​Clemens' Guide to making an Intermediate Program
Book Club Note
Since the scope of this article is much bigger than a single "review". I will split this article up into multiple parts in the monthly reviews. I hope the sections written here so far will help you learn something new about programming for the intermediate / advanced trainee. All the things written in a RED font will be notes relevant to the monthly "literature review".
What will you learn from this article?
This article is a follow up on the novice program article which is also written on this website. It will cover how to extend the novice linear progression into an intermediate /advanced training program.
What does it look like when an LP runs out?
You will find that at some point of running a linear progression that you stop setting PR's every session. You may find that you are either too recovered or under recovered. At this point you have to start using other periodization and/or training styles that fit your stimulus and recovery better. There are generally 3 things that are different from a traditional LP to an intermediate/advanced training program.
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The first problem is that the volume is too low for you to grow. Your LP may have 8 sets for biceps isolation per week. For an intermediate and advanced lifters this is simply too little to still grow optimally. You will want to add a few sets to the muscles you feel are over recovered all the time, that never get a pump, or where you never feel your muscles working. After you find yourself not being able to recover from adding sets, but you still don't progress from session to session you want to start periodizing your training like what is said in example 2.
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If you ran Stronglifts or Starting Strength you may actually find yourself under recovered. Doing 15 sets of low bar squats per week may work if you can only squat 50kg, but doing that with 130kg may be too much for you to recover from session to session. You want to start training different training qualities on different days, instead of squatting 3 times per week. You may do 5 sets of squats on one day and only 3 on another. At this point you need to learn more about intermediate periodisation techniques.
Periodization styles for Hypertrophy Training
This section will cover all the periodization styles I know in the future about hypertrophy. For now I will only list some of them. This section will probably be one of the biggest parts of this article in the future.
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Periodization is simply how we evolve our training over time. What you do right now might not work for you in a year. You may need different amounts of volume, different exercise selections or different frequencies. In a program we should clearly define how we plan our training will evolve over time. Using periodization can help manage fatigue, manage overuse injuries, prevent plateau's, resensitize your training stress and much more. Having a plan for all of these subjects is essential for the long run for athletes.
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Double progression TODO
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Specialization phases When you become more advanced you may notice weak points in your strength or body. You may want to run a specialization phase to bring up lagging areas in your body. This method has you put some training qualities on maintaince, or at lower volumes, while other training qualities get more work. You may want to do 20 sets on biceps for a while but only 6 on squats. This allows your body to recover from the higher volumes on biceps since leg volume may be very low. It also makes your legs more sensitive to growth in the long run, since your body will not be used to higher volumes when you decide to do 20 sets on legs in a later training block.
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Linear periodization TODO
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volume waves / step loading TODO
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Rotating exercises TODO
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Conjugate periodization TODO
Metabolite Training
Metabolite training is a method to add more volume to a training program. You may for example at some point in a program do 20 sets for biceps in a single week. Your joints and connective tissue's might not be able to handle more regular sets without getting overuse issues.
A method we can use to squeeze more volume in is to use metabolite sets. Metabolic stress currently one of the driver of hypertrophy that scientific literature is aware of. Metabolite training is practically speaking about getting a pump and feeling a burn in your muscle. It is important to note that metabolite training is significant compared to the main driver of hypertrophy, which is mechanical tension. Mechanical tension is achieved generally by the normal sets we do in training. You preferably want to get to your MRV first before adding in metabolite sets.
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There are a number of methods we can use to accumulate more metabolic stress in our training.
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Supersets/giant sets with the same muscle group
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Dropsets
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Myo-reps
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Blood flow restriction training
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Pre exhaustion sets
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Very high rep ranges 15-30
Supersets/Giant sets for saving time
If you have been training for a while you may find yourself training at very high volumes. A single workout might go over 30 working sets in some cases. Since the resting time in between sets is general in between 2 to 5 minutes workouts might exceed 2-3 hours.
A simple method to save time in a gym is to use supersets. A superset is a combination of two sets with no or little time in between. We may combine a bench press and a calve raise into a superset as an example. The chest muscles will not be effected by training the calve muscles directly after a set. We still wait 2-5 minutes in between the supersets themselves, but we effectively cut our training time in half this way.
​Another method of doing a superset is to wait a few minutes in between sets in a superset if you find that your performance is dropping from doing another set immediately. You may do a bench press, wait a minute, and than do a calve raise, than wait 3 minutes and repeat the superset.
List of common supersets to try:
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Bicep curls + Triceps overhead extensions
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Pull ups + push ups
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Forearm curls + forearm extensions
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Calve raises + pretty much anything
​We can also do so called giant sets. Giant sets are supersets where we combine more than 2 sets at once.
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Bicep curls + Tricep extentions + calve raises
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Planks + side planks L + superman's + side planks R
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Forearm curls + forearm extensions + Neck curls + neck extensions