Idea for my next cycle

[colby2152]

I have been interested in going 6x/week or doing a 3x/week AM/PM split. I then got interested in Fausto's 5x/week compound/iso split routine. Why not just make a hybrid of all of these I thought?

Here's my idea... first I really want to retest my RM's in the 2nd week of January since I haven't done it since June. This will be coming off a 3 week SD. I then plan on taking a 9 day SD going into the cycle where I will do 1 week of 15's, 1 week of 10's, 2 weeks of 5's, and 2 weeks of negs.

Let me get into the exercise selection...

Compounds
Chins
Dips
SLDL / Hypers
Squats / Leg Press
Bench Press
Military Press
Pulley Crunches
*Rows? (probably not, seems like the previous 7 are enough, but this is why I am posting)

Isolations #1
Incline DB Curls
Skullcrushers
Leg Extensions

Isolations #2
Leg Curls
Tricep Pushdown
EZ-Bar Curl

Isolations #3
Calf Raises
Shrugs

My plan is to do the compound routine on MWF. I will do Isolations #3 on TR through all the weeks as well. I will do the first isolations routine on TR in the 15's,10's, and the first week of 5's as they exercises have a lot of good stretch in them. The 2nd iso routine will be done on TR in the 2nd week of 5's and negs where I will perform pulses for the pushdowns and curls.
The AM/PM split idea is a toss-up that mostly depends on my schedule... if I can pull it off, I will do the AM/PM split, throw the rows in and instead of alternating those certain compounds, just split them. I may do the AM/PM split through the entire cycle or at the beginning.

Lastly would be my diet. If I do an AM/PM split, I plan on eating 700-1000 kcal (above maintenance) on the compound days, and eating 300-500 (aboe) on other days.. if I don't do the AM/PM split, I plan on eating 500-700 kcal (above) every day.

My supplements will be vitamin's B12,B6,C, creatine, and fish oil tablets - probably going to buy Udo's blend over the holidays. My goal is to also eliminate high GI carbs, and obviously since I am taking fish oil tablets, have a diet high in EFA's. Protein intake shall be 200g/day.

Thanks for the comments!

-Colby

 

[Totentanz]

Sounds interesting... Let us know how it goes. I know what you mean about retesting maxes. I took a week before my latest cycle and retested my maxes for the first time in about 9 months. A lot of my lifts increased tremendously, and I hadn't realized just how much weight I could do. I guess I wasn't pushing myself very hard before... I'd like to see what kind of strength gains you have made. Personally, I added about 80 lbs to my bentover rows, for example. My old 5 RM back in Jan of 2005 was 110 lbs, now it's 190 lbs. It's really cool. I didn't realize I was such a weakling before. Haha.

Anyway, good luck with the cycle. Looks like it should be real productive.

 

[colby2152]

Yeah, I'll let you know about my strength gains.. it should be really interesting. I didn't really have a question in my post. I'm just trying to get everyone's thoughts on my routine and diet.

 

[Fausto]

Ah.....another lab rat type experiment, we should start calling this the HST lab for strength/hypertrophy

Questions:
TR? what does it stand for?
As I understand 8x week is a 4 dayp/week with a AM/PM split right? Hmmmmm.....interesting...may not suit everyone due to time constraints but...remains to be seen...what of the advantages...I foresee some interesting data coming from it!

Quote[/b] ]*Rows? (probably not, seems like the previous 7 are enough, but this is why I am posting)

Up to you really, you are doing the chins, perhaps pick the very best of rows and alternate it in somewhere.

Quote[/b] ]I will do the first isolations routine on TR in the 15's,10's, and the first week of 5's as they exercises have a lot of good stretch in them.

You bet! Nothing like the incline curls...leaves your bi's turgid for at least two days, but as opposed to the DOMS theory the pain is quasi absent in HST, you can't really call it a pain more like a fullness or turgidity.

Diet: surely those numbers are above maintenance, right? Just to clear things up!

