3&5 Day MG to 4&5 Day MG?

[Patrick McIntosh]

First off I apologize for how crappy the following tables look, I don't know how to preserve the indents I set when I originally made it in notepad.

The idea is to work the MG cycle, 3 day/week hypertrophy cycle and 5 day/week strength cycle into a 4 day/week hypertrophy cycle and 5 day/week strength cycle. Doing so screws up rest days and complicates testing days. I cannot workout Wednesday and can barely make time on Saturday.

Another complication is I have no experience with the Olympic lifts and all I have to work with is a 5' standard bar. My only goal is to gain as much mass and strength as possible before I leave for commercial diving school (very physically demanding) in March. I don't have time to self coach myself anything beyond the clean (and simple variations) and the deadlift. I figure I can substitute high pulls and thrusters for the more complicated movements, but am I wrong?

Currently I do the following program: Mon X, Tues Y, Thurs X, Fri Y. I usually work with 5x5's and 4x7's.

Workout X
A. Explosive Movement
B. Push-Pull Circuit
1. Horizontal Push
2. Vertical Pull
C. Abs-Back Circuit

Workout Y
A. Explosive Movement
B. Push-Pull Circuit
1. Horizontal Pull
2. Vertical Push
C. Abs-Back Circuit

The following jumble of crap is my attempt to convert the MG cycle. Should I just stick with what I'm doing? I love it and it allows for lots of variation and adjustment.

A=Monday
B=Wednesday
C=Friday

Hypertrophy Microcycle:

Mon Tues Thurs Fri
---------------------------------
Week 1 A |B |C |A
---------------------------------
Week 2 B |C |A |B
---------------------------------
Week 3 C |A |B |C

Hypertrophy Unloading Microcycle:

Mon Tues Thurs Fri
---------------------------------
Week 1 A |B |C |

A=Monday
B=Tuesday
C=Wednesday
D=Thursday
E=Saturday

Strength Microcycle:

Mon Tues Thurs Fri Sat
-----------------------------------------
Week 1 A |B |C |D |E
-----------------------------------------
Week 2 A |B |C |D |E

Strenth Unloading Microcycle:

Mon Tues Thurs Fri Sat
-----------------------------------------
Week 1 A |B |C |D |E
-----------------------------------------
Week 2 B |C |A |B |E



Thanks for bearing with me.

[Steven Low]

Mass gain is fairly simple with a solid program. The key is what you want to do with your exercises specifically working towards your goals. Hash out a few goals first and then we can go over a routine (coupled with a good diet) that will help you gain mass.

As it is, that routine is fairly week namely.. it doesn't have any heavy full body lifts as explosive movements exclude heavy squats and DLs which are going to be your main "mass builders" as they stimulate huge hormone release. Explosive exercise is good overall though. Circuits are not particularly good at building mass. You're better off with pure strength work with a 3-4 upper body exercises combined with 2 lower body/full body lifts. So yeah. That's just if you wanted a simple critique.

[Patrick McIntosh]

My goal is simply: bigger and stronger. I'm 6'1" 195 lbs and pretty lean (I sink like a rock). This time last year I was cycling exclusively and weighted approx. 175 lbs. So those extra 20 lbs came easy - now it's getting difficult to gain mass.

As far as diet goes (these numbers are higher than normal because I just started drinking a gal of milk daily), I'm eating anywhere from 250-300g of protein, 3500-4000 calories, lots of fish oil, lean meats, lots of v8, and multiple servings of fresh and frozen fruit/veggies daily.

[Steven Low]

Well that's boring. You don't have any weightlifting or bodyweight goals you want to work towards? Mass and strength gains are almost side effects of training for the aforementioned weightlifting goals.. so it's better that you have something to work towards..

[Allen Yeh]

Well that's boring. You don't have any weightlifting or bodyweight goals you want to work towards? Mass and strength gains are almost side effects of training for the aforementioned weightlifting goals.. so it's better that you have something to work towards..

Hey now. Different strokes for different folks. Nothing wrong with training for aesthetics sometimes you know.

[Patrick McIntosh]

No, I'm not really training for aesthetics, I'm training to get myself as big as possible. I'm going to a commercial diving academy March 30th.

I'll be working at depth in a wet suit, coveralls, a 30lb tank, and a helmet that completely covers my head. I'll be using tools bigger than entire limbs. I'll be carrying giant steel valves around and pulling 3" thick steel cable. Etc, etc.

[Steven Low]

Hey now. Different strokes for different folks. Nothing wrong with training for aesthetics sometimes you know.
Well, MOST people want to at least set some lifting goals for themselves like 500 lbs DL, 400 lbs squat maybe bench 300 or whatever. I don't know.. most people have some form of goal that they can integrate with strength and mass gain pretty easily.

[Kevin Perry]

Just throwing my two cents out there if your going for commercial diving....

You should focus more on metcon training then strength training if your want to be a commercial diver... The bigger you the slower you will probably be in the water. This comes from a fellow diver as I was going to attend a commercial dive school last year in Florida. Most of your commercial divers are not big guys.

[Patrick McIntosh]

Kevin,

That's exactly why I'm doing a push-pull circuit. I just try and keep it as heavy as possible.

But now I'm thinking the school itself, being 4 months, should prepare me metcon-wise.