Beach Work - there, I said it

[Twodogs]

Curious to see if anyone has had success modifying the intermediate programming to focus on strength + hypertrophy as a goal. PPST touches upon the basics of hypertrophy programming (set/reps, scheduling, intensity), but I am struggling to put it all together and come up with a program. I've considered simply modifying TM so that the presses are in the hyper-range, but it still leaves me wanting for some useful assistance exercises to help with arm/chest development. My legs and trunk are plenty fine at this stage, actually have to keep these parts in check to avoid too much hypertrophy (even in the strength rep range).

I've also considered trying the 4-day split a la Woojus Geeshman in the back of PPST, since the DE rotations look appealing, but this program just might destroy me.

I am just under 1.5BW squats @ 3X5, and don't plan to go beyond. I would like to maintain this benchmark, however, while shifting program goals to focus on a bit of hypertrophy (thus, strength + hypertrophy).

If anyone out there has had any success with this, please share. Thanks.

[peacerenity]

I've had a lot better experience eating more to get bigger than fooling with the sets/reps. If you're eating at a steady surplus of about 1000 calories a day, SS will get you more than big enough. I put on 34 lbs in about 2.5 months with relatively minimal fat gain (waist increased by 3 inches).

[Carlos Daniel]

Yep, but the honeymoon ends when you become an intermediate. At this point, you can't force feed the muscle into growth anymore.

[Chargerforlife]

For light day yesterday, I did close grip bench 3x5 and curls for two sets of 15. I liked it - a little light beach work on light day. In general, I like to do 2 sets of 15 curls on bench day. I am also going to be doing 3 sets of 8 Yates Rows on Volume day. I like to use the neck harness for 4 sets of 25 a couple of times a week.

[aron]

Curls for two sets once a week arnt really going to do anything. During your novice phase, SS will be as good as any program, since you just need some overall mass. Once you become intermidiete, if you want to focus more on hypertrophy then you'll need higher overall volume, and some specific beach work. Pre-steroid era bodybuilding stuff is good. If you go back to the basics, McCallum, Dittillo, Starr, etc... they all talk about widening the base of the pyramid with strength work and then gradually upping the volume. Many triples with heavy weight is a fairly common theme. If you look at some of Dittillos, or McCallums bodybuilding routines, they're much higher volume than many other routines.

[Twodogs]

I've had a lot better experience eating more to get bigger than fooling with the sets/reps. If you're eating at a steady surplus of about 1000 calories a day, SS will get you more than big enough. I put on 34 lbs in about 2.5 months with relatively minimal fat gain (waist increased by 3 inches).

This sounds like me, except that I was consuming 2800 calories in excess of my RMR for about a month and a half, about 5K a day. I am 6', Went from 170-205 in 4mo, waste from 33-36 (bye bye suits) and peaked at only 20%BF. I am near my strength goals, which I would like to maintain, but would like a little recomp with diet and incorporate some hypetrophy goals into the routine.

Curls for two sets once a week arnt really going to do anything. During your novice phase, SS will be as good as any program, since you just need some overall mass. Once you become intermidiete, if you want to focus more on hypertrophy then you'll need higher overall volume, and some specific beach work. Pre-steroid era bodybuilding stuff is good. If you go back to the basics, McCallum, Dittillo, Starr, etc... they all talk about widening the base of the pyramid with strength work and then gradually upping the volume. Many triples with heavy weight is a fairly common theme. If you look at some of Dittillos, or McCallums bodybuilding routines, they're much higher volume than many other routines.

Thanks, I will look into this some more. I looked at the Hepburn method in the double/triple range, but from what I have read this seems more appropriate for powerbuilding than hypertrophy.

I don't want to overthink this too much. Using a TM template, it sounds plausible to add more volume to the bench/press on the alternating Friday sessions (5 sets of 10-12), and add in curls, skullcrushers, rows, and maybe another chest assistance exercise, and try to keep the 5X5 progression going on Mondays. At some point soon my 5X5s will go sideways, but I reckon that's what happens when you reach strength goals that are short of genetic potential.

[Bloodninja666]

I have nothing to add but my own experience. Ive been lifting about a year and a half, and am finally starting to look like I actually lift weights. One year in, probably about where you are at, I was also a little unsatisfied with my appearance.

But I kept pushing through the Texas Method intermediate routine and good things have happened. I noticed real changes as I broke through the magical 300-400-500 bp/sq/dl numbers.

So my advice would be to just keep trucking with the strength focus.

[Briks42]

Adding strength and hypertrophy are way more correlated than people seem to want to believe. I don't think you need to mess with your set-rep scheme much.

Like Bloodninja said, if you keep getting stronger, your muscles will get bigger.

If you think some of your "beach" muscles are being neglected (bi's tri's maybe?), throw in 2 to 3 sets of curls and headknockers every other workout.

If you are worried about leanness, concentrate on your diet.

[peacerenity]

Throwing in some low rep ab work (I've just started using the ab wheel and I recommend it) in addition to what you get from squats, deadlifts, etc. will also make your abs look better once your bodyfat gets low enough to show them.

[Jamie J. Skibicki]

I might have typed the url incorrectly, this is Starting Strength not BB.com, right?