In Part One of this article we looked at a simple strategy to get back to serious training at the beginning of the New Year. We begin by easing back with somewhat high frequency, moderate/high volume Heavy-Light-Medium program with most of the loading occurring between 70-85% of 1RM. This is ideal for building back a solid base of strength, muscle mass, and conditioning to barbell training.
As the volume peaks fairly high somewhere in March, we leverage that high volume training as a leap off point for a slightly lower volume / higher intensity Texas Method program which is designed to peak strength some time in May. Although the Texas Method has gotten a bad rap as of late, I still like it and use it regularly with clients. It’s not an ideal training system for year round use, but for short periods of time, especially on the back end of a higher volume / lower intensity program it works well and is easy/simple to implement. It’s still my go-to program for my powerlifting clients prepping for meets.
By the time our hypothetical trainee reaches summer time they are likely SICK of 3-day per week barbell only training. Let’s face it…. Squatting/Pressing/Pulling gets really old after a while for most of us. It can wear you down physically and mentally.
June – August / September – Split Routine
During the summer months a good annually periodized program can include the use of a Split Routine to introduce some variety into the program while preserving those hard earned strength gains you made January – May. Split Routines allow us to do a few things that are appropriate for this time of year. As I just mentioned – they can reduce the frequency of some of the main barbell exercises giving your mind and body a much needed break. Second, split routines allow for the introduction of some higher rep range assistance exercises which don’t always pair well with 3-day per week full-body training. As we just peaked our strength in May, we can now leverage some of that strength into some higher rep training with actual meaningful loads. This will help you pack on some new layers of muscle mass which you can carry with you to the next strength peak in the fall.
And let’s be real here…most of you guys would like to look better at the pool or the beach this summer. Even if you won’t admit it. We’re all a little vain and it’s okay to want to “look like you lift.” During these summer split routines you can focus on some physique oriented training on top of your basic strength training routine.
Here is another reality. People vacation and travel during the summer months and often miss training. For this reason, I don’t like running programs where missing several weeks over the course of a 12-18 week block of training can derail a program in terms of throwing off all the numbers. Physique/Mass training doesn’t have to be as precise in terms of hitting certain numbers on specific days on specific lifts. People training in less than ideal situations such as hotel gyms, small 24/hour gyms, etc can go in and work a body part or a handful of body parts with less than ideal equipment and still stick to the program….more or less. So if you are forced to Leg Press rather than Squat or do DB Bench Press instead of Barbell Bench Press – no big deal. Just hit the body part hard and call it a day.
For optimal physique/mass gains I actually like a 5-day training split. This is a lot, but keep in mind that most sessions are limited to just 1 or 2 main barbell exercises followed by a handful of body part specific accessory exercises used to build up smaller muscle groups. You don’t have to do 5-days, you can pair this down to a 3 or 4 day per week program based on your schedule.
Here is an example 5-Day Training Week from similar to what I lay out in the KSC Method for Power Building:
Monday: Bench Press + Chest/Biceps
- Bench Press – 3 work sets of 8, 5, or 2
- Incline Bench Press or DB Incline Press 3-5 x 8-12
- Barbell Curl 3-5 x 8-12
- Dips – 50 reps in as few sets as possible
- Incline DB Curl 2-3 x 8-12
Tuesday: Deadlift + Hams/Low-Back/Calves/Abs
- Deadlift or Deadlift Variation – 3 work sets of 8, 5, or 2
- Box Squat or Deadlift Variation – 3 work sets of 5-8
- Light Posterior Chain – back extensions, glute ham raise, reverse hyper, leg curls, etc – 50-100 reps in as few sets as possible
- Abs/Calves – whatever
Wednesday – OFF
Thursday: Press + Delts/Tricep
- Press – 3 work sets of 8, 5, or 2
- Press back offs or Seated DB Press 3 sets of 8-12
- Side Delt Raises – 50-100 reps in 5-10 sets, short rest intervals
- Close Grip Bench or Dips – 5 sets of 5-8
- Tricep Extensions (1 or 2 variations ) 6-8 total sets of 8-15 reps
Friday: Lats / Upper Back
- Chins or Pull Ups – ~50 total reps in as few sets as possible
- Pulldowns (different grip than exercise one) 3-5 x 10-12
- Barbell Rows (or other row variation) 3-6 x 8-12
- Rear Delt Rows or Face Pulls 5 x 10-15
- Shrugs 3 x 15-20
Saturday: Squats + Quads/Abs/Calves
- Squats – 3 work sets of 8, 5, or 2
- Hack Squat or Leg Press – 3 work sets of 10-20
- Weighted Step Ups – 3 sets of 10 per leg
- Abs/Calves – whatever
Obviously you don’t have to follow this routine exactly if you aren’t into the bodybuilding aspect of it. For instance, many clients will forgo all the quad assistance stuff and simply Squat and then go drag a sled or push a prowler. Fine by me. Modify how you like, but you get the point.
