I’m too much of a cheap ass to buy the book so not I’m not going by the book . I’m also not injesting the Plazma etc supplements . I’m just basically just doing a push pull routine , which i believe is not recommended and doing each exercise 30 10 30. I’m a terrible poster child for 30 10 30 , ha ha! I imagine if I went by the book my results would be even better? I’m constantly adding reps but visually I can’t tell any difference other than my lats seem to be a tad more pronounced but maybe that’s because I’m doing more lat work than usual? I’m not keen on the idea of following changing routines by the book like this one or Christians theos routine for naturals. I like to pick parts of one routine that I like and mix it with others that I like. I’m not thrilled with the idea of rushing between sets although I generally only take about 30 seconds between exercises. I prefer to get my cardio at a separate time on an erg or stationary bike.
It’s always difficult to follow a routine to the T however I am going to do my best to give it a try. I do travel with work so sometimes hard to get in ever other day - but since this routine uses less weight - possibly can do the workouts in the hotel gym since they many times have some kind of weights - just limited.
I do full body routines always so that’s not an issue.
Since this is such a departure from what we’ve read for 40 years - I am very curious on how I respond. If I even stay the same - it’s not bad since lower stress on joints which is a good thing. I’m 55 yrs old and have done some damage over the years…
Thx,
Ron
Dr. D., what do you say about a combination of Zone Training (Stage Repetitions, JReps) and the 30-10-30 method ???
I have not combined those methods with 30-10-30.
That seems like it would be hard to combine and probably best kept separate as they’re different loading methods. You could do both in the same workout, but if you mean combining both into one exercise, I don’t think that would work.
Hi ares81,
I’m currently investigating these combinations. Too early to tell any prognostics. Both Dr Darden and Brian D Johnston are into variety, where BDJ put this as a very important priority.
The answer is yes, you can successfully combine both Dr Dardens different strategies with BDJ:s challenges/Zonetraining - on different excercises. But - you have to know your body well enough to avoid overtraining.
Both these excellent coaches seem to agree upon a lot, judging from the litterature, though different inventions.
Hi Dr. D,
I’ve done two sessions thus far (30-10-30 and 10-30) with 6 exercises/wo. My muscles are pretty sore but want to continue with it as much as possible. I’m someone who almost always gets sore from a workout. This is the way it’s been since a teenager. So… I was doing a workout every 3-4 days and now doing ever 48 hours. Since you’re advise is 3 non-consecutive days/week, I assume I should just work through it and do it as outlined. If I add more days - I will most likely just be more sore… For my age (55) I have a decent amount of muscle.
Thanks for the advice!
Ron
Yes, I would suggest that you work through your soreness.
I finished my first week of 30-10-30 and started the second week. It is tough though especially while traveling since you have to do your best at guessing the correct weight on machines. Most were pretty much on target. It’s also almost impossible to do the “rush factor” since you have to wipe down the machine and then I almost certainly have to take a few guesses at the weight selection. That said I did 7 exercises 30-10-30 in just under 20 minutes. For me that’s pretty quick!
I’m not sure of others but I do feel pretty tired most days. I believe the intensity and deeper inroad is causing the bigger fatigue. Also, 3x a week training is tiring. None of the three weekly workouts are easy. Even the mid-week (10-30) is difficult. I always put everything into each set. I am very strict and concentrate on slowly contracting the weight up and down and the slow negative is very intense.
Is this how others doing this routine feel? I like the stiffness in the muscles but definitely challenging!
thx,
Ron
I’m not sure what exercises you are doing but I suspect it’s the leg part of the workout that is killing you? As my legs are already as big and strong as I want them to be the leg part of my 30 10 30 is easy going not pushing very hard . More of a cardio workout. The rest of my workout I push it as hard as going a rep or two short of failure will allow. If I’m tired it’s got nothing to do with my workouts. I could do it twice in a day and still not feel so beat. In the past I did to failure and beyond workouts and then I would feel tired sometimes . One of them sin advantages of this 30 10 30 is that I don’t get beat down by the workouts!
Scott
Interesting Scott. Legs are tough and I probably am not going 2 reps shy of failure. I do perfect repetitions but complete my last one that I know I can’t complete another without cheating. Then the 30 second negative is TOUGH!
How long have you been doing this? Are you noticing any size, strength, or leanest differences.
Thanks for the input Scott!
Ron
I’ve been doing 30 10 30 for about 3 months now consistently but Im only doing the 30 10 30 part and pretty much staying with the same exercises. I’m not changing up days or drinking Plazma or much of the stuff in Dardens book . All I can say is reps and weight keep going up slightly. Visually I don’t know if I see any difference but I’m 68 so that may not happen and weight wise I’m not concerned with losing weight. Lately I’ve been slowing down with increasing reps so it may be time for a change?
Scott
That sort of To-Failure approach would probably be fine, if you were doing 30-10-30 once/week as originally put forth (maybe twice…). However, the 3/wk means that each set should be only moderate intensity for completion. The progression comes in 1) shorter rest periods and 2) adding 1 set/workout/week.
Hi Scott and Simon,
Thanks for the input! I did my 30-10-30 today in a commercial gym since I’m out of town. I errored on the lighter side and was 1-2 reps shy of positive failure. About 3 of my sets were 30-13-30 and the rest were 30-10-30. I didn’t feel as wiped out from my 7 sets. I want to see what this can or can’t do so want to give it my all without possible burnout. BUT I also don’t want to give too little intensity. I may do one of the 30-10-30 all out (but don’t go for the last rep that would fail on the positive) and try my best at the last 30 second negative. Then for the other 30-10-30 & 10-30 - try for 1 rep shy of the last rep.
It’s very difficult to do when out of town but much easier when at home.
Regards,
Ron
I’ve done 30 10 30 with the 10 going to failure and stopping 2 reps short of failure and frankly I haven’t noticed that much difference in how I feel after the workout but I think it is important to stop 2 reps short of failure. I think my biggest weakness in this program is stopping 2 reps short of failure . Since I’m so used to always going to failure in the past I find it very hard to stop 2 reps short of failure. I keep wanting to get in another rep. Sometimes though I have found I have a particularly good day and I keep going up on reps up to 15 or 16 before I get close to failure. It’s taken me a long time to find the proper weight to use, a long time.
Scott
I fiddle with my weights all the time. Sometimes I am having an off day and I can just tell from the first + getting into position that I need to lower weight or sometimes add. On the 10-30 days I crank it up sometimes. It is curing my need to feel like I need to add weights.
Contrary to Historical Hard-Headed HIT dogma, you are better off doing too little than too much. Too much intensity stalls progress and rags your whole body out.
To be sure, it IS possible to do too too little, but I believe that as long you are feeling challenged by the workout and strive for small improvements each time, you’re going to be fine!!
And order is important too. Yesterday, I did Triceps Pushdowns and Incline Press in that order, using the 30/10/30 technique. There was 20-sec between the 2 exercises. The last time I did Incline Press, it was first upper body movement in a Push-heavy workout. This time however, due to the Pre-Fatigue factor, I dropped the weight back 20 lbs. It still wasn’t enough of a drop. I got the first 27 OK*, got 8 reps on the middle*, but only got to 16 seconds on the tail end, before my strength just seemed to vaporize. (since it was 2nd in Pre-Fatigue 25/8/25 was my target!)
You know the old saying - old dogs new tricks… I will try my best to stop 1 rep shy and lighten the load a bit. I do feel that my muscles are full and after yesterdays 7 exercises - I am stiff/sore in all muscles…
Thanks for the experience guys!
Ron