Thread: Vertical Pull - twice a week??

Try block training for 5-6 weeks. I got this off Lyle McD a while back.

Pick and upper and a lower - say lats and quads

Day 1
5x5 weighted chins
3x8 unweighed chins
2x12 single-arm lat pulldowns

5x5 back squats
3x8 front squats
3x8 single-leg leg press

Day 2
3x5 weighted chins
3x8 unweighed chins

3x5 back squats
3x8 front squats

Day 3: everything else at maintenance
ie you've done blocks on quad and vertical pull. So do 3x8 for the rest
3x8 deads
3x8 bench
3x8 Oly bar corner press
3x8 T-bar or other horizontal row
3x8 abs and calves (optional)

Day 4: rest

Repeat this pattern for 5 or 6 weeks, then do a deaload, then resume "normal" training or do another mesocycle of blocks.

And yes, you train three days on, one off; over and over and over. Initially this feels like nothing. By the end, you know you're done.

Is this intended to be a brief period of focusing harder on the muscle(s) you want to bring out more, while simply maintaining the others? This looks interesting. I have felt lately like I want to try something drastically different from the traditional training structure

Also, what's your reasoning for the different rep ranges on each exercise? If this a period to build strength why wouldn't they all follow either the same or similar rep ranges?

I like using these rep ranges when I train. Poliquin speaks of TUT, Hollman of POF, Thibaudeau writes a very well-thought-out rationale in "3 ways to get big" and I just find it feels good when I train this way.

Day two is a repeat of day one, but reduced in volume because you're WIPED by the time it comes along.

And you are correct - the other stuff is just being maintained.

When you do the "deload" week, just do the "everything else" workout two or three times that week. The muscles you've blocked on (in my example, quads and lats) have been conditioned to recover by being continually traumatized lol. My small understanding is that this sets them up to grow more during the "off" week; they don't know they're not going to be subjected to their regularly-scheduled "beating" and recover on schedule anyway.

Sweet! I like the looks of this! I'm definitely gonna try this after my current program ends..I have 4 weeks to go starting today. Funny that you also put quads because my second biggest goal now is to get my squat max up 80 lbs by the end of next year (80 since my last max, which was before I started training proper push/pull, and based on my progress so far I'll reach that goal!). So, that works out conveniently.

I should mention that based on the encouragement of largely you but also other members I set to work on my deadlift, which used to be terrible relative to my other big lifts. It was actually my weakest lift. I could bench way more. Since June, when I fixed my form, and then in August, when I started push/pull on legs (started on upper in October) and really givin' er' on the intensity I've gotten my dead up a great deal! Get this...around May/June I usually struggled to properly dead 185 for 3 reps, while I could bench 225 without a spotter, with full ROM and controlled eccentric as well for 4 x 4 (weird, eh?) and now....well, just the other night I was deadlifting 225 for 3 x 7, and no rounding back, and afterwards, I was tired, but hungry for more!! I love deadlifts!! And, good god, who would think your back and traps would take off from a hip-dominant exercise??? It was the deadlift that really changed my thinking of the way I train. I now understand how the muscles interact. I don't use any isolation anymore (aside from calves ) and I'm loving this growth surge of mine. It's tiring though. Before I started push/pull compounds I used to the whole "legs, arms/shoulders, chest/back" 3 day muscle group split thing. And so much of it was isolation. Now, I'm doing 4 days a week of purely compound. It's tiring as hell, but damnit are the results incredible!

Thanks to everyone on IM forums for taking the time to help us aspiring big lifters! I appreciate you all sharing your knowledge!

THEY GROW UP SO FAST!

<sniff>