I spent spent the better part of a year running the SSNLP (had a few layoffs) and am halfway through The Bridge (free version). I’m very much enjoying it. My lifts aren’t as high as a lot of people’s, but I’m perfectly content with my progress (and I never got fat ).
I do two “sports”: yoga and aerial acrobatics. Strength training has sped up my progress immensely. I am “strong enough” to do just about anything I need to do, but I want to keep training because I enjoy it and getting stronger will only make it better.
I bought Hypertrophy I for use when I’m done with The Bridge. Would this be a good template for me? I’m doing pretty legitimate strength and cardiovascular work on days I’m not lifting (and sometimes on the same day), so I don’t necessarily expect or need a ton of strength gains.
Any general advice about programming around other athletic endeavors ? Perhaps some literature I should look into?
Thanks for the post. Ideally, the nuts and bolts of your resistance training program would suit your goals. I’m not clear on what those are, but the Hypertrophy I template is mostly focused on muscle growth. I would also expect strength to increase in the lifts you choose to train, but it’s not a strength-focused program per se. If you were wanting to prioritize strength in the Big Three, I think powerbuilding I would be a good template for now, with the option to move to the hypertrophy template after.
I do not think that your additional activity requires any modification to the lifting program. I would continue to do the recommended conditioning in the program as well.
To your last question, I think that most people participating in sport -recreational or otherwise- do not require specific training for their sport within the gym until later in their training career. Most people are undertrained and need to build a broad base of physical development before specializing.
I’m not clear on what those are, but the Hypertrophy I template is mostly focused on muscle growth. I would also expect strength to increase in the lifts you choose to train, but it’s not a strength-focused program per se. If you were wanting to prioritize strength in the Big Three, I think powerbuilding I would be a good template for now, with the option to move to the hypertrophy template after.
I guess my reasoning for going with Hypertrophy I over Powerbuilding I was that, since I’m strong enough to manipulate my bodyweight reasonably well in my non lifting activities, I should use Hypertrophy I on a slow cut to lose fat (I’m 6’0", 180 lbs; 33" waist) and gain some muscle at the same time, while also not killing myself in the gym. I figured losing some fat would be beneficial to my activities more than gaining strength at this stage, but your last comment is making me think strength should still be my focus.
I’m probably just overthinking things and should keep focusing on strength.
I don’t think there’s likely to be a difference in weight loss or muscle gain outcomes between the two templates when in an energy deficit. In either case, you should be fine!
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