Extending Training Week To Accommodate BBII 4 Day

Training Q&A [Moderated]
1

A similar question was answered previously here, but I wanted to confirm the same would hold true for the BB templates…

I enjoy the Upper/Lower split in the 4 day BBII templates, however I will need to drop to 3-day per week training for the forseeable future due to a new born. I may be able to sneak in an occassional 4th weekly session, but it would be entirely opportunistic.

Given this scheduling change, would you recommend switching to the BBII Block 1 3 day, or could I extend my training week similar to the example in the previous post: D1-Mon, D2-Wed, D3-Fri, -next week- D4-Mon, D1-Wed, D2-Fri, etc…

If I go with the extended training week option, are there any changes that need to be made as weekly training load will drop?

In the previous post, you mention that training load over the long term is more important than weekly training load, but I’m having trouble wrapping my head around this. I understand that per session stimulus will stay the same, but using the extended week approach, an 8 week block will take me 80 days to get through compared to the originally programmed 60. Am I correct that extending the training week means the intended training effect will not be compromised, but will take longer to be realized (80 days vs. 60)?

2

I would do the 3-day program and just leave it alone given your environmental constraints (e.g. time, likely sleep, etc.)

Yes, training load over ~months is more important than a single week. You will be experiencing/doing less training load at any given time point on the 3x/wk program vs the 4x/wk program in this specific scenario. I would not do the extended training week despite it increasing training load slightly compared to not, though this is mainly due to the assumption that your training resources will be compromised.

1 Like
3

Thanks, Jordan! This is helpful.