06-20-2015, 12:17 AM
You bring up a good point righty! I can't believe all I missed out on by not periodization (by adding cruises) my approach to gaining muscle sooner. I was just volume, volume, volume over and over. I'd eventually run into a wall, hammer away at it for awhile, and after making no progress, switching the lift, or lowering or raising the volume, or hopping to a different program structure. When all I needed to do was just cruise! I've been able to string together some of the most productive training ever using FT and blasting and cruising. If I ever went back to training a more traditional BB split with higher volume / less frequency, I'd still including cruises and certainly ramping up (or down as needed) volume.
For me personally I'm finding 5 to 6 weeks of blasting seem to be a good spot for me (unless something goes wrong or off). I find I'm usually a little slow getting off the starting block, so I don't really feel like I'm hitting my stride until weeks 2 and 3. So if I only did 4 weeks, it would just feel like I was stopping just as I was getting into the groove. As far as cruising. I've found I need a bit more rest up front, and no so much towards the end (unless joints are feeling beat up). I tend to get very stiff throughout my body if I'm inactive for so long, and almost always at the start of a cruise my CNS feels very run down (no pop or drive at the gym).
For me personally I'm finding 5 to 6 weeks of blasting seem to be a good spot for me (unless something goes wrong or off). I find I'm usually a little slow getting off the starting block, so I don't really feel like I'm hitting my stride until weeks 2 and 3. So if I only did 4 weeks, it would just feel like I was stopping just as I was getting into the groove. As far as cruising. I've found I need a bit more rest up front, and no so much towards the end (unless joints are feeling beat up). I tend to get very stiff throughout my body if I'm inactive for so long, and almost always at the start of a cruise my CNS feels very run down (no pop or drive at the gym).