TLDR: Most program tries to fit in bodybuilding by listing them at the back of a workout, the better way is to split sessions into strength and bodybuilding workouts
There are not many powerlifters that don’t want to be a little more aesthetic, likewise, there are not many bodybuilders who don’t want to a little bit stronger. Most strength programs have bodybuilding exercises that seem to be in the backburner and has no clear progression plan in the long term. A bodybuilding program usually lacks focus on the main strength movements.
Therefore, a recommended way by Kizen Training and a good way to program both strength and hypertrophy is concurrent training, where days are split into strength sessions and hypertrophy sessions. This allows the lifter to focus fully on each aspect of training.
This is a 16-week, 6 times a week, program that is split between 3 sessions of strength training and 3 sessions of hypertrophy. There are 3 phases to this 16-week block, an 8-week foundation block, a 1-week deload, followed by 3-week strength & peak block, and then followed by another 4-week foundation block.
For the strength sessions, either the main lifts or its variants are used and they begin with a higher volume and lower percentages for the foundation phase, progressively lowering the volume and increasing intensity in the strength block, and then back to high volume in the foundation block.
For the hypertrophy sessions, supersets are used for antagonistic muscle pairs, increasing in volume and RPE throughout the 16 weeks, with sets hovering around 2 to 4, and reps around 8 to 15 at most.
Pros:
- Well-rounded program
- Consistent progression in all exercises
- High frequency for all body parts and movements
Cons:
- Too frequent for busy lifters to adhere to
- No real 1RM testing to update the percentages of the main movements and for people who like to take a max after a cycle