[quote]patrickk wrote:
Stength4life wrote:
Oh he’s TO COOL FOR US. I see how it is. Should I replace him?
You need to add about 100 lbs…[/quote]
Yup,one day though. 3500 kcalX 100= me in the near future.
I know this is really old but I am just now getting through the whole thread.
Do you train forearms directly?
[quote]Professor X wrote:
I move to my next set when I am rested enough to hit that weight again. I don’t time myself and don’t use any other gauge than whether I feel I can lift that much again with everything I have.
Why would someone do it any other way?
[/quote]
when would you be doing 2 sets with the same weight? I thought you explained that you ramped up to one all out set or did I misunderstand?
[quote]Professor X wrote:
My upper chest grew in strength rapidly when I switched to training like that. I was originally doing 3-4 sets on the HS incline, 2-3 sets on the smith machine incline press and 2 sets of dumbbells presses.
I can honestly say it was the best move I made as far as chest development next to ignoring people who act like all machines should be avoided.[/quote]
those were pyramided too right? so really it was about 3-4 heavy work sets?
[quote]Professor X wrote:
What set range has been the most beneficial on yourself for hypertrophy?
Thanks in advance.
3-5 sets. This varies greatly depending on how I feel, how much I ate and several other factors. It is never less than three unless I am just warming up.
[/quote]
Is that per exercise? If so, That includes the easier sets pyramiding up to the hardest 1-2 worksets right?
[quote]Professor X wrote:
For legs I do A LOT more sets than I used to…but again, much of this comes from trying to prevent injury and knowing what works for me.[/quote]
again most of these increased number of sets are mainly for “warming up”/getting ready for that last 1-2 sets right?
Thanks a lot
[quote]SteelyD wrote:
PX -
Getting back on track–
How’s the diet-down going? At least the last I read you started / were-considering dieting down some.
- How have you changed your diet
- How is your strength
- How are you holding your size (ie arm/leg size)?[/quote]
I was holding my weight for the past few months. The only big changes in my diet lately has simply been the addition of a hell of a lot of steak and a decrease in my carbohydrate intake. I was trying to see if I could achieve some level of body comp change without changing my body weight much…because I like being this size.
My strength has increased slightly.
Yes, I am holding my size. I am adding two cardio sessions in and attempting to keep my food intake exactly where it is just to see what happens. I am avoiding doing what I’ve done in the past when I have dropped my caloric intake really low.
In years past, I had to drop weight every year in the military for the pt test. That meant I held onto less muscle than I could if I held my heaviest weight for longer periods of time. Now I get to see if holding that weight for longer makes a difference. From what I can tell, it makes a HUGE difference.
[quote]pumped340 wrote:
I know this is really old but I am just now getting through the whole thread.
Do you train forearms directly?
[/quote]
Nope. They always had some size to them and they seemed to grow along with my biceps considering I always went fairly heavy.
I do ramp up in weight. I may sometimes do some burn out sets on another exercise as my last movement and in that case may keep the weight the same. There are no “always do this or always do that” rules as far as this concerned.
[quote]
Professor X wrote:
My upper chest grew in strength rapidly when I switched to training like that. I was originally doing 3-4 sets on the HS incline, 2-3 sets on the smith machine incline press and 2 sets of dumbbells presses.
I can honestly say it was the best move I made as far as chest development next to ignoring people who act like all machines should be avoided.
those were pyramided too right? so really it was about 3-4 heavy work sets?[/quote]
Yes, I pyramid up in weight for all movements except for what was stated above.
[quote]
Is that per exercise? If so, That includes the easier sets pyramiding up to the hardest 1-2 worksets right?[/quote]
Yes.
Yes.
[quote]Professor X wrote:
pumped340 wrote:
I know this is really old but I am just now getting through the whole thread.
Do you train forearms directly?
Nope. They always had some size to them and they seemed to grow along with my biceps considering I always went fairly heavy.
when would you be doing 2 sets with the same weight? I thought you explained that you ramped up to one all out set or did I misunderstand?
I do ramp up in weight. I may sometimes do some burn out sets on another exercise as my last movement and in that case may keep the weight the same. There are no “always do this or always do that” rules as far as this concerned.
Professor X wrote:
My upper chest grew in strength rapidly when I switched to training like that. I was originally doing 3-4 sets on the HS incline, 2-3 sets on the smith machine incline press and 2 sets of dumbbells presses.
I can honestly say it was the best move I made as far as chest development next to ignoring people who act like all machines should be avoided.
those were pyramided too right? so really it was about 3-4 heavy work sets?
Yes, I pyramid up in weight for all movements except for what was stated above.
Is that per exercise? If so, That includes the easier sets pyramiding up to the hardest 1-2 worksets right?
Yes.
Professor X wrote:
For legs I do A LOT more sets than I used to…but again, much of this comes from trying to prevent injury and knowing what works for me.
again most of these increased number of sets are mainly for “warming up”/getting ready for that last 1-2 sets right?
