Should I work in Hypertrophy on Calorie Surplus?

Training Q&A [Moderated]
1

I’ve been on BBM programming for just under a year. So far my programming has been;

12WS (calorie surplus)
4 day Hypertrophy (calorie deficit)
4 day Hypertrophy (calorie deficit)
12WS (calorie surplus)
4 day Hypertrophy (calorie deficit - just started week 6)

For background, prior to BBM I previously (stupidly) ran TM in ridiculous cycles where I would bulk for 20-25lbs over 12 months then spend 4-5 months cutting it back off.

I don’t powerlift competitively but I enjoy training for strength more than hypertrophy. And given my prior bad habits I try to train more intelligently and conscientiously in terms of weight gain and BF%.

That said - am I doing myself a disservice by not including hypertrophy blocks while eating in a surplus to explicitly gain muscle cross sectional area? Would it be better in overall powerlifting performance to deal with a temporary gain of 3-5lbs in bodyweight to do a hypertrophy block in a surplus? Or to deal with a temporary loss in peak strength for longer term gains in muscle mass?

Male - 37yrs old
6’ tall
Waist: 31" at end of deficit, 33" at end of surplus
Weight: Currently 188’ish, goal is to finish at 187

2

Impious,

I think if you’d like to gain weight, you should do so while resistance training, particularly when training volume is significant (e.g. not in a peaking block). If you don’t want to gain weight, I’m not going to tell you to do so.

Hopefully that makes sense.

-Jordan

3

Thank you. I think my only follow up question would be - In your opinion would the developmental block of 12WS (weeks 2 - 8) meet the criteria of the above quote, or would you generally recommend a block more similar to the Hypertrophy programming?

4

Yea it definitely would!

5

Thank you for your time!