separating strength/hypertrophy phases by lift

Training Q&A [Moderated]
1

Hi Team,

I was wondering whether any of the coaches on the BBM team has had any success with separating hypertrophy vs strength focuses on the different lifts in a single block, ie doing a block with hypertrophy focus for Squat and DL and strength for Presses and then doing the opposite the next block. The reason I ask is that personally I tend to benefit from/need pretty high volumes for hypertrophy gains, and time wise I struggle to get in the necessary volume of all lifts in a dedicated hypertrophy block (something like 20+ sets per lift per week). I was thinking it might be more manageable to focus on hypertrophy on specific areas at a time and focus on strength for the other areas. appreciate any thoughts/anecdotes/feedbacks on this idea. Thanks!

  • JR
2

Yep, we do that sometimes. A question, how big are you?

3

6’0", 180 lbs. Generally skinny, 30" pants waist. I’m the first to admit food is a bigger priority for me than programming, but I have some GI issues that make it tough. When I get my volume high enough, I actually seem to be able to put on pounds more (not sure if this is increased appetite or better energy utilization).

4

Yea, I think that in general higher volume can drive more fitness adaptations if you can tolerate them…but the nutritional bit is probably a bigger deal here. For reference, I don’t even do 20+ working sets for squats and deadlifts per week in most training blocks.