[quote]Der Candy wrote:
http://www.hypertrophy-research.com/articles/microweights.pdf
there.
You should realize the incredible value of stuff like this (especially when you are advanced).[/quote]
I have to say this whole hypertrophy research website is cool…it is however, a “back to basics” idea…let me explain why:
The concept of racking the weight between reps to manage fatigue and do 20-rep sets isn’t new…in fact it’s quite old, in T-Nation, Waterbury speaks of how to use pauses between reps in his article “Building Your Rep” as well as “Lift Fast, Get Big” and other articles of other authors do, but in this, the Singles Club article is king and this one is a good source of info for someone who wnats to follow a path like the one in this cool but naive hypertrophy research website, which isn’t all that bad.
I had the pleasure of meeting some great European and American bodybuilders, powerlifters and of course, coaches, but one that impressed me a lot gave me a good advise before retiring due to injuries, but he said to me “any set between 1 and 5 reps will get you big if you know how to use rest periods, and loads…tempo isn’t even a factor, it’s a consequence from the relation between load and force” and he explained something to me:
basically, if you aim to get 100 reps on a single session, you can get thsoe with singles, or with 5 rep sets, you can start with a load and a given rest period timeframe and end up resting twice a smuch between sets at the end of the session and lifting almost half the load…as long as you get a good, deep and throrough work, you’ll grow, by using the pauses and rest between sets smart, you’ll stave off the catabolic process that comes from badly managed fatigue. And trust me that advise holds true.
My old sargeant used to say “machineguns are overrated…even if you hit 9 out of 10 tiems you fire one, after the first couple bullets hit hard and good on the right spot, the other 7 are just overkill, unnecessary waste of ammo, it’s excess…it’s why sniper rifles are better” and I feel like HIT practicioners agree: why use a shitload of sets and reps if you can do less to get more?
That is right, conceptually, but in the real world, nobody likes HIT when they prefer doing a lot of reps which are easier on the indibvidual sets and they think they fill their cups with smalld rops, kind alike hammering a nail into a wall with 1000 hits, while the hit guys won’t liek volume and will prefer to smack that nail hard a few times and drive it in faster. All is good if your body answers to it, so here’s what I propose to you about this concept of getting big, for the guy you sponsor:
Have him pick a given load and let him do some reps: ask him at what rep he starts feelign the pump that tells him he’s doing good on the set and when does the pump fade and the next reps become a bore, when the flavor is gone…also ask him and measure yourself, when does he start losing lifting speed, as his strenght fades.
The trick is: you have to give him a laod and tell him to doa s manyr eps as he can on a weight he already knows he can get some reps from and which he thinks he gets the most growth-inducing benefits from.
Try to add weight to it by 10% and make him rest 10 minutes between sets. After the third attempt, this is what you’ll do: Make sure that you find a weight he feels that first “pumping rep” the closest to the initial rep and that he feels the last “good rep” close to the end…allow me to explain:
assume he tries some 135 pounds on the barbell for bench rpesses on a 15-rep set and he tells you : “I feel the weight start to work from rep 4th, lose speed by rep 9 and stop feeling the pump at rep 12 so any rep after is hard and the muscle isn’t feeling it, and I am smashed” so then ad weight until the set is like this:
he does 8 reps, by rep 2 he feels the muscle is startting to get an effect or pump, and that he keeps his speed and maximal force output until rep 5 so by rep 6 he loses the pump and gives room to the other 2 strained and hard reps being rep 8 where he stops for he won’t get more out of the load and the set even if doing more reps, for the pump is gone, the set ran dry. Now reduce rest intervals between thsoe sets and have him work hard on them and you’ll see results.