Quote[/b] ]My supplements will be vitamin's B12,B6,C, creatine, and fish oil tablets - probably going to buy Udo's blend over the holidays.

Sounds like you read albregon's creatine enhancement research!

Quote[/b] ]It is now known that folate and B12 act collectively by re-methylating homocysteine, thereby recreating methionine, which is then quickly converted into SAM by the cell.

Therefore, supplementing with these important B vitamins has two important consequences:

(1) it replenishes the body's SAM reserves; and
(2) it removals potentially dangerous homocysteine from the blood stream. In essence, folate and vitamin B12 are the body's most important methionine recyclers.

SAM = S-AdenosylMethionine

First, animal proteins are the richest natural sources of creatine. And, as mentioned previously, dietary creatine deficiency results in creatine synthesis presiding over all else.
Complete reliance on creatine synthesis, in turn, results in homocysteine levels rising dangerously.

Secondly, animal proteins are also very good sources of folate and vitamin B12. These B vitamin are needed to re-create methionine (SAM) from homocysteine, effectively completing the methylation cycle.

Therefore, the dual absence of creatine and essential B vitamins from the diet creates a potentially very dangerous scenario that would completely undermine muscle growth and recovery.

New scientific results now demonstrate that creatine levels can be optimised naturally by enhancing the body's own creatine synthetic pathway by supplementing high dosages of vitamin B6, folic acid and vitamin B12.

Additionally, by facilitating the body’s natural synthesis of creatine, the positive effects of creatine supplementation are greatly pronounced. In short, everybody will benefit from natural creatine enhancement, including those currently taking creatine.

Quote[/b] ]My goal is to also eliminate high GI carbs, and obviously since I am taking fish oil tablets, have a diet high in EFA's.  Protein intake shall be 200g/day.

Looks like you are on the right track, hopefully no "spanners" are thrown into the wheel, as that will keep you from your targetted gains.

Excellent so far, sir! Let us hear from it when you start it up and start reaping the benefits!

Cheerio

 

[imported_dkm1987]

Quote[/b] (Totentanz @ Dec. 04 2005,9:19)]Sounds interesting...  Let us know how it goes.  I know what you mean about retesting maxes.  I took a week before my latest cycle and retested my maxes for the first time in about 9 months.  A lot of my lifts increased tremendously, and I hadn't realized just how much weight I could do.  I guess I wasn't pushing myself very hard before...  I'd like to see what kind of strength gains you have made.  Personally, I added about 80 lbs to my bentover rows, for example.  My old 5 RM back in Jan of 2005 was 110 lbs, now it's 190 lbs.  It's really cool.  I didn't realize I was such a weakling before.  Haha.
Anyway, good luck with the cycle.  Looks like it should be real productive.

Which is why I still and always will advocate testing your maxes (at the very least the 5RM) at the end of each cycle, you will always be using your max loading this way when planning your next cycle.

Don't worry your strength won't change that much over your SD.

 

[imported_gripstrength]

Gonna join the high-frequency crowd, eh Colby? Good plan; I saw excellent gains during my 6x-per-week cycle. Just try to keep each workout relatively short to avoid burnuot.

About rows--your back will do well with chins and stiff-legged deads, but I'd still add some form of bent-over row. They're an essential compound movement.

 

[colby2152]

Quote[/b] ]TR? what does it stand for?

Fausto, that means Tuesday/Thursday. I'm sure this will clear up your thoughts on my routine.

Quote[/b] ]Which is why I still and always will advocate testing your maxes (at the very least the 5RM) at the end of each cycle, you will always be using your max loading this way when planning your next cycle.

Dan, you think I should just test my maxes next week before I go into the 3 week SD. This way my next cycle will have standard sized rep-phases (2 weeks of 15's... 2 weeks of 10's..)

Quote[/b] ]Diet: surely those numbers are above maintenance, right? Just to clear things up!

Yeah, I should edit that... all those numbers for caloric intake are above maintenance.

Quote[/b] ]
Sounds like you read albregon's creatine enhancement research!

