To Alternate or Not to Alternate that is the question

T

tdawg_33

New Member
I have been wrestling with this because my mind wanders too much during an SD. The reason I ask this question is because I have noticed that my best gains during HST have been on exercies that I do not alternate each workout such as bench press and overhead press. So my thought is to just lay out a simple bare bones routine that is repeated each time such as

Unilateral Deadlift
Lunge
Bench Press
Overhead Press
Chins
Standing Calf Raises

So far I have alternated chins/rows, DL/squat, and standing/seated calf raises and the strength/size gains are not as good. The lack of sucess with leg exercises are due in large part to my back issues, which I think will be alleviated with the use of unilateral training. Any thoughts or personal experiences?
 
I dont really like the idea of not alternating squats and deads and just having lunges/deads every workout. One reason is chances are your back will be continually fatigued once you hit the second week of each cycle. Another is squats are essential.
If it were me having the mindset you do about your results. I'd be more incline to keep the alternations and add an accessory exercise to compliment the exercises your questioning gains on.

AKA
do leg curls or leg extensions on your deadlift alternated day
do weighted hyper extensions on your squats alternated day

Its the same concept your going for, but it would just be a lot less intense and i would assume keep you further away from CNS fatigue then your original plan.
 
I’ve never alternated calf exercises and from everything I’ve read calf size is pretty much genetically set. you either have the genes for big calves or not, so don’t expect them to grow much especially if you’re not using very heavy weights since the calves get bodyweight workouts every time you walk/run.

Alternating Squats and Deadlifts is common since most people would burn out quickly doing heavy Squats and Deadlifts every workout.

I do both Chin Ups and Rows w/o alternating though even the program I’m doing now Westside Barbell often advocates alternating between them to keep the single workout volume down. I do both because Chins are also my primary biceps exercise. Rows I do because they are suppose to help the Bench more because they work the lats in the same plane of motion as the Bench Press. Plus I do DB Rows with a slight incline so that they also work my Rear Delts which otherwise wouldn’t be getting enough work to balance out what my front delts get. If you are curious try a cycle doing one and then a cycle doing the other and see if it makes a difference.
 
@G-11 I was most concerned about just doing one back exercise. I think I can handle 2 back exercises and will probably opt for incline rows and chins as you do for all the same reasons. I am interested to see how my legs will respond to the unilateral training. With lighter loads I think I can do both DL and lunge without hampering my recovery ability, but only time will tell.

@ wobbles I'm sure the 1st week will tell me if having both unilateral DL/lunge in the same work out is gonna work. I didn't have much success alternating the two before, but I kinda have to throw that all out the window in light of my chiropractic issues. I had the exact pairings in mind you suggested, but I wanted a little feedback. I kinda feel like I'm in no mans land not doing squats/DL bilateral like everyone else so I guess I have to just give it a go and see what works best.

Thank you both for the feedback!
 
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