I know that it’s not nearly as popular as a method of working out as others, but was just curious if anyone else did.
People like to come up with new names for their own variations on a theme. Most the popular training philosophies right now call for the last set to be an all out “blast” set.
[quote]on edge wrote:
People like to come up with new names for their own variations on a theme. Most the popular training philosophies right now call for the last set to be an all out “blast” set.[/quote]
I like that term “blast” set. That’s kinda what you do with Heavy Duty. You gut that fucker out till you FAIL…then your done. 3 sets to a workout. One workout every 4 to 7 days. I love it. lol
[quote]OklahomaHoss wrote:
[quote]on edge wrote:
People like to come up with new names for their own variations on a theme. Most the popular training philosophies right now call for the last set to be an all out “blast” set.[/quote]
I like that term “blast” set. That’s kinda what you do with Heavy Duty. You gut that fucker out till you FAIL…then your done. 3 sets to a workout. One workout every 4 to 7 days. I love it. lol
[/quote]
ONE workout every 4-7 days??? Sounds like a horrible idea, Mentzer had some great ideas but his later shit that was this infrequent didn’t seem to work that well for a lot of people. If you look around T-Nation at MOST(not all) of the big guys(Waylander, MODOK, H4M, CC) they are hitting each muscle group 2 or more times per week.
Yep. Once every 4-7 days.
Well, in the beginning when you’re not lifting really large poundages, it’s every 4. But as your body gets stronger and more stress is introduced to it, additional rest days can become necessary.
The reasoning behind it is that when you tear the body down as much as you do when you go to total failure, as the workout requires, your body (assuming you’re not taking any kind of substances that accelerate your recover ability) takes a good two weeks to fully recover from and build more muscle on top of it.
The one thing I can say about this workout is that when I’ve followed it to the letter (the workout, the amount of rest time, etc) I have literally gotten stronger EVERY SINGLE TIME I’ve worked out. Period.
Don’t get me wrong, I dont want this thread to turn in to a huge debate over what training system is best, people get pretty fierce about defending their workouts. I was just wanting to know if anyone else uses Heavy Duty like I do.
You can tell me that you think my workout system is a terrible idea (like you just did) if you really think it’s pertinent to this thread (personally I dont see how it’s productive for you to bash my workout) but like I said, in the 2+ decades I’ve been working out, Heavy Duty has been the very best workout I’ve ever used.
Is it a full body type routine? Or some type of split (maybe you can do it both ways I donno). Personally I’ve never done anything like it or heard much about it other than a few articles here or there.
[quote]Undertow wrote:
Is it a full body type routine? Or some type of split (maybe you can do it both ways I donno). Personally I’ve never done anything like it or heard much about it other than a few articles here or there.
[/quote]
Yea, it’s a split routine. Day one is chest/back. Four days later is legs. Four days later is delts/arms, and four days later is legs again.
Feel free to ask me any questions you’ve got about it. You can PM me or just ask me here in this thread.
[quote]Ty Carlson wrote:
ONE workout every 4-7 days??? Sounds like a horrible idea, Mentzer had some great ideas but his later shit that was this infrequent didn’t seem to work that well for a lot of people. If you look around T-Nation at MOST(not all) of the big guys(Waylander, MODOK, H4M, CC) they are hitting each muscle group 2 or more times per week.[/quote]
Ty’s right. Whether you want strength, size, or both, you’ve got to hit it more frequently. Unless you’re a novice, in which case there’s nowhere to go but up. But as a rule, hit your target groups twice or more per week. Totally agree, TC!
Honestly, this sounds like the worst program of all time.
All time.
I like to use some of the high intensity principles once in awhile, especially if i am in a time crunch. But that is as close to that type of training i get. I like to train frequently, i go nuts if i can’t train almost everyday. Four days a week is as low as i can tolerate, any less and i don’t have enough fun or enough training. Training is one of the things i do for fun. So infrequent training doesn’t appeal to me.
[quote]LankyMofo wrote:
Honestly, this sounds like the worst program of all time.
All time.[/quote]
I’ve got a thousand bucks that says otherwise. Put your money where your mouth is. Check your pms.
Does anyone here seriously need a whole 4 days to recover from each session? OP go ahead and do it if you are just looking to have an easy time, and not make much progress.
