fUnc17

Link to original article - http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=1286261

I could never be a coroner. Nope, I couldn't because it sure as hell doesn't sound like much fun. And I don't think I'm alone with this sentiment. After all, I've never heard little Bobby stand up in his second-grade "What I'd Like to Be One Day" presentation and belt out, "Ms. Johnson, I'd sure like to embalm corpses when I grow up."

Maybe it's the stale, formaldehyde-infested air that irks me? Maybe it's the one-sided conversations that make the job seem so unappealing? Or maybe it's the thought of being caught between two angry siblings who're vying for all of Daddy's gold?


(Yep, the daughter wants all of the inheritance so she can get 700 cc's of silicon stuffed in front of her breastplate. The son, on the other hand, wants it all so he can buy a plethora of guns, whores, and booze — and he might waste some of it, too.)


Nah, I know why I never want to be a coroner: very little job satisfaction. You see, my job is to make people bigger, faster, leaner, and stronger. The cool and challenging part of my job is that my success in this business depends on my clients' results. If they weren't getting results, I wouldn't be here. And helping people reach their goals is what my job satisfaction's all about.


Another part of my job satisfaction comes from passing on what I've learned over the years. So I'm going to outline four key elements that help me achieve those results with my clients. Here goes!



Tip #1: Constantly Rotate Reps and Sets
In order to achieve results for any longer than three weeks at a time, you should constantly rotate your sets and reps. If you rotate those two elements throughout the week, you'll be able to stick with the same movements for a longer period of time before stagnating.


For example, if you perform 5 sets of 5 repetitions with 85% of your 1RM for, say, the bench press, squat, row, and deadlift, you'd get two to three weeks' worth of progress before winding up on an endless plateau. Why? Because your body will adapt to an unchanging rep scheme very quickly. Pair this with a constant number of sets per body part and a relatively constant load, and you're on a fast track to Nowhereville.


If, however, you performed the bench press, squat, row, and deadlift with different parameters for each workout, you could get two to three months worth of progress — and that's without even changing your movement patterns. You must provide your muscles with a constantly changing stimulus. The question I usually get from readers is, "How do I constantly rotate parameters?"


There are many ways, but I like to start out simple. These are the only two steps you need to follow to get started:

1) Use a set/rep volume per body part of 24-36.
2) Choose a rep scheme that's at least 3 reps higher than your last workout (the greater the spread, the better).

So let's say that you're ready to put those two principles into play. If you perform three workouts per week, here's how a sample plan could look.


Day 1: 8 x 3 (8 sets of 3 repetitions per body part)
Day 2: Off
Day 3: 3 x 12
Day 4: Off
Day 5: 4 x 6
Day 6: Off
Day 7: Off
Day 8: Repeat cycle


If you workout four times per week, it could look something like this:
Day 1: 8 x 3
Day 2: 1 x 36
Day 3: Off
Day 4: 5 x 5
Day 5: Off
Day 6: 3 x 12
Day 7: Off
Day 8: Repeat cycle


Obviously, the options are endless. The key is to use rep ranges that you haven't used in the last two months. So if you've been on a 5 x 5 kick, stay at least 2 reps away from 5 reps per set (e.g. 1, 2, 3, 7, 8... 36).
But what about loading? That brings me to point number two.



Tip #2: Calculate Volume
Make no mistake about it: there's a strong, positive correlation between math and muscle. If you don't know how to calculate your training volume, each subsequent workout will be like pissing in the wind. Many people have caught on to the importance of constantly changing reps, but I don't think many have figured out how to properly manipulate the sets, reps, and load.
Let's say your upper back workout is comprised of 4 sets of 6 repetitions with 80% of your 1RM for the bentover row. And let's say your 1RM for the bentover row is 300 pounds. We need to calculate the volume of that movement. Volume is the total number of reps multiplied by the load lifted.


