Finished 2nd 8-Week Program

Famine · 10-01-2009, 11:27 PM

Four months ago, I started Layne Norton's Power/Hypertrophy routine and got great results within 8 weeks. On average, 6% gains in strength. I posted my results in another thread.

I followed up that 8 weeks with an 8 week program I have been trying to tweek for years. But my 8 week program never got an average of 6% gains in 8 weeks; typically only 2% gains. The question I posed to myselft was, "Am I not making gains because my different versions of my routine were not different enough?" Well, turns out change was in fact all I needed. This time around with my 8 week routine, I saw some good changes that were a lot better than my 2% gains.

My routine was 2 days on, one day off, repeat...and it looked like this:
Pectorials & Biceps
Legs & Erector Spina
Lats & Triceps
Deltoids & Traps

When all was said and done, I posted all time highs in just about every movement.

My strength increases for the big 4 over a 7 week period (week 8 was deloading) look like this:
Bench +3%
Military Press +6%
Dead Lift +25%
Squats +7%

I'm very happy with that. You might be asking, how in the funk can I get a 25% gain in deads? Well, I've only gotten serious about using deads since January. Before that I only did them once in a while. So I'm still making huge gains on deads.

So what am I getting at? Two things. Without going into too much detail, dead lifting and "change" are what my routines have been missing for nearly a decade. I thought I was deadlifting enough, and I thought my routines changed often enough. ERRRRRRRRRRRRRR...WRONG! I am totally loving 6+% gains over 7-8 weeks a lot more than my old 2-3% gains over 8 weeks. The only question is, when will these deadlifts start to flatten out? Hopefully never.

**mikeh40+** · 10-02-2009, 01:20 AM

well done my man!! i cant agree more with your assessment of deads improving your overall lifts as well, i also just started doing heavy deads and i have to say my lifts as well have been going up each week, my max dead about 3 weeks ago has gone up each time i deadlift, as well as all my other lifts, i kick my self now that all those years have passed and i could have been further along than i am now, live and learn is the name of this game brotha

**projecthatch92** · 10-02-2009, 01:53 AM

great improvement bro. I did the 8 week layne routine as well and found a lot of strength increase, size not too much though.

I find that deads is an exercise that never really plateaus, at least for me it doesn't. Each week I keep pushin the bar and I keep doin it. The only thing that sometimes holds me back is my grip

**Cork** · 10-02-2009, 07:16 AM

Damn Famine, I swear you reported on your last workout more recently. You sure do go through 8 weeks faster than a normal person, haha! Awesome gains none the less. You should be proud.

Do you do glute-ham raises? They will give you intense strength increases on squat and deadlift. By the time I worked up to doing unassisted GHRs (a month and a half or so), I had added 50lbs to my squat and deadlift. I've never squated or deadlifted over 300 before. Now I can do it a couple times.

MidniteMusik2 · 10-02-2009, 01:18 PM

Hey Famine,
I did the Layne workout for 6 weeks, but had to take a break because i felt it to be very stressful on the shoulders. I made great strength improvement, not sure if size gains were from his workout or my better diet.

Now i'm trying german volume training. Currently on week 4. Gonna do 8 solid weeks then assess, but i plan on possibly going back to Norton's workout.

Good luck.

Famine · 10-02-2009, 05:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikeh40+

well done my man!! i cant agree more with your assessment of deads improving your overall lifts as well, i also just started doing heavy deads and i have to say my lifts as well have been going up each week, my max dead about 3 weeks ago has gone up each time i deadlift, as well as all my other lifts, i kick my self now that all those years have passed and i could have been further along than i am now, live and learn is the name of this game brotha

Isn't it a kick in the pants?!?! If my high school PE coach would have turned me on to deadlifts, I can't even begin to imagine where I'd be today.

Quote:

Originally Posted by projecthatch92

great improvement bro. I did the 8 week layne routine as well and found a lot of strength increase, size not too much though.

Yeah, my first Layne workout left me 10 pounds lighter than when I started, and I wasn't even trying to cut.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cork

Damn Famine, I swear you reported on your last workout more recently. You sure do go through 8 weeks faster than a normal person, haha! Awesome gains none the less. You should be proud.

Do you do glute-ham raises? They will give you intense strength increases on squat and deadlift. By the time I worked up to doing unassisted GHRs (a month and a half or so), I had added 50lbs to my squat and deadlift. I've never squated or deadlifted over 300 before. Now I can do it a couple times.

Like these?
YouTube - glute ham raise
If that's it, then no, I haven't tried those. As for the quick reporting, I felt it was quick too, but I just figured it seemed quick because I'm giving my results before my week 8 deloading. BUT...I just realized something. My new routine is a 4 day workout. I've been doing 2 days on, 1 day off. So....that means I've been getting one extra workout in per week...so...CRAP....these are actually results from 6 weeks of working out (deloading next week), not seven weeks. Hmm...does that make this more impressive or less? I'll ponder it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MidniteMusik2

Hey Famine,
I did the Layne workout for 6 weeks, but had to take a break because i felt it to be very stressful on the shoulders. I made great strength improvement, not sure if size gains were from his workout or my better diet.