[quote]Heracles_rocks wrote:
I like to use some of the high intensity principles once in awhile, especially if i am in a time crunch. But that is as close to that type of training i get. I like to train frequently, i go nuts if i can’t train almost everyday. Four days a week is as low as i can tolerate, any less and i don’t have enough fun or enough training. Training is one of the things i do for fun. So infrequent training doesn’t appeal to me.
[/quote]
I can totally understand that. There’s nice sort of high that you get from beign in the gym. The atmosphere and the sounds. It’s pretty cool. And while I’m not lifting every single day or so, I still like to get in there for cardio or tire flipping or what have you, so long as it isn’t too anaerobic.
I’ve really gotten past my days of trying to preach the gospel of Heavy Duty to folks. Just like the guy who started 5/3/1 said in his article, either you do it or you dont.
[quote]babaganoosh wrote:
Does anyone here seriously need a whole 4 days to recover from each session? OP go ahead and do it if you are just looking to have an easy time, and not make much progress.[/quote]
Again, bro, dont come in here to bash my way of working out. I’m not bashing yours. I started this thread to see if anyone else uses Heavy Duty. If you dont fine. You dont have to be a dick.
And incidentally. I’d be pretty comfortable betting that I make far better gains than you with my method of working out than you do with yours.
But again, you do your thing. I’ll do mine.
Babaganoosh this is for you.
Here’s an excerpt pertaining to HIT training. The paragraph that starts off with DR Fred Hatfield relates to why someone will need a long time to recover(second paragraph from bottom).
[quote]How many times have you neared fainting, and asked yourself, â?? why am I doing this? â?? Or, â?? what is it that drives me to push myself to limits Iâ??ve never known before? â?? The answer is inherently the same for all bodybuilders. I say inherently because you must be born with the will power to succeed in this sport, and quite frankly, not many have this extreme gift, or curse if you will. It is a curse that cryâ??s out in the middle of the night, and consumes your thoughts on a day to day basis. You have the innate desire to become freaky. The question is, do you have the will to become freaky? We shall see!
Today Iâ??d like to analyze some of the greats in this sport and see what they had in common. What is it that they did, that made them so successful in achieving this much sought after goal? We will begin with a hypothesis, and see how it pans out. You see, I believe that in order to be freaky, you will have to do freaky things, and if you want to be insanely freaky, you will have to do insanely freaky things!
Arnold Vs. Dorian
Absolute giants; two monsters who dominated two generations. What did they have in common? They were both insanely freaky! I am not going to stand here and say whoâ??s physique was better, because they developed different sculptures. Some of you may prefer one over the other, but I would be hard pressed to judge between the two.
Aside from them both having incredible physiques, they also have this in common: In order to gain freaky mass, they trained and ate equally as freaky as each other. I believe that Dorianâ??s training style however is the most misinterpreted on the planet earth. Or any Hit variation for that matter. Where as Arnoldâ??s is easily interpreted. Let me qualify that statement. Today we have a generation of athletes who brag about only doing 1-3 sets total for their arms, feeling that they are following Dorian Yateâ??s, or Mike Mentzerâ??s training style, when this couldnâ??t be further from the truth!
It is rare when you actually run into a bodybuilder who truly implements the freaky principles that Dorian used. Rather they trace the dotted line, or follow what looks like his pattern if you will.
You have to understand something. Dorian Yates did not retire because he was tired of competing, he retired because his body basically snapped! Why? Because he trained so intensely, so insanely, and so hardcore that he could only continue for so long. This absolute monster fell on a very bleak day in the world of bodybuilding, while performing pullover presses! Giving it all he had, his left triceps muscle just snapped three fourths off of the attachment site. The kind of snap that you could hear round the entire gym floor! Dorian knew he was pushing his body to the limit, but he also knew that this is what he had to do to attain his ultimate physique! Incredibly enough, the reigning Mr. Olympia kept the injury to himself and still competed. By the time he entered the show all he could train was his legs. He then retired after having surgery on his arm. And if you looked at Dorian before his last show, he had more braces on his body to hold it together from his style of training than Patrick Ewing!
How a human being could endure the pain he placed himself through is astonishing to say the least. For example, in 1994 he damaged his left rotator cuff, further in the year he tore his left quadriceps and then nine weeks before the O he tore his left biceps muscle! After all that he still competed!
