Using Your Calculator to Determine Your Next Program
Q: "I have been doing your workout and the same exercises listed for about 5 weeks now. I have been switching up the order, but is it time I get a new workout? Should I stick with pyramid style, and should I do some of the same exercises or just substitute a few of them?"
Thanks again for helping,
Nick Ponte
My Answer: Nick, if you did a search on my blog, then you’d find that I recommend 5×5 after the pyramid program. Yes, switch to a different workout. No, don’t stick with the pyramid training. Do completely different exercises.
An easy way to figure out how to move from program to program is add up all the reps in the workout. If the rep totals are high, then switch to a program with lower rep totals. If your totals are low, then switch to a program with a higher rep total.
The Hypertrophy Training for Ectomorphs program has a total of 39 reps per body part (10+8+6+15=39). With 6 body parts per workout, that’s 234 reps per workout.
The 5×5 program has a total of 25 reps per body part. If you did 6 body parts per workout, then that would be 150 reps per workout. That’s a 35% drop in training volume, which means the 5×5 program serves as a good follow-up to the pyramid program.
Q: “I was reading your article on workouts for police, and it looks like something I want to try. I have two questions though: The workout you show has weeks 1 and 2, and weeks 4 and 5. What do we do for week 3?
“My second question is, will this help strengthen my hips at all? I was recently told I’m getting some bone loss in my hips and was told exercise would be the way to help it.”
Thanks for the help!
-Ed Berg
My Answer: That was a typo, so go from week 2 into week 4. With regards to strengthening your bones, strength training will help alleviate bone loss over time. However, if you’re asking that particular question, then chances are you haven’t been strength training very much at all. If that’s the case, then don’t start with the Return to Copland workout. This workout is brutal, and beginners and people who workout intermittently should not start off with this program. Choose a simple program first, like by 5×5, and transition to more and more complex programs over time. THEN start the Return to Copland workout.
