I wish I would have had a better understanding of how to keep progressing. Instead of getting to a weight that I stall out at and staying there until I burn out or get a minor injury, drop back to a lower percentage and then cruise past that previous point. 2 steps forward, 1 step back. But keep at it.
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Yeah man - I hear you.
I think we may have been starting from different backgrounds with different goals. I was a fat, alcoholic bastard with general goals who wanted to be healthier and look better naked. Competing in bodybuilding or strength competitions was never really a motivation for me when it comes to training.
My goals have become more specific, but I wasted a lot of time on isolation movements and poorly programmed cardio which didn’t do much for me when I first started. Once I started becoming more intelligent about compound exercise and when and how to cardio, I started making much better progress. Honestly, when I first started I didn’t even know what a deadlift really was.
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I used to do heavy arm work but it seemed to only be of benefit when on a heavy cycle somehow…if not on cycle the heavy stuff would feel like over training, even if volume was super low.
To be honest I suspect the light more frequent stuff is doing something completely unrelated to the traditional white fiber treatment we usually go for… I have no idea what it is - maybe it’s genetic and different fibre mix in the area or it could be something else entirely - beats me = )
My sister is a professional dancer and she recently had a birthday gathering with at least a dozen of her work friends (lucky me, right?) and you should have seen the wheels on these women… they had the most insanely developed and cut up legs I’ve ever seen. They looked nuts from all angles - if they made an appearance at a hardcore gym wearing hoodies and tiny shorts everyone’s jaws would drop 
My point is that there’s still a lot of unexplained phenomena when it comes to the human body… these girls don’t do any weight training whatsoever yet look a ton crazier than girls who squat and lunge their asses off and follow a bodybuilding diet
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Wish I had started serious deadlifting before I turned 40.
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I wish I’d never deadlifted ever
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Conditioning work is something I’m coming to appreciate more and more now. Not only does it improve your:
-Health
-Productivity
-Success in all other life areas due to increased energy
But it also help you to stay lean. I find that it offers dietary freedom, meaning that you can eat so much more whilst still leaning out. I think most guys are just terrified of it “Burning their gains”.
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That’s weird
YOU’RE weird!
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Lol!!
I wish I was at that party with Chalk.
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Train for strength, the body will follow.
Be patient.
Did some loose pinwheel curls with 100’s for a bet. As you can tell by my incredible arm development, weight is all that matters.
i knew it… 
I don’t think there’s any mystery there. Bodyweight resistance is still resistance, and time under tension is time under tension. And you get a shit load of total time under tension in technique class. Some people will tell you to lock your abs as soon as you get into the studio and not release until you get out.
Also, jumps. (And floorwork if they work in styles that do floorwork. That shit will fuck your obliques right up.)
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Good points, although we can speculate after the fact on anything and find a theory to prove why something works or doesn’t
Given the girl’s full time job of being under load, I’d personally think that they should be overtrained, but they obviously aren’t - and given their shitty diets of subway sandwiches and toast and coffee for breakfast most people here would say that their protein intake is woefully inadequate, yet their development is far superior to just about any serious female trainer I’ve come across. Seriously, I can’t imagine what these girls might look like with 1g/lb protein and some anavar
I remember thinking to myself that it had to be a case of crazy genetics, but given the sheer number of girls you’d think that at least one of them wouldn’t have looked the way they did, I mean every one of them had crazy flared cut up calves…
If the secret to insane legs is 6 hours daily of time under tension (and fuck maybe it really is looking at these girls) then we have all been mislead
Yeah, but behind each of those girls are 100 others with blown out knees, ankles, and backs etc. Just like with any pro level performer- for every guy in the NFL there are a thousand that wanted to be and didn’t have the skill or couldn’t adapt in what ever way was required by the culling process.
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I think it’s hours, weeks, months, and years of training. My niece is only 10 and does the stupid competitive cheer thing here in the Midwest. Although I hate that crap it has definitely helped her development. She’s muscular, strong, and already looks like a solid athlete. There’s no doubt in my mind that the training, both choreography and lifting other girls, is building her physique the same way I try to build mine in the weight room.
You are dead right! My niece has already suffered two injuries that make me cringe. The first was a broken wrist from tumbling (not the worst thing in the world). The second was a pretty significant strain to a muscle in her back, possibly her erector spinae. Don’t like seeing that.
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That may or may not be true - I guess we’re just chewing the fat on physiological response to various types of training stimulus
Back to the arm thing, I’d say that it’s one body part that stands out for funky training styles vs results. I see plenty of guys lacking arm development doing heavy work and plenty of guys with big arms doing lighter stuff - of course it’s not always set in stone though.
Funny how everyone wants a big bench though = )
I knew a ton of gymnasts and dancers in HS. The one in particular was really talented and performed professionally at 16&17 years old, but the injuries racked up pretty quickly. By early 20’s she was done, and by mid 30’s she squeaked and popped like an old floor.
Yeah. This is just shootin the shit for me. I’m not too scientifical.
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CT has recently cited a research study that showed that going to failure at 30 reps stimulated the same amount of hypertrophy as hitting failure at 6-8 reps. The key is failure. Obviously it takes longer if you’re going to 30 reps and the lower rep group had more strength gains. I favor getting things done faster and also like strength so I stick with the lower range, but both can be effective.