I'm currently 13% BF and I'm going to hit 10% BF before my bulk. Fat loss isn't a problem for me, hypertrophy is something I don't do too well so help in planning my bulk phase would be good.
I've done two HST cycles.
The 1st cycle had good gains, especially in the first 4 weeks, I defnitely noticed gains in the 10's, it's quite possible I made gains in the 15's as well.
I put on about 2kg (4.4 pounds) during the 10's and 15's, which at least 1kg (2.2 pounds) was muscle. I didn't put on any weight during the last 4 weeks (5's and post 5's) which obviously wasn't too bright when trying to bulk. At the end of the post 5's I was overtrained (extra eating at the end probably would have helped).
My program was (note I didn't have access to a squat rack so couldn't do back squats, plus I was in temp accommodation so didn't want to damage the floor boards so did GMs rather than deads)
1*15, 2*10, 3*5
Good Mornings
Front Squat
BB Curl
BB Overhead press
DB Bench
Chest supported rows
Weighted chins
Chins: My max chins at the time were about 10, so I pretty much did 1 set of 10 during the 15's and 10's. And from the 5's onwards I was able to increase the intensity over the 2 weeks. For chins I made no gains during the 15's and 10's weeks (was quite sore in the
lats, probably overtrained on this).
During the 5's I did increase my strength on chins (although it didn't seem to flow through to maxing out so was probably quite neural). The other lifts improved on the 15's and 10's (and caused hypertroph), as stated before these lifts probably partially improved due to the extra calories.
The 2nd cycle had strength gains and perhaps a small amount of hypertrophy. It was a 4 week program. I definitely should have ate more that time.
Due to other sport commitments, recovering from an injury which had my leg in plaster for 7 weeks and a new baby I haven't been seriously trying to hypertrophy the rest of time
Once I hit 10% BF, I want hypertrophy. I need to develop a good plan and stick to it. I aim to keep going to 15% and then cut again.
In terms of weekly weight gain, what should I be aiming for? I was thinking trying to keep each week between 300g and 500g (roughly 0.5 to 1 pound).
I'll do a post workout drink of whey protein, milk, bananas and berries.
Has anybody found creatine to be effective?
I'm not sure whether to do an A/B split, and also the number of sets.
I felt the 10's were productive for me, so I think I'll add 8's. So I will do 15's, 10's,
8's, 5's, post 5's (PR's until stuck, then drop to 3s). 2 weeks of each so it'll be a
10 week program.
Note that for chins, my rep max would be about 11 so I can't do the 15's or 10's properly.
So perhaps I bring chins in at the 5's stage?
I definitely want the following lifts in my program
Chins
BB Overhead Press
DB Bench
Chest supported rows
Back squats
Sumo Dead
Ab wheel (new toy so need to use it)
I'm thinking about adding
BB Curl (was quite productive in my 1st cycle, although my biceps were phenomenally small
pre my 1st cycle)
BB Calf raises
Some sort of shrug, probably regular shrug
Note I work out in the garage so machine work is not an option.
In summary, I think my main questions are:
- How much weight should I gain a week?
- Is creatine good?
- How should I structure my workouts?
- How should I include chins in the program
Thanks in advance for the advice I'm going to get. I'm around 3 to 4 weeks away from 10%BF
so this should us enough time to formulate a plan.
Before I start I'll post my final plan once I've gotten advice. And I'll then create a log and won't deviate from the plan unless something is going wrong - I'll post about what changes I'll make before doing it.
I've done two HST cycles.
The 1st cycle had good gains, especially in the first 4 weeks, I defnitely noticed gains in the 10's, it's quite possible I made gains in the 15's as well.
I put on about 2kg (4.4 pounds) during the 10's and 15's, which at least 1kg (2.2 pounds) was muscle. I didn't put on any weight during the last 4 weeks (5's and post 5's) which obviously wasn't too bright when trying to bulk. At the end of the post 5's I was overtrained (extra eating at the end probably would have helped).
My program was (note I didn't have access to a squat rack so couldn't do back squats, plus I was in temp accommodation so didn't want to damage the floor boards so did GMs rather than deads)
1*15, 2*10, 3*5
Good Mornings
Front Squat
BB Curl
BB Overhead press
DB Bench
Chest supported rows
Weighted chins
Chins: My max chins at the time were about 10, so I pretty much did 1 set of 10 during the 15's and 10's. And from the 5's onwards I was able to increase the intensity over the 2 weeks. For chins I made no gains during the 15's and 10's weeks (was quite sore in the
lats, probably overtrained on this).
During the 5's I did increase my strength on chins (although it didn't seem to flow through to maxing out so was probably quite neural). The other lifts improved on the 15's and 10's (and caused hypertroph), as stated before these lifts probably partially improved due to the extra calories.
The 2nd cycle had strength gains and perhaps a small amount of hypertrophy. It was a 4 week program. I definitely should have ate more that time.
Due to other sport commitments, recovering from an injury which had my leg in plaster for 7 weeks and a new baby I haven't been seriously trying to hypertrophy the rest of time
Once I hit 10% BF, I want hypertrophy. I need to develop a good plan and stick to it. I aim to keep going to 15% and then cut again.
In terms of weekly weight gain, what should I be aiming for? I was thinking trying to keep each week between 300g and 500g (roughly 0.5 to 1 pound).
I'll do a post workout drink of whey protein, milk, bananas and berries.
Has anybody found creatine to be effective?
I'm not sure whether to do an A/B split, and also the number of sets.
I felt the 10's were productive for me, so I think I'll add 8's. So I will do 15's, 10's,
8's, 5's, post 5's (PR's until stuck, then drop to 3s). 2 weeks of each so it'll be a
10 week program.
Note that for chins, my rep max would be about 11 so I can't do the 15's or 10's properly.
So perhaps I bring chins in at the 5's stage?
I definitely want the following lifts in my program
Chins
BB Overhead Press
DB Bench
Chest supported rows
Back squats
Sumo Dead
Ab wheel (new toy so need to use it)
I'm thinking about adding
BB Curl (was quite productive in my 1st cycle, although my biceps were phenomenally small
pre my 1st cycle)
BB Calf raises
Some sort of shrug, probably regular shrug
Note I work out in the garage so machine work is not an option.
In summary, I think my main questions are:
- How much weight should I gain a week?
- Is creatine good?
- How should I structure my workouts?
- How should I include chins in the program
Thanks in advance for the advice I'm going to get. I'm around 3 to 4 weeks away from 10%BF
so this should us enough time to formulate a plan.
Before I start I'll post my final plan once I've gotten advice. And I'll then create a log and won't deviate from the plan unless something is going wrong - I'll post about what changes I'll make before doing it.
