My Winter 2024 Training Cycle
- Morris Chen
- May 9, 2024
- 6 min read
I've been a regular at the gym for four years, and now it’s time to get serious about bulking up again. A couple of months back, I kicked off a robust training plan, but had to press pause because of an injury. I'm eager to dive back in as soon as possible. This plan is set to unfold over the next 12 weeks, finishing off my current mesocycle.
This winter, it's all about ramping up muscle mass, elevating my strength, and maintaining my athletic edge.
Currently, I weigh in at around 82-83 kg, with a target of hitting 88 kg by the cycle’s end. I've been consuming a daily surplus of 300-500 calories (around 3700 calories total) to support this growth. My caloric needs are quite high, influenced by several factors:
My body has grown accustomed to a higher food intake since I’ve been bulking for the past few months.
My workouts are intense, typically lasting about 90 minutes, during which I burn approximately 500 calories, as tracked by my heart rate chest strap.
My NEAT (non-exercise activity thermogenesis) and BMR (basal metabolic rate) is quite high as I frequently walk around and carry more muscular mass than the average human.
Goals for this training period
The focus of this training cycle is on adding mass to my chest, biceps, and glutes, areas I see as key opportunities for improvement.
In terms of specific targets, I'm aiming to push my bench press from 130 kg to 140 kg. While I don’t have set strength goals for my biceps and glutes, I’m concentrating on significant size gains in these areas.
My Current Split
I adjust my routine every two weeks, adding an additional set if recovery demands are met. Each workout begins with light dynamic stretches and warmups, not counting the warm-up sets for each exercise.
Pull 1:
3 sets of medicine ball slams
3 sets of weighted pull-ups
3 sets of barbell rows
3 sets of lat prayers
2 sets of hammer curls
2 sets of incline dumbbell curls
Pull 2:
3 sets of medicine ball rotational slams
3 sets of weighted pull-ups
3 sets of landmine rows
3 sets of back hyperextensions
2 sets of incline dumbbell curls
2 sets of preacher curls
Weighted pull-ups target primarily the teres major and lat muscles which are important for building width in the back.
Barbell rows/landmine rows primarily stimulate the rhomboids, spinae erectors, rear delts, traps and lats which help build thickness in the back.
Lat prayers allow me to hit my back from a different angle, targeting the serratus muscles, lats and teres major primarily. I find it also great for rotator cuff mobility. Back hyperextensions stimulate the lower back and help with flexibility when weaving in boxing.
For biceps, I perform hammer curls for brachialis activation and incline curls to target the long head of the biceps. Preacher curls feel great to do and I enjoy them.
Push 1:
3 sets of medicine ball jab/straights
3 sets of barbell benchpress
3 sets of incline bench machine
3 sets of seated cable fly
3 sets of cable lateral raise
3 sets of a tricep mechanical drop-set
Push 2:
3 sets of medicine ball size throws
3 sets of barbell benchpress
3 sets of incline dumbbell press
3 sets of lateral raises
3 sets of seated cable fly
3 sets of a mechanical tricep drop-set
Benchpress targets primarily the chest and triceps, it's my favourite exercise so I’d never take this out of my routine even if it's not considered “optimal” for hypertrophy.
Incline pressing movements help build my upper pecs and anterior delts which are some of the most aesthetic muscle groups.
The cable fly allows me to get a great mind-muscle connection with my chest and feel a deep stretch in the lengthened position which has evidence in recent studies by MASS Research Review to suggest it optimises hypertrophy. I’m not one to always train optimally as I train primarily for enjoyment, but ideally I can do both. Lateral raise variations train the lateral head of the deltoid, which is what gives someone the wide look, paramount for classical aesthetics. The mechanical tricep drop-set consists of 3 exercises performed in a giant-set. First, I perform tricep extensions to behind the back to target the medial head, then perform them standing upright (lateral head), before performing them overhead (long head). This ensures sufficient stimulation for all 3 heads of the tricep to maximise hypertrophy.
Leg 1:
3 sets of U hops
3 sets of weighted jumps
3 sets of squats
3 sets of romanian deadlifts
3 sets of hip thrusts
3 sets of quad extensions
Leg 2:
3 sets of box jumps
3 sets of linear hops
3 sets of bulgarian split squats
3 sets of squats
3 sets of hamstring curls
3 sets of calf raises
My first strength/hypertrophy movement of each leg workout rotates between the squat and bulgarian split squat. This is because I want to practise generating force from both two and one legged movements which is beneficial for sports such as basketball where I may jump off both.
Romanian deadlifts target the lower back, hamstrings and glutes. I perform these to help with stability and CNS (central nervous system) fatigue training as this would be one of my heavier lifts alongside the squat.
The rest of my leg movements are just focused on hypertrophy with the intended muscle target being intuitive.
Theory
Why Plyometrics?
My first exercise for all workouts is always some type of plyometric movement. Coming from a sports background, I’ve always kept in mind the functionality of muscle. Whilst strength and traditional weightlifting movements help increase overall force production, peak power production is maximised and can be trained with plyometrics.
Theoretically, the equation for power is work over time.
Thus, to maximise power,
To maximise power, we can take the derivative such that:
P = dW/dt
Since we know that W = F*d, we can rewrite the above equation as:
P = F * dx/dt
Hence F is the force, dx is the displacement of the object, and dt is the time period of that displacement. As velocity is the derivative of displacement, dx/dt can be replaced with v.
P = F * v
F is the force and v is the instantaneous velocity of the object. As both force and velocity are vector quantities and power is simply the scalar product, P = F v cos(θ). The general solution for max cos(θ) = 2n*π = 1 (just relates to angle of impact for peak force generation, which the maxima is found when there is a direct hit). I want to maximise the product of force production and velocity, which can be done by training plyometrics. Most of my plyometrics are focused around explosive punching power as my main sport is boxing where I want to maximise both speed and force in my punches. Although I currently do not compete anymore, I wish to keep up with training in case in the future I want to fight again.
Training Periodisation and Mesocycles
One training cycle for me will usually be 8 - 16 weeks. This is because if I try to bulk any longer than that, I often find it hard to gain weight and muscle past 16 weeks. This is due to many factors:
Metabolic adaptation
The last time I tried to bulk for 20 weeks, I was eating close to 4500 calories a day and was getting tired of consuming so much food for barely any weight gain.
Insulin resistance (related to the first point)
The heavier I get, the less insulin sensitivity I have, meaning that it is harder to build muscle past a certain point.
Training intensity
It is hard to train intensely for the purpose of muscle growth for over 16 weeks. Especially if I am adding more volume every couple of weeks. Eventually, the human body breaks down and cannot go as hard as week 1.
CNS fatigue
Due to progressive overload, the stress I exert on my central nervous system increases week by week, and after a certain point, the CNS gets so tired to the point where it is very difficult to perform compound movements anymore.
Rest
It is important to let my tendons, joints, ligaments, etc. rest after a long block for training for a period of time to reduce the risk of injury. Micro damage accumulates in the body after a hard training block and taking time off after a mesocycle allows me to recover fully.
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