FT Questions....

[Scott Stevenson]

Apologies for the double post - I meant to put this in the other thread. Scott, obviously please delete if wished... anyway:

This may all be hypothetical as I'm finding out early next week if I need shoulder surgery( but I WILL come back better either way)...

In short my legs somewhat overpower my upper body. They seem to grow whatever I do with them (especially calves- don't hate me lol). My upper body, though, is less responsive- especially my chest and to a degree my shoulders and biceps.

My thoughts are, from searching threads here, to prioritise flying movements for chest; I'm a delt presser and I've discovered I'm pretty weak on flies, which I think is revealing. So I'm planning to pre exhaust on loading days and prioritise flying movements on MR and pump days. This should also take some stress off my shoulders by reducing pressing. Ditto to make pump sets and stretches for biceps hell.

But I'm curious what other strategies might be employed. Clearly it's not just a case of more frequency for chest and shoulders as I've tried that and that's just left me with shoulder pain. And yes, technique is an issue but it's one I'm aware of and working on.

The alternative is to do something like the old Skip Hill protocol (day 1 chest/back, 2 legs, 3 back/chest, 4 delts and arms) but I really enjoy FT and think it's thought through in a way I've not seen elsewhere. So, pennies for your thoughts guys... thanks in advance.

Do you mind posting pics?... I've learned over the years, it's often good just for context and perspective with these kinds of questions to see just how horribly unmanaged you are.

So firstly, I'd give it time. Balancing a physique is very difficult and takes a while - we're talking years, here, in many cases.

How long have you been training with the above changes?...

What are your physique goals?... This is important, too, as perhaps your legs are where you'd want them, they will be covered (if you compete in Mens physique) or you have a weight class to fit under (classic bodybuilding)?...

So, as opposed to training less frequently (aka Ken's strategy), with FT you do have the option of adjusting Tiers for different muscle groups, which means your'e not sacrificing frequency, but rather simply shifting your recovery resources towards the muscle groups you wish to prioritize. Of course, do consider that if you DO want more size on your legs in he long run, you're slowing this process.

Also, in the contest of recovery, you can set your diet up such that you're intentionally focusing food and days off around upper body training. For some, this means having a day off before training the muscle groups you want to focus on is most important (for training intensity / performance). For others, eating really well AFTER training (including the day after) the muscles you want to focus on is more important. You'd have to figure this out for yourself to some degree.

So, without knowing your dietary strategy overall and where you fit into the above, this could generically be something like:

ONE OPTION:
Day 2: Upper Loading, lower pump (GREATEST FOOD INTAKE)
0ff Day
Day 1: Lower Load: Upper PUMP (Larger food intake here, too, if you feel needed to recovery from for pump sets)
Off Day:
Day 4; Upper MR (GREATEST FOOD INTAKE)
Day 3: Lower MR (Greater food food intake here, but not as much assisting in upper body recovery)
Off Day
---REPEAT---

If you feel you can train UPPER MR's just as well if the day before is Lower MR, then you might consider making the DAY AFTER UPPER MR's (e.g., a Sunday after training UPPER MR's on Saturday) into a large "re-feed" day.

There are other ways to construct this (some like to put Day 1 and Day 2 of FT in a row, without a day off in between), but this is the general idea dietarily. Same would go for what you have to do on those days you train / after you training. Ideally, you can rest / recover / nap after training the muscle groups you are trying to bring up.

Of course, if you have shoulder surgery, this will all go on the back burner for a bit.

-S

P.S. I didn't see the double post, so it's all good. (I'm guessing you erased it.)