DOMS

I found this article and thought I'd share it with the group:


If you’ve been working out for any significant length of time, then you’ve surely heard of “high intensity” training… but have you heard of “high density” training? If not, then you’ll want to read every word of this article because high density training is a scientifically based system that can legitimately help you melt off fat and pack on slabs of muscle in less time.

High Density Strength Training
A simple, safe and scientifically-sound method for gaining more muscle and losing more fat in less time, Part 1

By Tom Venuto, CSCS

The word “Intensity” has been given many meanings in the context of weight training and bodybuilding. For example, some strength coaches say the true definition of intensity is the total amount of weight you lift or the amount of weight you can lift relative to your one repetition maximum (“load” intensity).

Other bodybuilding experts claim that the optimum measure of intensity is the amount of perceived momentary muscular effort you can exert during a set (“effort” intensity).

I have also seen intensity defined as the amount of muscle building hormones released as a result of a workout (“anabolic” intensity), and the amount of physical stress imposed on the body (“relative” intensity). Sports psychologists often refer to intensity in terms of focus, concentration and mental toughness (“mental” intensity).

There is another definition of intensity which few people ever consider, yet it is equally, if not more important, than any other form of intensity…

If you perform four sets of squats with 185 pounds in a span of eight minutes during workout #1 and then you decrease your rest intervals so that you perform the same four sets with the same form and tempo with the same 185 pounds in seven minutes during workout #2, then you have successfully overloaded your muscles and increased the intensity of your workout.

This type of intensity is so important that it has been given it’s own name: “DENSITY.” Density is the amount of muscular work you can perform in a specified period of time.

I’m not sure who originally coined the term “density” as it relates to strength training, but certainly strength coach Charles Staley deserves a lot of credit for popularizing use of the term in recent years with release of his book “Escalating Density Training” also known as EDT (visit Charles at integratedsportsolutions.com for more information).

Although mainstream use of the term “density” may be new, the principle behind the name is not. The first time I heard of high density training was in 1983 when first I picked up a Joe Weider Muscle and Fitness magazine as a young teenager interested in learning about bodybuilding. Joe Weider, who was known for compiling bodybuilding training principles (and adding his name to them as part of the “Weider System”) was a proponent of the high density method for pre-competition training, although he called it the “Weider Quality Training principle.”

I never thought “quality training” was a good name for the technique because it was not accurately descriptive. If you look up density in Webster’s dictionary, it will give the definition as, “The quantity per unit area, unit volume or unit length.” If you add the unit of time, then “density” is truly the most accurate and descriptive way to name the technique.

In Weider’s 1983 book, "The Weider System of Bodybuilding," Joe wrote, The Weider quality training principle is a vital tool in the arsenal of any serious bodybuilder during a precontest training cycle. Quality training consists of progressively reducing the average rest interval between sets from approximately 60-90 seconds during the off season, down to as little as 15-20 seconds at the end of the precontest cycle. This works hand in glove with a tight precontest diet to bring out the maximum degree of muscularity and muscle density in a bodybuilder’s physique.”

If you just “tuned out” because you’re not a bodybuilder, hold on just a minute because the benefits of the density technique go far beyond bodybuilding. In fact, for busy executives, (which is about as far from competitive bodybuilding as you can get), various forms of density training may be the perfect solution for getting in great shape on a tight schedule.

My next exposure to the subject of high density training came from legendary bodybuilding trainer Vince Gironda. Just one year after being introduced to bodybuilding magazines by Joe Weider, I then stumbled onto Vince Gironda’s training courses and his 1984 book, “Unleashing the Wild Physique” via Robert Kennedy and Muscle Mag International. Gironda was a strong advocate of high density training in general, but specifically, by using a system he pioneered called 8 sets of 8 which involved minimum rest between sets, ultimately dropping to as little as 10-15 second rest intervals.

Many years later, the subject of high density training emerged in the magazines again when Charles Staley released EDT in 2002, which is a completely new, unique and highly effective way to apply the density training principle. In the book, Charles gave an excellent summary of the density principle. He wrote, “Other programs focus mainly on manipulating volume (usually by increasing it). EDT acknowledges the importance of both volume and intensity, but focuses primarily on a little appreciated, yet critically important facet of the training load called ‘density.’ Essentially, density is the work/rest ratio of your training."

