Training
Practical experience often beats scientific research. There are a whole range of training and nutrition theories that have not yet been scientifically proven, but have been tried and tested in practice. Here are some of them:
People who only train two or three times a week don't need a regular scheduled de-loading week every few months if they prefer not to use them
Even if they train hard, they still rest for more than half the week. Even if they do intense recreational activities on the "non-training days", they still get enough recovery time. The only thing that can hinder their recovery is poor eating or sleeping habits - but even a regular off-load week probably wouldn't change much.
Figure class female athletes and male bodybuilders respond well to high volume strength-endurance complexes commonly used by endurance athletes
You can't target specific areas of the body with specific exercises to lose fat, but you can target specific areas to improve their visual appearance. And many competitive athletes say that the high-volume phase during which they used complexes for the legs made their legs look better than any other training protocol.
For male competitive bodybuilders, it was high-volume upper body complexes - primarily push-up complexes - that brought out their chest and shoulders better than any other training protocol.
We know that high-volume training works for hypertrophy. However, these complexes are unique in that they not only include high volume, but also include explosive exercises like plyometric push-ups or squat jumps.
How high is the volume? In the range of 70 to 80 repetitions per set for a few exercises for the same muscle group, performed one right after the other without rest.
However, you should keep the following in mind: Explosive training using momentum is not usually what is recommended for bodybuilders and figure athletes because it does not keep the working muscles under continuous mechanical tension.
Perhaps it is simply the challenge to the body and the fact that the repetitions are performed quickly as complexes use light weights that lead to a crazy pump.
All I know is that these types of complexes are most commonly used by male and female competitive athletes during the final 4 to 8 week training phase before competition.
Eat a little more on non-training days... or at least as much as on training days
An old nutrition dictum is "Eat for what you're going to do." Here's another one along those lines: "Eat less carbs on your non-training days because you won't be using as much energy and don't need extra carbs for your training."
Well, I don't think this is true for hard training athletes and bodybuilders. I started to suspect this when I listened more to my body and paid attention to the messages it was sending me.
The message my body sent me on the first non-training day after four training days in a row was "Hey, you could use a really big bowl of carb-rich oatmeal right now."
This goes against the rule we've always followed...but does it really?
Eat for what you're going to do? Well, if you're training hard consistently, then what you'll be doing on non-training days is growing and recovering. And for this, your body needs energy and nutrients - yes, even carbohydrates.
Although it hasn't been scientifically proven yet, I think the idea of eating less on non-training days will go the way of squats on a Swiss Ball.
Here are a few caveats:
- If you're in a fat loss phase, you're going to be a little hungry. But don't cut your calories even further on non-workout days just because you're not exercising.
- Don't use this as an excuse to stuff yourself with whatever you feel like. Eating more - or as much - on non-training days as you do on training days doesn't mean you should bathe in soft ice cream. It just means that you should listen to your body and give it what it needs.
For slightly advanced and more advanced exercisers, when it comes to getting stronger, it's better to change the weight from set to set, rather than doing all work sets with the same weight and number of reps
Here are three examples:
Waves
A wave usually consists of three sets and usually two waves are performed within a training session. The first wave is more conservative, in the 8 out of 10 range on the perceived exhaustion scale (meaning the set is completed one to two reps before reaching muscle failure), while the second wave is pushed to the limit (or close to it).
Weight and repetitions also change within a wave. The repetitions decrease from set to set and the weight increases. Here is an example.
Wave 1:
- Work set 1: 3 reps with 200 pounds
- Work set 2: 2 repetitions with 210 pounds
- Work set 3: 1 repetition with 220 pounds
Wave 2:
- Work set 4: 3 repetitions with 210 pounds
- Work set 5: 2 repetitions with 220 pounds
- Work set 6: 1 repetition with 230 pounds
My three favorite load patterns are 3/2/1 waves, 5/3/1 waves, and 6/4/2 waves.
Pyramid training with low reps
For strength, this is one of my favorite training techniques. You perform 4 to 6 work sets. With each set you reduce the reps and increase the weight.
Here is an example:
- Work set 1:5 reps with 200 pounds
- Work set 2:4 repetitions with 210 pounds
- Work set 3:3 repetitions with 220 pounds
- Work set 4:2 repetitions with 230 pounds
- Work set 5:1 repetitions with 240 pounds
Double pyramid
I like this approach better than waves when the goal is to build muscle mass and strength (while waves are superior when the goal is primarily strength).
This approach is very similar to training with waves in that you perform two sets of three sets, changing the weight and reps. The first group of sets is like a wave: the weight goes up and the reps go down. The second group of sets, however, does the opposite.
The whole thing looks like this:
- Work set 1:6 reps with 160 pounds
- Work set 2:4 repetitions with 180 pounds
- Work set 3:2 repetitions with 200 pounds
- Work set 4:2 repetitions with 210 pounds
- Work set 5:4 repetitions with 190 pounds
- Work set 6:6 reps with 170 pounds
Similar to waves, the second set of sets should be performed with slightly more weight.
My favorite variations of a double pyramid are the following:
- For maximum muscle mass: 10-8-6-6-8-10
- For strength and mass: 8-6-4-4-6-8 and 6-4-2-2-4-6
- For maximum strength: 5-3-1-1-3-5 and 3-2-1-1-2-3
Why does this work? I could now try to convince you to use the post-tetanic exponentiation argument: If you need to produce near-maximal (or maximum) force, then you excite your nervous system, which further increases your potential to produce force. Provided you don't produce too much fatigue, you will get stronger from set to set.
The problem is that this is not limited to the schemes mentioned above. And if I do 5 sets of 3 reps, I get pretty much the same potentiation as a wave, a pyramid or a double pyramid.
Sure, physiologically and neurologically there is probably no real difference between straight sets, waves, a pyramid or a double pyramid.
The biggest advantage of the uneven load schemes is that they are more stimulating to the nervous system and are also more motivating and satisfying. Using a different load from set to set and using different amounts of repetitions is less boring than always doing the same work for 3 to 6 sets in a row.
Certainly this is not for everyone. Some like things to be repetitive and easy. However, the majority of exercisers I've worked with have gotten better results with uneven load patterns.
Cyclical dieting can work better than continuous calorie restriction
If you look at scientific research on weight loss, the whole disaster of these efforts becomes apparent: the rate of failure is around 95%. And 66% get fatter.
