Thread: Interesting read

Mike (Duncan) still keeps his volume low and intensity high. He still does the same split (M/W/F), one bp a week and still has an insane squat... (I think he uses like 440 for 16 or something)... but his legs are not that large.. you wouldnt think he could use as much weight as he does.

Both of us have been conversing lately because we have both stagnated in our respective workout programs.

Later in my "wisdom phase" of IM, I decided quite adrently that HIT was not the end all solution. I promoted CHANGE OF VARIABLES - time under tension, rep cadence, exercises, exercise order, time between exercises, use of exceptional modifications (super sets, half reps, negatives), hand position, et al. I have always done low volume (now I'm at 2 sets of 5 exercises) - but during certain phases (the Johnson coined "Blitz") I go to the opposite end of the spectrum. Such that I do high volume, high reps, lower pauses, and more extraneous techniques to draw up a temporary imposition on my body. Of course I only do that for maybe a week, in which I'll work out every day - all in a row.

It's not fun and it's very draining, I'm convinced doing it for longer than 10 days would probably blow your mind.

Of course, fitting HIT into this scheme is very easy, but it has to be done cautiously. I made great strides in my gains on HIT but I figured out eventually that change is the most important factor in maintaining positive results.

And, on the topic, I think I have pretty big legs. Since I've been doing bottom-pause squats (the pause is in the BOTTOM segment of the squat) my quad size has gone to nearly 30 inches. I work out with 345 for 12 doing this. I can squat "regular style" much better and lower because of this technique.

Beginners, HIT is probably the best, in my opinion. HIT in it's strictest form for intermediates and above should be utilized on a temporary basis (BUT NOT DISCARDED!) That would be my personal recommendation. I really consider what I do now a logical progression of HIT, where the volume is low but the relative imposition & intensity on the body is always high - thanks to the changing variables. So technically I consider myself a HIT advocate; but it is certainly not a traditional Mentzer HIT.

My 2 cents

wow is it good to have you back...

So when you say lift till failure...

does that mean doing 3-6 reps until you drop, or doing a managable weight numerous times?

Failure means until you can no longer perform a repitition in proper form. Basically, until you drop (but hopefully not literally)

Originally Posted by camarosuper6

Failure means until you can no longer perform a repitition in proper form. Basically, until you drop (but hopefully not literally)

For some it should be literally.

No, but I meant to achieve failure, do you do a moderate weight (say 80 percent of your max) for 8 reps, or do something almost to your max (say 90 percent) for 3-6 reps?

How does this system work as far as how much you're supposed to lift?

By the way dale, I love your bash.org quote

Originally Posted by soxmuscle

wow is it good to have you back...

Yes.

Originally Posted by Dale Mabry

Yes.

No seriously. If I wanted to lift till failure, what percentage of my max should I do?

Do I want to fail at 3 reps, or 11 reps?

depends on what intensity level you are failing at.

also, to lift you failure for something like say, squats. You could try and take your 10RM and squat it as many times as possible using the rest pause method of standing there for as long as it takes between reps until you totally fail. Also a lot of fun.

Imma tell his ass to get on here more often. Weve been having some interesting converstations about adapting a new workout scheme. We have both hit plateaus and ironically (or maybe not-so) we have both hit plateaued using almost the same weights in all our exercises ( with a few minor exceptions).

Doesn't strength building come from low reps? Like 3 reps?

Or does that only deal with multiple sets?

Originally Posted by Gardon

Doesn't strength building come from low reps? Like 3 reps?

Or does that only deal with multiple sets?

depends on what kind of strength you are talking about. One could build a good amoun of strength squating for 10 reps or even 20 reps. One could also build a lot of strength squating for 1 rep or 3 reps. Maximal strength and repetition strength, although will have some carry over, don't carry over completely. My squat past 3 reps sucks ass because my endurance is shit. But for 1-3 reps I am pretty good so my 10RM doesn't really reflect my 1RM. Does that make sense?

Ya.

So if I was speed training elsewhere (for martial arts), I could focus on the 1-3 rep sets in the gym to build overall strength?

Or should I include endurance in the overall thing so I can help both worlds?

I think it has a lot to do with the SAID principle and neuro-efficiency.

Originally Posted by Gardon

Ya.

So if I was speed training elsewhere (for martial arts), I could focus on the 1-3 rep sets in the gym to build overall strength?

Or should I include endurance in the overall thing so I can help both worlds?

You can't just lift at 90% or greater intensity all the time. You will kill your CNS like that. Take Westside for example. You perform 2 lifts per week at that intensity; one is geared toward improving your squat/deadlift numbers and one is geared toward improving your bench press numbers. On top of that, you are supposed to perform slightly different exercises each week to prevent CNS overtraining.

When you say overall strength are you talking relative strength, absolute strength, strength endurance, or what?

What does CNS mean?

I'm not trying to bench 800 pounds, however, I want to increase my strength for hitting and the length I can hit for.

At the moment, I'm not SO worried about strength endurance, but it would certainly help. I'm really trying to get to the "explosiveness" that strength gives you, such as throwing a punch or a kick.

What should I do?

CNS= central nervous system

So what does he mean "kill it?" Does that mean I will permanently damage myself, or just become overly exhausted?

They don't mean kill it like kill it. They mean you will enter into an overtrained state in which the CNS is permanatly overstressed and unable to recover from workouts which will lead to other problems such as....getting sick, training injuries, overly tired, interest in training decreases, loss of strength, increased resting heart rate, etc.....The CNS is sensitive to the training environment you place it in. You train, it adapts, you train more, it adapts more. After awhile, if you don't give it a break it stops being able to adapt. This is why people do things like periodize (among other reasons), take a week off after a certain amount of training (say a week off every 6-8 weeks) or perform an light unloading week of active rest after a bout of training (again, say every 6-8 weeks).

Originally Posted by Gardon

What does CNS mean?

I'm not trying to bench 800 pounds, however, I want to increase my strength for hitting and the length I can hit for.

At the moment, I'm not SO worried about strength endurance, but it would certainly help. I'm really trying to get to the "explosiveness" that strength gives you, such as throwing a punch or a kick.

What should I do?

This explosiveness you speak of is power. Basically, the ability to generate force quickly against resistance; if you prefer the classical physics defintion, then it is the amount of work you perform (mass x displacement) per unit of time.

Olympic lifts, speed training, and plyometrics would be the optimal way of achieving this form of strength. Also, consequently, increasing muscular strength will also generally enhance your ability to quickly generate force. You should consider an olympic lifting or powerlifting routine.

Is there any sites/etc. that can guide me on this?

Originally Posted by Gardon

Is there any sites/etc. that can guide me on this?

I have to go clean up around the gym now. When I get home in about an hour I'll try to remember to post some links on Westside for you, my favorite powerlifting routine that includes maximal effort (Strength) and dynamic effort (Speed/power) training.

Honestly, I don't know too much about olympic lifting programs. There are a few journals of people doing them that you can check out for ideas though (P-funk, MonkeyMan, Jodi, GoalGetter).

Here are some links to put together a Westside routine:

http://www.elitefts.com/
Just sift around. There is a lot there. Dave Tate and Jim Wendler know what works and practice what they preach.

http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=459806 - Part I
http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=459671 - Part II
This is a two part article about conjugate periodization, which is the scheme used by Westside. It provides a template for designing a routine properly.

http://www.westside-barbell.com/
The official site of the gym where the routine came from.