Hey guys. When you program for both Powerlifting and Aesthetics (hypertrophy not in the main movers, so delts, back, biceps, quads -i don’t get the best quad work from low bar-, etc) would you linearly increase volume in accesories as you increase overall intensity in the prime movers?
For example:
SBD (the same for all lifts for the sake of simplicity)
Basically the question is, can we intensify our prime movers (which given my experience 1@8 +3x3 is much more fatiguing and takes more time than 4x6 let’s say) and also increase volume on accesories? I mean, if we want to increase muscle in those areas we need sufficient volume for growth, but also to pursue strength we need to intensify the main movements (SBD).
I’m really interested to hear your thoughts. I assume you’ll answer that we need to evaluate performance, is performance is going up then we’re good, but maybe you had another take on this. Thanks!!!
I wouldn’t really program this way, as I don’t think it’s likely you’ll make much headway towards either goal. That said, some people may respond well to a program like this…it happens.
A few gripes:
I think the volume for the main lifts and (seemingly) variants is probably too low for most folks
I don’t think the accessory work is likely to contribute to strength improvements in the big 3
I don’t know that a lot of work needs to be done at very high intensities for strength development. There are many different ways to build maximal strength.
Ultimately, I don’t really think I can have a confident opinion on this approach without seeing an entire program, but even then, it’s only theoretical and I don’t really enjoy talking about hypotheticals.
I don’t know if you meant generally people do low volume on main lifts or that the program I proposed was too low. I just threw that in as a demonstration. Say for ex. for Squat on a more volume/off season oriented phase you squat x3 a week, a heavier day with a 4x5, a lighter day with a variation maybe high bar for a 4x8 and belt squats on 3rd day for a 3x15.
My question is, for someone who wants to maximize both powerlifting performance (1rm on SBD) and also develop hypertrophy for aesthetic reasons (arms, delts, upper back, “show” muscles so to say) is it viable to intensify the big 3 since we have to do some sort of high intensity work to get better and high intesity work (1rm s) and also increase volume to seek hypertrophy in accesories such as curls, side raises, pull ups and those sort of movements.
I also would prefer to talk non hypothetic situations but I didn’t wanna waste your time with an excel program for you to read. I know that as most programming related questions we have to assess the individual, training history, outcomes to training but just to know your thoughts on this sort of goal (Powerlifting and Hypertrophy not as an aid for the big 3)
Yea, again I’m not sure there’s anyway to really give you the feedback you want without seeing the program. That being said, the overview of squat training here would seem to be more strength oriented to ,e.
I think you can, sure…but I don’t think it will work very well.
To be very clear, nearly all s/c programs should aim to increase strength and hypertrophy. As far as needing isolation movements to grow, that’s going to be related more to the individual and their response(s) to training. That said, we incorporate isolation work in our hypertrophy and bodybuilding templates for those who prefer this type of training.