Offseason Bodybuilding

[Doberman]

Recently I was at the Arnold and picked up a copy of Muscle Mag's Mass Workouts Magazine. To my surprise it actually contained some good mass gaining workouts. I know not all of us do DC or one single routine all year, and I was wondering if anyone would like to post there favorite offseason training routines. I'll look through what I have and try to post one up, but the main reason I'm interested is that I was not happy with my offseason routine last year and was curious about what others have done and the results they achieved.

[pastorpump]

I pretty much keep the same routine all year. I'll back off 6 weeks out but the diet and cardio do the leaning out and the training keeps the muscle that runs the metabolism. Sometime I will switch to a 3 days a week instead of 4 if alot of time is left bewtween shows.

[Doberman]

We did a phase of training that was more power lifting than bodybuilding this last off season. The purpose was to use it to gain strength and mass and then go into a hypertrophy phase to recomp. It wasn't that this was a bad strategy, but I just have trouble getting back to contest shape without a lot of suffering towards the end. I don't have trouble getting between 6-8%, but the last few lbs are when things get difficult. I think this next off season My routine is going to be more of a bodybuilding routine a goal to put 10lbs of stage weight on by next year.

[liftweights]

The general consensus around here is usually get strong as fuck with 5x5 or 5/3/1 and then DC, that's what i've been doing anyway. Still on the getting strong part.

[MusclesAreSexy]

When I was younger and stacking on a lot of my 'base' between the ages of 15-18 I was training with a six day split.
Monday - Quads.
Tuesday - Chest, Calves.
Wednesday - Back, Abs.
Thursday - Shoulders, Calves.
Friday - Traps, Hamstrings.
Saturday - Arms.
Sunday - Off.

I went from 62kg - 118kg in these 2-3 years. I didn't grow any taller. Eating 6000 cals per day and 500g protein. No gear. No AAS. No alcohol. No late nights.
Sure, I got fat, but I also got strong and got a solid base down.
However, now, I can't handle more than 3-4 sessions per week. 3 pre contest. 4 offseason. The general consensus is that people become more apt at applying intensity as they become more accustomed to bodybuilding training. Volume is no longer as necessary and CNS recovery becomes a major focus. At least for me.

[bhman6]

this offseason I made major gains and brought up my weak points following this split:


M - Chest, Arms
T - off
W - Legs
Th - Chest, Arms
F - off
S - Back, Shoulders
Su - off



Typically I'd start with a basic, heavy exercise and hit 3-4 sets in the 8-3 rep range, sometimes finishing with a big drop set at the end

My 2nd exercise (and/or 3rd, if I did one), I'd mix it up and do one of the following:
3 sets x 12-8 reps

6's, 8's, or 10's.....starting light, getting the desired rep, adding weight, repeat until I can't get the reps, then finish with either a big drop set, negatives, partials, or rest-pauses (rarely)

Banded exercise, focusing on the eccentric tension, I'd change up tempo, reps, etc. all the time


last exercise or two....some pump type sets, focusing on time under tension, stretching, blood volume, quick pace, etc.




Example quad workout:


Pause Squats....3-4 x 8-3, finish with drop set
Leg Press (banded)....8's, finish with partials
Hacks....3 x 12-8 (tension focused, no lock and deep stretch)
Leg Ext....5-6 x 30-10

[MusclesAreSexy]

Hmmm, that might be good for me since I have shit chest and arms... Cool.

[Doberman]

I like the leg routine. I started implementing chains and am cycling bands in my leg workouts. Great stuff to add intensity.

[bhman6]

I train hams and quads together 99% of the time, so if I were to work hams in there it might look like this:




Hammerstrength Seated Leg Curl (maybe banded)....3-4 x 8-4, finish with drop set
Pause Squats....3-4 x 8-3, finish with drop set
RDL....3 x 12-8
Leg Press (banded)....8's, finish with partials
Hacks....3 x 12-8 (tension focused, no lock and deep stretch)
Leg Ext....5-6 x 30-10
Adductor....3-4 x 30-10

[bhman6]

and sometimes I'll remove either hacks or leg extensions and just do 3-4 sets of 15-8 on one or the other

[thedunhill225]

The most gains I've ever made in a short period of time was a simple 3Xs per week, alternating workouts routine of chest, delts and tris one day and leg, back and bis the other day. I would alternate the same way DC does now. One leg/back day I would squat and the next leg/back day I would dead. 2 exs for each body part. Usually 2-3 sets of one and 2 sets of another. Reps in the 2-8 range. I would skip or switch work outs when needed. If my back could handle it I would be training pretty much the same way rt now.... Maybe just a set less of each ex though.

Peace.