As I mentioned in my last log, we had gotten a little away from true hypertrophy and felt more like powerlifters for a few weeks.  I must say that the last couple, we fully remedied that.

Here are a few things I focused on for the layout when preparing these two weeks:

1. More reps on the main movements instead of heavy weight.

2. Main leg day focuses on posterior chain with main movement with quad accessories.

3. Secondary leg day more hamstrings

4. Main pressing day has multiple pressing movements with tricep accessories.

5. Secondary upper day was shoulder and arm focus.

And when coming up with set and rep schemes, I wanted something different. Now, normally drop sets are an easy way to add extra volume. For these few weeks, I did the following:

1. Added some tempo work (slow down, slow up) totaling over 1 minute in time under tension.

2. Sets to failure on accessories.

3. Band resistance for explosive work.

4. Putting main movements (shoulders, bench, squat) second to avoid going too heavy.

Here's an example of our main pressing day:

A. Floor press w/ chain – 3x8 with 2 chains each side. On the last set of 8, drop set 1 chain, then the other chain.

B. BB Incline, tempo – 3x10, 3 seconds down, 3 seconds up.

C. DB flat bench – 4x10

D1. EZ bar skullcrushers – 4x10, after last set finish a close grip press to failure
D2. Single arm band pushdowns – 4x12-15

E. Lat pulldown, wide grip – 3x12, drop set last set

You can see where the volume comes in via drop sets, failure finishers and tempo work.

Give some of these schemes a try!

You