I have a question that I’ve been wondering about for awhile. I am currently on week 7 of the 12 week strength template. I am loving it and have already hit a squat PR this week doing my single @ 8. My question is do I need to do a hypertrophy block afterwards and perhaps risk losing some strength? I know why we need hypertrophy based training, but it seems like we get enough volume during the first few weeks of 12 week strength along with sets of 8-10 reps on some of the supplemental lifts to take care of our hypertrophy needs. Am I looking at that the wrong way?
No, you don’t “need” to do that. If you’re responding well to the program, carry on!
Austin thank you for the quick reply. I do have a couple follow up questions along the same lines. I think I’ll run the 12 week strength again and see what kind of gains I can keep getting. But is that what the 12 week strength is intended to be? Mainly a strength program but with enough volume to take care of hypertrophy needs? If so, that is awesome to be able to gain a good amount of strength while packing on muscle mass. If one got proficient at programming and kept adjusting the volume and intensity in this program, could you just keep running it back to back several times? I know you COULD do it, but have you seen clients do this with successful results?
A couple questions about your answer.
I thought the general recommendation was to alternate with a gpp/hypertrophy program in order to “re-sensitize” yourself for the strength program.
What would be the criteria for deciding whether or not to add the hypertrophy block? Is it just based on how well you respond to the program the first time?
Potentially, would adding the hypertrophy block or a shortened version of it, setup the lifter to have a better second run of the program than if he skipped it?
Any good strength program should provide a substantial “hypertrophy” stimulus as well. They are not separate / opposing things.
It’s fine to continue running a program you’re responding well to, but once you have evidence that you’ve stopped responding (assuming there aren’t a bunch of external confounders), it’s time to change something, and temporarily switching to a more hypertrophy-focused block with less emphasis on top-end strength is a reasonable swap to make.
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