Few Days Off Then Back To Basics

Training Bodybuilding
41

[quote]Goodfellow wrote:
LiveFromThe781 wrote:
Heres what i wanna know, how important is training to failure? i think ever since i started ive always trained to failure.

one of my first few times ever lifting, in my friends basement, i musta overdone it because the next day i wake up and my left forearm is completely inflamed and like 3x its normal size.

i think having that drive is something you either have or you dont, not sure you can learn it or what and i think its what seperates people, but anyway…

i do it on every set, i dont care what lift it is, how many reps, what set, i bring it as hard as i can til i cant no more. you guys think its really nesecary? i mean you can look at my training post and see i start off with 100lb dumb bells and my very next exercise i have to drop the weight to 135 on a barbell.

you think i may be better off just workin maybe 1 or 2 reps before failure on my first lifts (since theyre the heaviest) and going to failure on just the less strenuous exercises like cable flys and ham curls?

…i wish i could get more people in here that were bigger than me ;( …no offense guys.

I used to build up the weight progressively over 5 sets (doing 10-8 reps each set) and the last set I went all out to failure, the others not so much.

I found I gained most size doing this with 4-5 exercises in a split routine.

Example: Hammer strength chest press
Set 1 - 20kg plate a side for easy 10 reps
Set 2 - 20kg & 10kg plate a side for 10
Set 3 - 2 20kg plates for 10
Set 4 - 2 20kg & 10kg for 9
Set 5 - 3 20kg for 8

I started doing that after reading through professor X’s training in-sights a long time ago.[/quote]

That’s a lot of volume. But if it wokrs for you cool.

Live I am pissed… that girl in your avatar was cute and now it’s gone :cry:

42

[quote]Der Candy wrote:
Goodfellow wrote:
LiveFromThe781 wrote:
Heres what i wanna know, how important is training to failure? i think ever since i started ive always trained to failure.

one of my first few times ever lifting, in my friends basement, i musta overdone it because the next day i wake up and my left forearm is completely inflamed and like 3x its normal size.

i think having that drive is something you either have or you dont, not sure you can learn it or what and i think its what seperates people, but anyway…

i do it on every set, i dont care what lift it is, how many reps, what set, i bring it as hard as i can til i cant no more. you guys think its really nesecary? i mean you can look at my training post and see i start off with 100lb dumb bells and my very next exercise i have to drop the weight to 135 on a barbell.

you think i may be better off just workin maybe 1 or 2 reps before failure on my first lifts (since theyre the heaviest) and going to failure on just the less strenuous exercises like cable flys and ham curls?

…i wish i could get more people in here that were bigger than me ;( …no offense guys.

I used to build up the weight progressively over 5 sets (doing 10-8 reps each set) and the last set I went all out to failure, the others not so much.

I found I gained most size doing this with 4-5 exercises in a split routine.

Example: Hammer strength chest press
Set 1 - 20kg plate a side for easy 10 reps
Set 2 - 20kg & 10kg plate a side for 10
Set 3 - 2 20kg plates for 10
Set 4 - 2 20kg & 10kg for 9
Set 5 - 3 20kg for 8

I started doing that after reading through professor X’s training in-sights a long time ago.

That’s a lot of volume. But if it wokrs for you cool.

Live I am pissed… that girl in your avatar was cute and now it’s gone :cry:
[/quote]

On paper it looks like a lot of volume (4-5 exercises for 5 sets each), but the first 3 sets are quite light and warm you up, with 2 hard work sets.

43

[quote]Goodfellow wrote:
Der Candy wrote:
Goodfellow wrote:
LiveFromThe781 wrote:
Heres what i wanna know, how important is training to failure? i think ever since i started ive always trained to failure.

one of my first few times ever lifting, in my friends basement, i musta overdone it because the next day i wake up and my left forearm is completely inflamed and like 3x its normal size.

i think having that drive is something you either have or you dont, not sure you can learn it or what and i think its what seperates people, but anyway…

i do it on every set, i dont care what lift it is, how many reps, what set, i bring it as hard as i can til i cant no more. you guys think its really nesecary? i mean you can look at my training post and see i start off with 100lb dumb bells and my very next exercise i have to drop the weight to 135 on a barbell.

you think i may be better off just workin maybe 1 or 2 reps before failure on my first lifts (since theyre the heaviest) and going to failure on just the less strenuous exercises like cable flys and ham curls?

…i wish i could get more people in here that were bigger than me ;( …no offense guys.

I used to build up the weight progressively over 5 sets (doing 10-8 reps each set) and the last set I went all out to failure, the others not so much.

I found I gained most size doing this with 4-5 exercises in a split routine.

Example: Hammer strength chest press
Set 1 - 20kg plate a side for easy 10 reps
Set 2 - 20kg & 10kg plate a side for 10
Set 3 - 2 20kg plates for 10
Set 4 - 2 20kg & 10kg for 9
Set 5 - 3 20kg for 8

I started doing that after reading through professor X’s training in-sights a long time ago.

That’s a lot of volume. But if it wokrs for you cool.

Live I am pissed… that girl in your avatar was cute and now it’s gone :cry:

On paper it looks like a lot of volume (4-5 exercises for 5 sets each), but the first 3 sets are quite light and warm you up, with 2 hard work sets.

[/quote]

Yeah it was the 5 exercises that I was looking at. On a split I personally do two per body part and I’m toasted. But to each their own.

44

I would try a deload week and get going with the logbook. Visual changes are hard to spot because they come so gradually, but when you have your lift numbers written down it becomes a source of motivation and satisfaction as you constantly try to beat your numbers from the previous week. DC might be a good idea, but you should get your diet straightened out before you attempt it.

