Close on the training rationale.
You’ve got to respect the intensity/volume interface. You can stimulate much protein degradation with a heavy weight (your 95% 1rm, for example), but you can’t do it long enough before CNS fatigue hits you. Conversely on the opposite end of the spectrum you can’t use 5lb dumbbells and perform 100 rep sets all day in an almost calisthenic type workout. This gives mucho volume but the intensity is not at a level sufficient to induce the structural damage to signal sacromere (actual protein accretion) growth. You want to be able to use a “heavy” (relatively speaking) weight, and then keep it going for a good volume level(relatively speaking).
With the 95% you get great intensity (the real mathematical equation of nearness to 1 rep max, not to be confused with a grimace and a backwards ball cap!) but cannot sustain any appreciable volume. If you get too light (usually less than 60% 1rm for a rough estimate) and perform sets/reps till the cows come home, you’ll not be stimuating enough damage to your money motor units (IIA,IIB)and at best you’ll get a very small amount of sacroplasmic growth.
What’s it all mean?
1.Keep a set rep volume of about 25-60 reps per bodypart per session if you train full body 2-3x per week. Toward the upper end for 2x per week, toward the mid/lower end for 3x per week.
2.Use a large enough load to create degradation of the IIA and IIB fibers (70-85% 1RM or about 12-14rm down to 4-5rm). You should train in this frame for about 2/3 to 3/4 of your sessions. You can then do high rep active recovey stuff on off days, or speed stuff once a week or even a low volume strength session once a week. That will be dependent upon your nutrition and recovery abilities.
The weight used (intensity) is direcly proportional to the amount of damage/degradation of protein that occurs BUT you must keep this process up for a decent volume or you’ll have a big spike of stimulation but no actualization of growth due to a blunted volume. Heavy weights can’t be lifted for a big volume. That’s a fact of life.
Think of it this way: You’re a thief. You’re trying to get as much out of your neighbor’s house as you can before the fuzz shows up. Do you:
A) Try to carry everything all at once in a concentrated effort? (corresponds to a heavy load and low volume)
B) Try to take thing one at a time and spend all night doing it? (corresponds to a light load and high volume)
C) Optimize the above by taking as much as you can comfortably handle (don’t want to drop something and alert the victims AND you don’t want to break your newly acquired goodies)and do this for as long as necessary to get the payload? (corresponds to moderately heavy weights with a moderately high volume)
That’s why you see Waterbury’s set/rep Bible written as such. Through decades of research and experimentation, it’s been found that moderately heavy weights done for moderatly high volumes will give the best growth. In order to accomplish this volume while using the necessary magnitude of loading, you avoid failure until the very end IF at all.
This has the added benefit of allowing you the greatest frequency of training too. You don’t overwhelm your body at a given training session, you stimluate it and then can rapidly recuperate to do it again. Over time, your frequency will increase and so will your exposure to the growth stimlulus and you’ll be bigger/stronger.
DH[quote]Tiribulus wrote:
Disc Hoss wrote:
Trib,
With a workout effort like that you’ve got to try about 20-30g of BCAA powder during a workout. I am utterly amazed at how I am never sore anymore. One day I missed the BCAA, last Saturday to be exact, and despite the plentiful CHO I felt like a truck hit me for two days after my workout. BCAA rock. I take powder and mix it with some Diet Rockstar or crystal light. It doesn’t mix worth a crap but the taste is very tolerable. Plus the taurine in the drink really elevates my mood.
Best,
DH
Yeah huh? You really do seem to believe in those branched chain aminos. I’m going to be doing some ordering soon and I’ll grab a bottle or jug as 20-30 grams will be a lot easier to consume in powder form. You were saying that concentric failure may be counterproductive and load figured into volume is key. That is an article I’d like to see. A quick whirl around the brain gives me an idea of what you’re saying. In a nuthshell 4 sets of one rep each at 95% of 1 rep max stimulates more action than 1 set of 4 reps done to failure at whatever percentage of one rep max that turns out to be? That because, simply put, you’re moving more weight over the same amount of work. Is this where you’re going? If so I never thought of it like that before.
Thanks,
–Tiribulus->
[/quote]
and thought i would give this a try, the only thing that i fear is the carb ups as i was told not to eat large amounts of fats and CHO togetherm/the same time.