Breaking My Plateau - HELP

[revexrevex]

What did volume look like on that

I just finished a 10 week training cycle at 6 days/week.

Sun - Legs and Calves
Mon - Neck, Forearms, and Abs
Tue - Off
Wed - Chest and Calves
Thu - Back and Biceps
Fri - Shoulders, Traps and Calves
Sat - Triceps

I was very satisfied with training that often. However, next training cycle I will change things up a bit and go to 5 days/week. I never train the same way for more than 10-12 weeks at a time.

 

[Scotsman]

You may not even need to change your split. Try changing some exercise around and reps and weights. Your body will grow accustomed to anything you contiually through at it. Also you may need to increase your caloric intake to support the large amount of new body you have gained. Also a week off would be good for you.

Cheers,
Scotsman

 

[pwr_machine]

What did volume look like on that

In the past, most of my training cycles were structured very similiar to what you find on Bigguns15's website at http://www.rebeccaphelps.com. This past training cycle, I took a break from the HEAVY lifting and stayed at higher reps for longer than usual. I did 3 weeks at 10 reps, followed by 3 weeks at 8 reps, followed by 3 weeks at 10 reps, and finally a week of 20 reps on each exercise. I typically do between 10 and 12 total sets per bodypart. I'm taking a break now and will begin a new training cycle next week.

 

[revexrevex]

I am very interested about that tricep day. What was your exercise selection like? Did you use board presses and various extensions?

 

[pwr_machine]

I am very interested about that tricep day. What was your exercise selection like? Did you use board presses and various extensions?

Board presses are performed off a 3" block for sets of 2, 3, or 5 depending on how many weeks you are into the training cycle as shown on the website. Due to tendinitis in both elbows, I had to modify the way I trained triceps to work around the pain. I did sets of 5 the entire 10 weeks to be able to handle a lighter load. From week 1 to week 10, I put about 50 pounds on my 5 rep max for board presses.

I generally did rope pushdowns, a tricep machine with a hammer grip, bench dips, or dumbell kickbacks. I simply chose those exercises because they produced the least amount of pain during my workouts. Bigguns15 is injury free (lucky her) and typically performs weighted parallel bar dips, overhead tricep extensions, pushdowns, etc. I'm sure she'll come around this thread soon and comment on exactly how she handles the tricep workout.

 

[bigguns15]

I'm sure she'll come around this thread soon and comment on exactly how she handles the tricep workout.

Mine's pretty similar to pwr_machines. I start off with a 2 board press with my pinkies on the rings (my normal grip was index fingers on the rings, but I'm trying to bring that in now). The weight is a percentage of that same weeks bench press. In the beginning of a training cycle, I will do sets of 5 for all tricep exercises and taper down to doubles and singles closer to a meet. After board presses, I either do heavy overhead dumbbell or weighted dips. I do both exercises each week, just changing the order. I'll finish with either close grip bench or close grip decline bench. When I get to doubles and singles, I cut out all exercises except the board presses. I'll also add in some heavy holds those last few weeks. I've seen excellent results so far with this!!

 

[revexrevex]

Thank you, very interesting

 

[pwr_machine]

Thank you, very interesting

Let me know if you give the training a shot.