For this reason, I began to pay more attention to cyclical dieting, where calorie intake is reduced for only a certain period of time, followed by a break from this calorie restriction. This usually works quite well. Not perfectly, but often much better than classic diet approaches. Over time, I have refined things a little further and have finally arrived at five different metabolic scenarios that can be observed:
- Modifications to diet and exercise... eat less, exercise more: the dieter's model
- Modifying diet and exercise in the opposite direction: the sedentary model
- Using food alone to generate a calorie deficit... eat less, exercise less: the hunter-gatherer model
- Using exercise alone to generate a calorie deficit... eat more, exercise more: the athlete model
- An isocaloric state... eat some and exercise some
We now know that the metabolism is not a static, linear, predictable system that reacts to energy intake and energy consumption like a simple computer. It is much more an adaptive and reactive system that adjusts and reduces its energy expenditure based on the size of the calorie deficit.
For this reason, I believe that a cyclical approach will prove more effective than sustained calorie restriction.
Use a more relaxed "zen" approach when working with the foam roller
Spending the last 20 minutes of your training session working with a foam roller isn't exactly the best use of your time, but 5 quick minutes should be enough to get the job done. The usual n=10 study may not agree with this, but numerous trainers with thousands of hours of first-hand experience will.
If foam rolling is used at the beginning of the workout, it gives you a few minutes to plan and set your training goals. You will be in a much better frame of mind, which will lead to a more productive training session.
Used at the end of your training session, Foam Rolling can help you take that feeling of revved up 'training mode' home with you. Taking a few minutes to switch to a more parasympathetic state will help you approach the rest of the day in a better frame of mind. For those who are always on 180, something like this can work wonders.
We don't know much about foam rolling in terms of the science behind it. But we do know that any effects are probably related to the stimulation of certain receptors in the muscles and/or fascia. Because of the way these receptors work, some foam rolling shouldn't do any harm.
The "no pain, no gain" approach will most likely overstimulate the nervous system, making you more sensitive and tense. And there is a fine red line between a gentle approach and an assault with a foam roller.
We don't need rest days
We need recovery. Recovery is just as important as the training itself. We just don't need a whole day of it during which we do nothing physical. How fragile and incapable are we to need a whole day without any effort? Tell that to a farmer. Daily resistance training is safe and effective. You can work out every day if you get the 7 to 9 hours of sleep a night that you need. Not many people do this. You also need to meet your protein and calorie needs every day.
No, seven days a week is not for recreational athletes - it's for serious exercisers who want to get everything out of their training. We are constantly told that we should rest one day a week. But where does this statement actually come from? It is a dogma that is always passed on. If you can't cope with one physically demanding hour a day, then something is going wrong - and it takes time to get used to and adapt to this.
Of course, it would also be nonsense to say that everyone should train seven days a week. Most people don't have the time or the recovery strategies to do this.
But if you want to, you can make it happen. However, make sure you give your muscle groups and joints enough rest, rotate your training sessions, plan unloading phases and do light training days if you need them.
Training every day requires more time - time that many don't have. Many already struggle to train three or four days a week. We're talking about a specific group of dedicated exercisers who want to be in the gym every day. This can be beneficial for the prepared, the driven and the advanced.
If you enjoy working out every day, then you can do so while achieving excellent results. If you use the right recovery strategies, as serious exercisers should, then there is no increased risk of injury, fatigue or diminishing results.
This is not about maximizing training efficiency. It's about channeling all your resources into brutally hard training and recovery. Go weeks or months without missing a training day and make great progress.
Sometimes it's more about planning your training sessions each day with the knowledge that your social life and commitments may get in the way of some of your training sessions. If you schedule four workouts a week and always miss one of them, expect to make progress with three workouts. Plan seven and average six and you'll still be one step ahead of everyone else and see real progress.
You don't have to give yourself a day off if you feel like going to the gym and training hard.
Source: https://www.t-nation.com/opinion/you-cant-prove-that
When a plateau sets in (and it will always happen), most people completely freak out and start to completely change their training and nutrition program without looking for the real reason for the problem: The body's adaptation to what it is faced with. This is exactly what the body does. It adapts to stress and eating habits. Therefore, you need to give your body a reason to overcome this set point. But you don't have to completely freak out to do so.
Fat loss plateau?
Reduce carbohydrates or fats a little for a week or two and monitor your progress. Refrain from changing your entire diet if it has worked for weeks or months.
Training plateau?
Add a few off-load days if you feel drained. If you've done several workouts without making progress, don't overhaul your entire training program right away. Make small changes to create something new for your body to adapt to.
This could be something as simple as a change in repetition range, a change in foot or hand position or the introduction of a new intensity technique. From then on you will be able to evaluate how well this change works for you. If it doesn't work, then simply make another small change.
The lesson
Don't panic when you reach a plateau in fat loss, muscle gain or strength gains. Make small adjustments to a smart, proven program instead of starting from scratch with something completely different.
Tip: Perform this exercise before the bench press
Want to move more weight on the bench with a lower risk of injury? Prepare your pressing muscles for training with a few sets of this
By Dr. John Rusin
Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-do-this-exercise-before-bench-pressing
The best way to start pressure-based training days like a bench press day is to prepare the stabilizing muscles of the shoulders, rotator cuff and lower back for the workout to follow.
The rotator cuff stabilizes the shoulder joint and the jointohumeral joint for maximum centering so that the larger muscles can do their job more effectively. Since many exercisers spend hours sitting bent over with rounded backs, there is usually no need to prepare the anterior cuff and internal rotators of the shoulders for exercise. So we only need to worry about the back of the body.
Pull-aparts with bands (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAxS8C4AgL8) and face pulls (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0ma4r2jqBo) work quite well for this. The key is to train for stable shoulder blades with a dynamic joint-humeral joint, which may be a big challenge for many exercisers, especially those who have been doing heavy pressing for years.
Face pulls on the cable pulley
Face pulls on the cable train both static and dynamic stability of the scapula and glenohumeral joint, making them the perfect exercise. This exercise incorporates more range of motion, making it a more technically challenging exercise - which is exactly what we want when it comes to learning how to position and stabilize the shoulders.
Schedule face pulls with multiple sets and higher reps in the 10-15 range with minimal rest intervals. This will help provide the active joints with the oil they need to function well while ensuring that the primary stabilizers are all active. Perform the movement fluidly. Work towards a pump and feel the muscles working.
Tip: Master your performance
You can learn a lot about life from a strongman competitor - like this important lesson.
By Brian Alsruhe
https://www.t-nation.com/powerful-words/tip-own-your-performance
It's all your fault
Realize that whatever went right and whatever went wrong, it's all your fault. You are blessed to have the choice and the physical and mental capacity to even compete in something like a Strongman competition. Do you have any idea how many people would kill to have the opportunities and gifts that we take for granted every day?
