CT -What type of layers are appropriate for a type 2b? Thanks again.
1- Ramp to 5RM
2- Rest/pause with 90% of 5RM (max reps/rest 15 sec/max reps = 1 set) for 2-3 sets
3 - Slow eccentric (6010 tempo) with 70% of 5RM for max reps , 1-2 sets
4- Superslow reps (5050 tempo) with 50% of 5RM for max reps , 1-2 sets
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Thanks very much. I will try this for a 3 weeks until my next work trip. I burn out doing any kind of ramping for more than a few weeks.
Curoius how do you burn out with “ramping”?
I would describe it as a neurological / CNS thing… it is too exciting to my system. I love the way it feels during the (a.m.) sessions, but I crash hard a few hours later and can feel terrible.
Fairly simple to explain from a neurological standpoint.
Ok, we have excitory and inhibitory neurotransmitters.
Dopamine and nor-adrenaline/adrenaline are excitory, they speed up the nervous system, get the neurons firing faster.
GABA and serotonine are inhibitory, they calm down the nervous system, slow down the neuron firing rate.
When you are training you will increase neural activation/excitation via a release of dropamine and/or adrenaline. The more force you have to produce (speed or strength), the more excited the nervous system gets… that’s what I often call activation or potentiation.
Ramping works so well because it ramps up neural excitation/activation. And at the end of the ramp, especially ramping to a 1 or 2RM your nervous system is firing on all cylinders.
It will make a Type 1 (1A and 1B) and Type 2 (2A and 2B) feel good because their brains are respectively super sensitive to dopamine and adrenaline.
HOWEVER after the workout is over you must bring the CNS down. At the end of the session you are still having those neurons firing super fast. If they keep firing at that rate it causes a lot more CNS fatigue (brain working in overdrive can lead to dopamine or adrenaline depletion, which is what CNS fatigue really is) and it keeps you in sympathetic/fight or flight, mode which comes with an elevated cortisol level.
Now, if you suck at calming your brain down after the session your CNS might stay revved up for hours, which will create CNS fatigue a lot faster and will delay recovery by keeping cortisol elevated.
If you are efficient at calming down the CNS after an intense workout you will have much less chance of causing CNS fatigue and wont keep cortisol elevated.
Those who can easily calm their brain down after it’s been overactivated have a high level of serotonine and/or GABA (they are inhibitory neurotransmitters). These guys can do neurologically intense work a lot more frequently because they recover super fast from it.
Those with lower levels of serotonine and/or GABA will crash much more easily and get what we call CNS fatigue because they are incapable of calming their brain down quickly after a session and it keeps functioning on all cylinders and also keeps cortisol elevated.
Types 1A and 1B have higher levels of serotonine and/or GABA and can easily calm their brain down. That’s why they are naturally suited for heavy work and can lift heavy very often. Type 2B have low serotonine/GABA and as such they have a very hard time calming their brain down and can easily suffer from CNS fatigue. Type 2A are an in-between. They tend to have a moderate level of inhibitory neurotransmitters. So under normal circumstances they recover fairly rapidly from a neurological session. But when they are under lots of stress their inhibitory neurotransmitters can easily become low or even depleted, in which case they will have a hard time recovering from neurologically intense work.
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Yep, typical dopamine depletion from overexcitation. Also likely indicates low serotonine. Serotonine brings you down, but toward an optimal level for the task you have to do. GABA simply brings you down and can bring you down too low and you will feel unmotivated, lethargic, lazy and will want to binge on carbs.
Are there any pre or post workout strategies when a 2b who may be low in seratonin uses layers to help bring down the CNS in a better way?
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Bullseye! I’m a sugar fiend when I feel like that.
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I’m never wrong. It freak some people out during seminars sometimes.
Having carbs pre and during workout is the best approach, PLAZMA is great because the highly branched cyclic dextrins (type of carbs) are VERY rapidly shuttled to the muscles but have a low insulin response.
Post-workout I like to have a 2B use 5-10g of glycine, 250mg of 5HTP and vitamin B6. 5HTP will increase serotonine (but need vitamin B6 to do it), glycine is a neural inhibitor: it does wat serotonine is supposed to do. So while you are working on increasing serotonine you will get the same effect from glycine.
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Thanks very much I’ll try that approach.
Back to the original question re: layers for a 2b. Would you recommend that same layer for seal rows with a swissbar? Or are the back muscles better hit by higher reps?
No it’s fine to do the seal row that way
Outside the suplements, what else can one do to calm down CNS after training?
I do few stretches + mindfullness meditation laying, but I think I need something more.
Awesome Ct, that’s exactly what happens. I’m 2B, and when I do the layering system at the end of the training I’m done.
Could I replace 5HTP with tyrosine? And add to theanine?
Are there any recommendations as far as exercise selection for this?
In the past you have recommended
Bench press + lat work
Squat
Satch grip high pull + Preacher curl
Incline bench
As a 4 day template. Is this true for 2b’s as well or do you have a better setup?
Dude, they don’t even target the same neurotransmitter! Tyrosine increases dopamine, not serotonine… the tyrosine post-workout would make things worse by increase activation even more at the end of the session
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CT - Do you think this type of layer could be used (effectively) for a unilateral based leg day, such as Bulgarian split squats? I’ve always been a fan of them and get a hypertrophic effect,
I don’t like layers at all with unilateral movements. I’m not saying it won’t work, and you are welcome to try them. But it’s not something that I would do.
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