Detailed bulking/cutting program. Need advice

[danielsson1231]

I have been training for around a year and achieved good but not great results. Now I have decided to create my own program. It consists of a bulking phase for minimum 3 months depending on if I reach my goals. After this there is a cutting phase that continues until I am at my desired bodyfat %. Right now I am cutting after doing Madcow. All necessary information is in the excel file. Basically I want advice and opinions on my program. Thanks!

[nightanole]

for being an "intermediate" lifter, i find it odd you have zero accessories to bring up "your" weak points or reenforce them. There is no way in the world you can do just bench/row/squat/dead, even if you rotate in variants, and not get weak/dominant points, and have a mechanism for repeat bout injuries.

As for the rest, your "bulking" program has less volume than a beginner program, and uses straight weight. Intermediates need more volume than a beginner, and straight weight isnt going to cut it unless you spend hours in the gym. The point of the bulk is to increase recovery so you can workout more often or handle a higher volume, you are doing neither.

As for the cutting program, for "most" lifters, the only difference between the cutting program and the bulking program is volume per week, not frequency/rep range/weight lifted.

[danielsson1231]

for being an "intermediate" lifter, i find it odd you have zero accessories to bring up "your" weak points or reenforce them. There is no way in the world you can do just bench/row/squat/dead, even if you rotate in variants, and not get weak/dominant points, and have a mechanism for repeat bout injuries.

As for the rest, your "bulking" program has less volume than a beginner program, and uses straight weight. Intermediates need more volume than a beginner, and straight weight isnt going to cut it unless you spend hours in the gym. The point of the bulk is to increase recovery so you can workout more often or handle a higher volume, you are doing neither.

As for the cutting program, for "most" lifters, the only difference between the cutting program and the bulking program is volume per week, not frequency/rep range/weight lifted.

How much volume would you have in an intermediate program? Right now I have minimum 60+ reps for all big muscle groups a week and minimum 30+ for all small muscle groups a week in the strength phase and in the hypertrophy phase I have 100+ and 50+ weekly reps. Do you want me to include more drop sets, super sets etc in my program?

I will also do some accessory work at the end of my workout if I think it is needed. I also wonder why this type of full body workout would be prone to injury when I wait at least 48 hours before working the same muscle again.

Also, the reason I have a different program for cutting than for bulking is to provide variation in my workout because it makes me enjoy it more

[nightanole]

How much volume would you have in an intermediate program? Right now I have minimum 60+ reps for all big muscle groups a week and minimum 30+ for all small muscle groups a week in the strength phase and in the hypertrophy phase I have 100+ and 50+ weekly reps. Do you want me to include more drop sets, super sets etc in my program?

I will also do some accessory work at the end of my workout if I think it is needed. I also wonder why this type of full body workout would be prone to injury when I wait at least 48 hours before working the same muscle again.

Also, the reason I have a different program for cutting than for bulking is to provide variation in my workout because it makes me enjoy it more

If you are average, you will be able to handle about 15,000-20,000lbs of squatting volume per week.
If you are an intermediate, the problem is you wont be able to achieve that volume with straight weight sets, and the same weight every workout. You are going to need something like "heavy day / light day". Its a combo of your bulking and cutting routines. 2 days a week doing very heavy sets for low reps, and 2 days a week doing very light weights for very high reps. Else the other pattern is ramp sets to one heavy set. This is what the "madcow" program is based around for getting both the volume in, and the heavy set needed.

As for injury prone. As an intermediate you will be able to tax yourself alot more than as a novice, and it will take longer to recover. The repeat bout effect will start building up nagging injuries, even with perfect form and 48 hours between sessions. That is why you should pick a new variant of the lift every 1-2 months. It doesnt have to be a big change, for bench it could be; narrow grip, incline, decline, wide grip, that might last you 6-9 months injury free before you start the rotation again. Benching wide for 6-9 months with no major decrease in working weight ever, will get you some nagging injuries, even with perfect form. its just part of being human.

So really if you just combine your bulking and cutting programs into one, and have the bulking section being higher frequency or an extra set or 2 per workout(aka 33-50% more volume vs cutting program per week), you would have a bulking and cutting program laid out.