Drawn-out "week" or change to 3 days for 12 week strength template?

Training Q&A [Moderated]
1

Currently doing the HLM template and might repeat that one more time. But after that I’m thinking about doing the 12 week strength template.

However, due to travel and work issues, I can only train with a barbell 3 days per week (Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays). I can perform GPP work on the other days, but don’t have access to a gym. So I’m thinking about stretching the weekly schedule out to 7 days instead of 5, as I understand the way the template is set up. This would mean that the 4 workouts in a training “week” would be performed on Tue/Thu/Sun/Tue, instead of Mon/Tue/Thu/Fri. Another option is of course to drop the fourth day altogether, as I’ve seen recommended in other forum posts. I understand that stretching out the 4 days means overall lower volume over a certain time period, but would you advise against it? Would it be better to drop the fourth day? In that case, why?

Best regards

2

Hi Nizza,
Thanks for the post and glad to hear that the HLM template is working well. You could certainly stretch out the 4 days of training as you have described. That’s a very reasonable plan, and I’d give it a shot.

3

Thanks! What is the difference between version 1.0 and version 2.0 of the 12 week strength template? As far as I can see in the shop, only version 2.0 is available…

4

Coaches, I’m in a similar position - finished Bridge 3.0 earlier this year, currently finishing up 7-week hyper and considering running 12-week strength on a 3 day/week schedule. If I’m understanding correctly, there are two approaches to running 12-week strength 3 days a week that you have mentioned previously (a) dropping the fourth day and swapping the stated “day 4/exercise 1” in place of the stated day “3/exercise 3”, or (b) the “drawn out week” plan that the original poster inquired about here.

Do you have a strong view over whether (a) is better than (b) or about the same in your view? (In the spirit of trying to figure it out myself, the key negative implication I saw for (b) was less frequent exposure to the heavy singles, which could be detrimental in a strength-focused program…but still learning how to weigh the training variables.)