Quote Originally Posted by pfabrizi1 Check Out Post
First off thanks for the lengthy response I really appreciate that. I basically took the "5th Set" idea from Swedes book and applied it to my main lifts. 80% is the starting point and I'd increase by 2-3kg per week depending on the lift. I'm trying to build strength and size with a little more emphasis on hypertrophy, Im not planning on competing until November.
I'm 26 and i've been lifting seriously for 6 years, I'm 5'7 and weigh about 200lbs so I want to really maximize my size at the 198lb weight class. My most recent maxes are 545 squat 425 bench and 645 pull. I really just started the program last week to see if I liked the set/rep scheme... to be honest i've been dying to follow your training method if and when you publish it lol..

As for the last part I should rephrase that I cut back from my 5th day which was always Saturday DL day to spend more time at home on the weekends, and rather than cut back to 4 days and cram in all the lifting I'd really want to stick with 5 day Mon-Friday without making it too much to recover from. I'd likely take accessory lifts from the other days to add into the 5th day so that more time and energy can be spent on the main lifts alone on my main 4 days.

Thanks again, to be able to gain some knowledge from you really is a blessing!
Thanks man, and this definitely clears up a lot. With those numbers I can see you're doing a lot of things really well and likely have gained a lot of insight into what works well for you and what you might be able to expect as well. I guess I'm not really a fan of doing light days, but I do like to train for hypertrophy on certain body parts, and to optimize this effect I like the Arnold priority principle of taking something that's important to prioritize and putting it first in the workout. For example if front squats are critical to hypertrophy for the quads, instead of doing them after back squats, when you can't ensure your energy levels or stamina, I prefer to put them first in a workout, on their own day. It could be the same for delts, say, or chest or tris--you can pick one exercise to do first on an additional day so that you can really benefit from it. You definitely need to account for it's effect on your recovery, but a hypertrophy phase or strength phase doesn't require that you feel fully recovered every time you train. It's basically just a matter of how much total workload you subject yourself too and how much food, rest and recovery you throw at it. The weights might be slightly decreased, but the quality of motion can still be a priority so that you're becoming a better lifter with more of a ceiling for peak strength when you do decide to peak for it.

Conversely, if the accessory lifts aren't critical then don't worry about how much you dedicate time to them at the end of the workout. That makes sense. But it also makes sense that if they are important for hypertrophy and that's your bigger focus now... then maybe they should come first. Just for you to figure out if you say you're focusing on both strength and size but put size as more important, but does your training actually say otherwise?