So i’ve completed block 1 and 2 of the bodybuilding template and have gotten great results, significant size gains for sure especially in my arms and legs. I’m currently on the third week of block 3 and have noticed i’m not recovering as well from my workouts as before, I assume it’s from the increased volume and intensity. I’m having some mild pain in my left shoulder and just yesterday felt a pop in my hamstring while doing sumo deadlifts. The pain is fairly mild and i’m confident in my ability to rehab it through exercise, although I feel the workload is becoming a bit too much for me and I don’t want to overdo it. I’m 20 years old, 5’9, 170lbs around 14% body fat and have been training for 5 years, 2 years of consistent barbell training. I’ve been eating in a slight calorie surplus and have stayed consistent with sleep. Should I continue with the program with some changes or move on to something else? It is a bummer since i’m still getting growing and strength has been trending up throughout the entirety of the program. Thanks
Great to hear about your progress so far and I would NOT be bummed about where you’re at right now. I’d start addressing this by keeping an eye on your RPE. It’s very possible that you’ve allowed things to creep up a bit, and what should be @8, might not really be 2 reps shy of failure, you know? We can easily convince ourselves that a 9 is an 8 because we want to use that heavier weight. So depending on how you feel the next session, I’d either plan to repeat the weight you did last week or lower the weight 3-8% or so to give yourself a bit of breathing room there. If it means that you finish out the template with your strength trending up just a bit slower, that’s still pretty awesome.
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Got it, thank you!