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[Scott Stevenson]

Hello everybody, I've just started fortitude and loving every second. Started with two muscle round sessions to the back end of last week and have done loading lower and pump work upper. I can see the reason for only training 4 days a week, Ive slightly tweaked the set up so it focuses more on upper body e.g on the loading lower i done fewer sets and increased sets on upper body.

I do have one question, on upper body loading it pairs back width with back thickness and chest compound with chest isolation, could you alternate between chest and back for example, chest compound with back width and chest isolation with back thickness. My thoughts are to give the back a good rest between sets to lift heavier loads or will it be too much rest between sets to generate optimal hypertrophy?

Love the forum already, bouncing ideas off like minded individuals is always fun.

Welcome!

OK, so a few thoughts - I'd not go right to changing volume if you're trying to bring up weak muscle groups.

Check the FAQ stickie in the FT forum for my thoughts on that. (You're using a hammer right off the bat when another tool might be a much better choice.)


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Same thing goes with the alternating of back and chest. Yes, you could do that, of course, and that's a viable strategy (to decrease fatigue and increase loads), but you'll no longer be able to compare notes with all the folks who have done it the way FT is written out.

Also, you'll miss out on pre-fatiguing effects of exercise order (e.g., isolation before compound) and, in the event you plateau on a given exercise, not be able to simply keep that exercise in your rotation by switching order.

E.g., if you REALLY want to have incline smith presses and are doing doing 1 set of these, when you plateau there, you'll:
1.) Not be able to evaluate your isolation exercise in the same way to see if your'e making progress in the combo (e.g., you get the same reps on the smith incline, but go up 2 reps on the pec isolation, so this is overall progress).
2.) Not be able to switch the order of isolation and compound, and thus re-set reps / load for those to begin progress again. (Doing this, means a different activation strategy d/t differing fatigue and, while the exercises stay the same, the stimulus is renewed because of this.


Also, there's a certain amount metabolic fatigue that comes from coupling the exercises together as I've set up FT right now, that then carries over as a training adaptation that improves performance during MR's and pump sets (and vice versa).

Lastly, while I do think you've got a good strategy there, there's the issue of holding down machines for two different muscle groups, which may or my not be less convenient, depending on your gym. Also, you'd possibly be increasing your warm-up time somewhat.

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Generally, I think there's much more to learn from training a program out as written (at least for a single training cycle / blast), than modifying it from the get go. Now, of course, this doesn't mean do things you absolutely know aren't going to work for you (and this is why FT doesn't prescribe specific exercises, in part). Also, if you're training with a decently well constructed program that novel / different from what you've been doing, that will typically lend itself to making gains, too (as changing training approaches is the essence of periodization).

-S