Total Reps x Load = Volume


So with the bentover row example, here's the volume of that movement:
24 (4 x 6) x 240 pounds (300 x 80%) = 5760 pounds


Okay, this is where most people get into trouble. They know it's time to switch up their sets and reps, so they perform, say, 2 sets of 12 during their next workout for the bentover row. And if they don't have any idea what load to use, they might just wing it. So they end up doing 2 sets of 12 reps with something like 70% of their 1RM. Here's how that looks:
24 (2 x 12) x 210 pounds (300 x 70%) = 5040 pounds


What's the problem? They've just performed an upper back workout with 720 pounds less volume than their previous workout! I see this happen so often that it hurts. You must go into each workout knowing how to arrange your parameters in order to beat your last performance! If you don't, you really are pissing in the wind.


In order to make an upper back workout with 12-rep sets beneficial, you should increase the number of total reps. This will up the set-rep volume so you're achieving a higher total volume with each subsequent workout. In other words, if you merely add one set (3 x 12) and use 70% of your 1RM, here's how the volume looks:


36 x 210 pounds = 7560 pounds


Voila! Now you're doing a workout that results in 1800 pounds more volume. And it's accomplished by adding just one set to each movement. Now you're on your way to bigger, stronger muscles instead of spinning your wheels.


Before I leave this topic, let me mention a few important points about calculating volume. First off, nothing in training is perfect and infinite. It's damn near impossible to always go into the gym and beat your last performance. Therefore, it's a good idea to arrange planned periods of unloading in order to avoid burnout.


For advanced lifters, an unloading week every three weeks is a good start. For beginners, an unloading week every five to six weeks is usually sufficient. In either case, I recommend you lower your volume by 25-30% for a few workouts to give your body a break. Then, get back to constantly improving your volume with every new workout for the next three to six weeks.


Second, the time element is also an important factor. What I'm saying is this: the amount of time it takes you to finish 4 x 6, 2 x 12, or 3 x 12 will have a significant effect on your muscles. Obviously, if you take four minutes to complete 2 x 12 with 210 pounds, it's going to overload your muscles differently than if you take six minutes to complete the same 2 x 12 with 210 pounds. In other words, your volume per minute will be much higher if you finish 2 x 12 in four minutes compared to six minutes.


If you want to take the time to figure your volume per minute, feel free, but all I care about is this: at the end of the day, did you expose your muscles to more volume than the previous workout? If you did, you're going to get results.


My friend Charles Staley uses a similar philosophy with his EDT system. The difference is that his system is based on doing more work in the same amount of time, whereas this section is about augmenting volume regardless of the time it takes you to do so.


Third, it's not necessary to beat your previous volume by 1000, 800, or even 400 pounds. As long as you're increasing your volume by at least 2%, you're fine. In fact, if you try to up the volume too fast, you'll set yourself up for burnout. Strive for small, constant increases in volume of 2-3%.


Finally, all workouts are not created equal. What I'm saying is that 6 x 4 with 80% of your 1RM is different than 4 x 10 with 70% of your 1RM, even if you don't consider training volume. The stress to your muscles in terms of total motor unit recruitment, and the rate at which your motor units are recruited, has a bearing on what specific response you'll incur from the workout. But I hesitate to merge into this realm because it's very complex. Let's keep it simple and focus on volume.


So for an advanced person doing bentover rows, here's how it all breaks down for three workouts per week for four weeks:


WEEK 1
Workout 1
24 (6 x 4) x 240 pounds (300 x 80%) = 5760 pounds
Workout 2
28 (4 x 7) x 225 pounds (300 x 75%) = 6300 pounds
Workout 3
40 (4 x 10) x 204 pounds (300 x 68%) = 8160 pounds


WEEK 2
Workout 1
28 (7 x 4) x 240 pounds (300 x 80%) = 6720 pounds
Workout 2
32 (4 x 8) x 225 pounds (300 x 75%) = 7200 pounds
Workout 3
40 (4 x 10) x 210 pounds (300 x 70%) = 8400 pounds


WEEK 3
Workout 1
32 (8 x 4) x 240 pounds (300 x 80%) = 7680 pounds
Workout 2
36 (4 x 9) x 225 pounds (300 x 75%) = 8100 pounds
Workout 3
40 (4 x 10) x 216 pounds (300 x 72%) = 8640 pounds


WEEK 4 (Unloading)
Workout 1
24 (6 x 4) x 240 pounds (300 x 80%) = 5760 pounds
Workout 2
27 (3 x 9) x 225 pounds (300 x 75%) = 6075 pounds
Workout 3
30 (3 x 10) x 216 pounds (300 x 72%) = 6480 pounds
(Week 5 resumes with a progression that must beat your performances from week 3.)