Performing poorly at the yoke can ruin your afternoon. Not being able to go to the toilet under your own steam is much worse. Look at it from the right perspective. There are no victims in strongman competitions ... and very few real victims in real life.
No matter if a promoter changed one of the disciplines at the last minute or if it rained during the push, your performance is still your performance. Blaming others for your lack of preparation or poor performance will not get you far in this sport - or in real life.
Do this instead
When you compete, never put your fate in the hands of the judges. And in everyday life, never put your fate in the hands of other people. If your timekeeper was too slow with the stopwatch at the Farmers Walk, don't blame the referee, take responsibility. Instead of blaming the timekeeper for his lack of attention, look at what you could have done better. If you had moved the equipment faster, then a fraction of a second would not have been the thing that would have set you apart from the competition.
Could you have asked the timekeeper before the run to clarify what exactly he is looking at before he stops the clock? If you had told him what exact time you wanted to beat before you completed your run, do you think he would have been more focused on what was about to take place? Everyone (including judges) likes to see people pushing themselves to new heights.
Which guy will get more positive focus and attention? The guy who is polite and has made it known that he is trying to beat his personal best, or the guy who yells at others and talks about them behind their backs?
The sooner you take responsibility and control of your own performance, the sooner you will find ways to improve next time. Whether you do well in a competition or drop the ball, the blame should always fall on your shoulders. Accept this and you will get better...in competition and in life.
Tip: Do you want to build mass? Then use the omnicontraction method
This is one of the best ways to perform sets for hypertrophy goals. The only downside? Blood will pour out of your eyes.
Christian Thibaudeau
Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-want-size-use-the-omni-contraction-method
The omnicontraction method is a variation of rest-pause training. The goal is to reach the point of contractile muscle failure in all three types of muscle action: concentric (lifting), isometric (holding) and eccentric (lowering). This approach is probably the most powerful hypertrophy stimulation you can achieve. The only downside is that you need a training partner... and that this method is really painful.
Here's a description of what a set of leg curls using this method looks like:
Leg Curls: Omnicontraction Method
Each set consists of three mini sets. The pauses are 10 to 15 seconds long.
- Start with a weight you can perform 8 to 10 clean reps with and go to contractile muscle failure. Then pause for 10 to 15 seconds.
- Move the same weight to the position where you reach maximum tension in the muscles involved (the heaviest point of the exercise). For most exercises, this is the point in the middle of the range of motion. Hold this position while tensing the target muscle as hard as possible until you can no longer hold it and reach isometric muscle failure. Then pause for another 10 to 15 seconds.
- Using the same weight, have a training partner help you perform the concentric (lifting) part of the exercise and perform the eccentric (lowering) phase alone for 4 to 5 seconds. Perform as many repetitions until you can no longer control the weight during the lowering phase of the movement.
Tip: Perform this exercise before your leg workout
Do this exercise before squats - especially if you sit a lot. Your squats will feel great.
By Dr. John Rusin
Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-before-your-leg-workout-do-this-exercise
The posterior chain is the most common weak point for exercisers. We spend hours sitting on our butts, putting pressure on the gluteus and hamstring muscle groups and functionally shortening the anterior structures of the legs, hips and pelvis.
This is the exact reason why you need to prepare your hamstrings and gluteus with specific exercises before performing heavy basic exercises. Preparatory exercises for the posterior muscle chain help lubricate the hip and knee joints while activating stabilizing muscles that play a key role in clean and fluid multi-joint exercises like squats.
Since the hamstrings and gluteus don't get enough attention for their role in stabilizing the hips, pelvis and knees, a "first things first" mentality can make a big difference in your leg day. The preferred exercises for this are leg curls on an exercise ball and hip thrusts.
Leg curls on an exercise ball
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAYtwM95-ug)
Perform this exercise at a slower pace and with a higher number of repetitions. It is not necessarily the exact exercise that is important, but the intention with which you perform these exercises. Pay attention to the mind-muscle connection and train these tissue types with some volume and minimal rest intervals to optimize your lower body workout that day.
Tip: Don't be afraid of neck presses
"But these exercises cause injuries!" Does it do that? Does it really? Here's the part you're missing.
By Christian Thibaudeau
Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-dont-fear-the-behind-the-neck-press
The neck press is one of the best muscle building exercises for the shoulders and was a staple exercise among bodybuilders from the 1950s to the early 1980s. It is the most effective pressing exercise for developing the entire shoulder area. This has been confirmed both in the laboratory and in practice.
Of the three main pressing options - barbell shoulder press in front of the head, neck press and dumbbell shoulder press - neck press shows significantly higher activation in all three shoulder muscle heads. And there is no doubt that the neck press is superior to the classic barbell shoulder press in front of the head (both seated and standing).
When comparing the standing version of the neck press to dumbbell shoulder presses, dumbbell shoulder presses activate more of the anterior muscle heads of the shoulder muscles, but the anterior muscle heads are usually already overstimulated by all the bench pressing we do. And even when comparing the seated version of the neck press and dumbbell shoulder press, the neck press is the clear winner.
What about safety?
A person with normal posture and no problems with shoulder mobility should have no problem performing neck presses in a safe manner. There are only two types of people who will have problems with this:
- Those with a pronounced kyphosis (a rounded upper back and hunched shoulders).
- Those with pre-existing problems with shoulder mobility.
If you are unable to perform neck presses without feeling uncomfortable, then this is a sign that you need to work on the mobility of your shoulders. In fact, neck presses are a good diagnostic tool to see how functional your shoulders are.
It's not the exercise that's your problem. It's the fact that it can exacerbate pre-existing shoulder problems. If you add this exercise to your workout, make sure you don't lack mobility in your shoulders and that you're not suffering from a shoulder injury. Start easy until you find your groove.
Who performs neck presses
The Olympic weightlifter Dmitry Klokov, among others. He performs this exercise in different variations: wide grip, close grip, strict and with some momentum. Many even refer to neck presses with a wide grip as Klokov presses.
Klokov once suffered a serious shoulder injury when he tried to lift 265 to 270 kilos out of the rack during training. After that, he began emphasizing different pressing exercises in his training. If a strength athlete who has suffered a serious shoulder injury can perform neck presses at 150 kilos, it is a sign that this exercise is not inherently dangerous if you have sufficient shoulder mobility.
Ted Arcidi, one of the first to officially bench press 700 pounds, used neck presses as his primary upper body building exercise. He too was able to move heavy weights without compromising the health of his shoulders. Maybe it's time for you to reconsider the neck press.
