and make those last couple of weeks a little more interesting.
You must train to failure in every set just like you would with 8 – 12 reps. So in order to facilitate this, you will increase the weight on EACH set of EVERY exercise.
A good rule of thumb is to check your workout log, take your last 8 – 12 weight and multiply it by 0.1. Take this result and add it to your original weight to get your 4 – 6 weight.
Example – A guy curls 20kg on dumbbell bicep curls for 8-12 reps. He wants to switch to the lower rep range.
20 x 0.1 = 2.
20 + 2 = 22kg.
He will then curl a 22kg dumbbell in order to ensure that he reaches ‘positive failure’ somewhere in the 4 – 6 rep range.
A girl wants to switch to a lower rep range in her squats. Her last workout saw her squat 80kg for 9 reps.
80 x 0.1 = 8
80 + 8 = 88kg
So she knows to increase the load to 88kg for her next workout.
You get the idea.
A Very simple and very effective strategy for weeks 9 and 10 of your cycle! Now click on ‘PART 7‘
PART 1 | PART 2 | PART 3 | PART 4 | PART 5 | PART 7 | PART 8 | PART 9 | PART 10| PART 11 | PART 12 | PART 13
Mark McManus
Hi mate, im really enjoying these training cycles, they are keeping me interested and toning up. I would like to make an inquiry as to what supplements you would reccomend? I dont currently use any but i am wanting maximum growth of healthy muscle to complement my workouts.
Cheers Mate
Andy. Go here
https://musclehack.com/best-bodybuilding-supplements-for-success/
Here’s on on protein as well
https://musclehack.com/which-is-the-best-whey-protein-supplement/
Mark
hey mark
just a quick question, with the different rep ranges for strength gain or muscle (size)
gain it looks like a very fine line.. i remember the saying that size will follow strength so the stronger you get the bigger you get. does that maybe depend on your diet.?
cause ive noticed with the olympic weight lifters that they are lifting huge weights but some of them aren’t really that big.
thanks
Good advice! The simple things that don’t interfere with progressive weight overload seem to work very well. Btw, you could do the calculation easier by just multiplying the weight by 1.1.
@Jason. They are generating a lot of force, not necessarily strength, but strength obviously plays a role. This is from an earlier comment…
“Think of strength as your weights increasing over time, or your 1 rep max increasing over time. Think of power as the ability to generate force quickly. So it’s force x speed = power. Think of the type of movements power lifters perform. However, those type of movements don’t play any part in a good growth-orientated program.”
@Pesseh. True. Good point.
I had been stuck at 50 lb/11 rep shoulder press on my 1st set for 4 weeks. This helps.
I also have a question on supersets..I make progress every week on the 1st exercise in the superset, but I get weaker every week on the second exercise. Should I take it easy on the 1st portion and let the second exercise improve, or keep pushing hard on the first exercise and let second part lack in improvement? I go to “gun-to-the-head” failure every set right now so I’d have to take it easy on 1st set to let second part progress
Hey mark.
Im in good shape but with little extra fat and weigh 180 lbs and I want to gain 200 lbs without gaining fat. How can I achieve this?
Thanks.