You should really take some time to look over this periodization example of weeks 1-4. You'll see how I typically arrange a progression and unloading periodization plan with advanced trainees. Of course, this isn't written in stone since there are many additional variables that must be addressed, but it gives you a good starting point.


I use this example because it's a conglomerate of progressions, just like my programs. Workout one is a set progression; workout two is a rep progression; and workout three is a loading progression. The point is to show that any progression can result in a higher volume.


And the key is to beat your volume performance with each workout that uses the same parameters. It's not necessary to beat your volume performance with every subsequent workout throughout the week. In other words, if Monday is your 6 x 4 day, the following Monday you must beat your previous performance by adding more sets, reps, or load in order to augment the volume of that session.

Tip #3: Adhere to Total-body Training
I really thought I had this factor covered when I wrote Total-Body Training a few years ago. But based on the conversations I have with readers, it's evident that I haven't struck a loud enough chord when it comes to this important topic.


Total-body workouts beat any split, any day of the week. If you start training all of your major muscle groups every time you go to the gym, you'll be on the fast track to bigger muscles and higher fitness levels.



You'll build bigger muscles because you'll be training with a higher frequency, and you'll build your fitness levels because total-body workouts are damn tough. In fact, you'll probably have to pace yourself during the first few weeks of total-body training if you've been on a body part split.


Total-body workouts result in a higher work capacity, fitness level, and endocrine response. How do total-body workouts do all those things? Because when you cram compound movements such as squats, deadlifts, pulls, and presses all into the same session, it's very taxing to your body.


If you've never combined four to eight compound movements into one workout, you're in for a big surprise. You soon realize that a properly designed total-body weight training session will not only develop the ATP-PC energy system, but also anaerobic glycolysis and aerobic metabolism. And that's why people can generally get away with doing less cardio when their weight training consists of total-body workouts.


By simply switching from a body part split to total-body workouts, I've seen people drop four pounds of pure fat within the first month of undertaking total-body workouts without changing anything else. The reason is because the energy system and androgen response from total-body workouts is favorable for both fat-burning and muscle growth.


Another advantage of total-body workouts is that they tend to eradicate most of those pussy isolation movements. Once I tell someone that they need to train all of their major muscle groups in one session, they soon become very efficient with their choices of movements.


Why perform pressdowns for triceps, flyes for pectorals, and front raises for deltoids when you can develop all of those muscle groups with the dip? With a compound movement like the dip comes a greater hormonal response. And with a greater hormonal response come bigger muscles and less body fat.


Enough with my sales pitch. If you haven't been performing total-body workouts, you need to start. But ease into it. Start out with four compound movements for each workout and perform three workouts each week. Choose a squat, deadlift, press, and pull variation for each workout. One of the four movements can consist of a variation of the snatch or clean.


Perform a different variation for each of the three workouts each week. Don't forget about tips one and two! (Of course, if you don't want to design your own workouts, you can find mine in the archives. Except for "Anti-Bodybuilding Hypertrophy" and "Big Boy Basics," every program of mine is total-body.)


And if you're one who believes that you can't train all of your major muscle groups with four movements, I invite you to do the following circuit for 8 sets of 3 reps with the heaviest load that you can handle for each set:

A1 Snatch
A2 Dip
A3 Woodchop
A4 Chin-up

Once you're accustomed to four compound movements for three workouts per week, you can start increasing the number of movements. I suggest you add one or two more movements and stick with it for three to four weeks before adding more. I generally recommend no more than eight movements per total-body session, but there's really no limit. Once you start building your work capacity and fitness levels, you can do as many movements as your available time allows.


