[Louis Schuler]

Thanks for all the answers guys, will take everything on board. Steven sorry for my idiot behaviour the other day, good info from you. Cheers

[Louis Schuler]

Thanks for your answer but I think a little more goes into it. I’m looking for execution pointers, things like that.

[Louis Schuler]

Thanks for the answer. Same principle for vertical pulls? Focusing on bringing the elbow to the hip?

[Louis Schuler]

Nothing personal Stevie 😉 This is an open forum, I’m expressing my views, nothing directed at you. Thanks for your constructive comment, any tips for me to work on my work ethic issue?
Thanks,
Louis

[Louis Schuler]

I don’t think one training style should be pushed on others. I think there are many different ways to get big. I think the best way is to try different training styles and see for yourself which one you prefer. Too often in this sport, people push training styles, supplements and diets on others.Trial and error is the way to go. See things for yourself, discover things for yourself. The best training split is the one you enjoy and the one you’ve had a good experience with. My first couple of years of training I wouldn’t have been able to do fortitude training, I didn’t have the work ethic in the gym to get the most out of a low volume approach. Now I absolutely love that training style. Be open-minded in this sport or you will have a short adventure.

[Louis Schuler]

It does not have to be a 6 days a week, you can also do 2 days on 1 day off. Push/Pull/Rest/Legs/Push/Rest/Pull/Legs……..

Personally if I only had 4 days a week I would do a 4 day split, something like Chest/Triceps, Back/Biceps, Legs, Shoulders and traps. If I had a specifically weak muscle group I would add some extra work at the end of a session. If you have weak lats you can add some lat work after the shoulder and trap session for example.

[Louis Schuler]

Hello! Well the benefits of changing to a PPL split would be the increase in frequency. You’d train the muscles more often which would create more growth. As you are currently doing things, you are training each muscle group once a week. By doing push pull legs, assuming you throw in a rest day, you would be training every muscle group twice a week: increased frequency. For the volume question, let’s say for a muscle like the back you do 16 sets per week. So as you’re doing things now, let’s say 4 exercices for 4 sets each. By splitting up the session into two workouts, in a pull workout, you would do 8 sets per session, 3/4 exercices. It allows you to hit each exercice harder, with more intensity: more growth. In the end you’re still doing 16 sets per week, but I’m willing to bet your weights will increase. Volume isn’t just the number of sets and reps you do. It’s also the weight you lift. Doing only 8 sets of back in a session will allow you to lift more weight, more intensity, you’ll be able to put everything into each set
= GROWTH

Hope I’m clear. Feel free to ask more questions my man. And watch JP’s videos and mimick the way he trains. And follow his workout structure, it’s very enjoyable and effective.

[Louis Schuler]

I have elbow issues too.
I would suggest:

-Assisted dips, which are brilliant for the triceps. Since you don’t have to stabilise yourself, it takes pain away from the elbows and shoulders, so you can focus only on the triceps

-Smith machine close grip press. Same reasoning, the smith machine takes the stabilisation aspect out, and for me takes the pain away.

[Louis Schuler]

Hey,

Maybe try to switch the split around so that pull is after your rest day. It could be simply because you’re less strong in those areas, and a stronger presser. Your volume doesn’t seem to be high. Do you recover from the pull workouts? Do you feel sore and tired the next day? If you don’t feel overly sore and extremely taxed after the workout and the next day, it’s probably not a volume thing.

[Louis Schuler]

It’s because after pull day the biceps are fatigued. After push day, the biceps are still fresh, they can handle more direct work.

[Louis Schuler]

The “classic” physique look is mainly down to lines and genetics. And not getting huge. Go to failure all you want, it won’t influence whether you have a “classic” look or not. In my opinion of course

[Louis Schuler]

Hey Max,

There are a few ways to skin a cat.. Depending on how you recover from work outs (and how hard you push in your workouts), I’d adopt a higher frequency training style so maybe Push Pull Legs in the order you prefer in a 3 on 1 off fashion, if you feel like you need more recovery, 2 on 1 off so Push/Pull/Rest/Legs/Push/Rest etc….

4 day splits are also good if you have a specifically weak body part. But in 1-2 years of serious training, apart from if you only trained chest and arms the whole time, no body part should particularly be lagging.

Just remember that no matter what split you do, if you train hard and eat well, you will progress whether you’re on PPL or 4 day split…

I’m currently on 3 on 1 off PPL. Working great for me.

Good luck

[Louis Schuler]

Hey sir,

Seeing the logs, are you increasing volume per session? 3 working sets + drops is higher volume than I’m used to seeing on this site.

Thanks for your time and all the great info,

Louis

[Louis Schuler]

Generally, a stronger muscle is a bigger muscle.
I would stick to 5×5 for the big 4: squat, bench, deadlift, OHP. Aside from that I would work towards the 6 to 12 rep range.
5×5 is also very easily trackable. You use one weight for your 5 sets of 5, if you complete, push up in weight. You will definitely get stronger and it will translate into muscular gains.
Is it optimal for building muscle? Who knows. There are many effective ways of building muscle, I think this is one of them as long as you do extra work between 6-12ish.
You need to commit to a bulk in order to see muscular gains. I made the mistake of not really knowing what I was doing, bulking or cutting, in between the two. This is not a good way to make progress. Commit to your bulk, don’t worry about losing the abs and get big!

[Louis Schuler]

In my opinion, the training that JP advocates (1 all out set + 1 back off set) is good once you have acquired a solid level in training. You need to be able to use the muscles you train properly ie: reach chest failure on a dumbbell press and also need to be able to break the mental barrier of going all out for 2 sets. It is not a given to everyone. I am by no means an advanced lifter in terms of years training but I like to think I know what I’m doing, and I’m only finally starting to be able to give 100% on every set. Only when you can give 100% on every set, 2 sets is enough work for an exercise. My training partner struggles with this type of training, he can still do more after just 2 sets, probably because he doesn’t push hard enough (he isn’t a pussy, he just hasn’t learned how to push and reach muscular failure properly + break the mental barrier). This is a little off topic but an interesting thought.