45

[quote]chitown34 wrote:
I would try a deload week and get going with the logbook. Visual changes are hard to spot because they come so gradually, but when you have your lift numbers written down it becomes a source of motivation and satisfaction as you constantly try to beat your numbers from the previous week. You should get your diet straightened out.[/quote]

Fixed that for you.

46

lol, why dont you think id do well with DC?

my diet might be unusual but its definately easier to force feed with liquids than solids.

anyway im heading back to the gym today. and ill let people know how it goes.i guess ill dust off the logbook and work in the 6-8 reps 3-4 sets and only do failure on the last set or last exercises since itll most likely be cable flys or something since today is chest.

47

After my shoulders getting completely screwed from my previous training im definitely going to do 2 weeks of light weight (25+ reps) to keep my joints nice and in working order.

Changing things up will be good for muscle growth too probably.

48

DC training calls for massive eating, and I have a feeling that adding another 2,000 calories from milk to your daily diet is just going to exacerbate your problems. Most people have at least a mild intolerance to lactose, and when you consume nearly exclusively dairy you are depriving yourself of a wide array of nutrients from veggies and animal protein and running the risk of developing a food allergy. Might as well figure out how to get your calories elsewhere before you run into any issues w/ your current diet. suggestion if money is tight- ditch one or two of your supplements for a month and buy a foreman grill.

49

dude i dont even take supplements. like not even protein powder.

i wanna stay “natural” lol…(god i hope they get it)

but nah i really take nothing just cause i think 90% of supplements are bullshit and the other 10% is just protein powders.

as far as my diet. im not even stressing it. theres an entire cooked turkey in my fridge right now. i had some before i hit the gym and im gonna have some later too. it kind of dawned on me as i was walking to the gym admiring the Massachusetts fall scenary and the look down the Malden River into Boston that part of the problem coulda been that my mom doesnt cook for shit in the summer cause shes always complaining that its too hot. but in the fall/winter she stays on the stove. so im hoping to have a plethora of food for the fall.

anyway as i just got back from the gym ill post up what i did…

DB Press 90x7/90x6/90x5

Barbell Incline Press 160x5/160x7/170x3 (dropset) 150x3

H.S. Decline 2 45’s + 1 25 x8/x6/x5

then i did some pec deck and i didnt even bother writing it down, oops lol.

it wasnt a bad session all in all. im actually pretty pleased with it. and the fact i have some right elbow soreness right now is a good thing too.

50

[quote]Goodfellow wrote:
After my shoulders getting completely screwed from my previous training im definitely going to do 2 weeks of light weight (25+ reps) to keep my joints nice and in working order.

Changing things up will be good for muscle growth too probably.[/quote]

if your shoulders are really busted up you may be better off just taking a soild week off. i honestly feel great in terms of training right now after my hiatus. i did a deload before too after i though i had CNS fatigue from doing compounds to failure on a daily basis and did reps in the 12-20 area but man having a nice little week off felt so good. i hung with my friends a lot more, one night we just bowled, played pool and then went to the strip club. it kinda sucked cause it was a monday but owell. anyway, vacations rule.

51

DC calls for massive protein intake, not necessarily calories.

52

yeah i dont really want to do DC til i get my squat numbers up either.

if i can pull my shit together im thinking i could get 315x5 on a parallel box squat withen reasonable time. but my legs have always been one of my weakest point, if not the weakest.

53

[quote]chitown34 wrote:
DC training calls for massive eating, and I have a feeling that adding another 2,000 calories from milk to your daily diet is just going to exacerbate your problems.

Most people have at least a mild intolerance to lactose, and when you consume nearly exclusively dairy you are depriving yourself of a wide array of nutrients from veggies and animal protein and running the risk of developing a food allergy.

Might as well figure out how to get your calories elsewhere before you run into any issues w/ your current diet. suggestion if money is tight- ditch one or two of your supplements for a month and buy a foreman grill.[/quote]

DC training calls for a lot more than just massive eating (though that’s one of the hardest parts for most people).
It also requires a lot of experience and knowing your own body very well…

That reflects in the exercise selection (you need to take the best ones for each muscle-group into your rotation or you won’t grow all that well) to all kinds of small and not so small things.

You need experience (and this is no knock on Live, it’s mere reality) to really get those 30 pounds of muscle in a few months natural kinda gains out of it.

And you need a lot of faith to go with the system as it’s supposed to be done. Add to that the mentality needed (really grind out those reps, make 10-20+ lb jumps in weight or get several more reps each time an exercise rotates back in, etc.)

You may think that I’m exaggerating or just being elitist here, or that he has all that’s needed… But all that’s going to happen if any of the above-mentioned things are missing is that he’ll gain little to nothing…

DC isn’t that “magical program” that’ll get you swole if you just do it.

54

[quote]LiveFromThe781 wrote:
Goodfellow wrote:
After my shoulders getting completely screwed from my previous training im definitely going to do 2 weeks of light weight (25+ reps) to keep my joints nice and in working order.

Changing things up will be good for muscle growth too probably.

if your shoulders are really busted up you may be better off just taking a soild week off. i honestly feel great in terms of training right now after my hiatus. i did a deload before too after i though i had CNS fatigue from doing compounds to failure on a daily basis and did reps in the 12-20 area but man having a nice little week off felt so good. i hung with my friends a lot more, one night we just bowled, played pool and then went to the strip club. it kinda sucked cause it was a monday but owell. anyway, vacations rule.[/quote]

Glad you changed that avi back :wink: