Phase 2| FORGE| Week 2 Day 2| Chest, Back & Core

Week 2: You’ll continue building on last week’s foundation by reducing rep counts while increasing the load across all working sets in your bench press. Primary Focus: All press sets will now be performed at 80-85% of your 1RM. Last week you tested this challenging load for just one set, now you’ll demonstrate your improved strength endurance by maintaining this intensity throughout your entire press & row session. Your dumbbell row will now have a ladder with increasing weight as you decrease reps Superset Progressions: - Tempo Pushups: this forces the muscles to have more control and time under tension - Rep increases in finisher -Running: increase speed, increase rest —————————————————————— Welcome to FORGE Phase 2: Strength & Growth You’ve built your engine, now it’s time to build serious strength on that foundation. 👉🏽Phase 1 laid the groundwork with volume and endurance. You’ve proven you can handle the work, push through challenging sets, and build that muscular stamina. Now we shift our focus while keeping what you’ve built. Phase 2 is where we forge your strength. We’re working in the 3-12 rep range with your main compound lifts capping at 7 reps maximum. This puts you in that sweet spot of building serious strength while maintaining the muscle and endurance you’ve developed. You’ll still see hypertrophy and endurance elements woven throughout, we’re not abandoning what made you stronger, we’re building on it. This phase will challenge you differently, heavier loads for your compounds mixed with the volume work your body now craves. The endurance you built in Phase 1 becomes the foundation that allows you to handle these strength demands with confidence. 👉🏽 Phase 2: Strength & Growth Overview: • 4 weeks of strength-focused training with hypertrophy & endurance elements • Rep ranges 3-12, with compound lifts maxing at 7 reps for strength focus • REST increases and is IMPORTANT for your strength compound sets • Same 5-day structure: 2 Lower, 2 Upper, 1 Fullbody • Your main lifts remain: Squat, Deadlift, Bench, Overhead Press, Pull-ups/Chinups • Blended approach: strength as the priority, growth as the foundation 👉🏽👉🏽RIR (Reps in Reserve) Guide: • 3-4 reps (87-95% 1RM): 0-1 RIR (maximum strength) • 5-6 reps (80-85% 1RM): 1-2 RIR (strength focus) • 7-8 reps (75-80% 1RM): 1-2 RIR (strength-hypertrophy) • 9-12 reps (70-75% 1RM): 2-3 RIR (hypertrophy focus) 👏🏼👏🏼Critical for Success: Your last rep should be extremely challenging with only 1-2 reps left in reserve for most exercises. If you don’t have appropriate weights to challenge yourself and reach that RIR threshold, slow down your tempo and increase reps to achieve the same intensity. The challenge must be there for strength gains. Ready to discover how strong you can become? Let’s forge ahead.