Here a subject that warrants some attention, fatigue. It’s clear that ‘volume’ has a time and place as does ‘intensity’. But what about muscle fatigue? Is it necesary for growth, should it be sought? See I remember reading something Charles Staley wrote that basically said avoid it should be avoided like the plague and the details of the article made sence to me. Charles I know you lurk out there, feel free to chime in with your expertise. I suspect Charles is onto something here and I see that in an upcoming seminar of his he covers it in more detail. Unfortunately for those of us in the southern hemisphere we are out of the loop so to speak. So how about a new article Charles with specifics where the goal is hypertrophy. Any other t-maggers out there with opinions/interested in hearing from C.S.?
I would definitely like to hear more from charles and details on his approach to training for hypertrophy.
In my next few seminars, I will be outlining the details of my training system, called Q-2 (pronounced “Q-squared”). Although in essence I have used this system in one form or another for some time now, it has taken me a while to work the bugs out of this and tighten it up to the point where I feel I can release it publicly.
One of the governing principles of Q-2 (means "quality quotient" BTW) is that fatigue should be managed rather than sought. If hypertrophy is the target, then you need to seek the greatest possible work output. If strength/speed performance is the goal, then you are seeking maximal peak torques. If endurance is the goal, you need to perform at a high level of quality over and over. All three objectives are best attained when fatigue is carefully managed and controlled.
It's important to note that in the course of pursuing aggressive athletic goals, you WILL experience fatigue (which I define as anything from the burn, to DOMS, to exhaustion, etc). However there is a very important distinction between seeking it out, and trying to avoid it. Hope this helps...
I never seek fatigue. It happens obviously, but i seek performance over everything else. Ill set a goal before my workout. If i accomplish that goal i did my job. I do no more. Like my goal this monday is a single with 285 and four reps with 255 on incline. If i accomplish that good. I wont try 295. Ill save that for another day.
I know that when I went to an ISSA/staley seminar I learned more there then on my own in 2 years.
I have not trained to failure in about 8 months since that seminar and my gains have been plentiful. I then switched to a PTP from pavel and increased my gains again. They are both similiar in their theory’s.
Yes I would like to see more stuff from charles here on T-mag.
Greg