Just finishing up the 7 week 4 day/week Hypertrophy GPP template this week. I actually extended the program to 12 weeks to try and reach my weight goal. Everything was moving up each week until week 11. My starting weight was 228 lbs. my goal was 200-205 lbs while just maintaining my strength at best, little loss of strength at worst. My results FAR surpassed my expectations for the better. I’m ending at about 206 lbs and my lifts have all gone up except for the press which stayed just about the same. For the record, I’ve also been training for 10+ years and powerlifting for about 1.5-2 years so I wasn’t a total novice. My E1RMs were as follows:
This program was awesome. Moving onto the strength template next week.
My my only question is regarding GPP. I’ve been doing the prescribed LISS and HIIT each week, with 1 extra LISS session for the last two weeks. Moving on to the strength template, should I just back it down to the prescribed GPP, or since I’m used to the increased cardio, should I just do the GPP that is eventually prescribed in the Strength template (30 min LISS, 14 Min HIIT)?
Lastly I’m 5’8, 32 year old male, 206 lbs.
What would you say to someone whose 1RM numbers stayed the same, even perhaps struggled to stay the same, when doing this template? I am mid-way through it after doing The Bridge and have been treading water in that regard after making strength gains on The Bridge. I wasn’t expecting strength gains at all, but at times I feel as if I’m losing it and body weight has been steady.
My top working sets following the programming for the Squat, Bench, and Deadlift have been 265, 185, and 275. These are numbers from Week 4 of the program. In week 4, the 1RM for Bench trended down by about 5lbs. I’m not the most confident with gauging RPE, but I have tried to add 5lbs on the bar for some of the movements and it was noticeable and lead to difficulties with either missing reps, feeling the RPE was too high, or feeling fatigued before the next working set. It almost feels like the weight on the bar is getting heavier even though its not changing.
At times, I feel like just moving onto the 12 week strength block but want to fulfill the program with 3 weeks left.