[Max Daigle]

I would spend a little more than just a week working in the 6-8 rep range. 3-4 weeks is more ideal as it gives you more time to adapt and get stronger. Finally, I’ve had good success with my own training when I altered the tempo of the exercise (ex. 5 second eccentric). You can manipulate intensity/load within a training phase by changing the speed of the rep (faster tempo = greater load). Shoot for a TUT of around 20-40 seconds per set.

[Max Daigle]

Hey John,

Sorry bud, but performance and recovery will greatly suffer if you push more than 3 days in a row (in my opinion).

I don’t know what level of training experience you have, but upper/lower/off/upper/lower/off/off worked great for me in the past.

However, I have some experience working with people who want to enjoy their weekends (professional athletes sure do love it). In those cases, Monday is an “easy” day to kind of get you back in the swing of things and then you have three real/brutal sessions during the week.

For example: Monday (Arms, Abs, Cardio), Tuesday (Legs, Push) Wednesday (OFF), Thursday (Pull, Legs) Friday (Push, Pull).

It’s not ideal and enjoying the weekends too much will make the process much longer and harder, but it would be better than doing 5 days straight (again, in my opinion).

[Max Daigle]

Hey Kuba,

I started my offseason about a month ago, got ill for about two weeks so just getting back into the swing of things, also started my first cycle (250 test 250 masteron).

A bit of context, so for the past 6 months I wasn’t able to flat/incline press due to a bicep/shoulder/serratus injury sustained years ago that I never did anything about, slowly getting back into pressing now and am able to flat/incline press and shoulder press in the same session.

This is what my splits looking like atm, last week I added an arm day going forward, as I’ve never really had one and they’re a lacking body part – weighing 79kg atm so I know overall size is priority but I feel like they’re noticeably weak.

My insta is Adem_k for physique reference, or let me know and I can upload some pics here.

Btw I start my upper sessions with a lat movement, feel like it makes my pressing a lot smoother.

Would really appreciate any feedback you have regarding the split/volume etc.

Thanks a lot man.

Monday

Upper A

Cable Single Lat Row x2

Cable Side Lateral x2

Flat Hammer Press x2

Shoulder Press (Hammer plate/pin or smith) x2

Close Grip Smith x2

Panatta Tbar x2

Gym Shop Pulldown x2

Upper Back Hammer Row x2

Tris/Bis

Tuesday

Lower A

Adductor x2

Seated Hamstring x2 (one set before compounds, one set after)

Quad Ext (one set before compounds, one set after)

Cybex Hack x1

Pendulum Leg Press (rotate with banded Hammer Leg Press) x1

Calves

Abs

Thursday

Upper B

Hammer Single Lat Row x2

Cable Side Lateral x2

Flat Hammer Press x2

Shoulder Press (Hammer plate/pin or smith) x2

Close Grip Smith x2

Upper Back Cable Pulldown x2

Single Cable Lat Pulldown x2

Upper Back Hammer Row x2

Tris/Bis

Friday

Lower B

Adductor x2

Seated Hamstring x2 (one set before compounds, one set after)

RDL x1 (will probably add a back off set at some point)

Quad Ext x2 (one set before pendulum, one set after)

Pendulum Squat x1

Calves

Abs

Saturday

Cable Side Lateral

Arms

Abs

Upper lower would work great with adding arms at the end of sessions

If arms are a focus I would switch to push pull leg

This much lat work before pressing would leave me fatigued and unable to press safely and effectively my stability would be totally off.

Not how I would run things at all[/quote]

Interesting thanks, so something like

Push

Pull

Off

Legs

Arms

Off

Briefly how would you structure the push and pull sessions? And I’m guessing I’d place the RDL on pull?

[/quote]
I can’t briefly write out your training plan for you but I can give you advice around it like I have above buddy

Personally I run hinge work on leg days not pull days

Posing at least 3x per week even throughout offseason, all compulsory shots and mandatory[/quote]

Hey guys, I hope you don’t mind me adding a little input cause I’m in a similar circumstance.

1) I agree with Kuba about lat work before pressing (fatigue may affect pressing). I always enjoyed a little at the end because of all the pressing and limited scapular movement, some pulling after pressing can help maintain healthy shoulder function.

2) Kuba mentioned in one of his videos about adding a little bicep work at the end of multiple sessions. I’ve added 3 sets of biceps on my two push days (none on pull day) and I like it so far. No effect on Pull performance. I could show you my split if you’d like as a reference.

Last little note, I don’t know how your recovery and performance is during the Upper days, but you seem to have a lot of different exercises. I (personally) would recommend spreading the exercises out over 2 sessions (two Push A/B or Push and Pull) cause having such a large number of exercises in a single session is very taxing in itself on the nervous system. I tend to limit the number of exercises to 6, but really try to get the most out of them. You may end up doing more total working sets in a session and still recover better (the CNS and brain have to work harder the more tasks/movements you throw at it and the more often it has to shift focus).

Sorry for the long comment. It was just something that really stuck out to me. If you’re making progress though, just keep doing what works.

[Max Daigle]

Hey Jeff,

I haven’t worked with competitors before, but I can definitely help you with body composition before maybe going with a more reputable coach if your goal is to step on stage later.

If you’re interested, don’t hesitate to contact me.

maxdaigle8@gmail.com

Not too sure about any reputable coaches at that price range though, but this website provides a lot of great content to learn from if your looking to save some money. You could easily get started that way.

Hope that helps!

Max

Thank you for your response Max. I hammered the basics pretty hard in 2019 (meat, rice, and JP style training). The problem is that those things aren’t really working now that I’m back in the gym. Is that an issue that would be within your experience level to trouble shoot?[/quote]

Yes, I believe I can help you get things back on track!

Max

[Max Daigle]

Hey Jeff,

I haven’t worked with competitors before, but I can definitely help you with body composition before maybe going with a more reputable coach if your goal is to step on stage later.

If you’re interested, don’t hesitate to contact me.

maxdaigle8@gmail.com

Not too sure about any reputable coaches at that price range though, but this website provides a lot of great content to learn from if your looking to save some money. You could easily get started that way.

Hope that helps!

Max

[Max Daigle]

Hey Simon,

Looks like a solid plan!

I would recommend maybe pushing the date for your goal a bit. 2 months seems pretty quick for 20lbs. It’s definitely doable! But if your goal is to strip off body fat and keep your muscle, you may need a little longer. From personal experience, trying to drop fat fast sucks and normally doesn’t get me the results I wanted. There’s usually some muscle loss, the look isn’t right, and I’m miserable from the lack of food and results.

My recommendation would be to increase the calories slightly by increasing protein intake (~40g/meal) as a start point, and slowly make changes over time depending on your progress.

If you really want to lose those 20lbs in 2 months, a low carb approach (w/ carbs during and post training only) has worked for me in the past. I know it’s extreme and unsustainable, but you’re going to have to do something extreme to get what you.

Don’t forget to train hard and take great care of the other 22-23 hours.

Hope that helps!

Max