Strength gains

[Pioneer]

@hemann

I don’t think I’ve gained much muscle fiber at all. That’s what my original post was asking really. Can I develop muscle fiber lifting heavy weights as long as I gain body weight?

Week 1 3x3
Week 2 3x5
Week 3 5-3-1
Week 4 deload

Or should I spend 4-6 weeks doing 3x8 and adding some mass and then lower the reps to the 1-5 range? Too most ppl this maybe isn’t too much of a concern. But my bench press is embarrassing. I haven’t made considerable progress in 4 years now…!!

Not sure what your goals are now. You originally were talking about your maxes moving up but you want to move bodyweight up too? Not that hard to do but you don’t need the reps to be that high for that long especially if strength is your primary goal. Four weeks at the most maybe every 4-6 months. You can get an occasional volume bump to begin a block at times after the strength endurance block (3 x 10 possibly for four weeks gradually increasing the int.) as in the intro micro being for 5 x 5 or 3 x 10 then descending into 3 x 5 and possibly 3 x 3 during the block with the unload week being another, lighter 3 x 3 or 3 x 2. The first week of a block having higher volume serves as the overreaching week.

I am proposing not that you go super- light week one but possibly not as heavy as you seem to have done in the past-based largely on your comment about bp and your first week of inclines. As I said earlier, I have seen time an again people start a four week block where week one works them so hard they have no where to progress to. If they move up by too much week 2 they often can’t go up week 3.

If the volume does not stay constant during a four week period as in strength end./hypertrophy I would suggest dropping the volume down as intensification takes place.

Not a big fan of the BFS rep scheme.

If you have not done higher reps in some time then perhaps 3 x 10 for 3-4 weeks.

Next weeks 3 x 5, 3 x 5, 3 x 5, 3 x 3 with all but the last week ascending in intensity.

Then another block starting with an overreaching week of 5 x 5, then 3 x 5, 3 x 3, then a light 3 x 2.

If you are removed from high reps for an extended period of time but not so long since doing a dedicated strength end. block, start a block, only in the off or pre-season with a single week of 3 x 10 then 3 x 5, 3 x 5, 3 x 5 (or 3 x 3).

I would not recommend doing 6 straight weeks of the same reps-and the weights that would be associated with those reps. Change a bit more frequently as in every 3-4 weeks. It appears as you get away from true strength work for too long and then when you do it, you don’t spend enough time, relatively speaking in that range.