Tip: The 20 minute bench press & pull-up challenge
Test your bench press and pull-up performance and fitness with this brutal (but smart) challenge
Martin Rooney
Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-20-minute-bench-chin-up-challenge
Want to really test your bench press and pull-up performance? Then try the following. The goal is to complete the entire challenge with 20 unbroken sets. If you need to pause, do so and finish the set.
The criss-cross challenge
The execution:
- Load the bar for the bench press portion of the challenge with your body weight. Perform the pull-ups without additional weight.
- Perform 10 pull-ups and one bench press repetition in the first set.
- On the second set, perform 9 pull-ups and two repetitions of the bench press.
- Continue with this pattern until you have achieved one pull-up and 10 repetitions of bench press.
That's a total of 55 repetitions of each exercise and the goal is to complete them in under 20 minutes. If you are unable to complete this challenge in 20 minutes, then stop after 20 minutes and record the number of reps you have completed.
Note: If you haven't trained with bench presses or pull-ups before, get good at these exercises first until you can do multiple sets of 10 repetitions of both exercises. Until then, you should either avoid this challenge or choose simpler exercises or start with a lower repetition range. Always have a training partner with you when doing bench presses.
Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-smash-plateaus-with-one-simple-trick
Paul Carter
Let's assume for a moment that you are an ageing professional athlete. Your joints are a little more prone to pain than those of your younger teammates and your reflexes aren't as spectacular, but you still have most of your skills. As an ageing athlete who wants to continue playing at a high - or even higher - level, should you start training harder or less hard?
Harder, of course. Or at least much smarter. Otherwise your abilities will dwindle. You no longer have the luxury of youth and therefore can no longer consider your abilities to be innate. There is no time to slow down. If this is the case with older athletes in football, field hockey, MMA or pretty much any other sport, why do bodybuilders get told by pretty much everyone that they should slow down as they get older?
It's almost as if 40 is an expiration date tattooed on your butt when you come into the world and that once that date is up, you better give up heavy squats and heavy deadlifts with more weight than a pack of adult diapers. They also tell you that you should pay more attention to your recovery - maybe a few sets once a week, in between which you should go to the park and feed ducks.
I think all this is complete nonsense. I realize that there are some differences between 25 and 40 and probably a lot of differences between 25 and 50, but not as many as you might think, which is especially true if you already have at least 10 years of training experience before you reach your "sell-by" date.
In most cases, you shouldn't start slowing things down as you approach or pass 40 or 50. Rather, it's time to kick your training up a notch if you want to stay in the game. However, there are some hard truths you need to swallow.
Work capacity
1 - Improve your work capacity
You can't train hard if you're already out of breath when you put your pants on. You need to do cardiovascular or metabolic conditioning or whatever you prefer. How could you expect to train hard if your lungs aren't able to keep going?
In addition, your cellular batteries - the mitochondria - start to wear out, get lazy, take an extended vacation down south or die off as you get older. They need a kick in the butt to multiply and that's exactly what intense training does.
But don't worry, you don't have to spend hour after hour on all that boring, conventional aerobic exercise where you sit on the ergometer for an hour while your aching prostate swells to the size of a melon.
Instead, hit the treadmill, rowing machine or ergometer three times a week for a paltry 10 minutes of HIIT-style training. Focus all your efforts on the 20 seconds where you give it your all, followed by 60 seconds of active recovery.
On the treadmill, this could mean setting the speed to a relaxed 5 km/h and then pushing it up as far as your legs will allow for 20 seconds, after which you reduce the speed back to 5 km/h for a minute or two before the next round.
You can do the same on an ergometer or rowing machine, or use short sprints followed by recovery periods during which you walk.
Alternatively, on a treadmill you can set the incline to Himalayan setting or as steep as possible and run uphill for 30 to 60 seconds before reducing the incline again. This type of training has been shown to increase the number of mitochondria. This, combined with the increased endurance you will experience, will help you to train as hard as you need to.
2 - Do more work - a lot more work
Performing 3 sets of 8 reps will no longer be enough. This may have worked when you were younger and you had more testosterone-laced tiger blood coursing through your veins - but not now, when you have a 50:50 mix of tiger blood and prune juice coursing through your plaque-clogged veins.
For this reason, almost every training session should include an extended set, a descending set or some other kind of finisher, and if you're not making an ugly, blood-red face at the end of that set, then you haven't worked hard enough.
Perform descending sets on the leg press or squats on the multi press. Train to muscle failure. Take a disk from the bar. Train again until muscle failure. Take another disk from the bar. Exercise until muscle failure. Remove another disk. Go to muscle failure again. Collapse into an embryo position.
Try the 10-6-10 method for one or two exercises. This is 10 seconds of an isometric exercise immediately followed by 6 repetitions with a 3 to 5 second eccentric repetition (using the same weight), followed by 10 partial repetitions (again using the same weight) without rest.
Or use a weight with which you can perform about 10 repetitions. Look at the clock on the wall and note the time. Give yourself 5 minutes to perform 50 repetitions with this weight, pausing only briefly between sets until muscle failure. If you actually manage to do 50 repetitions within 5 minutes, then the weight was too light.
Barbell curls with a mechanical advantage like the following also work well:
A1. Reverse barbell curls: 6 to 8 repetitions
A2. Drag curls with as many reps as you can manage
A3. Barbell curls with as many reps as you can manage
I think you know where I'm going with this. It may sound counter intuitive and it may sound like weightlifting heresy, but you need to train harder than when you were younger if you want to stay in the game.
3 - Sh... on your sore joints
Aching joints are no excuse to slack off. Anyone who has trained seriously with weights for 10 years will wake up in the morning feeling like they spent the previous day trying to ride a rodeo bull and getting thrown across the arena.
Get over it. Sure you can do your stretches, the hot yoga where you are treated like a hot dumpling from the Chinese restaurant or whatever rehab exercises suit your situation, but in most cases, you will always be in pain.
Your recourse is to be smart about it - perform exercises where you don't feel pain in the relevant joint, use grip or foot positions that allow you to exercise pain-free, use a reduced range of motion or reduce the weight and use a slower tempo. A good 4 second lowering of the weight should take the strain off irritated tendons.
4 - Say goodbye to sets under 5 reps
This is the one big concession to your age. You should no longer think about doing sets of less than 5 repetitions. There is simply no need for such heavy weights and the risk of an injury such as a torn ligament or tendon, which are simply not as strong as they used to be, that you can't train around, is simply too great.
But don't worry about it. You can stay quite strong even if you dedicate your time to sets of 6 to 8 repetitions.
5 - Many training-free days are a luxury you can't afford
The conventional thinking is that old farts should spend more time sitting at home in the recliner eating their protein porridge until the old bones have regained enough strength to get up and shuffle off to the gym.
This is true in one respect, but false in another. Certainly older exercisers need to focus on their recovery more than younger exercisers, but they often convince themselves to take longer rests than they need. They end up giving themselves more non-training time because the mass of sweaty, training humanity tells them to do so, instead of giving themselves non-training time because they really need it. This continuous regeneration drumbeat confuses them.
But older exercisers, unlike younger athletes, can't afford to take too much time off. If you're young and skip a few days of training, it's no big deal. The young body will still grow, whereas older bodies tend to break down.
The older exerciser has to constantly fight against slowing down and they can't achieve this if they take too many days off. Don't rely on how you feel. Your mind wants you to take a day off. It wants you to treat yourself to a nice manicure or pedicure because everyone whose opinion you care about is already at the gym and therefore can't see what you're doing.
However, there is one thing that should tell you that you should take an entitled workout-free day and that is your workout log. If it's telling you that you weren't able to improve on Thursday, or at least you weren't able to match your performance from the previous training session, then it's time to give yourself a day off.
If this is not the case, then go to the gym as you have always done since the beginning of time.
6 - No more stupid training splits
You're not 15 anymore. The traditional workout split where you trained one muscle group per workout (usually 5 workouts per week) is neither efficient nor effective, which is especially true for an adult with a job who actually communicates with real women in their non-pixel form.
Your muscles recover in about two days - so why wouldn't you train them again for a whole week? Apart from that - what happens if your life gets in the way and you miss a training session or two in a week? That throws your entire training plan out of whack and you might not train the same muscle group for 8 or 10 days.
You are much better off with an upper body/lower body training split where you train 4 (or even 6) days a week:
Monday: lower body
Tuesday: Upper body
Wednesday: No training
Thursday: lower body
Friday: Upper body
Saturday: No training
Sunday: No training
According to many trainers, the upper body/lower body training split is by far the most effective training split for several reasons:
It lets you make better use of your time. Since muscles need about 2 days to recover, muscles that were trained on Monday should be trained again on Wednesday. If you don't do this, you will lose ground.
You train your muscles more often with fewer training sessions. With a bro training split, you train 5 days a week and each muscle group once a week. In an upper body/lower body training split, you train four times a week and each muscle group is trained twice a week.
8 - Bend the knee before volume
I have already recommended in this article that you give up sets with less than 5 repetitions. However, that doesn't mean you're stuck in the 8 to 10 repetition range forever.
Everyone seems to be stuck at 8 reps - mainly because early caveman exercisers started doing 8 reps traditionally. 6 or 7 reps didn't feel hard enough and 9 or 10 or more reps were as boring as talking to an insurance salesman. But I'm telling you that there are more useful repetition schemes between heaven and earth than you would dream of in your training philosophy.
You can build plenty of mass - perhaps more mass than you ever thought possible - by performing sets of 12, 15 or even 20 reps, especially if you've been ignoring higher repetition ranges your entire training career.
You could incorporate these higher repetition ranges into your training program by dedicating the first training day (say for upper body) of the week to sets of 6 to 8 repetitions, dedicating the next training session to sets of 8 to 10 repetitions, and then dedicating the third training session to sets of 12 to 15 or more repetitions before starting again with 6 to 8 repetitions.
Are you skeptical about high repetition numbers? Try this pattern a few times before you make up your mind:
For pretty much every exercise, pick a weight that you can do 20 reps with, using a one-second concentric phase (lifting the weight) and a two-second eccentric phase (lowering the weight):
Perform the first set of 20 repetitions.
Pause for about 30 seconds.
Perform the second set of 20 repetitions (or as many repetitions as you can manage).
Rest for 30 seconds.
Perform a third set of 20 repetitions (or as close to 20 repetitions as possible).
Put the trained muscle group in ice to cool the fire.
Researchers Fink, Kikuchi and Nakazato (2018) found that for experienced exercisers, this method built muscle twice as well as the typical sets of 8 repetitions. This shows that higher repetitions work well and are also much easier on the joints.
8 - Relieve the spine whenever possible
You can assume that you need more rest than someone who is 25 years old and a daily nap might be a little impractical or too opaque for you and therefore you should consider spinal decompression. Doing this for 20 minutes a day can take a lot of strain off your spine and also be generally restorative.
Simply find an open space on the floor and lie on your back with your lower legs and calves on a chair so that your hips and knees are at a right angle. This takes the load off your intervertebral discs and allows your spine to relax without having to fight gravity.
Plus, if you fall asleep and someone catches you doing this, you can simply claim that you are performing an advanced rehabilitation and recovery technique for your spine that goes beyond their understanding.
Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/the-new-rules-of-over-40-lifting
From TC Luoma
I, for one, am always on the lookout for new trapezius exercises.
The trapezius is the new six pack. These days, a big, muscular trapezius can make you just as sexy as a chiseled six-pack, which means building the trapezius is a coveted workout goal. But why is that?
My first theory is that CrossFit (and athletes in general) have a lot to do with this. A lot of serious exercisers want to look like athletes. CrossFit has made this trend even more popular and has gotten more people training deadlifts, deadlifts and snatches.
The increased popularity of these exercises has had the side effect of making powerlifting and Olympic weightlifting more popular in recent years. And these exercises usually build your trapezius. So having a muscular trapezius is a physical sign of being an athlete.
Perhaps a better reason was highlighted by a recent study conducted at an Australian university. In this study, women were shown pictures of free male torsos and asked to rank them in order of attractiveness and perceived strength.
Unsurprisingly, the most muscular bodies were considered much more desirable than less muscular bodies. In fact, none of the scrawny or fat bodies were considered attractive.
One cool conclusion, however, is that it was the impression of strength that had the biggest impact on how desirable a male body was. If a body looked strong - even if that person was super slim - then it was considered desirable. And nothing represents strength more than a strong trapezius.
Over the years, I was always on the lookout for new and effective trapezius exercises. I thought I had tried everything, including:
- Power Shrugs (shoulder raises)
- Olympic exercises and rowing upright
- All types of Zercher Shrugs
But I recently learned a new one and it has quickly become my favorite exercise. These are T-bar shrugs (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gl-8FpkPLk).
