Endurance template completed, some questions in moving forward

Training Q&A [Moderated]
1

Hi!

So I recently finished the now legacy GPP Endurance template. I would consider it a pretty huge success, as I was able to substantially improve my results in all of the endurance type tests and add a few kilos to or maintain all my lifts, while losing weight. I did end up taking about half a week off early on in the template because I was sick, so that extended the duration of the program by a week and maybe set back my lifts a bit, but other than that, I had no significant issues.

Here are some numbers, in case you’re interested:
400m run: 95s → 80s
5k run: 27,5min ->24min
As discussed here when I was getting started, I did a 12 min run instead of a 1-mile and took that from ~2450m to ~2800m.

Squat: 126 kg to 127.5 kg
Deadlift: 132.5 to 135 kg
Press: 45 kg → 48,5 kg
Bench: 65 kg → 70 kg
All of the above are for 1 rep @8RPE

I have decided to run the legacy 3-day hypertrophy template next, and already started it on Monday. This is because a) I want to keep leaning out for a few weeks, b) after I’m done leaning out, I’d love to rebuild some of the LBM I lost while leaning out (I intend to gain weight very slowly) and c) my schedule is going to get pretty hectic about two weeks from now, but since I have done this program before, I know I can squeeze in the workouts. The fact that I already own the program is a nice bonus too.

Here are my actual questions:

  1. Are those reasons strong enough to make my choice of program reasonable? I also own bridge 3.0, 4-day hypertrophy, HLM 2.0 and 12ws 2.0 and do intend to run all of them eventually. My main long-term goal is to become as strong as possible, but I don’t really have a need to get stronger right now. Not intending to compete in a meet anytime soon etc.
  2. Will the volume of LISST and HIIT be enough to maintain the endurance-based improvements seen during the endurance program? I’m thinking that since my results are still pretty average, they would be.
  3. If the answer to question #2 is no, how much more cardio should I perform and in what form? Also, would this be detrimental to strength and/or hypertrophy gains?
  4. During the endurance template I seemed to respond very well to the relatively high frequency of upper back work. I was able to do more reps on almost every week for each of the exercises and almost doubled the amount of reps over the course of the program. Also, I have no reliable way of measuring it but just looking in a mirror, I suspect I might have even gained some muscle mass in that area. The GPP hypertrophy program only has one upper back AMRAP workout per week and myo reps for rows once a week. Would adding a second AMRAP session be a horrible idea?

Finally, I’d like to thank you guys for all that you do. Your programming has had a highly positive impact on my training and your programming is very exciting and thus, motivating.

2

SK,

Thanks for the post and congratulations on your results. Nice job man!

For your questions:

  1. Seems very reasonable to me. If you had a bunch more time to train, 4-day hypertrophy would be reasonable, but I would save 12 WS for when you’re adding LBM.
  2. Probably a substantial portion of them, yes. That said, each individual’s maintenance needs are different so it’d be hard to predict. I wouldn’t add anything from the jump, but you’ll know more at the end of the program.
  3. I think 2x/wk upper back training elements should suffice, though since you’ve already been exposed to that for a good period of time I would be okay with adding a 2nd AMRAP session.

Get after it man!

-Jordan