Okay, enough "history." By now you’re probably drooling at the prospect of finally discovering a legitimate method of gaining more muscle in less time and you want all the gory details! Patience, we’ll get to that in just a moment. First, let me explain exactly how high density training works, how it will benefit you and when it’s best to use. Then I’ll give you the goods and show you six different ways you can use the technique yourself.

High density training is simply when you condense more muscular work into less time, thereby achieving increased intensity and progressive overload without necessarily increasing the weight. As Coach Staley explains, "Your (muscles) will get bigger when you force them to do gradually more and more work in the same period of time."

Many things are debatable when it comes to strength training. In fact, I’ve never met any two trainers who agreed 100% on everything. However, one thing that is accepted universally by ALL trainers is that progressive overload is an absolute requirement in order to increase muscle growth – it’s the foundational principle of all effective strength training programs. If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always got. In order to make progress you have to challenge your muscles to do something they haven’t done before by applying progressive overload.

Many people believe that the only way to apply progressive overload is to increase the amount of weight you use with each successive workout. That’s known as progressive resistance, but progressive resistance is only one of many possible ways to achieve progressive overload. Increasing density is a method of progressive overload, which, while not capable of replacing progressive resistance completely, has many unique benefits that cannot be duplicated with any other form of training.

One great benefit of high density strength training is time efficiency: It allows you to complete a highly effective and result producing workout in as little as 30-45 minutes. In fact, with split routines, you can zip through a couple of body parts in as little as 20 minutes, leaving time for cardio, a post workout drink, and a shower, all in less than an hour. In this day and age, a legitimate method to get an effective workout in less time is a godsend. That’s why trainers who specialize in workout efficiency and workouts for executives and other busy people use the high density principle heavily in a variety of ways.

Another advantage of high density strength training is that it can allow you to work around sore joints and minor injuries. If you’re suffering from an acute or serious injury, naturally you should follow the advice of your physician and avoid stressing the injured area at all while the muscle is healing. However, if you’ve been training for a long time, you are no doubt familiar with those achy, painful joints and muscles that are not “major injuries,” but are more like “annoyances” that don't prevent you from training completely, but often prevent you from training as heavily as you’d like. If, despite feeling the aches and minor pains, you get a little bold and you slap on more weight than you should, that annoying “irritated” area often turns into a full blown injury that sets you back days or even weeks before you can train it at all. This is a frustrating and probably all too familiar scenario for an awful lot of people.

The ultimate solution of course, is to find the cause of your pain and fix the problem from its source, but if minor joint or muscle pain is preventing you from training heavy, then don’t train heavy! Many people get themselves in great trouble because they labor under the belief that they “must” use weights as heavy as possible all the time or their training is in vain. Many training systems (which shall remain nameless) that dogmatically call for heavy loads all or most of the time are partly to blame. The alternative is to train with lighter (moderate) weights with briefer rest intervals…. aka, “high density” training!

Overload and intensity are necessary to achieve muscular growth, but that overload/intensity does not have to come in the form of extremely heavy weights. For example, if you are a 300 pound squatter, you probably believe that you must use 85% (255 lbs) or more for maximal strength gains, and 70% (210 lbs) or more for maximal hypertrophy. That’s not entirely true. Take 150 – 185 pounds (for starters) and squat it for 8 sets of 8 reps with 30 seconds rest between each set and see how “heavy” that weight feels to you by the last few sets. You'll discover very quickly that the term "heavy" is relative. More importantly, continue with that protocol for at least 6 - 8 weeks, adding weight with every workout while maintaining or even reducing your rest intervals further to 15-20 seconds and see what type of muscle growth and fat loss you experience. I assure you, you will be amazed at the results - if you can get through it! Despite the reducced poundages, this is not an easy workout and it’s not for beginners.

A third reason to use high density training is to increase the effects of a fat loss program by burning more calories in a given time period and by maximizing the hormonal response to training. This is particularly effective when you train the large muscle groups and compound movements. When you shorten your rest intervals to 30 seconds or less on exercises such as barbell squats, you may be stunned to find out how cardiovascular in nature the workout becomes. In fact, cardiovascular fatigue can often be the limiting factor in high density workouts while training legs and back, at least during the initial phases until your conditioning improves.

Your heart rate spikes after the set, and recovers partially during the brief rest interval, but not fully, so your heart rate stays up the entire duration of the workout. You burn more calories in less time, your metabolism is stimulated more, and you unleash a flood of fat burning and muscle building hormones.