Speaking of time, that brings me to my last point.

Tip #4: Consume Peri-workout Nutrition
One of the biggest fallacies that I keep hearing is this: resistance-training workouts must last less than one hour. Bullshit!


The putative notion that workouts should last less than an hour is based on old research that demonstrated a shift of anabolic and catabolic hormones in the negative direction after 45 minutes of resistance training. But now that we know how important it is to ingest carbs and protein at the onset and/or during a workout, that research becomes much less relevant.
If you drink Surge or some sort of whey/maltodextrin drink at the onset of your workouts, you can easily train for 90-120 minutes without worrying about cortisol's detrimental influence on your physique.


How important is peri-workout nutrition? I now consider a carb/protein drink at the onset of resistance training workouts to be more important than a post-workout drink. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that anyone should stop consuming a post-workout drink, but between the two, peri-workout nutrition is the clear winner in my book.


So if you want to get bigger, leaner, and stronger, strive for longer and more demanding total-body workouts. And be sure to consume liquid carbs and protein at the onset, or during your workouts.


But this issue of peri-workout nutrition stretches beyond controlling catabolism during your workouts; it can also be beneficial during periods of fat loss. You probably know from Drs. Lowery and Berardi that your carb sensitivity is elevated in the morning and after your workouts. So you might be surprised to learn that there are some people who I had drop all morning and post-workout carbs in order to get them shredded.



But I had these same people still consume carbs during their workouts.
I believe it's the best time to ingest the majority of your daily carbs if you're on a low-carb diet. You'll keep losing fat because the carbs will be soaked up by the heightened sensitivity of your muscles, and you'll be able to maintain your workout intensity. As a bonus, you'll recover much quicker between workouts.


Many of my clients need to get absolutely shredded for one reason or another, and as I said in the beginning, my clients' results determine my success. If peri-workout carbs slowed their fat loss or didn't improve their recovery, I'd drop them quicker than Anna Nicole Smith drops a blind date once she finds out he's not a billionaire.


To support my position that peri-workout carbs won't stall your fat loss, let me mention a T-Nation reader who hired me this year to prepare her for a figure competition. I had her consume Surge during all six of her workouts each week. And I continued with the peri-workout Surge until the last week before her competition (at that point, I had to drop her water). She got ripped, and she won the competition. Here she is:


If you have a high tolerance to carbs, consume one full serving of Surge at the onset, or during, your workouts. If you have a medium tolerance to carbs, consume half a serving. If the mere thought of bread expands your waistline, consume 20-30 grams of pure whey.


I must mention, however, that in eleven years of transforming bodies, I can count on one hand the number of people whose fat loss stalled when they ingested liquid carbs and protein during their workouts. In fact, when I manipulate my clients' carb intake, the peri-workout carbs are the last carbs to get eliminated from their diets.


So try a full or half serving of Surge (or some whey/maltodextrin drink) before going with only whey protein. If you do, you'll continue to burn fat while enhancing your training intensity and recovery.

Summary

1) Rotate your sets, reps, and load throughout the week.
2) Calculate the volume of each training session.
3) Perform total-body workouts.
4) Consume Surge or a whey/maltodextrin drink at the onset of each workout (afterwards, too).

If you incorporate these four steps into your program, you'll be way ahead of the competition. I guarantee it!

Athletic Strength & Movement blog
Strength Edge

kenwood

Great Read . I might give TotalBody workouts A Go!

SAMIAM

I began lifting again after a two year break a month and a half ago, previous to the lay-off I had powerlifted for roughly twenty years . I work as a staff at a mens homeless shelter, (services co-ordinator), and about once a month or so a situation arises where the size I've retained even after a two year lay-off from lifting , has it's advantages.The time for powerlifting is over for me , I'm burnt out on it , I wanted a "new" lifting approach that would be fresh to me and My goals now are to maintain functional strength, and health.Any cosmetic "enhancements"(for example - my rear delts , traps and middle back altho not as big as when I was PLing-are looking defined in a way they never used to) as a result of lifting are just a bonus for my wife.
I am utulizing a 3x/wk full body , compound exersize workout as advocated in the above article and altho it's been less than two months I am seeing and feeling results beyond what I expected.I dont know exactly how/if muscle memory works but I'm finding my poundages rising quite quickly to the point that I'm considering adjusting to a TWO times a week full body workout ,my problem is that I know I should be going for 10-12 reps per set but cant seem to "break the addiction" of 3's , 4's ect...but I give myself a break and am not stressing over it as at least I've stopped "putting off" lifting again and begun after two years of mental excuses and rationales .
Anyway, the above article and it's advocating full body , compound lifts workouts, hit it right on the nose for me...I'll be looking to start a different routine when what I'm doing now stops working but for now lifting pretty much as the guy states in his article is whipping this middle age body into shape very satisfactorily.

Witchblade

I'm really, really sceptical about this. Peri-workout better than post workout? Rotate sets and reps EVERY workout? Volume more important than intensity etc? Total body workouts only?

He doesn't back anything up really.

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Richie1888

hmmm i have always stuck to the weight training should only last for 1 hour not including cardio or stretching and so on

what do u guys think to that point ?

also the total body workout article seem pretty good

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Richie1888

Week 1, Day 1:
Sets: 3
Reps: 5
Flat BB Bench Press
Seated Cable Rows
High-bar Back Squats
Sumo-style deadlifts
DB Hammer Curls
Standing Calf Raises

Week 1, Day 3:
Sets: 3
Reps: 8
Incline DB Bench Press
DB Upright Rows
Front Squats
Good Mornings
BB Bicep Curls
Dips

Week 1, Day 5:
Sets: 2
Reps: 15
Decline BB Bench Press
Chin-ups
Step-Ups
Traditional style deadlifts
Seated Calf Raises
BB Lying Tricep Extensions

Week 2: Same as Week 1 with 1.25-2.5% more weight and A1/A2 pairings. For example, Week 2, Day 1 will look like:

Sets: 3
Reps: 5
A1 Flat BB Bench Press
A2 Seated Cable Rows
B1 High-bar Back Squats
B2 Sumo-style deadlifts
C1 DB Hammer Curls
C2 Standing Calf Raises

The following week:

Week 3, Day 1:
Sets: 4
Reps: 5
Sumo-style deadlifts
SS grip pull-ups
Incline DB Bench Press
Preacher Curls
Front Squats
Seated Calf Raises

Week 3, Day 3:
Sets: 4
Reps: 8
High-bar BB Back Squats
Seated Cable Rows
Glute-Ham Raise
Military Press
DB Curls
Lying DB Tricep Extension

Week 3, Day 5:
Sets: 3
Reps: 15
Lunges
DB Flat Bench Press
Good Mornings
BB Bicep Curls
Dips
Standing Calf Raises

Week 4: Same as Week 3 with 1.25-2.5% more weight and A1/A2 pairings. For example, Week 4, Day 1 will look like:

Sets: 4
Reps: 5
A1 Sumo-style deadlifts
A2 SS grip pull-ups
B1 Incline DB Bench Press
B2 Preacher Curls
C1 Front Squats
C2 Seated Calf Raises


this is the example the author gives for his tbt

is that honnestly enough to cause serious gains ? it doesnt seem like ur working each muscle group enough but i admit i could be wrong any thoughts ?

When you play for Celtic forget the Jersey forget the club, your playing for a people and a cause.

fUnc17

Peri workout and post workout, it is not peri workout exclusively. More like 1/2 during 1/2 after

rotate sets + reps every workout, yes. you will not be able to maintain a high intensity on a fbw 3x/ week doing all compound movements

volume not being more important than intensity, you interpretted it the wrong way. He says there should be a constant increase in volume per week in each movement regardless of the loading paramaters

for instance:

if you squatted 315 for 4x4 in week 1 that is a total volume of 5040lbs

week 2, you want to beat that volume so you adjust the weight/intensity accordingly.

so, instead of doing 4x4 again (to avoid burnout and overstimulating the CNS) you do say 3x8, of course no where near the same intensity as 4x4 because you plain just cant handle it.

so to match that 5040lbs load you could use 210 lbs and maintain your strength/hypertrophy, but you wont gain (this is his arguement, constant progress each week, like bill starr)

So we dont want the same 5040lbs, we want more, so we choose a weight we can handle for 3x8 that will allow more than 5040lbs of volume load

We could actually use 225lbs as our squat load and still increase the total volume and make strength and hypertrophy gains.

so you squat 225 for 3x8 = 5400lbs of volume > 5040 so we see gains.

This is just like bill starr (5x5)

Athletic Strength & Movement blog
Strength Edge

TJ Cline

Not a bad read untill he plugs his supplement...ROFL

fUnc17

Consume Surge or a whey/maltodextrin drink at the onset of each workout (afterwards, too).


His aim was to help people with their training and peri w/o nutrition. If Surge aids in that, so be it. But it can be accomplished with whey/malto mix as he suggests



Thanks for your contribution

Athletic Strength & Movement blog
Strength Edge

Witchblade

He says peri is more important. I'd like to see proof.

Sure, you have to adjust some things. I'm currently doing the 5x5 program myself. But he says you should go from 5 to 12 RM etc and constantly switching. I don't think your body can adapt to that sort of variety. Bill Starr doesn't include any other rep range than 3 and 5 in his program. (Except some potential accessory work.)

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TJ Cline

Good article.....and a shameless plug....I call it like I see it.

fUnc17

The issue of peri-workout nutrition stretches beyond controlling catabolism during your workouts; it can also be beneficial during periods of fat loss. You probably know from Drs. Lowery and Berardi that your carb sensitivity is elevated in the morning and after your workouts. So you might be surprised to learn that there are some people who I had drop all morning and post-workout carbs in order to get them shredded. But I had these same people still consume carbs during their workouts.

The putative notion that workouts should last less than an hour is based on old research that demonstrated a shift of anabolic and catabolic hormones in the negative direction after 45 minutes of resistance training. But now that we know how important it is to ingest carbs and protein at the onset and/or during a workout, that research becomes much less relevant.

It also aids in recovery

There are more in depth studies on peri w/o nutrition on Tnation. I'll try to find them

But if you think about it, it makes sense to have a protein/carb combo during workouts. You aren't going to get fatigued as quickly, you can consume (especially if on a low carb diet) carbs during your workout and not worry about fat gain. It also increases your energy. And it rushes those nutrients to your muscles AS your training

Remember it is in addition to a PWO drink, a PWO drink is definately neccesary

bill starr programs is a meat and potatoes program. Bench, squat, dead, it is not a fbw.

In order to achieve results for any longer than three weeks at a time, you should constantly rotate your sets and reps. If you rotate those two elements throughout the week, you'll be able to stick with the same movements for a longer period of time before stagnating.

For example, if you perform 5 sets of 5 repetitions with 85% of your 1RM for, say, the bench press, squat, row, and deadlift, you'd get two to three weeks' worth of progress before winding up on an endless plateau. Why? Because your body will adapt to an unchanging rep scheme very quickly. Pair this with a constant number of sets per body part and a relatively constant load, and you're on a fast track to Nowhereville.

If, however, you performed the bench press, squat, row, and deadlift with different parameters for each workout, you could get two to three months worth of progress — and that's without even changing your movement patterns. You must provide your muscles with a constantly changing stimulus.

Athletic Strength & Movement blog
Strength Edge

fUnc17

Good thing the rest of us actually using the info don't see it your way

Athletic Strength & Movement blog
Strength Edge

Witchblade

Anantaraman R, Carmines AA, Gaesser GA, Weltman A., Effects of carbohydrate supplementation on performance during 1 hour of high-intensity exercise., International Journal of Sports Medicine, volume 16, number 7, pg 461-5, 1991.

