SAITAMA S2 - UL HYPERTROPHY

STAGE 2 You should already be training consistently. Your technique should be decent by now, but you have a long way to master it, try to be more insightful and aware to find what you can improve. Your focus should be on increasing your intensity & keep improving your technique. -EXERCISE SELECTION I recommend that you still stick to the same compound lifts you were using on STAGE 1. As a novice & in the context of hypertrophy changing exercises very often it's not a good idea, you should try to keep exercises for at least 12 weeks and for as long as posible, specially in compound lifts, given you are not having the following issues listed. Change exercises if: -You are no longer progressing (in any way, for at least 3-4 weeks). -You are having persistent &/ worsening joint pain. -You are experiencing excessive fatigue. -You are getting significantly less stimulus than usual (pumps, tension, disruption...). These are valid reasons to change an exercise, also you could consider changing for the sake of enjoyment/avoiding boredom. For example, at some point your lower back probably will not be able to withstand the fatigue from heavy squats & RDLs twice a week in the same workouts, so you will need to switch to a less taxing variation that doesn't impede your perfomance & progress. -INTENSITY You really need to be TRAINING HARDER. Push your sets close to failure. Experiment with going to failure on the last set of isolation lifts OCCASIONALLY. This will help you to get familiar with RIR & RPE, try to learn how to estimate it. You shouldn't go to failure on compound lifts yet. RIR = Reps In Reserve RPE = Ratio of Percieved Exertion RPE to RIR 10 = 0 9 = 1 8 = 2 7 = 3 6 = 4 -PROGRESSION You will use OVERLOAD AUTOREGULATION as described in STAGE 1. In short, add weight when you can lift it with good technique within the rep range & RPE. On isolation movements you will use double progression. Train consistently, follow the program, eat well & in a 200-300kcal surplus, sleep 8 hours & be sure that you are training hard & I guarantee you will progress a lot. IF YOU STAGNATE, MAKE SURE THAT YOU HAVE THIS DIALED IN BEFORE MAKING ANY CHANGES. -VOLUME Don't try to add volume thinking that you will progress more, first increase your training intensity and be sure that you are training hard. -REST INTERVALS 3-4 min between compounds. 1-2 min between isolations. -WARM UPS Do 2/4 ramping sets before each lift. More weight usually needs more warm up sets. Warm up sets should feel fairly easy. -FINALLY Do not modify the program parameters. Run this program for as long as you are progressing on it. If you are progressing fine I don`t change anything. If progress stops &/or you feel like you wan't to do more work you may move on to STAGE 3.