Thanks a lot
Yes.[/quote]
In general, how many reps do you do on the first sets? And on the last set, how many reps do you try to do?
I have watched some of Ronnie Coleman’s videos and seems to be the way he trains too.
[quote]hit the gym wrote:
Yes.
In general, how many reps do you do on the first sets? And on the last set, how many reps do you try to do?
I have watched some of Ronnie Coleman’s videos and seems to be the way he trains too.[/quote]
Watch some more BB vids and you’ll find that that’s the way 98 percent of big bodybuilders train.
[quote]Cephalic_Carnage wrote:
hit the gym wrote:
Yes.
In general, how many reps do you do on the first sets? And on the last set, how many reps do you try to do?
I have watched some of Ronnie Coleman’s videos and seems to be the way he trains too.
Watch some more BB vids and you’ll find that that’s the way 98 percent of big bodybuilders train.
[/quote]
What…you mean insanely heavy?
Nonsense, we all know bodybuilders arent strong. They have all of that nonfunctional hypertrophy.
[quote]Cephalic_Carnage wrote:
hit the gym wrote:
Yes.
In general, how many reps do you do on the first sets? And on the last set, how many reps do you try to do?
I have watched some of Ronnie Coleman’s videos and seems to be the way he trains too.
Watch some more BB vids and you’ll find that that’s the way 98 percent of big bodybuilders train.
[/quote]
I’ll try to read more on it and base my new program on this method. Any advice, links?
Was planing on starting a new training program next week anyways. I’ve done the same thing, 1 warmup set and 3 heavy sets of 6 reps (for most exercises), for a few months now.
[quote]hit the gym wrote:
In general, how many reps do you do on the first sets? And on the last set, how many reps do you try to do?
I have watched some of Ronnie Coleman’s videos and seems to be the way he trains too.[/quote]
I usually do about 10-12 reps, but honestly, I have actually begun to stop counting reps. If I am really in the zone, I won’t count them at all…especially if I have my music playing in my ears.
I couldn’t understand how bodybuilders could avoid counting sets when I was just starting but I get it now. Once you make this a large part of your life, you have been doing this long enough that you know by feel when you need to stop. Things like this are something you simply won’t fully understand until you reach that level yourself.
Most really big/strong guys pyramid up in weight. It makes little sense (and promotes injury) to use the same weight especially if you are trying to go extremely heavy.
thanks
[quote]Professor X wrote:
I couldn’t understand how bodybuilders could avoid counting sets when I was just starting but I get it now.[/quote]
Did you mean reps?
[quote]hit the gym wrote:
Cephalic_Carnage wrote:
hit the gym wrote:
Yes.
In general, how many reps do you do on the first sets? And on the last set, how many reps do you try to do?
I have watched some of Ronnie Coleman’s videos and seems to be the way he trains too.
Watch some more BB vids and you’ll find that that’s the way 98 percent of big bodybuilders train.
I’ll try to read more on it and base my new program on this method. Any advice, links?
Was planing on starting a new training program next week anyways. I’ve done the same thing, 1 warmup set and 3 heavy sets of 6 reps (for most exercises), for a few months now.[/quote]
Very little is written on how successful bodybuilders actually train nowadays.
Most articles and books don’t go into the ramping part etc… Or even pretend like everyone just does 4 sets of 12 at the same weight or something like that.
If you have questions, you’re better off seeking out actual bodybuilders and asking them directly, as you are doing in this very thread.
[quote]hit the gym wrote:
Professor X wrote:
I couldn’t understand how bodybuilders could avoid counting sets when I was just starting but I get it now.
Did you mean reps?[/quote]
Yes.
You know not to be a smart ass or anything but I think it’s the same with most things that you do in life. When you are a newbie, because you have little experience, you try to do everything ‘perfectly’ and by the book. But when you do it for long enough, it just comes automatically and from repetition you know how far to push it.
I would think that it was, for example, the same when you were just starting to become a dentist. Like when you operate on someone’s mouth it is far more automatic and you go more by ‘feel’ (to an extent, obviously) than when you were just starting out.
And you were learning as much as possible from the people who were more experienced than you.
I find it strange how it seems to be ‘trendy’ for smartasses to rattle on people who have actually gotten them big and claim they ‘did it wrong’ andthat we need to reinvent the wheel. I am sure people wouldn’t even bother laughing at someone if they pulled the same thing in the aforementioned medical industry.
[quote]Der Candy wrote:
You know not to be a smart ass or anything but I think it’s the same with most things that you do in life. When you are a newbie, because you have little experience, you try to do everything ‘perfectly’ and by the book. But when you do it for long enough, it just comes automatically and from repetition you know how far to push it.