The effects of carbohydrate supplementation on high-intensity exercise performance were examined in 5 moderately-trained subjects (age = 28.4 +/- 1.5 yr; ht = 171.0 +/- 4.3 cm; wt = 66.25 +/- 6.32 kg). High-intensity exercise tests (initiated at the power output (PO) associated with 90% VO2 peak [mean = 201 +/- 21 watts] x 60 min, with drop-off in PO allowed over time) were completed under the following randomized double blind conditions: 1) pre-exercise glucose polymer (G)/placebo during exercise (G/P), 2) G pre-exercise and during exercise (G/G), and 3) placebo pre-exercise and during exercise (P/P). Subjects ingested 300 ml of a sweetened placebo or a similarly flavored 10% G solution, immediately prior to and every 15 min during exercise. No differences were observed in PO among the 3 treatments until min 40-60 where PO was greater with G. This resulted in significantly greater total work (and less drop-off in PO) with G (G/P = 619 +/- 234kJ [14.5% lower than the value associated with 201 watts maintained for 60 min (724kJ)], G/G = 599 +/- 235 kJ [17.3% lower than the value associated with 201 watts maintained for 60 min]) compared with placebo (P/P = 560 +/- 198 kJ [22.7% drop-off in average PO]) (p < 0.05). VO2 followed a similar pattern with no difference in VO2 over min 0-40 and significantly higher VO2 in G/P and a trend for higher VO2 in G/G during min 40-60 compared to placebo. Results of the present study indicate that, compared to placebo, pre-exercise ingestion of G (30 g in 10% solution) results in less drop-off in PO during 1 hour of high-intensity exercise performance, and that no further benefit is observed when the same amount of G is also ingested every 15 min during exercise.

I agree with you that it's good to sip it all the way through your workout, but I don't think peri is MORE important than post wo nutrition.

Wait... are you advocating that the 5x5 program is 'a road to nowhereville'?

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TJ Cline

Consume

fUnc17

No, and thats not what the article says at all. It isn't more important. Thats like saying a squat is more important than a deadlift. They are both important

no way! it is a great program and I have used it before and so have many friends.

The 5x5 program is linear, it is not to say one or the other is better, they are both good. If you prefer to train 5x5 all the time then so be it. But if you prefer to train 3x3, 6x4, 3x8, 2x12, 3x10 etc and STILL get bigger and stronger you can.

It's a matter of preference and what the program looks like. I forget exactly the frequency of the 5x5 program is but with a fbw you cant keep that level of intensity up for long in every movement, you need to rotate to avoid overtraining. It comes down to what your program looks like

Both programs work, it is just about proper planning

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camarosuper6

Good read.

T-Nation like any company always includes shameless plugs.

I dont train the way he advocates, but he makes some interesting points.

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PWGriffin

well the plug did the trick!! I want to go buy some surge now!! lol...

I am going to start doing a peri workout drink though...

How important is it to drink throughout the entire workout?? Could you finish it shortly after starting?? I guess it probably doesn't matter...

Man it's a lot of work putting together a great FBW. LOTs of variables to consider.

yeah, that shit!!!

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PWGriffin

something else I have been thinking about....

The volume calculations and always trying to do more volume....

Well I've been doing things like this...

3x12
4x8
unload
5x5
repeat...

well I calculated total volume and it steadily declines over the weeks...overall...like 3x12 is the highest volume week...with 5x5 being the lowest. It seems ass backwards....but at the same time. I increase the resistance every month. I.E. This month I did more weight on the bench press for 12 reps than I did last month for 12 reps so I increased the total volume over last months 3x12 workout. What do you guys think? Acceptable?? Or should I change loading parameters to ramp up in volume and then unload?

I'm also really more concerned with strength right now, although I haven't completely changed splits and loading parameters....I will when I begin to stagnate with what I am currently doing.