If this sounds good so far, then hold on to your hats, because it gets even better! The high density method can be literally doubled in effectiveness by going beyond a simple reduction in rest intervals between sets and also adding progressive resistance into the equation. As you adapt to each reduction in rest intervals, you simultaneously increase the amount of weight you use, effectively achieving a “double overload factor.” By increasing density and resistance in the same training cycle, this “double overload” can produce results beyond your wildest imagination.

With all these benefits, high density training may sound like the “ultimate”… the end all be all… the mother of all workouts! Well, not exactly. First, there is no single best training method. You will adapt to any training protocol in time, so variety is of the essence. Second, every technique carries it’s own unique set of risks and benefits and there are advantages and disadvantages to each. In the case of high density training, the trade off is strength. When you reduce your rest intervals progressively, invariably the amount of weight you can handle is reduced substantially.

This means that density training is not the ideal method if one of your primary objectives is strength. To develop maximal strength, longer rest intervals are a necessity – usually 2 – 3 minutes between sets and occasionally even longer. On the other hand, if your goals include health, fitness, bodybuilding, or fat loss, and if you want to get the best results in the shortest time possible, then high density training may very well be the “ultimate” method for you under those circumstances.

DOMS

Why was this moved to Supplements? It has nothing to do with supplements. The 'density' is about time, not muscle.

tryintogetbig

damn good read

anyone every try a routine like this????

"Thanks Dbol...you changed my life." - PurduePower

tryintogetbig

yeah thats what i was wondering

"Thanks Dbol...you changed my life." - PurduePower

LW83

Pfunk.

P-funk

i did

http://pwtraining.blogspot.com/.....come and see what is on my mind!

http://ivonneberkowitz.blogspot.com/....check out Ivonne's new blog!

Optimum Sports Performance

"In the beginners mind there are many possibilities, in the experts there are few."
-Buddha's Little Instruction Book

P-funk

this is pretty much how I have been training for the past year. The last four weeks of my training were a large scale version of this practice.

http://pwtraining.blogspot.com/.....come and see what is on my mind!

http://ivonneberkowitz.blogspot.com/....check out Ivonne's new blog!

Optimum Sports Performance

"In the beginners mind there are many possibilities, in the experts there are few."
-Buddha's Little Instruction Book

DOMS

When I started working out I would do sets at 2 minute intervals. The set itself would take anywhere from 15 to 60 seconds. Whatever time I had left over of the 2 minutes was rest time. This meant that I had anywhere from 1 minute to 1 minute and 45 seconds to rest. This made it easy for me in that I start all exercises on the even minutes. In the past three weeks I've taken that time to a static 60 second period and I've noticed the difference both in the intensity of my workouts and the growth of LBM.

Yesterday I tried to implement a Density Program by taking my current benching weight and adding 10% and doing 24 reps over 12 minutes with the goal of dropping the sets and raising the reps while also decreasing the time to completion. I couldn't do it and got a bit discouraged. Then last night I read the above article when the author states that Density Training is not really a strength training program, but an LBM creating program (though they are tied together).

So I've decided to take a new approach. Now my goal is to leave the weight the same, but shave off 5 seconds from my rest period between sets over the next 8 weeks. This would bring my rest period down to 20 seconds.

I currently take 3 minutes between exercises. I'm unsure what, if anything, I will do to this time. Any input would be appreciated. Perhaps I should take off 5 seconds per week on this period as well.

P-funk

that is what i did. I started with 30sec and shaved off 5sec until I was down to 10sec RI's at the same weight. To add a strenght training element to the workout I only did this on the lifts following my 2 main lifts where I was working at higher intensities (anywhere from 85-95% of 1RM) with greater amounts of rest (usually 60-90sec).

http://pwtraining.blogspot.com/.....come and see what is on my mind!

http://ivonneberkowitz.blogspot.com/....check out Ivonne's new blog!

Optimum Sports Performance

"In the beginners mind there are many possibilities, in the experts there are few."
-Buddha's Little Instruction Book

DOMS

"2 main lifts"? I still rather new P-Funk, could you provide a bit more detail in the way of an example exercise?

Thanks.

P-funk

look at my journal and you will see more examples.

I have two main lifts to perform. say on upper body days it was Bench press adn bent over rows.