Well actually, I did ample research into creatine a couple months ago. I believe I came across that, but that's not actually the sole reason I take folic acid/b12/b6 tablets (actually as a prescription.) There is a blood defect in my family, where I need to take that to thin my blood out which I believe it is removing homocysteine to prevent dangerous blood clotting.

Quote[/b] ]Looks like you are on the right track, hopefully no "spanners" are thrown into the wheel, as that will keep you from your targetted gains.

What do you mean by spanners? Is that something to do with my diet?

Thanks for the replies!

-Colby

 

[Fausto]

Quote[/b] ]Fausto, that means Tuesday/Thursday. I'm sure this will clear up your thoughts on my routine.

Thought so, just wandering!

Quote[/b] ]Well actually, I did ample research into creatine a couple months ago. I believe I came across that, but that's not actually the sole reason I take folic acid/b12/b6 tablets (actually as a prescription.) There is a blood defect in my family, where I need to take that to thin my blood out which I believe it is removing homocysteine to prevent dangerous blood clotting.

Well, kinda coincides with what he says about creatine uptake, and for the very same reasons, lucky you if it proves to be exact, then you're in for some rather good creatine uptake, hopefully followed by some handsome growth!

Are you also taking insane quantities such as the ones he is talking about? Some are 1000 % of RDA, wow!

Quote[/b] ]What do you mean by spanners?

Kinda like Murphy's law, when whatever you have planned does not go the way it should! A spanner thrown into a moving wheel causes havoc as you can imagine.

Quote[/b] ]Is that something to do with my diet?

No of course not, but then sometimes things don't go the way we plan, refer above explanation.

Cheers Bud

 

[colby2152]

Quote[/b] ]Are you also taking insane quantities such as the ones he is talking about? Some are 1000 % of RDA, wow!

RDA? I'm not sure on the dosage, doesn't say on the bottle...

Okay, now I get what you meant by spanners. Yeah, I don't know if you remember, but I posted an excel sheet on here where I measure my caloric intake (macronutrients included), weight, and bodyfat%. It then spits out an estimated weight that I should be at by the end of the week. If it's off by over a pound, then I adjust my BMR. This has worked very well, as it tells me if I should be gaining or not, and then I can adjust my BMR and caloric intake accordingly.

Quote[/b] ]Gonna join the high-frequency crowd, eh Colby? Good plan; I saw excellent gains during my 6x-per-week cycle. Just try to keep each workout relatively short to avoid burnuot.

Gripstrength, it's always seemed interesting to me, and as long as I could fit it into my schedule I have been wanting to do it. I have been here for a half a year and did two super large relatively standard cycles. If I do go with the AM/PM split for the compound days, it will look something like this:

AM
SLDL
Leg Press
Chins
Dips
Pulley Crunches

PM
Squats
Bench Press
Military Press
Seated Rows
Hypers

I would of course keep sets a bit lower than normal so my weekly volume is consistent with what I do now... probably doing 1-2 sets when the load is low, and 1 set when the weight is high.

-Colby

 

[colby2152]

bump, thought I'd get a few extra replies (about diet, retesting maxes, and a reply from fausto)

 

[Fausto]

Colby

Here I am dude

Sounds like a nice worksheet, still using it? How about a pm or straight to my e-mail: faustos@aspenpharma.com.

Recommended Dietary Allowance - which IMO is designed for sedentary people anyway, but yep, the site that Albregon recommends, has a specific B complex with B6/12 and floic acid with very high dosage, apparently besides helping the body manufacture more creatine it helps teh creatine taken in as a sup, but I am having the Dan and the JV chceking it out for truth!

What else can I say? YOur routine looks grand, just the recipe for size, wish I had the discipline to train twice a day

Cheers mate...lert me know if I am answering you on what you need!

 

[colby2152]

Quote[/b] ]YOur routine looks grand, just the recipe for size, wish I had the discipline to train twice a day

That's all I needed to hear.

I'll email the spreadsheet to you Fausto.

-Colby