OK. Lifting only. I’ve deleted the post that you found distracting/objectionable. But if you wanted to keep the topic focused on lifting, then why did you post a link to paper dealing with the mortality benefits of cardiovascular conditioning? I was responding to a topic that you introduced to the thread…
Mike had me on his Consolidation Routine, 3 sets per week, and I did well…as he said I would.
Hi curious to know what progress you made on the 3 sets a week routine.
Thanks for any info.
Andrew
These are my results from 4 weeks:
Dates 5th July 1998 - 26th July 1998
Weight: 96.5kg (212.3#) - 99kg (217.8#)
Quad: +1/4"
Calf: +1/4"
Chest: +1 3/4"
Forearm: +1/8"
Bicep: +2/8"
Waist: -1/8"
Great gains, from less than an hours total training!!!
I think that the minimal volume on which you can progress depends on 3 big factors:
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How much effort you put into your sets (short of failure? To positive failure? To positive and negative failure? To positive, negative and isometric failure?)
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How much weekly volume and effort did you average out over the previous months. And this is a tad complex. For example, if you did a fair amount of volume but at a low level of effort, and you switch to an extreme level of effort, the drop in volume might not affect you. But if you go from, let’s say 50 total sets per week (covering the whole body) at a very high level of effort, down to 10 sets at the same effort level, you might not be able to continue progressing.
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How efficient you are with your lifting.This includes form, the capacity to create tension in the proper muscle and the skill to take a set to its limit, for example.
There was a study showing that strength and size can be maintained for a long time if the volume is reduced by 2/3rd and the level of effort stays the same. I would argue that the same reduction in volume but done with an increase in effort levels would allow you to keep building muscle and gaining strength.
Great results!
How much strength did you gain?
Thanks for the info,
Andrew
I’ve seen plenty of people make good, long term progress doing 4-8 hard sets per body part per week, usually divided into 2 sessions. Plenty of research exists to show that significant hypertrophy can be achieved with this level of volume, even in trained lifters.
4 weeks is not a very long experiment. What happened after that?
My strength went through the roof! It was the first time I squatted 400#. Mike linked me to others on his CR to entice me. His biggest client, 280# Aubrey Francis, who I happened to be in contact with at the time, was down to 2 exercises every 12 days. Handling 600# on various exercises.
average_al the only downfall was psychological. Waiting a week between HITs almost drove me crazy! So I went back to the 3-way split Mike originally had me on … and have pretty much kept with that over the years.
I’m gonna say 1 really, really hard working set every 12 days…why, because it’s always tended to be my observation that 2 weeks tends to be the short term tipping point for strength gains, slowly draining away gains, results going up! Brain saying to body, hey buddy lookie here…the chief has clearly started to chains a few things around, it’s time to drop some flubber, gain some strength, get faster or fatter etc.
Not HIT, but Platz trained legs once every couple of weeks
HIGH VOLUME EXTREME INTENSITY was his method
I prefer hitting legs once a week and I’ve definitely noticed better development since making the switch from 2. I definitely go for the high volume, ultra high intensity on legs as well. The extra recovery time is awesome
The big questions are…
How little progress?
For how long will super minimal delivery any progress?
What kind of progress? Size or strength? (they aren’t one in the same)
If you’re asking me specifically, my quads in particularly have been increasing in size at a faster rate than the strength gain on legs, although my squat numbers have been progressing steadily. Size is more-so my focus than strength. My legs are probably my most improved body part over the last year(they definitely had the most room to grow though)
Very cool!
I was just asking in general with respect to super abbreviated stuff like people who do 3-4 exercises only 2-3x a month in total, but cool you are getting progress. I do best with each muscle 1x a week also .
Oh okay. I was wondering, since it showed up for me as a notification that you responded to my comment. I’m totally on board with you and I definitely am also skeptical of extremely abbreviated routines like Mentzer’s consolidated routine.
When you read Mike talk about it, it seems like he pieced it together with his line of logic being that you want the very minimal amount of stimulus possible to trigger muscle growth, anything extra is not only unnecessary, but detrimental. I understand how you would come to that routine if that is his be-all thesis… but anecdotally, that just doesn’t seem to be the most straightforward path to muscle growth for the majority of the population. Like the theory itself is just kind of flawed to begin with, especially because somebody’s ideal volume is likely in a range and not quite as black and white as Mike painted it.
oh sorry I clicked the wrong reply button
me too, people can gain a bit on those CR routines, but they will never create a bodybuilder physique, not nearly enough direct tension, effort and work for so many muscles.