Depends on the goal. They are great for hamstrings but much less of a ‘whole body’ movement than traditional deadlifts. I believe strength for all trainees is limited in RDL compared to Deadlift.
That may be the wrong kind of ‘intense’ but I’m proud of you for pushing yourself that hard regardless. I’ve been there, and still get there on some leg days. Still, this is very mentally taxing and could be counterproductive if you start disliking your training as a result.
Intensity = proximity to rep failure (cannot complete another rep)
The closer you are to failure, the more productive the reps are.
How much rest are you giving yourself between working sets? You may want to give yourself more time if it means you could perform better.
Well, i go for utter failure. Those two failed reps are the most important and beneficial ones.
RE malnourishment… if you’re eating very poorly, that will always play a role. I’m on a very low carb budget so i move all my daily carb allowance to pre-workout. That tends to help, if you’re that dialed in but it’s also overkill for most.
Intra workout nutrition tends to help a lot. You could use Biotest Surge, which I like, but if you want to save money - just use a gatorade and some salt (doesnt have to be mixed, could also be tablets).
Just pull the carbs from another meal to facilitate.
Full Body i would still have you do a top set and backdown set, both to failure. But i would have you do less exercises. I could write this out for you if you want. This is demanding on recovery so if recovery factors arent great, this may not be a good option.
For clarity:
Full body = 3x stimulus every muscle every week (best)
Upper-Lower = 1.5x stimulus every muscle every week (runner up)
Push-Pull = 1.5x stimulus every muscle every week (runner up)
note how Upper-Lower and Push-Pull have same weekly stimulus. Either could be used with no difference in effect. it’s up to you which one you’d want to do.
PPL = 1x stimulus every muscle every week (okay)
Bro split = .75x stimulus every muscle every week (poor)
These are listed from best to worst, but just because full body is best in stimulus does not mean it is best if your recovery is not able to manage it.
I still run PPL because my sleep is trash, I’m in a harsh deficit, and I’m under a lot of stress. I trained legs on Monday and I’m supposed to train them again tomorrow, but knowing if I’m actually going to be recovered enough to perform well.
Let me know if anything here doesnt make sense, i know i put a lot in here.