Still train each lift heavy 1x/week but allow yourself to experiment with new exercises, train with some higher rep ranges, and have a little fun. You might even surprise yourself with some new PRs. We’ve been using this formula in my online training club The Baker Barbell Club for the past several months and my guys are setting PRs left and right.
September / October – November: Strength Peak #2
Now the fun stuff is over it’s time to get back to work with more regular exposure to the barbell exercises for a second strength peak of the year.
How you choose to do this up to you. but I suggest you select programming that increases the frequency and per session volume of the “contested” lifts, cuts down on the volume of the assistance work, and increases the average weekly intensity across the board.
This might mean a second run of the Texas Method if it worked for you back in the Spring. Set some conservative PR goals for your lifts and set those up towards the last week of November. Maybe the week prior to Thanksgiving if you plan on traveling during that holiday. From there, work backwards through the month of November and October to set up your training cycle. Weigh those numbers against the numbers you ended your summer split routine with to make sure you aren’t dramatically over-estimating your strength or under estimating your strength.
Or you can use a different type of peaking program such as my KSC Method for Raw Power Lifting / Strength Lifting which uses a Volume / Intensity approach but is organized differently than the Texas Method.
There are obviously a number of other peaking type programs you can use here.
December (Deload + GPP)
Sometime in late November or early December you will have hopefully hit some new numbers for the year and ended things on a positive note. How you handle December is up to you. I know around my gym, attendance starts to drop in mid-December as people begin to travel and more or less focus on family activities and closing out the year at work. Mentally, a lot of people just kinda use this time of year to relax and recharge. I’m a supporter of this actually, and if you are busy with lots of family activities and travel it can make some sense to use this time of year as a prolonged deload or what some people call “strategic deconditioning.”
I don’t necessarily mean that you just cease all training. But you can back off quite a bit. If you lose a little bit of strength, it’s not really the end of the world. It’s hard to hold a “peak” all year long and strength comes back relatively quickly when you start hitting the weights hard again in January.
3-4 weeks of easy training is good for the body and soul. You can heal up some of your aches and pains, relax from the pressure of climbing under the heavy squat bar week in and week out and relax your nutritional habits a bit.
I’d still try and get into the gym 2-4 days per week, but do what you feel like doing, more or less.
I often use this time of year on myself to go light for 2-3 weeks and I wind up doing a lot of body weight type training and a lot of cardio interval stuff. I find that these types of workouts which dare I say are “Crossfittish” in nature (although I don’t kill myself with volume) keep me from getting ridiculously fat during the Holidays and keep my conditioning from dropping off so much that the month of January is hell on soreness.
I’ll often do a routine that looks like this:
- Monday: Bench Press – work up to set of 5ish, then Bench Press or Press x 10 or Push Ups x 50 + 500m Rower for 3 rounds
- Tuesday: Squat – work up to set of 5ish, then Incline Treadmill or Sled for 20 minutes
- Thursday: Press – work up to set of 5ish, then Dips + Chin supersets
- Friday: Deadlift – work up to set of 5ish, then Deadlift x 10 + 500m Rower for 3 rounds
- Saturday: AirDyne Bike for 30 minutes
For the heavy sets I usually just pick an arbitrary weight that is an even plate arrangement (225, 315, 405, etc) somewhere in the range of what would be a moderately heavy set of 5. Sometimes I do a little more or less. Again, I kinda go by feel and don’t focus on trying to go exceedingly heavy, just get a little work in for a single set so my strength stays in the ballpark. I like leaving them gym on these days feeling good and energized, not exhausted and beat to hell.
You obviously don’t have to do this routine exactly. It’s not a prescription for anyone. Just an idea of how you might approach the last several weeks of the year. Give yourself a break from heavy, high volume barbell work, go easy but stay in shape. Do something you don’t ordinarily do and don’t spend more than 45-60 minutes in the gym.