Due to the direction of pull, you will not only train the upper but also the middle muscle fibers of the trapezius, giving your trapezius "height" and "thickness". These characteristics will give you a much more muscular torso and also give you a better leverage ratio when performing bench presses. They will help keep the rhomboids and upper back tight when you press.
T-bar shrugs are a fairly straightforward exercise. Use a landmine/T-bar setup and ideally a parallel grip (neutral grip). Stand upright and row the weight upwards, initiating the movement with a shoulder lift. This is not just a shoulder lift, as you pull with your arms (you bend your arm at the elbow joint) in a similar way to cable rowing standing and Kirk Rows (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZgJXAzF-1I). This encourages a more important contraction of the trapezius.
It's best if your elbows are pointing backwards, which is why I prefer to use a neutral grip. This allows you to recruit the middle fibers more effectively and prevents internal shoulder rotation, which you should avoid when training the trapezius.
You can even perform a mechanical descending set by changing the angle of your torso during the set. When you reach the point of muscle failure, you can lean back a little further, which will allow you to do a few more repetitions.
I like to use a fairly heavy weight for this exercise and sets of 6 to 8 reps, but with a 2 second hold at the highest position. I perform this exercise twice a week as my third exercise of the training session, but this is mainly because strength is my goal. Those training more towards pure bodybuilding should aim for sets of 40 to 60 seconds under tension.
So for hypertrophy you could do the following:
- 8-10 reps with 3 seconds hold and a 2 second eccentric/negative repetition. The set would last 48 to 60 seconds.
- 10-12 repetitions with a 2-second hold and a 2-second eccentric/negative repetition. (50 to 60 seconds).
- 10-12 repetitions with a 2-second hold and a 2-second eccentric/negative repetition. (50 to 60 seconds).
- 12-15 repetitions with a 2-second hold and a normal eccentric/negative repetition. (48 to 60 seconds).
- 15-20 repetitions with a 1-second hold and a normal eccentric/negative repetition. (45 to 60 seconds).
All of this puts you in the ideal hypertrophy range for a targeted exercise.
I also use a variation of this exercise on a cable pull station, this is a slightly different stimulus but works just as well.
Give this exercise a chance. It's a great way to build a muscular upper back.
Box jumps for conditioning
Every trainer on the internet will tell you that your body will explode if you use box jumps to improve your conditioning. However, I've never injured myself doing them and my legs were leaner and tighter than ever when I used this exercise as part of my conditioning workout (I'm a woman, if that matters). I stopped doing this exercise due to the warnings online, but I would love to add it back into my program. Is there a real reason for not doing this...other than the spontaneous explosive movements?
I have mixed feelings about this question. I spent the first 10 years of my career training professional and amateur athletes at a high level, so the strength coach in me hates it when an exercise is used for a purpose other than what it's intended for.
Olympic weightlifting exercises and box jumps with high repetitions are at the top of this list. It's not so much because of the increased risk of injury (although this can be a problem), but because it's like using a screwdriver to drive a nail.
The primary benefit of jumping is to increase power production and jump height. This is best achieved with maximum effort - by trying to jump as high as possible - or at least with 85 to 90% of maximum effort. And a maximal effort jump is very taxing on the nervous system - it is a maximal effort, just like heavy squats. This is the reason why very high repetition numbers are counterproductive to the goal of the exercise.
First of all, if you perform very high repetitions, you will never perform jumps with maximum effort. You will jump just high enough to reach the box and save energy to complete all repetitions. You never jump high enough to increase your power production. You also learn bad motor habits as most jumps are performed in an exhausted state.
So as a strength coach, my answer is that using box jumps to improve conditioning is a no-go. It's like sprinting with a 40 kilo weight vest with the aim of building muscle. I'm not saying it won't have an effect, but it will mess up your running mechanics and make you slower.
But you are not a competitive athlete. Your goal is to get leaner - not to jump higher. So I'm tempted to say "who cares if the exercise isn't effective at making you jump higher?" What we have to do here is look at box jumps with high reps and determine if the risks are greater than the benefits. You mentioned that your legs were at their leanest and tightest when you used box jumps as part of your conditioning workouts. What does the body composition of the rest of your body look like? If your upper body is just as lean or leaner, then we can potentially say that box jumps have a specific effect on your lower body.
However, if your lower body is slightly softer and less lean, then we are talking more about a more general effect and box jumps may not be the reason for the difference in leanness. Then diet and overall training are probably the cause, but your brain is focusing on the one thing that you think is the answer.
I will say one thing: I believe that explosive workouts like box jumps and sprints will make your lower body harder, leaner and more toned. I have observed this over and over again.
I can't explain exactly why. It could be related to increased insulin sensitivity of the muscles (some studies suggest this) or a targeting of the fast contracting muscle fibers that are further from the surface. However, the effect appears to be real.
So box jumps with high reps are an inferior form of explosive training, but they are still explosive training, so I don't rule out their potential effect on leanness.
Let's look at the potential dangers
"I've never been injured doing them" has never been and never will be something that proves something isn't dangerous. I have coached many CrossFit athletes and have seen many injuries from box jumps.
Injuries to the shin area from missing the box are common: People land a little too close to the edge of the box and slip. Although most people only suffer superficial (but very painful) injuries, some can also suffer structural damage to the shin bone.
This was the case for me 20 years ago when I was preparing for the national weightlifting championships and was using box jumps as an activation exercise. It hit my shin hard and I had to miss two weeks of training.
The other source of injury is landing. We've seen high level CrossFit athletes who were much fitter than you and I tear their Achilles when landing after a box jump. I've also seen knee injuries.
If you land after a 50 to 60 centimeter drop (the height of a regular training box), the force during the absorption phase will be at least four times your body weight and may even be eight times.
If you weigh 60 kilos, this corresponds to a force of at least 240 kilos acting on your knees, hips and ankles. So the potential for injury is there - especially because most people don't focus on the landing phase of a jump.
The risk of injury is probably not as high as the internet "experts" would have you believe. But it's still higher than most exercises you could use instead.
A better way
Sprints with a weighted sled or sprints uphill will probably give you the same results. Sprints with a weighted sled are one of the best ways to make a woman's legs lean and hard.
If you still want to use box jumps, you should use them in a smart way: don't perform them for speed or super high reps. You can still incorporate them into a conditioning workout. Here's an example:
Four rounds:
- 10 box jumps (10 is the highest number I would use)
- Note: Stay on the box for 2 seconds and on the floor for 2 seconds (to avoid rushing yourself during the jumps and landings). Concentrate on correct landing mechanics both on the box and on the floor.
