AM/PM split advice

[Schopenhauer]

Hi guys!

I'm currently on my third bulking HST cycle. My routine is shown below:

A / B
bench press / incline bench press
barbell row / pull down
barbell press / dumbbell press
leg press / squat
barbell shurgs (forward / backward)
close-grip bench / triceps extension
barbell curl / dumbbell curl
calf raise / calf raise


I am finishing the stage 15's and I will keep a constant volume (30 reps per muscle group). Thus:

15's: 2 sets
10's: 3 sets
5's: 6 sets
pos-5's, 6 sets + optimization

During stage 5's and post-5's I plan to train twice a day (AM / PM). My question is: should I divide the total volume in each training session, ie 3X5 AM and 3X5 PM, OR then slightly increase the volume, making 4X5 AM and 4X5 PM? I read in some e-books that one of the greatest advantages of training twice a day is just an opportunity to increase the volume of training. Is it worth increasing volume in this case?

 

[Totentanz]

To be honest, I never tell anyone to do an AM/PM split. If you live in your gym then it might work, but it's just too difficult to maintain. I've never seen proof that it is superior to just training once in the day. Your routine looks solid, the only concern I would have is that it might be difficult to do 6 sets of 5 with your 5 RM for most of those exercises.

 

[HDLou]

In my opinion if someone is advanced enough to need 6x5 they would be better off performing 3x5 using 2 exercises for each bodypart.

 

[Schopenhauer]

Thanks for your comments.

I've never seen proof that it is superior to just training once in the day.

Theoretically, train twice a day promotes a number of anabolic effects, as illustrated in the e-book "pimp my hst foreword" and commented on the post "optimizing HST", by Blade - I'm sure you already recognize these references. Personally, I got better gains training twice a day than just once, comparing my first and second cycles. Of course this is not a 'proof', but my impression was very positive. Maybe it was psychological effect.

Your routine looks solid, the only concern I would have is that it might be difficult to do 6 sets of 5 with your 5 RM for most of those exercises.

Precisely because of this difficulty that I thought I would split the routine into two parts and working with a reduced volume in each.

In my opinion if someone is advanced enough to need 6x5 they would be better off performing 3x5 using 2 exercises for each bodypart.

This is a very good idea! So I can keep the total volume and diminish the boredom that would make six series of the same exercise. I can keep the total volume of 30 reps for the big multi-joint exercises and just do 15 reps for specialization (arms and traps). How about that?