Back For More PH3! Phase 2 of PH3 for me is in the books! That was one crazy phase to go through but we made it and we just continue to make more and more gains! Today i'm going to give you my personal review and results of Phase 2 and also you can view my Phase 2 results video below.
The Intensity has gone up dramatically
So when you start Phase 1 you actually have very distinct intensity differences through the week, you actually have easier light days and also heavy days. Well that gets amped up about 10 in phase 2. The first 2 weeks of phase 2 were tough!!! I never was used to training 80% and above more than 2 times a week. The first day of the week is always the lighter day and there was a couple light days during that phase that completely drained me and then i had one day to recover and i would hit them with a higher intensity yet. I really noticed how difficult this was for squats. 3rd week in i started to really notice i was approaching an overreaching phase and during that time i actually dropped my training days to the 5 days Layne has wrote out initially for the program. I prefer to train 6 days a week so i have been adding in some extra hypertrophy work but during that overreaching part in phase 2 i dropped to 5 days. Starting Phase 3 now though i am sticking with the 5 days a week that Layne Wrote. Im in the first week of Phase 3 right now and the intensity is ridiculous so right now that extra Thursday rest day is absolutely needed. For those curious my current PH3 split for PH3 looks like this right now.
Monday - Squat, Bench, Deadlift
Tuesday - Upper Hypertrophy
Wednesday - Squat, Bench, Lower Hypertrophy
Thursday - Rest
Friday - Deadlift, Bench, (Chest & Back Hypertrophy)
Saturday - Squats, (Shoulders & Arms Hypertrophy)
Sunday - Rest
Don't Worry There is No Sign of Muscle Loss
In Fact You Will Be Surprised At What You Gain
I think some people still think you might loose some muscle growth since your not doing as much assistance stuff in this program but do not fear. I have not been losing any muscle and I'm actually getting bigger. My back is improving, My chest is starting to outgrow some of my shirts, and my shoulders are still as big as when i was hitting them directly 2-3 times a week. My Biceps and Triceps have gotten thicker by doing this program as well. I would guess my body fat is the same as where it was when i started but like i said, i am not cutting by any means i am trying to grow so I'm not trying to lose body fat right now. I don't weigh myself anymore but if i had to guess i'm probably around 148-150lbs. When it comes to body comp i feel great! During this second phase i actually had to bump my calories up again because i just needed more food to recover. If your thinking about doing this program while cutting it may not be the best idea. I see PH3 as a bulking or at least maintenance program, and i see PHAT as a good cutting program. This program would simply be ridiculous if u were cutting. You defiantly would not be making that many gains as compared to doing this in a surplus. I personally still think the recommendations for calories for this program on Bodybuilding.com are off. this program says i could do this program and bulk at 2400 calories but if i dropped to that i would start leaning out immediately and i do not even have an active lifestyle so don't be afraid to eat more than the program calls for.
Phase 2 Rep Test
Lets Talk About The Phase 2 Rep Test
So as you can see I'm making quite the progress! The numbers I'm hitting right now are truly astonishing compared to where i started and my training history i have gone through.
My Rep Test Results
• Squat 205lbs for 10 reps
• Bench 145lbs for 6 reps
• Deadlift 305lbs for 7 reps
After plugging in my numbers for phase 2 the program now has my maxes set at an estimate of
• 240lb Squat (up 5 pounds from phase 1)
• 170lb Bench (up 5 pounds from phase 1)
• 360lb Deadlift (up 20 pounds from phase 1)
The interesting thing here is that the deadlift is the lift that i have dropped volume in considerably since starting this program, I'm hitting like half the volume i used to hit and this is the strongest my deadlift ever has been! All my lifts are slowing creeping up and if i can continue to make 5-10 jumps each phase at least for a little while it wont be long till I'm hitting that goal of a 300lb squat, 200lbs bench, and a 400lb deadlift!
