As I begin preparations for the WBFF Worlds in Las Vegas in August 2018 my first phase of training is a building phase to add size.

The Weekly Split

I’m on a push, pull, legs split with emphasis on push. Push has two dedicated sessions whereas pull and legs have a dedicated session each and a joint a session. This plan is designed for me to grow everywhere but with an emphasis on the weaker body parts

Weak Body Parts

One way to bring up a weak part is to give it more focus, and one way to do that is to not just have specific days on that body part but also increase my training frequency (how often I train them in a given week) to get my overall training volume up. There’s a lot of increasing amounts of research to suggest that the optimal training frequency for a specific body part is twice per week. That’s why I’m doing two dedicated push sessions and one of those push sessions, in particular, is focused on my chest whereas the other one is chest and shoulders, although they both cover both. And because there are more pushing movements WE are actually going to help develop my triceps more which are another weaker area.

Exercises, Workload and Intensity

For workload and intensity I’m going to be working across a wide variety of rep ranges. This’ll help target both type 1 and type 2 fibres as there’s some research to suggest that although type 2 fibres do grow quickly type 1 can hypertrophy too but they need that high rep ranges and that’s why I’ve got loads of drop sets in there and rest pause sets too are great for building volume. Some of it is just there to increase output as well in terms of drop sets but most of it is to really target those high fatiguing muscle groups to false them to grow. For example calf raises, calves are very fatigue resistant so to get those muscles to recruit and hypertrophy and because there’s a lot type 1 fibres in there higher rep ranges are going to be needed to do the job with that.

Working the Outer Triceps

Triceps are a bi-articular joint in that it crosses both the elbow and the shoulder joint, in certain positions you’re not going to get the shorter head of the triceps activated because it’s shorter. So if you’re doing a normal triceps exercises like a triceps pushdown the shorter head of the triceps is already pre-shortened so you’re not going to get a full contraction there. Whereas if you put the arms overhead you’re actively lengthening the triceps muscles which allows the short head to contract more so that’s why when you’re looking at bi-articular joints such as hip joint/hamstrings/soleus in the calves, triceps in particular – using different positions in which the different heads are lengthened and shortened is important to make sure your working that muscle through the entire range. For example, using close-grip bench press is a good exercise, or triceps pushdowns, but to really maximise growth you should work the triceps in its fully lengthened position overhead as well.

Warm-Up Sets

Warm-up sets, 2 or 3 warm up sets on the first exercise. After that I can almost jump straight in because it’s higher rep stuff anyway the reps aren’t going to be so heavy that it’s going to ruin my life so for time sake and saving energy for intensity in the working set’s I’m jumping straight into a lot of stuff bar some of the free-weight compounds where I think it’s still important to get a feel for the movement first such as close grip bench.

Managing my Energy and Workload

I’ve changed my split a little. Pulled things around so that I have different rest days. Two days on, one day off works well. Or if I’ve just got a busy day and feel fucked and want to shift something to a day that would be a rest day then that’s fine. Just make sure there’s at least 48 hours between the same muscle groups. And ideally two days between leg days. My legs have been so fucked on this plan that I don’t have the energy to walk let alone train.

You can download my training plan below and join me on this journey.

DB TRAINING PLAN *Bear in mind that this training program is fully customised to myself. If you’d like me to make a training program custom to you please see the services section where I list all the ways I can help you reach your goals.