- 250 meter rowing
- 20 repetitions of Russian kettlebell swings
- Pause for 1 minute and repeat three more times
You can continue to benefit from the advantages of explosive training and at the same time greatly reduce the risk factor.
German Volume Training
Is German Volume Training really effective? Well, few programs are surrounded by such a myth as German Volume Training. This type of training has been around for over 50 years. It was first used by the German Olympic weightlifting team during the off-season in the sixties of the 20th century.
I would like to point out that at that time steroids were already being used by Eastern European weightlifters and this was also true for American weightlifters as Dr. Ziegler had developed Dianabol. The Soviet weightlifters used testosterone injections at the 1956 Olympics and this quickly spread to the legal part of Eastern Europe.
Vince Gironda used the 10 x 10 system around the same time and it is still debated who came up with the idea first - the Germans or Vince Gironda. While Vince Gironda was strictly against steroids (at least publicly), a lot of bodybuilders he trained used steroids: Larry Scott, Mohammed Makkawy, Rick Wayne, etc.
I'm not saying that steroids were the reason that German Volume Training worked, but you have to keep this in mind when analyzing the effectiveness of the program.
Those familiar with my articles know that I believe excessive volume is the enemy of the steroid-free trainee. The more volume you do, the more cortisol you release.
Using a program with too much volume could lead to lower gains in steroid-free exercisers. This is one of the reasons why a recent study observed better results when 5 sets of 10 repetitions were performed instead of 10 sets of 1 repetition.
Let's first take a look at the total volume of a German Volume program to assess whether it is too high. In the original German Volume Training you have 2 alternating exercises (A1 and A2) for 10 sets of 10 reps. This is followed by two more exercises with 3 sets of 10 to 12 repetitions
The whole thing looks something like this:
|
|
Exercise |
Sets |
Tempo |
Pause |
|
|
A1 |
Squats |
10 |
10 |
4010 |
90 sec. |
|
A2 |
Lying leg curls |
10 |
10 |
4010 |
90 sec. |
|
B1 |
Leg press |
3 |
10-12 |
3020 |
90 sec. |
|
B2 |
Reverse Hyper |
3 |
10-12 |
2010 |
90 sec. |
That is 200 repetitions with about 70% of the maximum weight for the A1/A2 part and 60 to 72 repetitions with 60 to 65% for the B1/B2 part. That's a total of 260 to 272 repetitions for one training session. Is that a lot? You bet it is.
If you read the Russian weightlifting literature, then 100 repetitions in a training session is a very high volume. So 272 reps is a deadly amount. Okay, maybe not quite, but it's a lot.
Some people can cope with this. Only a few can grow through it. If you're working with a young athlete who's full of testosterone and doesn't have a family or a job, then they can probably build with the help of German Volume Training. But the average trainee who is steroid free, older, has a job, etc., will not be able to make good progress with this system. If you're on substance, please, give it a try...if boredom doesn't kill you.
An adaptation with 10 sets of 3, 4 or 5 repetitions is much better because the volume is 50 to 70% lower. Far less cortisol is released. If you choose this approach, however, you should be conservative in your choice of weights. A set should never reach more than an 8 out of 10 on the perceived fatigue scale - keep about 2 reps in reserve.
Your first few sets will probably be more in the 7 out of 10 range and the last 5 sets in the 8 out of 10 range. If you go all out on every set, you'll have a hard time recovering neurologically as you'll either deplete your dopamine stores or desensitize your adrenergic receptors. The next day you will suffer from a hangover.
The training sessions
Now that we know the training split and the training methods, it's time to put this together into a weekly plan:
Monday - Presses/Squats
- Squats
- 2-4 warm-up sets of 3 reps.
- 1 1RM set with the given percentage
- (see above for progression)
- Zercher squats
- 2-3 warm-up sets of 3 reps.
- 1 rest/pause set with a starting weight of 4-6 reps.
- Dumbbell bench press
- 1-3 warm-up sets of 6-8 reps.
- 1 mTOR set
- Tricep presses on the cable with a rope grip
- 1-2 warm-up sets (6-8 reps)
- 1 myo repetition set starting with a weight with which you can do 6-8 reps - side raises
- 1-2 warm-up sets (6-8 reps)
- 1 Myo reps set
Tuesday - Pulling
- Pendlay rowing
- 2-3 warm-up sets (3 reps)
- Strength technique training: 5 work sets with the load and number of repetitions according to the progression described above
- Romanian deadlift
- 1-3 warm-up sets (5 reps)
- 1 mTOR set
- Pulldown with outstretched arms
- 1-2 warm-up sets (6-8 reps)
- 1 myo repetition set
- Side raise bent forward
- 1-2 warm-up sets of 4-8 reps
- 1 Myo repetition set
- Dumbbell incline bench curls
- 1-2 warm-up sets of 5 reps.
- 1 mTOR set
Wednesday - Press/bench press
- Bench press
- 2-4 warm-up sets of 3 reps.
- 1 1RM set with the given percentage
- Floor presses with close grip
- 2-3 warm-up sets of 3 reps.
- 1 rest/pause set with a starting weight of 4-6 reps.
- Hackenschmidt squats on the machine (or goblet squats with elevated heels)
- 1-3 warm-up sets of 5 reps.
- 1 mTOR set
- Dumbbell shoulder presses
- 1-3 warm-up sets of 5 reps.
- 1 mTOR set
- French presses (overhead tricep presses with a SZ bar)
- 1-2 warm-up sets of 5 reps.
- 1 mTOR set
Thursday - Pulling/cross lifting
- Deadlift
- 2-3 warm-up sets of 3 reps.
- Strength technique training: 5 work sets
- T-bar rowing with supported chest
- 1-3 warm-up sets of 5 reps.
- 1 myo repetition set
- Face pulls
- 1-2 warm-up sets of 5 reps.
- 1 mTOR set
- Barbell curls
- 1-2 warm-up sets of 5 reps.
- 1 myo reps set
Friday - Press/barbell shoulder press standing
- Barbell shoulder press standing
- 2-4 warm-up sets of 3 reps.
- 1 1RM set with the given percentage
- Incline bench press (60 degrees)
- 2-3 warm-up sets of 3 reps.
- 1 rest/pause set with a starting weight of 4-6 reps
- Butterflys (or crossover cable pull-ups or flying movements)
- 1-2 warm-up sets of 6-8 reps.
- 1 myo repetition set
- Leg presses
- 1-3 warm-up sets of 6-8 reps.
- 1 Myo repetitions set
- M Presses
- 1-3 warm-up sets of 5 reps.