I'm A Low Rep Kind Of Guy
I seriously think i could bench more than 170lbs right now because I'm really good at doing singles. Seriously i don't think these rep tests are the best way to judge progress because i know for a fact I'm way better at sets and can stay in position for sets of 1-3 reps. Anything more than 3 reps and i start to loose position on all the lifts except deadlift. Squats anymore than 3 reps and my hips start to get unaligned and reps just feel sloppy, and bench the same, any more than 3 reps and i start to slide one way off the bench because my spine is curved. I really think when i test my one rep maxes at the end of the program i am going to be amazed at my results because when it comes to singles i am really good at that.
Interesting Things I Have Noticed
Nothing crazy here but just some fun stuff to point out i felt that i found interesting in phase 2
• Days that i thought were going to feel light felt heavy as hell and were mentally challenging to get through.
• Days that i thought were going to feel heavy as hell actually moved great!
• Caffeine is you best friend on AMRAP days
• Don't worry about eating a little extra - you need it
• I Shortened my mobility routine to allow more time to train and it has actually made my workouts better
• Phase 1 workouts i could get done in about 1:15 but Phase 2 it is taking me closer to 1:30-1:45 to finish.
• Contrary to what i thought Deadlifting heavy the day before heavy squats actually feels really good.
• Sleeping in on the weekends dramatically makes a stronger Saturday routine.
• Eating higher sodium the day before your AMRAPS is KEY.
• Calorie Cycling (higher on training days and lower on rest days) is a GIANT NO NO while doing this program, You need to eat, even on your rest days.
• Electrical Stim after a workout and foam rolling is an absolute must for the health and longevity of your back, specially since your squatting 3 times a week and deadlifting 2x a week.
• Cold Showers Are Major KEY to recovery and sore muscles
• On your rest days REST
• Dropping OHP to only one day a week instead of 2 was a smart move
• Not doing drop sets on your accessory work was also a smart move
• Shoulders are actually worked a lot with bench
• Rear Dealt Work should not be forgotten
• No need to add any type of front shoulder work, with all the pressing it gets worked plenty, put the extra focus work on the pulling muscles.
• BFR is seriously Awesome
• BFR actually helped cure a shoulder injury
The Review
In The Phase One Review i had given this program a 9/10 and for right now its going to stay that way a 9 out of 10. I'm finding it hard to not give a perfect 10/10 but i still have to deduct one point for the frequency of deadlifts. Even though my deadlifts are getting stronger my set up for deadlifting is actually getting worse, its taking me longer to set my feet and prepare to pull, Thats really not that big of a problem since I'm getting stronger but before doing PH3 i was doing a lot more sets of deadlifts so i had more practice on set up. One other I guess you could call Con would be i wish this program incorporated Conservative Maxes occasionally as well. Testing all the time is not good for progress but Sometimes its just fun to conservative max at least to see where you are in a training block. It would have been cool to see that built in the program along with rep tests. Those are the only 2 sort of cons i can think of LOL.
Final thoughts
So to wrap this up i pretty much have only good things to say about this program. The actual periodization of this is ridiculously well wrote. Your not always going to feel fresh and good while training but something this program has taught me is that to make training adaptations your going to have bad workouts and you should push through them. I'm incredibly pleased with what I'm gaining from this periodization. Phase 3 is now the focus and after doing the first workout of phase 3 yesterday i know for a fact this last phase is going to be the hardest and most challenging but I'm excited to test and see how far i have come in only 3 months. How about you guys? are you enjoying the program? How are your results? let me know in the comments below! Hope you guys enjoyed this Phase 2 review if you did please click those share buttons :D Till next week.
Stay Strong,
Shawn Fausey
- Shawn Fausey is the Founder and CEO of Fausey's Fitness. With Over 6 years experience in Bodybuilding, Powerlifting and Nutrition. Shawn offers services of online fitness coaching, programing and consulting. Shawn is also a Graphic Designer and can be reached for graphic services on www.rev-graphics.com
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