I am currently a volume oriented program from Dessel (for whose who know him). It is based on changing format of work from weeks to weeks. See below.
2 first weeks, 4x30 per exercise for endurance
followed by 2 in 10x10 with short rests to work on lactic acids
and then 2 weeks of classic 4x8 to stimulate muscle growth
and finally 1 week with a single 6-8 repetition set per exercise. This followed by one week of total rest.
I am about to start the final stage but I have some interrogations. I’m kind of a virgin with single sets, is this type of training really efficient? And which amount of weight would you suggest me to put on for my warm up (before actually doing this set).
My other question concerns the full rest week. In your opinion from how much should I decrease my daily intakes during this time? 200-300kcal?
Thanks in advance for the advices guys,
let me know if i forgot something important.
What amount of weight would you suggest me to put on for my warm up (before actually doing this set).
Should I decrease my daily intakes during the full week of rest?
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Yes. The idea is you expose the muscle/nervous system to the utmost stimulation it can recieve (failure), and then stop before your training becomes detrimental. It’s worked for many professionals and has a reputable track record for amateurs as well.
A set at roughly 50%, a set at roughly 80%, and then your working set. Personal preference will adjust this- experiment.
I would advise against decreasing your caloric intake during the week of rest. Usually rest is prescribed after a period of overreaching to allow full recovery. Not eating enough hampers this, so don’t do it. You want that caloric surplus to rebuild the muscle tissue. If you did your work correctly, the extra food should turn into muscle.
so the single set thing is HIT? dont the hit people usualy add other techniques such as cheat reps, rest pause, negatives and such? also i consider their warm up sets to be actual sets.
not working out for a week would be hard for me.
that endurance thing. i am not saying it is bad, but i would not do it.
i like the idea of different stimulation, but the weight is so light. and what sort of exercises would you be training your endurance with? would you deadlifting an empty bar? that would make me dizzy
Thanks Otep for the suggestions, as usual it comforts me a bit ^.^ (and the other too of course~)
I think I will roughly do one warm up set before going all out. Been sure I always has someone to assist me. It shouldn’t be an issue if I get some help at a point, I’ll still reach failure.
Concerning the week off, I think now that I’ll just stick to my not training day diet for the whole week and see what happens.
Actually, the bar was almost empty yes. But I never suffered like this before. It was kinda funny, everyone looked at me sweating and making noises like I was strugling to survive while having this amount of weight. It was a good experience.
[Off-topic’s main subject: like said before I am going out from a dry out recently and have being increasing my intakes until now. I am now at +600gram over the past 12 days, as my objective is as lean muscle gain as possible, do you think this is all right, or should I aim a bit higher?]
[quote]AlexD wrote:
[Off-topic’s main subject: like said before I am going out from a dry out recently and have being increasing my intakes until now. I am now at +600gram over the past 12 days, as my objective is as lean muscle gain as possible, do you think this is all right, or should I aim a bit higher?]
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This looks like a question, but I can’t understand it. Can you clarify the words that are bolded?
The way I’m reading it, you just finished a competition, boosted your daily calories, and gained a pound in twelve days. At which point you should already know the answer to your question because you’re competing.
My mistake, I may have used words which made you think I was professional, which I am not ^^’ (but I lost around 17kilos over the past 4.5-5 month while keeping most of my muscle mass, and ended up below around 10% bf). English’s not my first language, this explains misinterpretation.
I was just wondering if +2pounds a month was, in your opinion, a good rhythm to gain weight again (making sure most of it is muscle).
Yes it can be very effective, just make sure you really squeeze out every last rep. No matter the pain ask yourself could I do one more rep with a gun to my head!
Spend 5 mins before the workout psyching yourself up.
A double espresso or a Spike tablet before is a good idea.
I did my first training today. Well it was pretty much a success except on the bench press where my assistant helped me a bit too much (I had to do a second set to make this really usefull).
Other than this I went up a scale on everything. I am really glad (for the curl and the deadlift especially), even though I don’t feel much pain right now (training + 2.30hours).