Progress update using RP Hypertrophy app (Week 5 of 6)

[eil]

Today marks my last day of week 5 of my week 6 mesocycle using the RP Hypertrophy App. Here is my progress within this timeframe:

Incline bench: Week 1= 145x5 | Week 5= 175x5

Weighted Dips: Week 1= 25lbsx5 | Week 5= 55x9

Weighted Pull-ups: Week 1= 7.5lbsx8 | Week 5= 27.5x8

Tricep Pushdown: Week 1=60x5 | Week 5=70x9

Machine Fly (Unilateral): Week 1=135x10 | Week 5=170x8

These are the exercises I’ve made the most noticeable strength gains on. The rest of the exercises (Accessory exercises for shoulders, biceps, back, and legs) I’ve kept the same weight throughout but increased my rep or set volume based on the answers I provided.

I plan to do 4 more mesocycles (mainly upper body focused while maintaining my lower body) with a mixture of strength focus on Monday, strength/hypertrophy on Wednesday, and hypertrophy only on Friday. Will continue to monitor the progress and exercises and create my new programs based on it. Really happy with the results so far!

Haven’t lifted like this since 2020 so just getting back into the groove of things.

 

[amelia97]

@eil You say you haven’t trained since 2020, so I’m going to assume this is all muscle memory….nobody who’s been training awhile is increasing their incline bench 30 pounds in just over a month, let alone on a bodybuilding program

Need a lot more time to see how the program actually performs for you.

 

[eil]

@amelia97 Agree although I think it’s definitely a mix of muscle memory/ new gain’s because quite frankly a lot of the exercises I’m performing (Like dips) are exercises that I’ve never performed before but specifically programmed this time to do things like increase my bench for example. I want to see how I will be in the next 4 months while strictly using this app, just looking to post my progress throughout each phase

Would like to add my maxes for reference from a few years back:

Bench: 225x3
Conventional Deadlift: 445lbsx5
Squat: 405x3

 

[somberry]

@eil This is actually super helpful thank you. I was considering signing up for the app but I can't make $15 a month make sense for advice you can just read on the internet.

 

[eil]

@somberry I agree and I’m not someone who normally would consider spending $30/month on an app, but training is a huge hobby of mine and something I would like to make a career out of. I see this app as a way for me to learn the modalities of volume programming and progression, while also learning how my body responds to different exercises, techniques and volume.

I consider it an investment to my health in this sense, especially since I’m recovering from a neurological condition and I’m regaining strength in half my body slowly but surely. Hence why my strength is shooting up because I used to lift quite frequently and I’m just now getting into the swing of training hard again and following my own programming while utilizing the knowledge from RP.

It helps that I work at a gym though so I get a free membership in this case. So the $30 I would’ve spent on a membership is now going to the app instead for programming purposes!

 

[ugr]

@somberry where are you getting 15 a month? is it on sale or something?

 

[zhuru523]

@eil Trying it out after following these posts. I'm a novice. It has removed some of my doubts. My main gripe is that some weight increases are odd to me: how am I supposed to increase the weight by 0.25kg on dumbbells, cables and machines?

Not a huge problem since I can milk the previous weight and get rep targets or increase to the next available step and have the app adjust the following week.

My main issue is personal tho. My first week said 3 RIR. Until now I've lifted til I can't lift them anymore. Failure sneaks up on me. Usually my sets go: "I can do another, I can do another, I can do ano...NOPE". A worthwhile thing to think about since I can imagine that it makes me think more about how my body works, but somewhat distracting under load.

 

[eil]

@zhuru523 From a feedback standpoint based on what you told me I would definitely look to start with a lower weight load the first week that you might perceive is “too light”. I like to take the first week as more of an experimental week, especially if I’m doing exercises that are completely new to me. It’s better to start really low in weight as you can always increase it if need be the following week as you adjust to the feedback you gather.

Now that you have a little bit more information on how your body responds from this mesocycle, I would base my next mesocycle off the data from the previous. Also make sure you are genuinely answering the feedback questions honestly, as that might be another reason why you question the progression it gives you on a week to week basis.

 

[wannaliv4jesus]

@eil You do 1RM tests during the RP program?

 

[wedinn]

@wannaliv4jesus No.

 

[wannaliv4jesus]

@wedinn You are not OP lol

 

[wedinn]

@wannaliv4jesus No I'm not. And RP programs don't promote or have a need to perform 1 RM tests.

 

[wannaliv4jesus]

@wedinn I know, thats why I ask how OP knows his 1RMs

 

[wedinn]

@wannaliv4jesus Where does OP state that he knows his 1RMs?

 

[wannaliv4jesus]

@wedinn He shows his progress and says he made the most noticable strength gains. How else is this to interpret if he doesn't state how many reps he did with each weight