Getting (More) Jacked For Spring Break Part III
Practical details of training for Spring Break
Thus far in this series, we’ve outlined the reasoning behind specialization and identified the priority muscle groups for a Spring Beak program.
Here, we’ll dive into what this looks like practically in terms of training volume, frequency, and split.
Ramping Up Volume
As I explained previously, one key to a specialization program is ramping up volume for prioritized muscle groups.
I figure that most intermediate lifters are completing around 9-12 sets per muscle group per week. So, generally speaking, I would start out with around 12 sets per week for side delts, biceps, and triceps, and around 9 sets per week for chest, front delts (front of the shoulder), and rear delts (back of the shoulder).
From here, I would add one set per week for side delts, biceps, and triceps training, as well as around one set every 1-3 weeks for chest, front delts, and rear delts (remember, side delts are the most important aspect of the shoulder).
If we account for two de-load weeks where we pull back how much and how hard we train in order to recover and prevent overtraining, then we hit around 22 sets per week for side delts, biceps, and triceps at the end of the 12 weeks. And, we hit around 12 sets per week for chest, front delts, and rear delts.
Training side delts, biceps, and triceps at these high and increasing volumes across this time period will allow you to overcome plateaus and make significant growth (especially compared to what you were making before) in this time period.
Though not to the same extent, training your chest, front delts, and rear delts at these decently high volumes will also allow for continued gains. This is especially reasonable when considering that you should have more energy to train these muscle groups hard because you’ll be cutting back on your legs and back training.
Ramping Up Frequency
In addition to ramping up the volume for these prioritized muscle groups, I would ramp up the frequency. There are two main reasons for doing so.
Firstly, since there is probably a limit to how many effective sets we can complete per muscle group per session (~6-8 sets per muscle group per session) we’ll want to increase the amount of days we are training per week to accommodate our higher volumes towards the end of the 12-week period.
Secondly, our prioritized muscle groups likely recover fast enough for us to train them every couple of days. So, if we only train them once every three days, then we’re probably missing out on additional days that we could be stimulating those muscle groups.
Putting these two reasons together, it makes sense to train side delts, biceps, and triceps three times per week during our specialization program.
Since chest, front delts, and rear delts are secondary priorities, I would train them 2-3 days per week. By spreading the sets for these muscle groups out across the week, you can complete a decently high volume per week without taking away from the main priorities by completing a bunch of sets each time you train chest, for example.
What About Everything Else?
Now that we’ve covered our prioritized muscle groups, it’s time to address the remaining muscle groups. In this instance, these include the leg muscles (mainly the quads, glutes, hamstrings, calves) and back muscles (mainly the lats, since the upper back will be stimulated with most rear delt exercises).
As I've covered previously, it takes far less volume to maintain muscle mass and strength gains than most people probably believe. (I) In addition, the minimum effective dose to actually make progress is likely lower than most people expect. (I, II)
Specifically, depending on which study you look at, the data suggest you can likely maintain or even make small progress using ⅓ of your original training volume, ~5 sets per week, or less as an intermediate. (I, II)
For this reason, I would utilize 3-8 sets per week for leg and back muscles during this specialization program.
In addition to maintaining these muscle groups, this low volume training would likely re-sensitize your legs and back to training volume. (III) In other words, once you finished this Spring Break specialization program, your legs and back would likely be primed to respond very well to increased volumes.
At the same time, your prioritized muscle groups would have accumulated significant fatigued from 12 weeks of high volumes. So, swapping them to lower volumes at the end of this specialization program to recover while switching to prioritize your back and legs would be a win-win
So, What Does This Look Like?
If we take a step back, we can put all of these pieces together and form a weekly training split.
Since all of our prioritized groups are in our upper body, I would complete three upper body days per week. Though this leaves us with four remaining days of the week, since major growth of the prioritized groups is the goal, I would only use one of these days for leg training.
This is enough to meaningfully stimulate the legs while also allowing for several rest days to aid in recovery of our prioritized muscle groups.
Also, this reduced training frequency for our legs will likely be beneficial for reducing any built up stress on our knees, hips, and lower back (to an extent).
Here is an example of what this might look like:
The actual days of the week I selected are arbitrary. The key points are the frequencies (as we covered above) and that there is a rest day prior to every upper-body training day. The latter point means that we are well recovered and ready to train hard for every upper-body day.
Notably, another viable option is to move the Saturday upper-body training above to Friday. Though this means training upper-body directly following a lower-body day, it means that there are two rest days in a row between training upper-body Friday and again on Monday.
Though you may be slightly more fatigued in your Friday session with this option, it likely won’t be a big difference, since your lower-body volume and stress is reduced in this program.
Spring Break Series Conclusions
If you’re an intermediate lifter looking to make a large improvement in your physique in 12 weeks for Spring Break, a specialization program is a useful option.
Specifically, since they have the biggest impact on a guy’s physique, prioritizing the side delts, biceps, and triceps (with secondary focus on chest, front delts, and rear delts) is ideal.
During this time, it makes sense to reduce how much and how hard you train your legs and back. You can still maintain and even make slight progress with these muscle groups with ⅓ or less of your original volume.
At the end of this specialization program, your prioritized groups will likely be in-need of a recovery period, while your legs and back will likely be re-sensitized to and ready for high volumes. For this reason, reversing which groups are prioritized and un-prioritized following the completion of this Spring Break program makes sense.
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