Now i'm trying german volume training. Currently on week 4. Gonna do 8 solid weeks then assess, but i plan on possibly going back to Norton's workout.

Good luck.

I'd like to hear how te Germain training goes for you. For the rest of this year, I'm alternating between my personalized workout above, and Norton's. 8 weeks of his, 8 weeks of mine.

Famine · 10-02-2009, 05:57 PM

In case anyone is interested, this is the routine I followed. I went out of my way to make it different than the Norton workout I had done the previous 8 weeks.

Pectorials & Biceps (3x10 unless stated stated)
Serratus Rope Pulls
Flat BB Bench Presses (5x5)
Incline BB Bench Presses
Decline DB Bench Presses
Flat DB Flys
Standing DB Curls (Out)
Seated Preacher Curls (Split Set)
Pulls Ups

Legs & Erector Spinae (3x10 unless stated otherwise)
Back Squats (5x5)
Dead Lifts (5x5)
Leg Extensions
Leg Curls
Calf Presses (20/20 Split Set)
Decline Sit Ups

Lats & Triceps (3x10)
Serratus Rope Pulls
Wide Cable Lat Pull Downs
V-Bar Cable Lat Pull Downs
T-Bar Cable Rows
Close Grip BB Bench Presses
Standing French Presses
Triceps Cable Rope Pressdown
Dips

Deltiods & Traps (3x10 unless stated otherwise)
Standing Military Presses (5x5)
Standing DB Side Laterals
Standing DB Front Raises
Seated Arnold Presses
Trapezius Bar Shrugs
Standing BB Upright Rows
Declined Sit Ups

**mikeh40+** · 10-03-2009, 12:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Famine

In case anyone is interested, this is the routine I followed. I went out of my way to make it different than the Norton workout I had done the previous 8 weeks.

Pectorials & Biceps (3x10 unless stated stated)
Serratus Rope Pulls
Flat BB Bench Presses (5x5)
Incline BB Bench Presses
Decline DB Bench Presses
Flat DB Flys
Standing DB Curls (Out)
Seated Preacher Curls (Split Set)
Pulls Ups

Legs & Erector Spinae (3x10 unless stated otherwise)
Back Squats (5x5)
Dead Lifts (5x5)
Leg Extensions
Leg Curls
Calf Presses (20/20 Split Set)
Decline Sit Ups

Lats & Triceps (3x10)
Serratus Rope Pulls
Wide Cable Lat Pull Downs
V-Bar Cable Lat Pull Downs
T-Bar Cable Rows
Close Grip BB Bench Presses
Standing French Presses
Triceps Cable Rope Pressdown
Dips

Deltiods & Traps (3x10 unless stated otherwise)
Standing Military Presses (5x5)
Standing DB Side Laterals
Standing DB Front Raises
Seated Arnold Presses
Trapezius Bar Shrugs
Standing BB Upright Rows
Declined Sit Ups

i really like the look of this workout, you followed it for 8 weeks? i may have to use this, whats the split in this for your off days?

Famine · 10-03-2009, 01:29 PM

I went with a 2 on, 1 off split, following the order just as they appear. I wanted to make sure there was some time in between similar movements (ex. deads on leg day and trap bar shrugs on trap day, and biceps from the first workout and lat pulls from the thrid workout). I was doing one day of cardio a week on one of my off days; there was no rhyme or reason to which day I chose other than when I felt I had the energy to do it. I've been pretty tired this past week (everyone around me seems to be getting sick), so I didn't do any cardio this past week.

I was planning on doing a week of deloading during the 4th week, but I felt fine so I didn't. I am not ready for deloading at week 8 (or 7 if you read above how I accidently screwed up the numbers).

**mikeh40+** · 10-03-2009, 08:13 PM

ok thanks famine, really nice outlined schedule for exercises bro!!

Famine · 10-04-2009, 10:34 AM

Thanks Mike.

The only thing I'm going to change before I run this routine again is the tricep cable rope pressdowns. When I first started using the rope, my triceps got a lot of added definition, shooting for that horseshoe look. But now that I've been using it for a while, a few years, it's not been doing much for me. When I run this routine again, I'm either going to take out the rope and replace it with bar pressdowns again, or I might keep the rope and do some drop sets with really high reps.

Famine · 10-04-2009, 10:41 AM

Hey, here's a question...

In a week from now, I'll be starting up Norton's Power/Hypertrophy workout again. The chest and arms day, I feel, is too long. If you had to choose 1 or 2 things to take out of the following, what would it be?

Quote:

Chest/Arms 3x10-12
DB Incline Bench Presses
BB Close Grip Bench Press
DB Flat Bench Presses
Preacher Curls (superset w/)
Standing French Presses
Tricep Cable Bar PD (superset w/)
DB Hammer Curls
Flat DB Flys
Standing BB Curls (superset w/)
Dips

I'm leaning toward taking out the last two because I'm usually spent by that time.

**mikeh40+** · 10-04-2009, 12:06 PM

i would probably take out these 2,
the others all all pretty much more compound, and would offer more in terms of size and strength, tough to pick any to omit actually.

DB Hammer Curls
Flat DB Flys