I would think that it was, for example, the same when you were just starting to become a dentist. Like when you operate on someone’s mouth it is far more automatic and you go more by ‘feel’ (to an extent, obviously) than when you were just starting out.
And you were learning as much as possible from the people who were more experienced than you.
I find it strange how it seems to be ‘trendy’ for smartasses to rattle on people who have actually gotten them big and claim they ‘did it wrong’ andthat we need to reinvent the wheel. I am sure people wouldn’t even bother laughing at someone if they pulled the same thing in the aforementioned medical industry.[/quote]
Yeah, we don’t exactly hear, “Oh, what does he know? Sure he’s a doctor but he was probably just BORN SMART and breezed through school! The best person to ask is someone who dropped out of school because they couldn’t handle the work load!!! Damned GENETICS!”.
[quote]Professor X wrote:
I usually do about 10-12 reps, but honestly, I have actually begun to stop counting reps. If I am really in the zone, I won’t count them at all…especially if I have my music playing in my ears.
I couldn’t understand how bodybuilders could avoid counting sets when I was just starting but I get it now. Once you make this a large part of your life, you have been doing this long enough that you know by feel when you need to stop. Things like this are something you simply won’t fully understand until you reach that level yourself.
Most really big/strong guys pyramid up in weight. It makes little sense (and promotes injury) to use the same weight especially if you are trying to go extremely heavy.[/quote]
Very informative. I’m hearing more and more about that whole pyramiding/ramping up to a last 1-2 sets way of training.
As far as counting reps, your right. Starting out and even now I can’t imagine not counting them because its completely how I gauge progress and I’d have so many questions but I remember Jay Cutler saying that in his movie/video too that he doesn’t count them.
[quote]Cephalic_Carnage wrote:
Very little is written on how successful bodybuilders actually train nowadays.
Most articles and books don’t go into the ramping part etc… Or even pretend like everyone just does 4 sets of 12 at the same weight or something like that.
If you have questions, you’re better off seeking out actual bodybuilders and asking them directly, as you are doing in this very thread.
[/quote]
Yea seriously, I didn’t even think that many people did it until recently (thanks for directing me to this thread by the way). The bodybuilders I’ve talked to do actually do straight sets but they also often do lots of super sets and similar techniques and aren’t the huge ones. (one that comes to mind is Tom Venuto who looks great and most people would kill for his physique but after 20 years and about 5’8 he competes at about 175 which isn’t huge, he stays lean and doesn’t go about around 185 in the off season I think)
Hello X:
So you do 1-2 working sets per bodypart. In case you do 2 working sets, the first wouldn’t be THAT heavy. Aprox, which loading percentage of the second set you use on your first?
[quote]MEYMZ wrote:
Hello X:
So you do 1-2 working sets per bodypart. In case you do 2 working sets, the first wouldn’t be THAT heavy. Aprox, which loading percentage of the second set you use on your first?[/quote]
Why would I waste the time calculating some exact percentage of weight used? I never have and doubtfully ever will. There is simply no reason on earth to make this that complicated unless you are training for the Olympics and something that specific will help you move from 98.2% to 99% in terms of performance.
The weight I use for my first set is the weight that allows me to warm up the muscle efficiently without causing stress to joint or tendons (while also allowing me to get blood into those joints and to also loosen up the tendons and get them ready for heavier weight). That changes and is not the same. There are no calculations. For most chest exercises, I go up by 45lbs plates for the following set. That is simply the standard I set in my own mind as I think that I mentally benefit from seeing a 45lbs plate on the bar as opposed to some smaller plate.
That is strictly because I do believe that your progress is greatly affected by what you THINK you can accomplish.
Therefore, if I plan on going up to five 45lbs plates a side, I may start with 3 plates on that movement and then move up 5 for the last set. I also keep doing that highest weight until I can get it about 10 times. It has simply worked out in the past to meaning that I can go up by another 45lbs at that point and hit that once or twice making that my new max set weight.
wow you can get more reps adding 90lb. total? By the way what do you do when you completely stall on an exercise and reps no longer increase. Do you just switch exercises?
[quote]pumped340 wrote:
wow you can get more reps adding 90lb. total?[/quote]
I’m not sure what you mean here.
[quote]
By the way what do you do when you completely stall on an exercise and reps no longer increase. Do you just switch exercises?[/quote]
Dude, when you have been training for over a decade and have built more size than most people, you don’t expect constant strength increases every time you hit the gym. Not only that, but there are other techniques that allow me to stress the muscle group more than simply adding more weight.
For instance, I max out most machines that I have used at one point or another. Obviously I could see no further progress if WEIGHT alone was the defining factor in progressive muscle growth.
I can stress my biceps more by actually dropping the weight a little yet really squeezing at the top of the movement for a two count. I can also increase the number of overall sets while either keeping rep count the same or also increasing that.
That means I don’t “stall” on a certain weight.
The way someone advanced trains is different than how someone just starting trains.