- 1 mTOR set
Saturday - Pull-ups/clinches
- Pull-ups
- 2-3 warm-up sets of 3 reps.
- Strength technique training: 5 work sets
- Leg curls
- 1-2 warm-up sets of 6-8 reps.
- 1 myo repetition set
- Lat pulldown with underhand grip
- 1-2 warm-up sets of 6-8 reps.
- 1 Myo repetitions set
- Dumbbell shoulder lift
- 1-3 warm-up sets of 5 reps
- 1 mTOR set
- Incline bench hammer curls
- 1-3 warm-up sets of 5 reps.
- 1 mTOR set
Sunday - no training
Level of effort
The best program performed at 80% effort will give you less results than a basic program performed at 100% effort. This is the most important thing to remember. So to get great results you need to use the right level of intensity.
Apart from the strength-technique part of the workouts, the work volume is low: you only do one work set per exercise. Since you can't use volume to stimulate gains, you need to get everything you can out of each set. If you don't manage to perform the work sets to the necessary point, then you won't grow and increase your strength at the pace you could.
The principle here is to do short and brutally hard training sessions. If your workouts are short but not brutal, then you can't expect much in the way of gains.
Here is a description of how far you need to take each of your sets:
Max strength sets (squats, bench press, barbell shoulder press).
The work set for these exercises should be performed at a level of around 9 out of 10 on the perceived exertion scale. This means that you should perform as many technically correct repetitions as you can. If you finish the set, then you must be damn sure that you would have either failed or used poor technique on the next repetition. However, as long as you are relatively sure that you can do one more repetition, then you should do it.
Strength technique sets (rows, deadlifts, pull-ups)
These are the only exercises where you don't push yourself to your limits. You perform more sets to do the work. Think of these sets more as technique training rather than maximum effort training. To make these sets effective in terms of increasing strength and muscle mass, you need to control the eccentric part of the movement by lowering the weight over a period of 2 to 3 seconds. Try to accelerate the weight as much as possible during the concentric (lifting) phase of the movement.
Rest/pause sets (Zecher squats, floor presses with close grip, incline bench press on a steep incline bench)
The same rules apply here as with the maximum strength sets - perform each set to the point where you know you can't do another full repetition. Then pause for 20 seconds before resuming the set to perform more reps.
For everything else (mTOR sets and myo reps) you need to reach the point of muscle failure where you can no longer manage to complete a repetition.
FAQ:
Here are a few questions that are likely to come up:
I can't train 6 days a week. Can I still do this program?
If you can train 4 or 5 days a week, then you can use this program. In this case, you simply rotate the 6 training days in the given order. In this case, it will simply take longer than a week to complete a training week of this program.
If you can only train 3 days a week, then this program is not the best for you as it is based on high frequency training.
Can I do this program during a definition phase?
If we mean the same thing and by definition phase we mean a calorie deficit to lose body fat, then my answer would be "Yes, but..."
To get the most out of a strength or mass plan, you should ideally maintain at least a small calorie surplus. This is especially important if you are natural. You can still build mass and strength if you only eat as many calories as you consume, but your gains will be smaller.
But what if you maintain a calorie deficit? Isn't that ideal for building muscle mass? In the right circumstances, you can build some muscle while maintaining a slight calorie deficit, but even in the best-case scenario, your ability to build muscle will be compromised if you don't consume enough nutrients.
But what about strength? Since strength is built through an increase in muscle mass and an increase in neurological efficiency, it is somewhat easier to build strength than muscle mass in a calorie deficit. However, during a calorie deficit, your strength gains will be less than during a calorie surplus.
Why? Firstly, you won't be able to build as much muscle mass. And if you build less muscle, your strength potential will not increase as much.
Secondly, if you reduce your carbohydrate intake (which is normal in a calorie deficit), you will store less water in the muscle, which reduces leverage. Dehydration or a reduction in water retention can significantly reduce your strength even with the same muscle mass. This is the reason why powerlifters intentionally store water before a competition.
Lastly, reducing your carbohydrate intake can reduce the efficiency of your CNS, as glucose is the primary energy source for your nervous system.
So I would highly recommend using this program if you are maintaining a small calorie surplus if you want to maximize your gains.
Of course, if you want to reduce your body fat, you still need to keep training. And since your recovery ability and your ability to adapt to your training will decrease as you define, no program will produce maximum results if you are trying to get lean. In this respect, this program is just as good as any other training program during a definition phase.
Because of the low volume, you even reduce your potential for overtraining/underrecovery, which usually increases with a reduction in food intake. So you can do this program if you're trying to get lean, but you shouldn't expect your gains to be the same as during a calorie surplus.
Can I add cardio training to this program?
The answer to this question, just like the question about using this program during a definition phase, is "Yes, but...".
Adding a moderate round of cardio (steady intensity or short intervals) should not make the program less efficient. The key word here is "moderate". If you are jogging 60 to 90 minutes a day, there is a good chance that you will not make as much progress as if you only use this program.
30 minutes of cardio training at a consistent intensity or 12 to 15 minutes of interval training 2 to 3 days a week is perfectly fine. However, you should be aware that just like a calorie deficit, this could slow down your gains slightly.
Can I add abdominal or calf workouts to this program?
You can. I personally train my abs with a short but intense approach that fits well with the structure of this program.
Train your abs every day for three weeks and then not at all for 3 weeks. Then train your abs every day again for three weeks and then not at all for three weeks. I usually recommend doing 3 sets of a superset, which includes one ab exercise with added weight and one ab exercise without added weight.
Here is an example:
|
|
Exercise |
Sets |
Rest |
|
|
A1 |
Seated cable crunches |
3 |
8-12 |
|
|
B |
Swiss ball crunches |
3 |
8-12 |
1 min. |
Calf training can be performed up to 3 days a week at the end of the day with pressing exercises. The best method is the mTOR repetition method. Perform 2 warm-up sets followed by a set where you give it your all. You can use seated or standing calf raises or donkey calf raises.
Can I repeat the program after completing a 12 week cycle?
Yes, but you should re-test your maximum weight for the 6 heavy exercises so that you can plan the weights for the next cycle. If you decide to start a new cycle, you should also change the hypertrophy exercises and also the heavy support exercises while keeping the main exercises.
A foolproof plan
This style of training will guarantee you significant gains in strength and muscle mass if you apply the necessary intensity. It's foolproof and could change your training paradigm forever. If you're tired of treading water with traditional plans, this could be the answer you've been looking for.
Source: https://www.t-nation.com/workouts/the-best-damn-strength-plan-for-natural-lifters
By Christian Thibaudeau
