Mixing SS with hypertrophy question

[Patrick Hughes]

Hi all, I'll probably get flamed for this, but as well as getting strong I also want to pack on some muscle size - vain I know, but it makes me feel better about the way I look, more confident etc so apologies.

My question is would mixing SS with something like Jim Wendlers boring but big be too much? Example:

A
Squat 3x5
Press 3x5
Clean 1x5
Squat 5x10 at c.50%of working weight
Press 5x10 at c.50%of working weight.

B
squat 3x5
Bench 3x5
Dead 1x5

A
Repeat of day one

Then the following week switch it, so as I'll be doing two B days do the 5x10 on deadlift and bench instead.

Thoughts?

[Michael Wolf]

Nah man, no flaming, I think a lot of people here want to be big and strong, not "as strong as possible while staying 165." Which is good cause the latter is much harder, which is why we so often recommend people gain some weight. The thing that we've noticed, however, is that getting stronger with the SSLP is extremely effective at getting people bigger as well, provided they do the program properly and cover The First Three Questions. Adding more work at this stage, when you're not very strong yet relative to your potential to be so, stunts your strength growth more quickly, because you don't recover in time to add weight to the bar only 2 days later again and again when you're doing 5x10 backoff sets, even if those backoff sets are relatively light. And, when you're squatting 215x5 six weeks into your LP, how much do you think you're going to get out of 110x5x5 squats anyway? Not much.

Exactly where the line in the sand is when you'd adjust your work from purely strength oriented to size oriented, if that's your main goal, is not 100% clear, but I do think it's clear that it's not during the LP. My experience tells me that after a few more months of continued strength training after the end of LP, you can start shading in some more size focused work and make changes in that direction over the months after that and are probably not wasting your time if you do that. But don't stunt your LP by adding extra work that you won't recover from in time to add more weight the next time, over and over again for a few months.

You know who did that? Lots of people who shit-talk SS on the internet, who added all their extra stuff and didn't actually do the program, didn't get good results, and now blame the program they didn't do. Don't be those guys.

[Ken_L]

The best advice I can give you is don't mess with the program during LP. Take full advantage of novice gains and enjoy the simple A/B workouts. Adding anything at this stage will compromise workout to workout recovery. 3 exercises 3 times a week for 3 or 4 months. Be patient! You need to build a strength base, after that you have the foundation to choose a direction in which to specialize. Until then, DON'T MESS WITH THE PROGRAM. It works!

[Patrick Hughes]

Awesome reply thanks so much, really helpful and informative. Will stick with SS for now, thanks again!

[samking7185]

But don't stunt your LP by adding extra work that you won't recover from in time to add more weight the next time, over and over again for a few months.

These are the guys that say they've been doing the SSNLP for a year and haven't seen the gains they expected

[Michael Wolf]

These are the guys that say they've been doing the SSNLP for a year and haven't seen the gains they expected

Among other subgroups, ya.