The man was an absolute animal! This is how he trained, this is how he thought, and that is what created one of the greatest physiques of all time! Unfortunately many an athlete feel that doing a few sets every workout as he prescribed is going to get them a freaky big body. No, this is far from the truth. What will get you a freaky body, is to mimic Dorianâ??s unmatchable intensity! An ability to go inside yourself and conquer a workout in the same time frame as Dorian did, will take nothing short of pure blood and guts on your part. You will literally have to leave a piece of yourself at the gym every time you train!
Dr. Fred Hatfield commented best on HIT style training when he compared it to contest performance. I remember him stating that when Hit was performed right, it could take a person weeks to recover from it. Just think about it. If youâ??ve ever competed in a tournament, or a power lifting event. Everything you are, and everything youâ??ve trained for comes down to a few short moments, in which you must pore out your very being into the actions you take. This can drain you mentally, physically, as well as emotionally. A true Dorian style workout, will give you butterflies in anticipation of the training session, in which you will place your body underneath relentless agony! Indeed, there are few who can carry such a workout, out correctly.
As for Arnold Schwarzenegger, everyone knows how legendary his routines were. Most people do not even attempt to try them out. Labeling them as too high in volume, or too unorthodox! Phrases such as, 20 sets for biceps, thatâ??s stupid, ring throughout many an ear these days. However, I still maintain that Arnold did what it took to develop a freaky body. His physique reflected his training style, just as your body is reflected in a mirror. Therefore, the question is not whoâ??s training style was more sane for todayâ??s standards. But rather, whoâ??s training style was more insane! I firmly believe that an awe inspiring physique will always follow an insane approach to lifting. Dorian illustrated this, as well as Arnold. Not to say, that you should not stay within the realm of science, only that you realize that the science of this sport is an extreme one![/quote]
[quote]OklahomaHoss wrote:
[quote]babaganoosh wrote:
Does anyone here seriously need a whole 4 days to recover from each session? OP go ahead and do it if you are just looking to have an easy time, and not make much progress.[/quote]
Again, bro, dont come in here to bash my way of working out. I’m not bashing yours. I started this thread to see if anyone else uses Heavy Duty. If you dont fine. You dont have to be a dick.
And incidentally. I’d be pretty comfortable betting that I make far better gains than you with my method of working out than you do with yours.
But again, you do your thing. I’ll do mine. [/quote]
When you make a post in a public forum you have to understand that any and all opinions will be presented. Too bad if you dont like them. Deal with it. You made your thoughts public and some people are doing the same.
If you dont want to hear negative opinions than dont make posts in a place where that can happen. This is the internet. Thats the way it works.
[quote]Ty Carlson wrote:
[quote]OklahomaHoss wrote:
[quote]on edge wrote:
People like to come up with new names for their own variations on a theme. Most the popular training philosophies right now call for the last set to be an all out “blast” set.[/quote]
I like that term “blast” set. That’s kinda what you do with Heavy Duty. You gut that fucker out till you FAIL…then your done. 3 sets to a workout. One workout every 4 to 7 days. I love it. lol
[/quote]
ONE workout every 4-7 days??? Sounds like a horrible idea, Mentzer had some great ideas but his later shit that was this infrequent didn’t seem to work that well for a lot of people. If you look around T-Nation at MOST(not all) of the big guys(Waylander, MODOK, H4M, CC) they are hitting each muscle group 2 or more times per week.[/quote]
I agree that Mentzer started getting way too extreme when he started talking once every two weeks and shit. I found I got my best results training a muscle group once every six days. I can’t train that way any more, now I hit each muscle group twice a week. I disagree with the “or more” part of your post. I think if someone can train a muscle three time a week they’re not hitting it hard enough.
[quote]OklahomaHoss wrote:
I like that term “blast” set. That’s kinda what you do with Heavy Duty.
[/quote]
That was my point. Basically most people train “Heavy Duty” now, weather they know it or not.
[quote]on edge wrote:
[quote]OklahomaHoss wrote:
I like that term “blast” set. That’s kinda what you do with Heavy Duty.
[/quote]
That was my point. Basically most people train “Heavy Duty” now, weather they know it or not.[/quote]
Most people are not spending 2 days per week in the gym. Not people taking bodybuilding seriously, at least. Yates didnt do that and Mentzer didnt build his physique doing that either.
[quote]on edge wrote:
I think if someone can train a muscle three time a week they’re not hitting it hard enough.[/quote]
Agreed.