My next routine...

[Euby]

Andy - KSC-PB looks really cool, but 5 days a week would be tough for my schedule. Plus the accessories would be difficult in my home gym.

So, could I used the S&M40+ routine but with an 8-5-2 approach on the big lifts? Sound reasonable for a 45 year old dude? I want to try something new to see what else I can learn when I wrap up the GGW cycle in a few weeks.

Thanks in advance!

[Andy Baker (KSC)]

Yes you can easily swap the 3x5/3x3/3x1 rotation for a 3x8/3x5/3x2 rotation. In fact I do that for clients in the gym quite a bit.

[Euby]

Andy, if I do that, I believe the S&M40 routine uses sets across for the accessories, but KSC-PB suggests descending sets to near failure or beyond. I really want to strike a good balance for hypertrophy, so should I apply the KSC technique with the S&M accessory lifts also?

[Andy Baker (KSC)]

Doesn't matter. It's accessory work. Just make sure those lifts are going up over time and you are keeping things in the appropriate rep range and getting some good volume in. I like descending sets for a lot of accessory work because I can get through that shit fast and build my work capacity. I'm not a fan of long rest times for assistance work. I use that first all out set as my metric for progression and I do the rest by feel.

[Euby]

That makes perfect sense after reading it.

So one last question on 852 vs 531 for reps, any reason to choose one over the other if looking for a balance of strength and hypertrophy? I keep reading about the need for a volume increase after moving on from LP to stimulate progress, but not sure where the line is for a 45yo guy like me. I'm assuming the accessories will drive hypertrophy in the upper body, but I'd like to see more growth from squats and deads as well as strength. But honestly if they choice is mostly a wash, I'd probably prefer the 531 just to avoid the dread that seems to eventually come from higher rep squats and deads, even at just 8.

[Andy Baker (KSC)]

I can run 852 for longer periods of uninterrupted progress. I like having some "space" in between my rep ranges from week to week. When you start to have misses on 8s you are still getting 6-7. Usually sets of 4 for missed 5s, and singles for missed doubles. So things are still a little spread out. When you start to miss on 5s, 3s, 1s, everything gets clustered on the low end and you find yourself training strictly between 0-4 reps. You can't do that for very long week in and week out.

That make sense?

[Euby]

Yep. Most things make sense after you explain it. ;-)

Thanks.