Cathe: the best way to do Meso 3?

[FiddleFit]

Hi Cathe! I see you're online to chat! I'm pasting my question from the STS Forum to here, because I hope you see it and get a chance to answer. Thank you!

I'm just starting my 2nd rest week of the 6.5 month STS rotation. This is not the first time I've done STS, but it's the first time I've done the 6.5 month version. I'm really, really liking it like this. Repeating each week has allowed a nice progression, and I'm not feeling compromised in my joints or muscles. The repeat week of each mesocycle always feels better than the first one.

Now that Meso 3 is on the horizon, I'm trying to decide how to do it. I vaguely recall that you put out a rotation where we did Mesos 1 and 2 for 8 weeks each (repeating each week as I did), then with Meso 3 we are to only do each week once, for 4 weeks total. Can you please confirm that? And if so, why? I understand how the mesocycle works: each week we go a bit heavier with fewer reps. If I repeat each week, am I understimulating the muscles? Is Meso 3 more effective with faster progression?

One idea I had was to do Meso 3 like this:
Wk 1
Wk 2 (5% higher)
Wk 3 (5% higher than Wk 2)
Wk 4 (5% higher than Wk 1)
Wk 1 again (5% higher than the first Wk 1)
Wk 2 (5% higher again)
Wk 3 (5% higher again)
Wk 4 (5% higher than the second Wk 1....so 10% higher than the first Wk 1).

In this way it becomes a bit like a double wave load, no?

What do you think? What's the best way to do Meso 3?

Thanks!!! I'm loving the results of this round of STS!!! I plan to really clean up my eating for this last meso and see what comes of it.

 

[Cathe Friedrich]

Hi Sandra!

You are on a great roll. I agree, I like the 6.5 STS method too. I just somehow feel more prepared, and focused as a result, for the repeated week.

I do however think Meso 3 is better if done just one time (4 weeks total) not only for the most accurate strength measurments but also for the boredom factor. Doing it the way you wrote down here will more than likely be an unrealistic and undoable jump in strength. If you were going to do it two weeks in a row I think you would be better off following the same pattern as Meso One and Two.

So it would be:

Meso 3 Week One
Repeat Week One exactly the same way

Meso 3 Week Two ....5% higher
Repeat Week Two exactly the same way

Meso 3 week Three....5% higher again
Repeat Week Three exactly the same way

Meso 3 Week Four ....go back to doing the same reps from week one but use the same weight you used in week two

Repeat Week Four exactly the same way

Good Luck

Hi Cathe! I see you're online to chat! I'm pasting my question from the STS Forum to here, because I hope you see it and get a chance to answer. Thank you!

I'm just starting my 2nd rest week of the 6.5 month STS rotation. This is not the first time I've done STS, but it's the first time I've done the 6.5 month version. I'm really, really liking it like this. Repeating each week has allowed a nice progression, and I'm not feeling compromised in my joints or muscles. The repeat week of each mesocycle always feels better than the first one.

Now that Meso 3 is on the horizon, I'm trying to decide how to do it. I vaguely recall that you put out a rotation where we did Mesos 1 and 2 for 8 weeks each (repeating each week as I did), then with Meso 3 we are to only do each week once, for 4 weeks total. Can you please confirm that? And if so, why? I understand how the mesocycle works: each week we go a bit heavier with fewer reps. If I repeat each week, am I understimulating the muscles? Is Meso 3 more effective with faster progression?

One idea I had was to do Meso 3 like this:
Wk 1
Wk 2 (5% higher)
Wk 3 (5% higher than Wk 2)
Wk 4 (5% higher than Wk 1)
Wk 1 again (5% higher than the first Wk 1)
Wk 2 (5% higher again)
Wk 3 (5% higher again)
Wk 4 (5% higher than the second Wk 1....so 10% higher than the first Wk 1).

In this way it becomes a bit like a double wave load, no?

What do you think? What's the best way to do Meso 3?

Thanks!!! I'm loving the results of this round of STS!!! I plan to really clean up my eating for this last meso and see what comes of it.

 

[FiddleFit]

Oh Thank You Cathe!! I'll do what you suggest, and just do Meso 3 one time through, for 4 weeks total. That means I'm that much closer to being finished, and I can finally sink my teeth into your new workouts. Intensity is the only one I've been able to use with any regularity, so far (still loving it).

Cheers!