P.H.U.L. Review
I have just completed 6 weeks of doing a Power Hypertrophy Upper Lower (P.H.U.L.) Workout and was very pleased with the results.
I’d probably classify myself as an intermediate lifter - I’ve been lifting consistently for about 3 years and concentrate on strength-based routines grounded in the big compound lifts of squats, deadlifts, bench press and shoulder press.
I started the program in Sept after maintaining a pretty lean weight over the summer, and planned to use P.H.U.L as my first bulking period. I’m 5’10” tall and 39 years old and on day one I tipped the scales at 162lb. Today I weighed in at 175lb for a gain of 13lb. Not bad.
The P.H.U.L. Workout is a 4-day routine which I’d never done before - I generally go for 3-day splits. I work out at 5.30am when there’s very few other people at the gym so I find it hard to get up that early 4 days per week and not feel totally exhausted by Friday. However, I adjusted pretty well and if anything found that my sleep improved a little due to the more consistent sleep schedule.
I was definitely eating above maintenance, but not excessively. After staying lean over the summer I think my body was ready to add a few pounds so I gained weight fairly easily. My six-pack has gone from very defined to barely visible so I’d say at least half my gains were bodyfat.
Overall I really enjoyed the routine. Each day starts with a compound lift or two and then progresses into more isolated movements as fatigue starts to set in. By the end of each session I felt totally spent, and experienced what bodybuilders call ‘a pump’.
Initially the workouts took about 45 minutes, and by the end they were taking just under an hour. I stuck to 90-120 second rests between sets where possible but sometimes extended it to get an extra set in.
I tried to progress each workout by adding either weight, reps, or sets. I recorded new PRs in all the big lifts, including 260lb squat (+35lb) and 335lb deadlift (+20lb).
The lower body days, particularly the Friday lower hypertrophy day, really got me sweating. By the end of the Friday workout I was totally spent. The upper body days were also taxing, but I found they were a little easier probably because the muscle group is smaller than the lower body.
So, what next? I plan to do a deload week and drop my calories back to maintenance, and then I’ll repeat the workout for another 6 weeks. After that, I might try Lyle McDonald’s generic bulking routine.
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