Loading would be something like 3x6 (reps x sets)
RI= 60-90sec

then after that I had other upper body exercises that served as my density work. for 4 weeks those exercises did not change (while the main lifts changed every two weeks) and I would perform them (or try to) with the same amount of weight that I started with at week one except I shaved off 5sec each week. on my rest interval.

http://pwtraining.blogspot.com/.....come and see what is on my mind!

http://ivonneberkowitz.blogspot.com/....check out Ivonne's new blog!

Optimum Sports Performance

"In the beginners mind there are many possibilities, in the experts there are few."
-Buddha's Little Instruction Book

DOMS

Thanks P-Funk. Now I understand.

As for getting the info from your journal, I figured that I could find it there but I wanted to get the info into this thread. It's like the time element of working out is some sort of hidden information. Every where that you go you find find people discussing the weights, reps, sets, and number of exercises. The only time any (that I've seen) any mentioned time, it's usually about keeping the rest periods short enough not to lose the pump or let the muscle cool down. It's only recently that I've found information detailing how to manipulate the rest times to increase the intensity. It's as basic as weights, reps, sets, and number of exercises, but virtually no one talks about it in the same way.

I'd have killed for this info when I first got into bodybuilding and I hope this thread helps others get that insight.

Duncans Donuts

Funk what are you weighing now.

"in the howling bleeding nights, the dogs plunge into the Volga and swim desperately to gain the other bank. The nights of Stalingrad are a terror for them. Animals flee this hell; the hardest stones cannot bear it for long; only men endure."

P-funk

between 185-188 depending on the amount of carbs I had the day before. Started my diet 20 weeks out at 190lbs.

http://pwtraining.blogspot.com/.....come and see what is on my mind!

http://ivonneberkowitz.blogspot.com/....check out Ivonne's new blog!

Optimum Sports Performance

"In the beginners mind there are many possibilities, in the experts there are few."
-Buddha's Little Instruction Book

tenxyearsxgone

coool read, more for bodybuilders and those looking for size...check out prilepins table as well for a medium between strength/size...

Squat: 5x5: 295lbs
Bench: 1x4: 275
Dead: 1x1: 475

Duncans Donuts

How tall are you?

"in the howling bleeding nights, the dogs plunge into the Volga and swim desperately to gain the other bank. The nights of Stalingrad are a terror for them. Animals flee this hell; the hardest stones cannot bear it for long; only men endure."

P-funk

yea, I saw some good strength increases doing this as well as a huge improvement in overal fitness condtition.


I am 5'5".

I hope to diet down and after carbing up hit stage in the 180s. I am not really concerned with my weight so much this time since I am not doing a natural show I need to really focus on being as lean and conditioned as possible so I am just going to try and get ripped as I can.

http://pwtraining.blogspot.com/.....come and see what is on my mind!

http://ivonneberkowitz.blogspot.com/....check out Ivonne's new blog!

Optimum Sports Performance

"In the beginners mind there are many possibilities, in the experts there are few."
-Buddha's Little Instruction Book

julianne

There is a new DVD out that has complete EDT training for the entire body- right now it even includes shipping. Check out edtsecrets.com . This is 4 hours long and has plenty of bonus material-J

chris mason

Serge Nubret used a similar system of training with higher volume than Gironda's 8x8.

19 inchpump.

What is Dentistry training? teeth exercise? thats dumb, nerd!!! you a foo!!!

22inchpump

This is not me.... sorry people, some supernerd decided it would be fun to start an account cause he couldnt battle it out on another thread. My apologies for this ass clown.

Height: 6 ft. Weight: 260 ish.
Arms: 21.5" ("shooting" for 22's...)
Chest: 52 inches
Waist: 34 inches

Good times.

clemson357

your so insecure that you have to go quote every one of the posts and explain that it wasn't you?

________________________

CowPimp

Strength has always been my main goal, so I have never personally tried a training protocol such as this, but I can certainly see the efficacy in it. This would be awesome for those who dislike cardio as well. If you resistance train with really short rest intervals, then traditional cardio basically becomes moot.

The smallest rest intervals I have used were 60 seconds when I was training HST style, and that was totally brutal. I felt like I was going to puke after the first couple of workouts. I can't imagine making my way down to 20 seconds rest intervals on an exercise like the squat. Arg.

The only time it's bad to feel the burn is when you're peeing...

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