Gen. 2 Hypertrophy I or Hypertrophy II better after PB I 4-Day?

Training Q&A [Moderated]
1

Thanks for the great resources and templates. Question on next program selection.

I am about to wrap up the final week of Gen. 2 Powerbuilding I, running the four-day variant. Overall, I enjoyed solid strength progress in Block I, but have seen squat and deadlift E1RMs largely plateau these last few weeks in Block II. Excited to see what the test 1RM attempts at the end of this week have in store.

I’d like to rotate back to something with more of a hypertrophy focus and then plan to run another powerbuilding block after that. I have previously run and enjoyed the old Hypertrophy I and was excited to try your new Gen. 2 release of that template. However, I am second-guessing whether I should go “backwards” to Hypertrophy I and what I believe to be its 3-day-per-week format, or whether my experience level now indicates I should “escalate” to Hypertrophy II even though it isn’t second-generation yet.

Big picture, I’ve been back in the gym lifting seriously and consistently for the last 15ish months. At the end of PB I, I should have E1RMs of approximately 300 lbs on squat, 248 lbs bench and 335 lbs deadlift at approximately 165 lbs bodyweight (5’9").

Thanks for any input on next program selection.

2

Hey Drew,

I think Hypertrophy I would be a great choice for you in this spot. If you really prefer a 4-day training split for hypertrophy, I’d recommend running Bodybuilding 1. That would be a good fit, too.

My rationale: You’re looking for a hypertrophy focused block that is significantly different than what you are running right now. Hyper 1 would work (if you’re amenable to 3 days). I have no concerns about the training load being “too little”. If you really, really wanted to do a 4-day template that’s hypertrophy focused and uses a split programming setup (not full body), then Bodybuilding 1 is the obvious choice.

-Jordan