Raynor I've been experimenting with different kinds of workouts. I think mixed workouts of say back/chest hypertrophy has been doing me some justice. Plus its a change from a standard 5x5 or something.

If you were to make a program where I can work out say 5 times a week that incorporates upper and lower mixes at hypertrophy rep ranges, what would you suggest?

example of what ive done:

incline bench: 1 warm up for 15-20 reps, 4 sets of 10-12
pull ups weight/non weighted depends on the grip: 4 sets 12-15 reps
weight dips: 4x 15
bent over rows: 4x 12
lateral raises: 4x 15-20

let me know what you think what you would do

You could try my 3-1 hypertrophy plan!



http://forums.d2jsp.org/topic.php?t=21269614&f=60&p=345358141
Hypertrophy Plan 3-on-1-off (regular)

This seems a little excessive. Including the super sets, youre looking towards 50sets a workout... Kinda seems like I will tax my CNS quickly. I usually train within the 20-30 set / workout range.

hey raynor, glad to see you're still continuing this service

My question for you today, is how to take creatine...

I.e i heard things about cycling on and off of it

This post was edited by TempoONE on Apr 4 2015 01:03pm

You must understand, hypertrophy is going to be brutal. If you want to achieve great things, massive gains, you have to force yourself to do an exceptionally large amount of volume for hypertrophy. Just because you USUALLY do something, doesn't mean it's the optimal way, nor does it mean it's the way to continue doing things.

If your goal is to simply gain a large amount of muscle volume, in a short amount of time, follow my hypertrophy plan, with a huge lean bulking diet, and at least 8-10 hours of sleep per night. The results will be unfathomable compared to going at it in a more moderate fashion.

http://forums.d2jsp.org/topic.php?t=21269614&f=60&p=332710367
Creatine Dosing

Yeah I can't find either of these in store. Guess I'll have to order them online

Hey raynor I have a question about forearms! How do I get them to grow I feel they are proportionally tiny compared to the rest of my body. I don't do hypertrophy work I mostly just do power lifting stuff, run hills and hike with added dead weight. Oh and power lifting is kind of accessory to the other 2. When I hit the weights I mostly just squat bench or deadlift and throw in some accessory work at the end not much but what can I specifically do to make my forearms grow

Hey there bud, this post is to update my status and to ask a few questions.

So many pages ago, you put me on the 5x5 strength plan. I began your regime on the first full week of January and have been consistent ever sense, not skipping any days. (One exception; went to Daytona for spring break and skipped one week... went from 175lbs to 170lbs as a result of poor diet... fast food, drinking, drinking, and some more drinking). That was a few weeks ago and I have since regained my losses and am currently ~175 lbs, 5'11". When I began in January, I was somewhere between 155 and 160. I have definitely noticed strength and mass gains.

This is the start of the 14th week of the year, my 13th cycle of 5x5, and I am beginning to think I have plateaued. Of course, I do not let myself grasp this mentally because I fear it will demotivate me, however facts are facts. Here are some things I have noticed which have lead me to this...
-My bench press is consistently staying about the same for the past few weeks. I am hitting 135,155,170,185,185, with a spotter on the last two sets of 185 (typically only need assistance on the last 2 or 3 reps of the final set)
-I have transformed my diet in a positive way... eliminated all unhealthy snack foods such as anything that comes boxed (cheezits,doritos,etc) and stopped drinking soda (strictly water,milk, and occasional lemonade/apple juice). An average day consists of (from morning to night): 5 eggs scrambled, everything bagel w/ cream cheese, banana, 2% milk, multivitamin 1 of 2 /// workout /// mass gainer shake (~1000 cals,55g protein w / 2% milk) grapes, carrots, celery w/ peanut butter, and either a sandwich with lots of deli meat or chicken cutlets /// apple, peanuts, other snack foods inbetween post workout meal (lunch) and dinner /// chicken cutlets or steak, mashed potatoes, mixed veggies, salad, rice (this is dinner, sometimes meats are replaced with pastas such as spaghetti or alfredo) /// and after dinner i will have another small meal usually more cutlets or meat and healthy fruit/veggie snacks throughout the day... I'm a commuting college student so I do live at home, but with work and all I don't have as much time as I would like to eat. Please critique the sh*t out of my diet and tell me how much more I need to eat, and if you have any more suggestions.
-I am seeing clear visual gains in all major body groups, except for back. I posted a few months ago asking for lat-specific exercises and noticed some improvement, but my lower and center/middle back don't seem to grow as much as I Would like
-My empty stomach/morning weight varies in the 170 range, and at the end of the day I am 175-7+..

I am no expert, which is why I am seeking your assistance and everything you say I do try to follow. Fitness has changed my life and I have set short and long term goals based on body weight... would like to be 180-185 by June 2nd (my birthday) and 200 by June 2, 2k16.

Working out is not the problem, at least if you ask me. I am aware my diet needs improvement even further than I have tried to do myself. I have stopped taking all supplements except for mass gainer and multi vitamins. In the past I have taken creatine, pre workout, and Animal M-Stak (the non-hormonal hard gainer supplement).

Sometimes I feel like the 1:30 I spend at the gym every morning isn't enough. I feel rushed by the end and still want to hit more sets and different exercises. I am extremely motivated to continue working out, I just want to know what more can I do? Would switching to hypertrophy benefit me, or should I continue gaining strength through the 5x5... is there a way I can stay on the 5x5 but hit the muscle groups more than once per week (besides bis/tris, they are accessorized in chest/back)

I hope that I have been clear and gotten the right message across. I think that you will know what I am trying to say and what my goals are.

If you need any more information please don't hesitate to ask, I can provide you a sample of my daily workout routine for each day.

Once again, thank you very much!
-Zack

This post was edited by Zigity on Apr 6 2015 05:36pm

attempted an edit but it was too late...

forgot to include salads and rice in my diet

and here is an example of a weekly routine... listed are the base exercises i try to always hit (listed first) followed by exercises i try to rotate and change every week... i typically only superset with opposite muscle groups, such as shoulders/traps and on arm day I superset every bi/tri exercise and then hit forearms alone

Monday (CHEST) - bb bench press, db flys on flat bench, incline bench (alternate bb/db weekly), standing cable flys, decline bench (usually on smith machine, sometimes db), dips, seated machine chest press (i also sit sideways and do one hand at a time to isolate inner chest)
Tuesday (BACK) - normal-wide grip pullups, deadlifts, lat pulldowns, double-D (v grip) cable rows, machine back extension, straight bar/arm cable pulldowns, 1 arm bent over db row on flat bench, plus some mix and matched exercises i throw in and rotate if i have time
Wed (LEGS) - squats, machine leg extension, machine lay-down leg curls, leg press (lately have been doing one leg at a time), seated calf raises (gym got a sweet new machine for this where you load up plates), standing machine calf raises... i need to start lunges and a few more exercises on leg day
Thursday (SHOULDER/TRAPS) - bb overhand press, front bb shrugs, seated db military press, standing db shrugs, incline rear delt db flys, behind the back bb shrugs, arnold press
Friday (ARMS) - narrow grip ezbar preacher curl, skull crushers, overhand standing ezbar curl, rope tricep pulldowns, hammer curls on preacher seat, bent over tricep cable extensions, bb forearm curls? both front and back, db forearm curls?, plus mixed rotated exercises such as dips, concentration db curls, etc

double edit: I am just trying to provide as much information as possible for you to take into consideration... all supplements as mentioned in previous post were stopped in february, so i am not holding any extra water weight. I am not against supplements I have just decided to take a break but am open to continuing use

This post was edited by Zigity on Apr 6 2015 05:54pm