Hey Drs,
I’ll be starting PB III next week and i’m currently planning on running it twice, back to back, which will take me up until the beinning of novermber.
I know that this is kind of looking far into the future, but I just got my plans in order for university next year, and I don’t think that i’ll have time to train 4 times a week, and even 3 might be a stretch at times when I get closer to our test periods. This busy period will probably be between november and july, and during the summer i’ll be able to train normally again.
So, do you think that 3 training sessions per week are enough to make good gains both in terms of SBD strength and hypertrophy? I’ve been training already for a few years, though only got a structured program (the beginner template) around 18 months ago, so i’m probably past what people would call “beginner gains”.
Also, what templates whould you suggest for this period? I’ll probably have to cycle through 3-4 templates (or rerun them) since this period will be around 8 months, though I didn’t see any training templates that fit my needs of being 3 times a week and focused both and strength and hypertrophy except for PB I which I already ran multiple times (and I also ran PB II multiple times).
Josh,
I can appreciate the concern over training time and wanting to be prepared. That said, you’ll likely never have as much time to train in your whole life as you do in university. This is not really a concern- even during graduate school or medical school.
I do not think 3 days per week training is sufficient to meet the activity guidelines and make the most gains in strength and hypertrophy for many well-trained individuals. 3-days per week of exercise certainly represents an improvement compared to no training or training less and it is completely possible that you could thrive on 3x/wk lifting for a period of time. You’ll have to do some conditioning on other days and at some point, may do better with more frequent training.
I would not suggest planning out your training that far in advance either, as it’ll depend on your goals, your current training’s efficacy, preferences, resources, etc. If I had a gun to my head and had to recommend a 3-day template for theoretical you a year from now, I’d be looking at general S/C.
-Jordan
Hey Jordan,
Thanks for the advice.
I’ll make an effort to stick to my current level of activity throughout university in the next semester(s), and if I feel I need to take a step back for a period of time i’ll run the general S/C template as you suggested (Depending on where i’ll be in terms of training based on the variables that you mentioned).