Training Program: GST SIZE - Weeks 14-17
Installment 4 of 6 on your mission to 25 weeks of GROWTH!
In this article:
Chapter 6 of my new book, GST SIZE - 25 Weeks of Growth, covering Weeks 14-17 of the program.
A new supplement exercise set/rep scheme and how to transition smoothly into that protocol.
The first week of Phase 3, implementing Forced Volume techniques to prevent volume backsliding in your training.
Before you embark on any physical fitness program, please consult a doctor.
The contents of this article should not be taken as medical advice. This article is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any health problem - nor is it intended to replace the advice of a physician. Always consult your physician or qualified health professional on any matters regarding your health.
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Copyright: © 2023 by Ryan S. Miller. All rights reserved.
Important - Please Read
Before getting into Week 14, I want to make sure you’ve completed Weeks 1-13. This isn’t a ‘drop in’ type of program and starting at Week 14 will not give you the full experience or maximal benefits.
If you haven’t done so, please start with the first installment in this series:
I'd like to congratulate you, and you should congratulate yourself, for making it this far. Progressing through GST programming isn’t easy. It takes big effort, real dedication, and demands hard work. Your current accomplishment is not going unnoticed! I see you and those around you do too.
Macrocycle 3 is behind you, Macrocycle 4 is sizing you up, and it’s time to accept its challenge. Upon acceptance, there are two familiar tasks you must complete before stepping into the arena. Adjust your core exercise estimated 1RMs.
Review your overall exercise selections and change any problematic, disliked, or stalled exercises.
We’ll be tackling the first task when I discuss this week’s core exercise methods. Right now, I want to mention an important point for you to consider when completing the second task. As you might remember, you had the opportunity to make some exercise changes four weeks ago as part of Week 10.
I mention this because I’d like to recommend that you do not remove any of the newest exercises from your program for the time being.
Unless a new exercise introduced during Week 10 is causing pain or you absolutely can’t stand it, leave it in play throughout this macrocycle. Give it the time it deserves.
To summarize and reiterate my point, if new exercises introduced during Week 10 aren’t causing injury and you aren’t hating them, I’d prefer you leave them in place during this round of changes.
You should now be able to make changes to your program’s exercises using the same directions I outlined during Week 10. Below is the introduction to those directions and I prefer that you look back on Week 10 and review them in full.
Your exercises need to help you reach your goals, be enjoyable enough that you'll do them, and you need to be able to add more weight to them over time.
If these three requirements aren’t met by an exercise, it should probably be replaced with a new one. That new exercise should target the same muscle groups as the previous exercise and stand out as something you want to see in your routine.
Before hitting the gym this week, don’t forget to adjust your core exercise 1RM estimations. Remember, you have two options:
Increase each core exercise 1RM by a standard amount. As before, I recommend 10lbs.
Adjust your core exercise 1RMs by using M3/M4’s AMRAP set data and plugging the weight used and reps completed into the 1RM estimation formula.
Instead of making you look back to find the 1RM formula, here it is, along with a refresher example: 1RM = ((Reps completed x 0.03333) + 1)) x Weight used
Example: Imagine you lifted 225lbs for 6 reps during a Micro 4 AMRAP set. Below is a step-by-step guide showing how to determine your 1RM estimate from that data.
Multiply 6 by 0.03333, which equals 0.199.
Add 1 to 0.199, which equals 1.199.
Multiply 1.199 by 225, which equals 269.99.
Round 269.99 to the nearest available weight.
The 1RM is estimated to be 270 pounds.
If you elected to change a core exercise as part of your exercise-revamping task before starting this week, remember that when you encounter the new exercise, you will test for its 4-6RM only.
You should not perform the 8-12, 8-12, AMRAP core scheme for any new core exercises this week. I repeat, for newly replaced core exercises, determine your 4-6RM, calculate your estimated 1RM, and move to your supplement exercise work.
Warm-Up: Perform multiple sets pyramiding up in weight, while decreasing in reps and approaching your working weight. Since you’re working with relatively lighter weights than the past two microcycles, 3-4 warm-up sets will work.
Working Set 1: 8-12 reps with 60% 1RM
Working Set 2: 8-12 reps with 60% 1RM
Working Set 3: AMRAP with 60% 1RM
Since we’re using a 2:1 ratio of size to strength work for your supplement exercises, and we just finished two weeks of size work, it’s time to crush another strength-focused week of training. Using your recorded 4 sets x 5 reps supplement exercise data from Week 11, use the standard guidelines to come up with your plan of attack before hitting the gym and busting out this week’s progress.
If you completed all your goal reps during M3/M2, increase the weight and try to hit all your goal reps with the increased weight.
If you did not complete your goal reps during M3/M2, keep the same weight and try again to hit all your goal reps.
This week’s new core exercises have special instructions, and so will this week’s newly programmed supplement lifts. This set of instructions was touched on during Week 10, which is when you last had the opportunity to make exercise changes, so they shouldn’t feel foreign to you.
The goal this week, with all new supplement exercises, is to experiment and determine their weights that are challenging in the 10-rep range.
To be quick and to the point, do the same thing you did during Week 1, which called for you to determine your supplement exercise challenging weights for a specific rep range. You know what to do, so do it.
Use the supplement methods above for your weak point training and direct ab work.
"There's more to life than training, but training puts more in your life." Brooks Kubik
What’s Behind the Paywall?
If you’re a paid subscriber, please disregard this section and scroll ahead to Week 15.
If you’re a free subscriber, the following list of content in this article is for you:
Detailed guidance for Weeks 14-17
A new Supplement Exercise set/rep scheme and how to transition smoothly into that scheme.
The first week of Phase 3, implementing Forced Volume techniques to prevent volume backsliding in your training.
Also, if you want access to my full GST SIZE program, but don’t want to become a paid subscriber, please click the button below:
