Training
The 7 fundamental tools
When it comes to getting more muscular and stronger, we've known pretty well for decades what we need to do to do so. Sure, there are occasional advances in training science, recovery methods and nutritional tactics, but most of what we'll ever learn has been known for a long time.
A lack of progress probably has more to do with a lack of knowledge of the basics than a lack of knowledge of any new periodization approaches. What you need is more critical thinking. Here are 7 tools for better decision making regarding the right actions in the gym.
1 - Successful exercisers focus on principles, not methods
The best way to keep your goal in mind and avoid getting distracted by unnecessary details is to focus on the principles and not the methods derived from those principles. Remember that there are many methods but few principles. Fortunately, there are only a few principles that you need to apply.
Specificity
The stimulus you provide via training must match the adaptations you hope to achieve.
If you are a powerlifter or primarily pursuing strength goals, most of your training should consist of heavy sets with low reps (1 to 5) on exercises such as squats, bench presses and deadlifts, and possibly some additional training with variations of the exercises you want to get stronger on.
If you are an athlete who is more concerned with body development, then you need to focus primarily on training with lower intensity, lower weights and higher reps (8 to 15) on a wide range of exercises. If you are interested in both strength gains and muscle development, then you should alternate between 4 to 6 week phases of these two approaches.
If your training deviates significantly from these parameters, then it is not optimal for your goals.
Progressive overload
The adaptive challenges you place on your body in the form of training sessions must be continuously increased, otherwise your adaptations will come to a standstill. No one ever got muscular or strong by accident. You have to keep pushing yourself. Whenever possible, you should gradually increase weight, reps and/or sets - any of these approaches will work.
If your performance doesn't continue to improve, it's either because you're training too hard or not hard enough. Ask your trainer or training partner which of these scenarios you are likely to be experiencing and then make the appropriate adjustments.
Individual reactions
Keep in mind that human similarities outweigh the differences between individuals. In other words, you should think twice before concluding that you are different from the rest and need an exotic approach to be successful. In all likelihood, this will not be the case - and even if it is, it is not the most logical starting point.
2 - You avoid binary thinking
No training program, method or exercise is definitively "good" or "bad" - just as there is no such thing as good or bad food without looking at the overall nutritional context.
Think of everything as a tool - and the usefulness of that tool depends entirely on the context. For example, if you can perform squats with a super upright body position with a strong knee flexion, then squats are a great tool for you to train the quadriceps. If you can't do this, then hack squats are a better option.
If cable tricep presses don't cause pain, then this exercise is a good building exercise for the triceps. However, if it does cause pain, then this is not the case. If you want to compete in weightlifting, then snatches and deadlifts are "good" exercises. If you are an MMA fighter looking to build strength and muscle, there are better options. You could continue this list practically indefinitely.
The goal dictates the tool - and it's never the other way around.
3 - You reject novelty
I once attended a seminar by multiple Mr. Olympia Dorian Yates. As the crowd waited eagerly to learn his secrets, he began to give this speech:
"Well, on my first exercise, let's say it's squats, I usually start with the empty bar and do maybe 12 to 15 reps. Then I go to 135 pounds for 10 to 12 reps. Then 225 pounds for 8 to 10 reps. Then 315 pounds for another 8 to 10 reps. Then I move to my working weight of 405 pounds, with which I perform 3 to 4 really hard sets of 8 to 10 reps. I then move on to my second exercise."
Needless to say, his remarks were completely devoid of the secrets his audience really wanted. Instead, the man with one of the best physiques of all time left his audience "hanging" by honestly sharing with them what he really did to build his body.
The desire for new information is perhaps the biggest cause of confusion for most exercisers and, consequently, lack of progress. This phenomenon is prevalent in all areas of human endeavor - not just training. This is because the truth is often less interesting than any "secrets".
There are two different phases that people go through. First, there's the inspiration phase, during which you use a new exercise or nutrition program and you have confidence in this new approach because the article you read about it is from an author with a PhD or incredible body development.
And quite frankly, you're also bored with what you've been doing and the thought of something new seems more appealing to you than the same old drudgery. So you draw new energy from this smell of something new, which lasts until you have been doing the new program long enough.
Now you are in the "sweat phase". The new has worn off and you are back in the old rut. The desire for something new and the inability to stick with the same approach long enough to see results is the main reason many exercisers don't achieve anything.
4 - You differentiate between methods and mechanisms
If you have a specific goal, look for others who have been successful in achieving that goal. Next, isolate the behaviors and/or methods that these people have in common, rather than looking at what these people have done differently.
A great example of this is fat loss. If you look at 100 people who have lost a significant amount of weight, some of them may have used a Weight Watchers approach, while others may have had gastric bypass and still others may have followed a low-carb diet or focused on clean eating.
At first glance, this seems confusing, but if you dig a little deeper, you'll realize that all of these people found a way to consistently eat fewer calories for long enough to reach their weight loss goals.
In this example, there were different methods but only one mechanism. If you need to lose some fat and you are wondering whether you should go vegan or non-vegan or use intermittent fasting, then you should think about which method will make it easiest for you to stick to your diet consistently.
Does this mean that all weight loss methods are equally effective? Certainly not, but a less effective method that you stick to is preferable to a more effective method that you can't or won't stick to.
The same applies to your training goals. You may notice that some successful bodybuilders use splits by muscle group, while others use a push/pull split. Some use lower repetition ranges, others higher. Some use mainly free weights, while others focus on machines. Some use forced reps, others don't.
If you focus on these different methods, the fog will blind you and prevent you from seeing the underlying mechanisms of success: brutally hard work over a long period of time.
5 - You perform a cost/benefit analysis
Whenever you put your hands on the bar, there will always be a cost. Whether this brings benefits or value in return is a completely different story. So think like an accountant - look at the profit, but also consider the costs.
Dr. Brad Schoenfeld recently conducted a study comparing the results of exercisers who performed either 3 sets of 10 repetitions or 7 sets of 3 repetitions. Both groups trained for 8 weeks.
Interestingly, both groups achieved roughly the same muscle hypertrophy. Many have interpreted this to mean that they could start performing heavy sets of 3 repetitions for the purpose of muscle development. In this context, however, it should be remembered that performing heavy sets of 3 repetitions will lead to much longer, psychologically (and orthopedically) more demanding training sessions to achieve the same results that a shorter, less demanding workout would produce.
In fact, Schoenfeld mentioned that the participants in the 7 x 3 group were more or less running on fumes by the end of the study, and he speculated that if they had had to continue this training for a few more weeks, they would have had to drop out of the study.
In a similar way, all techniques and methods have individual cost/benefit profiles that should be taken into consideration when making training decisions.
6 - They cultivate 80/20 thinking
In the late 19th century, Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto speculated that in almost all systems, 80% of the results come from 20% of the input. This equation also applies to training with weights. In a training session where you do 5 heavy sets of squats, the first two sets will deliver about 80% of the benefits of performing all 5 sets.
So, if you're feeling conflicted and wondering whether you should train or not because you don't have the time or energy, now you know how to make the best decision.
The 80/20 rule can be applied to any type of training decision, but it becomes especially practical when you're thinking about efficiency vs. effectiveness. If you want 100% results, then you will have to do a lot more (and harder) work than someone who is happy with 80% results.
7 - Internalize the grind
Most mornings I walk to my local Starbucks. Over the past few weeks, I've noticed a woman there who sits at the same table every morning at 6am and it's obvious she's writing a book or something similar.
Is her secret the type of computer she uses? The place? The time of day she writes? The particular drink she's having? While all of these factors could play a role, the real "secret" to any success is that she probably enjoys the willingness to work with consistent focus every day.
I know very little about this woman, but I strongly suspect that she is successful because I have seen her do what few are willing to do: Work hard at something day after day without fail. The ruthless truth about training success is that unless your methods are completely idiotic, consistent hard work is pretty much all you need to focus on.
Many successful strength athletes and bodybuilders do a lot of things that sports scientists would consider wrong, but these guys work their asses off on a consistent basis when training. So if your goal is related to getting more muscular and stronger, there are only a handful of things you should pay attention to:
- Train three to five times a week. Don't skip training sessions. Exercise even when you don't feel like it and do the best you can.
- Choose training methods and techniques that are common among exercisers who have achieved the goals you want to achieve.
- Train as hard as you can. Consistently strive to surpass your previous best performances.
- Sleep, eat and control your stress as needed to support the above points.
Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/7-things-successful-lifters-do
By Charles Staley
Most exercisers use the classic 21 method for biceps curls. With the reverse 21 method, the usual sequence is reversed. Start with the heaviest part of the set and finish with the lightest part.
- Start with 7 full repetitions.
- Perform 7 partial repetitions across the top half of the range of motion
- Perform 7 partial repetitions across the lower half of the range of motion
Reverse 21's act as a mechanical descending set where the set gets easier as fatigue sets in. This method works very well for pull-ups and can be easily adapted to suit your current skill level.
Reverse 21-pull-ups
Start with full repetitions and then perform partial repetitions across the top half of the range of motion, starting with your upper arms parallel to the floor and pulling all the way up. Finish the set with partial repetitions across the lower half of the range of motion, starting with your arms fully extended and pulling yourself up until your upper arms are roughly parallel to the floor.
You can also use rings instead of a bar. If 21 total repetitions are too ambitious at the beginning, adjust this number accordingly. Even if you only do 2 to 3 repetitions per mini set, you will achieve results. This method also works well for lat pulldowns.
Tip: Use bands for side raises
The lateral shoulder muscle head gets bigger and stronger when you emphasize the middle area of the side lift.
By Adam Bentley
Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-use-bands-for-lateral-raises
The shoulder muscles are made up of three muscle heads located around the shoulder, which means it's impossible to fully train the shoulder muscles with just one exercise. And even though many exercises train the anterior and posterior shoulder muscle head, the lateral muscle head is often left out.
The act of putting weight on the shoulder as it moves sideways from the body is necessary to activate the lateral head of the shoulder muscle. The lateral head of the shoulder muscle develops its greatest force-producing potential when the shoulder is abducted by 60 to 120 degrees. To train this muscle head of the shoulders, you should use lateral raises and make the middle part of the movement the heaviest part. A popular technique with dumbbell side raises is to use some momentum from the body to overload the maximum contraction.
Here's another way: use resistance bands. This may sound effeminate, but studies have shown that bands work just as well - or maybe even better - than dumbbells for this exercise. Performing side raises with a resistance band puts more stress on the muscle in the midsection, where it is most active.
Performing the exercise this way also means you can spend more time pushing against the maximum contraction with the heaviest load, rather than being pulled back by the eccentric movement with a dumbbell.
Tip: Stop trying - start committing yourself
It's time to stop all the nonsense and finally reach your goals. Trying is lying to yourself. Start committing to something.
By Chris Shugart
Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-stop-trying-start-committing
Trying something is lame
"I would never cheat on you and it feels good to know that you would never cheat on me," you say to your girlfriend.
"Well, I'll try not to cheat on you," she replies.
Ouch. Try? She's going to "try" not to cheat on you? Well, that's not very reassuring.
But why? Why does the word "try" cause you such anxiety? Well, because you know that "trying" often doesn't lead to success. Think about it. You are invited to an event that you don't really want to attend. Your polite response is, "Yes, I will try to come." - which means, "There's no way I'm going."
Similarly, when we tell others that we are "trying" to do something, when we tell ourselves (usually in what is called an inner monologue) that we are "trying" to do something, it means that we probably won't do it.
Trying is lying
The more scientists and psychologists study this topic, the more we learn about the establishment of schemas in our brains. One thing becomes very clear: the words we use program us to perform - or not perform - certain actions. The problem? The "try" software is buggy.
"I will try" usually means it's not going to happen. You go to the supermarket. You think "I'll try not to buy junk food." You buy junk food. "Well, I'll try not to eat it all at once!" You eat it all at once. "Well, next week I'll try to buy only the foods that will help me achieve my goals." Yes, okay....
We are polite when we tell others that we will try to do something that we know very well we won't do. But we do the exact same thing to ourselves. It is a self-soothing mechanism. It makes us feel better. And of course, it's a big fat lie.
Commit instead of trying
Remember that thing about brain programming? Memory studies show that thinking "I'll try to remember" actually tells your brain that it's okay to forget that thing. The simple way to remember something better is to say to yourself "I will remember this..." Where the first sentence acts as a procrastination mechanism, the second performs the action.
Now we need to apply this to our health, diet and lifestyle goals:
- "I will try to avoid junk food." Aha, yes, "try" to avoid it because junk food gets legs at night, sneaks into your house and jumps into your mouth. Are you going to buy junk food and knowingly and willfully stuff it in your mouth or not? Your decision.
- "I'm going to try to go to the gym." Wow, you want to try it. And now you feel calm and content because you know that maybe, under some circumstances, you will somehow try to go to the gym...but not right now.
If you want to be successful, eliminate the word "try" from your vocabulary. This is actually very honest and liberating. There are some things you will do and some things you won't do. Two categories, no wishy-washy, no self-deceiving in-between. Decide, commit and do it.
Use the rubber band trick
Put a rubber band around your wrist and give it a firm snap every time you say or think the word "try" in relation to your training and nutrition goals. And then make the decision immediately. Are you going to do it right now or not? Do this for a week and you will be surprised how much confusion will leave your mind. You may also be surprised at how quickly you start to achieve your goals.
Internalize in your brain that "try" is a negative word. Trying is the first step on the road to failure. To try is to lie.
Tip: Perform 2 minute leg presses
High reps and continuous tension can build a mountain of muscle - especially in your legs. Give this workout a try.
From T Nation
Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-do-the-2-minute-leg-press
Sports performance coaches often disdain the leg press because the exercise doesn't have much carryover to other sports and because squats are a more effective way to build total body strength - something that's obviously important to coaches working with competitive athletes. But what about the leg press for bodybuilders?
Leg presses are an excellent exercise for hypertrophy - especially for the quadriceps. So what's the best way to use leg presses to build quadriceps? Medium to close foot spacing, feet placed further down on the rack and high reps.
High reps? What about "train heavy or go home!" The latter has merit, but if your quadriceps are only slightly larger than your calves, then it might be time to take a few weight plates off the sled and train for time under tension.
Most exercisers have a high percentage of slow-contracting muscle fibers in their quadriceps. This is why you can go up to 50 repetitions per set with quadriceps. Some bodybuilders grow like weeds with 30 reps per set.
While not everyone has the same muscle fiber composition - and while varying repetition ranges is usually best - high reps could be the cure if you're lacking mass in the quadriceps area.
Here's a training program that puts all of this into practice
Using a much lighter weight than normal, a full range of motion and a close and low position of the feet, perform leg presses for 2 minutes without rest. Remember that full repetition range means going down until your quadriceps cover your chest.
Extend your legs only 95% on each repetition. The key here is to keep the muscle under continuous tension throughout the set.
At the end of the set, you may well want to cough up one lung - or both... This should be seen as encouragement ;-)
Tip: Get energy from hot rice cereal
Tired of oatmeal? Start your day with this protein-packed wake-up call.
By Chris Shugart
Source: https://www.t-nation.com/diet-fat-loss/tip-fuel-up-with-hot-rice-cereal
Breakfast can be more than just oatmeal and eggs. For years, bodybuilders have also been turning to hot rice cereal. This is a kind of rice version of oatmeal. Here's an easy way to prepare it in advance and have a ready-made breakfast for the whole week.
- Spray your slow cooker with coconut oil to prevent sticking and because coconut oil tastes delicious.
- Add 3 cups of water and 1 cup of uncooked rice cereal.
- Add fruit as desired, frozen raspberries, fresh banana slices, a few apples, etc.
- Add cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg and cloves or use a ready-made apple pie spice mix.
- Set your slow cooker to 6 to 7 hours before you go to bed.
- After reheating, stir in one or two scoops of protein powder.
Option: Replace rice cereal with rolled oats.
This recipe makes 4 portions.
Tip: Do bike sprints for your quadriceps
The pump supports muscle growth and nothing pumps up the quadriceps better than bike sprints. Try this at the end of your next leg training day.
By Ben Bruno | 03/14/16
Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-do-bike-sprints-for-quads
I'd love to beat whoever invented the Airdyne Wheel. It's so simple and looks so harmless, but it brings me to my knees every time. I've done 100 reps of squats, descending sets of leg presses and walking lunges until I drop, but the pump I get in my quadriceps from an Airdyne bike sprint where I give it my all is more intense than anything else.
Bike sprints are no better for leg muscle growth than the previously mentioned exercises, but they definitely work the quadriceps if you go all out. Look at bike sprinters. Their thighs are huge - even compared to regular cyclists. For the average exerciser, bike sprints can complement training with weights and lead to a killer pump at the end of the session, which will aid muscle growth.
There are endless ways to incorporate bike sprints into your training program. Some people time their bike sprints, while others prefer to do them for distance. Either is fine, but start with a distance where you end up in the 15 to 30 second range for each sprint. Do 3 to 4 intervals per workout and work your way up from there by either increasing the distance of the sprint, the total number of intervals, or both.
The dreaded Tabata training session would look like this: 8 rounds of 20 seconds with 10 seconds rest each.
If you don't have an Airdyne bike or an Assault bike, a spinning bike or a regular ergometer will also work. Just keep the tension high enough that the workout feels challenging for the legs, while keeping the tension low enough to achieve a sufficient speed so that the workout feels more like a sprint than a slow uphill ride with high resistance.
Tip: Ladies, live out your spring fever before your workout
A pre-workout orgasm could help women get better workouts
By Dr. Jade Teta
Source: https://www.t-nation.com/living/tip-ladies-get-frisky-before-training
Studies on women have shown that their brains undergo a number of fascinating changes after orgasm. These include increased activity in areas of the brain associated with relaxation, reward, memory and pain sensation.
Clearly, orgasm is a reliable tool for reducing pain sensitivity in women. This is associated with reduced anxiety and less activity in areas of the brain associated with fear. In addition, scientists have reported what they describe as a "trance-like" state.
Although I don't have a double-blind study on the subject to hand, I would love to see a study that investigates whether these changes in the brain can result in increased maximum weights in women. Less anxiety, less insecurity, better trance-like focus and increased pain tolerance? Sounds like the optimal mental state. Could orgasm have performance-enhancing effects in women? It sounds likely.
Sorry guys, but there are no similar studies of the male brain. It looks like the reduction in anxiety, insecurity and pain are specific to women.
Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-build-that-back-with-21s
By Ben Bruno
After looking at the basics of strength training in the first two parts of this article and looking at Starting Strength, 5 x 5 and the Texas Method, some of the most popular strength training programs for beginners and somewhat advanced athletes, in this third and final part of this article series we will look at Jim Wendler's 5/3/1 program, which is very popular with strength athletes all over the world.
Wendler's 5/3/1
Jim Wendler's "5/3/1" is one of the most popular strength training programs due to the fact that it is easy to understand, delivers results, requires no special equipment and the workouts are quite short. This program works as follows:
You perform 3 to 4 workouts per week
With 5/3/1 you do one of the following workouts on your training days:
- Squats and assistance training.
- Bench press and assistance training.
- Deadlift and assistance training.
- Shoulder press and assistance training.
You perform each of these workouts once to complete a so-called wave.
The layout for the workout is usually as follows:
|
Day 1 |
Day 2 |
|
Warm up |
Warm up |
|
Shoulder press |
Deadlift |
|
Supportive training |
Supportive training |
|
Day 3 |
Day 4 |
|
Warm up |
Warm up |
|
Bench press |
Squats |
|
Supportive training |
Supportive training |
Each "mesocycle" (a fashionable term for a training phase that lasts between 2 and 6 weeks) of the 5/3/1 program consists of four waves. This means that you complete each of the training sessions four times to complete a mesocycle, after which you start again at the beginning.
The mesocycle looks like this:
|
Wave 1 |
||
|
Set |
% of 90% of the 1RM weight |
|
|
1 |
65% |
5 |
|
2 |
75% |
5 |
|
3 |
85% |
5+ |
|
Wave 2 |
||
|
Set |
% of 90% of 1RM weight |
|
|
1 |
70% |
3 |
|
2 |
80% |
3 |
|
3 |
90% |
3+ |
|
Wave 3 |
||
|
Set |
% of 90% of 1RM weight |
|
|
1 |
75% |
5 |
|
2 |
85% |
3 |
|
3 |
95% |
1+ |
|
Wave 4 |
||
|
Set |
% of 90% of 1RM weight |
|
|
1 |
40% |
5 |
|
2 |
50% |
5 |
|
3 |
60% |
5 |
Please note that 5/3/1 works with a percentage of 90% of your 1-RM weight and not with a percentage of your 5RM weight, as is the case with other strength training programs.
The "+" sign indicates that you should try to perform as many repetitions as possible.
And yes, each training session only involves warming up and performing 3 heavy sets. This low-volume approach is one of the most common criticisms of the 5/3/1 program, but there's no denying that it works.
It's just not for everyone. If you have years of strength training experience, then 5/3/1 is probably not the right choice for you - but you should already know that. If you are new to strength training, however, you can make very good progress with this simple approach.
This is especially true if you include enough supportive training in addition to the core exercises. This will allow you to generate a hybrid training style that has strength training at its core and is complemented by bodybuilding "beach training", as Bill Starr used to call it.
Your training frequency will determine how you plan your training sessions
If you train four times a week, then each mesocycle will last 4 weeks. If you train three times a week, then each mesocycle will last 5 weeks and 1 day.
If you train four times a week, your mesocycle will look like this:
|
Week 1 |
||
|
day |
Exercise |
Wave |
|
1 |
Shoulder press |
1 |
|
2 |
Deadlift |
1 |
|
3 |
Bench press |
1 |
|
4 |
Squats |
1 |
|
Week 2 |
||
|
day |
Exercise |
Wave |
|
1 |
Shoulder press |
2 |
|
2 |
Deadlift |
2 |
|
3 |
Bench press |
2 |
|
4 |
Squats |
2 |
|
Week 3 |
||
|
day |
Exercise |
Wave |
|
1 |
Shoulder press |
3 |
|
2 |
Deadlift |
3 |
|
3 |
Bench press |
3 |
|
4 |
Squats |
3 |
|
Week 4 |
||
|
day |
Exercise |
Wave |
|
1 |
Shoulder press |
4 |
|
2 |
Deadlift |
4 |
|
3 |
Bench press |
4 |
|
4 |
Squats |
4 |
And if you train 3 days a week, then your mesocycle lasts 5 weeks and 1 day, as you still have to do 16 training sessions and cannot simply do twice as many exercises in one day.
If you train three times a week, your mesocycle will look like this:
|
Week 1 |
||
|
day |
Exercise |
Wave |
|
1 |
Squats |
1 |
|
2 |
Bench press |
1 |
|
3 |
Deadlift |
1 |
|
Week 2 |
||
|
day |
Exercise |
Wave |
|
1 |
Shoulder press |
1 |
|
2 |
Squats |
2 |
|
3 |
Bench press |
2 |
|
Week 3 |
||
|
day |
Exercise |
Wave |
|
1 |
Deadlift |
2 |
|
2 |
Shoulder press |
2 |
|
3 |
Squats |
3 |
|
Week 4 |
||
|
day |
Exercise |
Wave |
|
1 |
Bench press |
3 |
|
2 |
Deadlift |
3 |
|
3 |
Shoulder press |
3 |
|
Week 5 |
||
|
day |
Exercise |
Wave |
|
1 |
Squats |
4 |
|
2 |
Bench press |
4 |
|
3 |
Deadlift |
4 |
|
Week 6 |
||
|
day |
Exercise |
Wave |
|
1 |
Shoulder press |
4 |
|
2 |
|
Training free |
|
3 |
|
Workout free |
As you can see, in both the 4-day split and the 3-day split, you perform each training session four times before starting again from the beginning.
The warm-up
You should warm up for the heavy workout as follows:
- Warm up set #1: 40% of your 1RM x 5 reps
- Warm up set #2: 50% of your 1RM x 5 reps
- Warm up set #3: 60% of your 1RM x 3 reps
Pause for 60 to 90 seconds between each warm-up set.
When and how you should increase the weight
One of your goals is to break your personal bests at your max weight in order to set multiple new personal bests by moving more weight in each training session than in the previous mesocycle.
Once you have completed a mesocycle, you should add 2.5 kilos to your 1RM weight on bench press and shoulder press and 5 kilos to your 1RM weight on squat and deadlift and recalculate your training weights.
In addition, Wendler recommends that if you feel you can do more reps on your last, heaviest set, try to do so.
Rest between sets
As with Starting Strengst, rest between 2 and 5 minutes between sets.
What should you do if you cannot complete the specified number of repetitions?
If you are not making any progress with an exercise or are even losing strength, end your mesocycle. Then reduce your current 1RM weight by 10% and start again. You only need to do this for the exercises you are struggling with. Continue with the other exercises as normal.
How to choose your supportive exercises
"Supportive training" refers to exercises other than the four exercises on which this program is based. How much supportive training you do is entirely up to you. However, you should note that this training should be done for one of the following reasons:
- Strengthening the weaker areas of the body.
- To support the increases in the four core exercises.
- To ensure that your body develops in a balanced and symmetrical way.
- Building more muscle.
Wendler recommends the following supporting exercises:
- Dips, with additional weight if possible
- Pull-ups
- Dumbbell rowing
- Barbell rowing
- Barbell shoulder raises (shrugs)
- Dumbbell bench press
- Dumbbell shoulder presses
- Lunges
- Leg presses
When it comes to integrating these support exercises, an approach that Wendler calls "Boring But Big" is one of the most popular variations.
Here you perform the heavy core exercises of the program first, followed by 5 sets of 10 repetitions of the same exercise, followed by another support exercise with 5 sets of 10 repetitions.
A squat day could look like this, for example:
- Squats - core sets
- Squats - 5 sets of 10 repetitions
- Lunges - 5 sets of 10 repetitions
As for the weight you should use for your sets of 10 reps, Wendler recommends that you start with light weights - 40 to 50% of your 1RM weight - and gradually work your way up from that weight. How far up you ultimately go is up to you, but I would recommend that you work your way up to a weight that allows you to do at least 8, but no more than 10 reps.
If you want to learn more about 5/3/1...
Wendler describes several other supportive programs in his book "5/3/1" and gives advice on how to best integrate them into your overall program. This book is an excellent read on all aspects of this training program and is highly recommended if you want to put 5/3/1 into practice.
The bottom line on strength training
I once thought that strength training was only for powerlifters. I was wrong - it's for everyone. In fact, strength training is a far more effective (and time-efficient) way to build a strong, muscular and leaner body than traditional bodybuilding training programs that focus on high reps, high volume and isolation exercises.
And it's a lot more fun too.
References:
- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20847704
- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/128681
- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18195089
- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12436270
- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24714538
- http://www.amazon.com/Starting-Strength-3rd-Mark-Rippetoe/dp/0982522738/?tag=legionath-20
From: Mike Matthews
After looking at what reverse pyramid training is and how it can be used to build strength in the first part of this article, in this second part we will take a look at how reverse pyramid training can be used to build muscle mass and then discuss the advantages and disadvantages of this training approach.
Reverse pyramid training for hypertrophy
So far we have seen that reverse pyramid training works quite well for strength gains. But how well does it work for hypertrophy training?
It is well documented that two factors play an essential role in muscle growth - effort and training volume (4). Even if you give it your all, you can't expect to build a lot of muscle mass if you only do a few sets per training session.
On the other hand, if you perform many sets, many exercises and dozens upon dozens of repetitions, you will still need to put effort into your training to stimulate muscle growth. Some scientists speculate that we need to move weights that are at least 50-60% of our 1RM weight (the maximum weight for one repetition) to stimulate new muscle growth (5).
Quick note: Scientists also speculate that superior muscle growth can also be stimulated with lighter weights (<= 50% of 1RM weight) if blood flow restriction is used during exercise. Of course, this is another topic for another day.
So we need some balance between effort and volume to optimize muscle growth. But how does this fit in with the overall structure and principles of reverse pyramid training?
An important principle when training with weights
Reverse pyramid training is very appealing to many people due to its simplicity and minimalist structures. However, in addition to this simplicity and relatively low-volume approach, it delivers excellent results for many people. Why is this the case?
With exercise - and this is especially true for natural exercisers - there is an essential concept of doing the minimum amount of work necessary. In other words, it's about doing as little work as possible while still getting good results in the gym.
This helps to control fatigue and also gives us room to increase our training volume later if our current training no longer stimulates muscle growth.
How does typical reverse pyramid training fit into this growth principle?
It is precisely because of this training principle that reverse pyramid training is excellent for strength and muscle gains for many exercisers from beginner to advanced levels. This training principle covers all the necessary criteria:
- It gives a high enough effort on some sets (i.e. training to near the point of muscle failure), which stimulates strength gains and helps us build muscle mass with less training volume (6, 7).
- This type of training is an excellent minimalist training approach that does not require many training days, but still allows beginners and somewhat advanced athletes to make significant progress.
- Reverse pyramid training focuses on progressive overload, which is a crucial factor for long-term progress and is overlooked in many training approaches (8). Thanks to the double progression scheme, you are always pushing yourself to improve - be it more reps or more weight on the bar. Building strength allows you to use heavier weights on the volume sets (6+ reps), helping you to stimulate greater muscle growth.
A modified approach for more advanced exercisers
Scientific research and anecdotal reports both suggest that reverse pyramid training works when it comes to beginners or slightly more advanced exercisers. If we keep the basics, there is a way to modify reverse pyramid training so that it works for stronger and more muscular athletes.
Keep the basics, but increase the training volume
I'm always in favor of effort in the gym. Too many people today shy away from working hard. "Training to muscle failure? No, definitely not. That will lead to overtraining."
At the same time, however, the importance of volume - the total amount of work we do in the gym - should not be overlooked. It would be great if we could do 5 or 6 sets a week, giving it our all, and see significant progress. However, this will not be the case, especially for those who are long past the beginner stage.
Greg Nuckols, one of the brightest minds in the fitness industry, has repeatedly emphasized that volume is a crucial factor in muscle growth and scientific research seems to back up his claims (9).
In order to effectively utilize reverse pyramid training as an experienced exerciser, you need to add some extra volume (preferably not to the point of muscle failure) to your workout. This means additional sets, more exercises and - if necessary - more training days.
For an example, let's assume that the following fairly basic reverse pyramid-style training split forms the basis:
- Monday: deadlift and overhead press: 3 reverse pyramid training style sets per exercise (following the guidelines from above) + pull-ups (straight sets).
- Wednesday: Bench press and incline bench press: 3 reverse pyramid style sets per exercise + some arm and shoulder training (straight sets)
- Friday: Squats: 3 sets of reverse pyramid training per exercise + pull-ups (straight sets or reverse pyramid training) and some additional leg training.
On Monday you can add two more back exercises (straight sets with fixed weight), an isolation exercise for the legs and face pulls for your rear shoulder muscles.
On Wednesday you can add additional work sets for your biceps, triceps and shoulders and a variation of the shoulder lift.
On Friday, you can add more sets for your legs and maybe even an additional exercise.
The whole thing would then look like this:
Monday
- Deadlift:
o Set 1: As many repetitions as possible
o Set 2: 10% less weight, more repetitions
o Set 3: 10% less weight, more repetitions
- Overhead press - same structure as deadlift
- Pull-ups: 3 sets, until close to muscle failure
- Dumbbell rows: 3 sets, until close to muscle failure
- Lat pulldowns (wide grip): 3 sets, until close to muscle failure
- Leg extensions: 3 sets, 12-15 repetitions
- Face pulls: 3 sets, 15-20 repetitions
Wednesday
- Flat bench press - same structure as Monday's deadlift; 3 sets
- Incline bench press - same structure
- SZ curls: 3 sets, until close to muscle failure
- Horizontal tricep presses with a SZ bar (skull crushers): 3 sets, until near muscle failure
- Dumbbell shoulder raises: 3 sets, until close to muscle failure
- Tricep presses on the cable pulley: 3 sets, until close to muscle failure
- Dumbbell side raises: 3 sets, 12-15 repetitions
Friday
- High-bar squats - same structure; 3 sets
- Pull-ups: 4 sets, until near muscle failure
- Leg presses: 3 sets, until near muscle failure
- Lying leg curls: 4 sets, until close to muscle failure
- Leg extensions: 3 sets, 12-15 repetitions
- Calf raises: 4 sets, to near muscle failure
This is a good balance between volume and effort to start with when it comes to hypertrophy. Over time, you can continue to increase the volume, but you will probably also need to add another training day or two per week. Otherwise, you would risk having to train for 1.5 to 2 hours each time, which would exhaust you too much.
What do I like about reverse pyramid training?
It's the perfect way to increase strength and maintain and increase existing muscle mass during a fat loss phase.
I have tried many different training methods myself and with clients during fat loss and I have found that reverse pyramid training is the most effective way to get stronger and maintain existing muscle mass. This is because it is a low-volume, high-intensity training style that is perfect for periods of calorie restriction.
It's easy to follow and involves very little math.
In terms of simplicity, you can't go far wrong with reverse pyramid training. It takes effort and fundamentals to get the results you want. Okay, a little math too.
You can make good gains with fewer training days and less training volume.
Since reverse pyramid training is quite intense, you can't (and shouldn't) train at a very high volume or frequency. But you can make amazing gains in strength and muscle mass with just three training sessions a week.
It satisfies your ego and your craving for heavy weights.
Let's be honest: we all like to move heavy weights because it flatters the ego like nothing else. With reverse pyramid training, your focus is on moving heavy weights to near muscle failure - but in a safe and intelligent way.
What I don't like about reverse pyramid training
It can get boring after a while
Yes, despite the (mostly) predictable progress, reverse pyramid training can get boring after a while. Also, some exercisers tend to turn to higher frequency and volume and feel like lazy wimps when doing reverse pyramid training.
Linear progression is not always predictable, which can be frustrating
Yes, progressive overload tends to come in waves. Some days you feel great and the weights almost move themselves. Other times you feel like you're spinning your wheels and you may even have to use lighter weights to stay within the prescribed repetition range.
It can be mentally draining for some
I know what you're thinking: "3 heavy sets are mentally exhausting? How is that supposed to work?"
Yes, but you should also consider that those 3 sets (or more if you're doing reverse pyramid training with multiple exercises) are hard. And when I say hard, I mean it. After the heaviest set of deadlifts or squats, you will be completely exhausted and need at least 4 to 5 minutes to recover.
Some exercisers are absorbed in this training approach and virtually explode. For others, however, training at a moderate intensity is better.
However, you need to do this type of training yourself before you can draw any conclusions. (Unless, of course, you are already exhausted and overwhelmed after reading this article. In that case, reverse pyramid training is not for you).
It is not suitable for beginners.
Beginners need to spend their time learning good technique within the limits of their physical abilities. Having a trainee with only a few weeks of training experience perform reverse pyramid training is simply dangerous, as such a trainee has not yet internalized the correct motor movement patterns and does not know if their form will deteriorate over the course of the set.
People can get too caught up in progression and neglect common sense and technique
This of course fits in with the disadvantage just mentioned, but even more advanced exercisers can get too focused on progression and forget about their once perfect deadlift technique, which now resembles a frightened cat.
For this reason, it is important to always pay attention to correct exercise form and a full range of motion. Only then can you safely put more weight on the bar.
Conclusion
Reverse pyramid training is a very effective and simplistic approach to getting stronger. This type of training can be used during growth phases as well as during fat loss.
Reverse pyramid training is goal-oriented and you are forced to think about your progression every week thanks to the goals you set yourself.
Of course, this training approach has its drawbacks, but as long as you keep these in mind and don't do anything stupid, you can make some excellent progress with reverse pyramid training.
References:
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26789094?dopt=Abstract
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3435910/
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4215195/
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29470825
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23955603
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15947720
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4731492/
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4562558/
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30153194
Source: https://pumpsomeiron.com/how-to-gain-strength-with-reverse-pyramid-training/
Muscle memory is your body's ability to rebuild muscles that it had once built up. Studies show that muscle memory can last up to 15 years - maybe longer.
A few years ago, I had a friend who put a lot of time and effort into her fitness. She trained hard, ate well and made sure she got enough sleep. She also had a body that showed it. She could bench press more than most of the guys at her gym, she moved over 150 kilos doing squats and she had the body of a goddess.
But then she injured her lower back. The consequences? Three months of no training - neither weights nor cardio - just rehabilitation training. For someone like her, this was the ultimate punishment. She lost a lot of muscle mass, built up some fat and had to watch her bench press weights drop to 45 kilos.
But once she was back in the gym and able to train properly again, she regained her previous form in record time. While it had originally taken her seven years to achieve this form, she was now able to rebuild everything in a tenth of the time.
And no, she didn't know any "ancient Chinese secrets". What she experienced was the power of muscle memory. And you can experience this too.
What is muscle memory?
Muscle memory sounds good, doesn't it? Almost too good to be true. But this is one of those cases where things are as they seem. I'm sure you've heard the argument that bodybuilding is a thankless sport. As long as you give it everything you've got, you'll be fine. But stop training once and you will lose everything. Forever.
This is partly true. Scientific research seems to suggest that we can maintain our gains without exercise for about two weeks before we start to lose them (1). You will get weaker and your muscles will shrink. Although it is possible to maintain good body development with relatively little effort, you will need at least some training to achieve this.
However, if you start training seriously again after a long break, you will find that you get back to your old shape much faster than it took you to get there in the first place. Like my friend, you can expect to get back to your old shape five to ten times faster.
If you've been through this before, then you know there's a lot of truth to this. If not, you may still be skeptical. However, the fact is that muscle memory is something we can all benefit from as it is a fundamental part of our physiology. But how exactly does it work?
The science behind muscle memory
Cellular memory is a well-established phenomenon within the body. Ultimately, this is the process that makes us immune to many viruses we have suffered from in the past. The body generates and stores memory cells that are inactive for years and then come to life when we are attacked by the same virus years later to quickly destroy that virus.
Let's move on to the muscles.
The typical cell in your body has a nucleus, also known as the control center of the cell. However, muscle cells are slightly different in that they are larger, longer and tubular. These cells have many nuclei, each of which is responsible for a specific area of the cell (3).
Each nucleus has a limit to the size of the area it can control. In other words, once a muscle gets big enough, the existing nuclei will reach their limit in terms of the area they control and you will no longer be able to grow the muscle any further.
Visualize each nucleus as a guardian. If you hire a dozen guards to guard a building, then everything is fine. However, if you instruct that dozen guards to patrol the entire neighborhood, then it will be impossible for them to monitor the entire area.
The solution? We hire more guards. In the case of our muscles, the body adds new nuclei to the muscle cells. However, the muscles cannot make these nuclei themselves - they have to be added from satellite cells (4). These are the cells that lie dormant around the muscle cells and are occasionally called upon to repair muscle tissue and build new muscle tissue.
When needed, these satellite cells fuse with muscle cells and donate their nuclei to them (5). The ever-growing arsenal of nuclei within muscle cells allows us to continue building new muscle for years to come.
But here's the interesting part:
As soon as you stop exercising, your muscles begin to shrink - the technical term for this is atrophy - but the nuclei once accumulated remain (5). As soon as you start exercising again, your muscles will therefore grow back to their previous size at a much faster rate.
In one study, subjects trained for 7 weeks, then took a 7-week break from training and then trained again for 7 weeks (6). The scientists found that the changes in DNA levels brought about by the training were maintained during the non-training phase. This means that the muscle-building potential was fixed in the DNA for later use.
Another paper also concluded that muscle memory is a real phenomenon (7).
So what does all this mean? Well, if you've built up a significant amount of muscle mass (at least 5 to 10 kilos above baseline), then you're likely to have a lot more nuclei in your muscle cells than you did before you started training.
Even if you take a break from training and lose some muscle mass and strength, you will be able to rebuild this quickly. It is not necessary for new satellite cells to donate their nuclei to your muscles in order to grow them back to their original size. Instead, your muscle cells will use the previous starting point to restore their original size, which is much more efficient.
How long does muscle memory last?
It's clear that muscle memory is real and that it works amazingly well for bodybuilders. The question now is how long muscle memory lasts.
The scientists who wrote the paper we looked at above couldn't give a definitive answer to this question, but said that it lasts for at least seven weeks (6). This was the length of the non-training phase during their study.
Some hypertrophy experts suggest that these changes could last for many years and will lead to a rapid rebuilding of muscle mass even after a very long break from training.
In one study, scientists found that myonuclei are stable for at least 15 years and may even be permanent in nature (8). The authors of the paper also made the following statement:
"Myonuclei are harder to recruit in older people, however, and if long-lasting muscle memory also exists in humans, then early strength training could be considered a public health recommendation."
So it's better to start training early when muscle growth is faster. This will help you build muscle mass much faster and easier than with age.
It's not uncommon for people who train with weights in high school or college to stop training for a few decades, then start training again and make amazing progress over several months. With the research we have so far, combined with anecdotal evidence, we can assume that muscle memory lasts a lifetime.
The problem is that it is very difficult to conduct studies to determine the duration of muscle memory. This would require finding many subjects who were active and muscular in their teens and twenties, then stopped exercising and lost their muscles, and are now in their fifties, sixties or even seventies.
These subjects would also need to be willing to resume their regular training, be healthy enough to train efficiently and tell the truth about the gains they made decades ago.
Can this be done? My guess is yes. But even if we don't get the answer in the near future (or maybe never), we can still assume that muscle memory lasts a lifetime and we can use it to our benefit.
Does muscle memory help you build muscle faster?
People who have just started training build muscle at a much faster rate because their bodies are not used to the stress of training. This phenomenon is known as "beginner gains" and lasts for about three to nine months. Thanks to this sensitivity to training stress, the body ramps up many muscle-building processes, which includes an infusion of myonuclei into the muscle cells on a large scale.
During this time, you can expect to build muscle and get stronger every week. Once you get past the beginner gains phase and continue to build more muscle, it becomes much more challenging to continue making progress.
Building new muscle will become difficult, the process of adding more nuclei to your muscle cells will slow down considerably and your training sessions will have to become harder and more demanding to produce results.
This is the effect of repetitive effort in action (9). In other words, what has gotten you this far will not get you where you want to go. The more you expose your body to demanding training, the more resilient it will become and the less it will feel compelled to continue to adapt and improve.
Several processes are responsible for muscle growth, but the activation of satellite cells is the most important of these. And the whole thing gets even more complicated:
- There are fewer infusions of satellite cells.
- Your workouts need to get progressively harder to cause enough of a disruption to get satellite cells to donate their nuclei.
- The disruption of homeostasis that occurs results in significantly less satellite cell activation.
Some people believe that we can use this whole thing to our advantage and accelerate muscle growth. As we have seen above, you lose muscle mass when you stop exercising, but the accumulated muscle cell nuclei remain (probably for life).
If we don't lose our hard-earned nuclei, the question is whether there is a way to resensitize the satellite cells to the disturbances of training and thereby speed up the process of merging satellite cells with muscle cells. And even if this were possible, the question is whether this would help us build more muscle or increase our overall capacity for muscle growth.
This is quite an interesting question and there are a few studies that have looked at this idea in more detail, although the scientists did not look at the influence of satellite cell activity.
In one study, 15 untrained men were divided into two groups (10). One group trained continuously for 15 weeks and the other group trained for 6 weeks, then took a break for three weeks and then trained for a further 6 weeks.
After the 15 weeks, the scientists compared the results of the two groups. No significant differences were found. In addition, the scientists did not observe any significant decrease in strength or muscle size in the second group after the three-week training break.
Another study came to similar conclusions (11). In this study, fourteen young, untrained men were divided into two groups:
- Group 1 trained continuously for 24 weeks.
- Group 2 repeated a cycle of six weeks of training followed by 3 non-training weeks a total of three times.
The training protocol for both groups consisted of bench presses three times a week at 75% of the maximum weight for one repetition for three sets of 10 repetitions. After the first six weeks, both groups had built up similar amounts of strength and muscle mass, which was to be expected.
Group 1 showed a gradual slowdown in progress after the first six weeks, while Group 2 made significantly better progress during their training weeks. Ultimately, the results slowed for both groups and both groups built similar amounts of strength and muscle mass within 24 weeks.
Oddly enough, both groups made similar gains even though one of the groups had not exercised for six weeks. Here are some possible reasons for this:
- All of the subjects in both studies were novice exercisers, which means they were extremely sensitive to training. If the researchers had used more experienced exercisers, the results could have been different. We could also argue that beginners are more resistant to losing their initial progress than more experienced exercisers. This would explain why they had not lost much of their progress after three weeks off training.
- Both studies included only a relatively small group of subjects. With more subjects, the differences between the groups could have been more significant.
- It is possible that the subjects who took the training breaks felt more motivated and enthusiastic and therefore put more effort into their training. Knowing that you only have a few weeks of training left before you get a break can be a powerful motivator to push yourself harder.
Additionally, these studies were relatively short-lived, so we shouldn't overstate the results. Sure, both groups were able to achieve similar results over a 15 or 24 week period, but how would these results change if the subjects were able to gain more training experience for one, two or three years?
Can we realistically expect to train 25 to 30% less and still make the same progress in the long run, all other factors being equal?
Finally, the periodized training groups did not build more muscle. If anything, they only achieved the results of the continuous training groups.
It's common sense that if you want to get better results from something, you need to put in more effort, not less. In the case of training, volume and intensity are crucial factors for muscle growth. Not training doesn't seem to be the best strategy if your goal is to achieve better results.
Of course, the importance of taking a break from training is unquestionable. We need periods of less demanding training sessions to regenerate, get a mental break and get back to training with more energy and enthusiasm.
What is the conclusion and what does this mean in practice?
The findings on muscle memory tell us that we can stop training for weeks, months or even years without worrying about losing our progress forever. The nuclei accumulated through resistance training are likely to last a lifetime and serve as a reset point for our muscle development.
In other words, the progress we have made once will come much more easily the second time around. We have upgraded our muscle-building ability for the foreseeable future - and perhaps for life.
If you get injured or ill and can't or shouldn't train, then you can be sure that you can get back to your old form much faster. You don't have to train through the pain to maintain your muscles. Give yourself time to heal completely and then start training again.
Scientific research also shows us that we are more resistant to losing our gains than we might have thought. Up to two weeks without training will not result in a loss of strength or muscle. So you don't have to worry about losing it all again after months of hard training if you take a week or two off.
The only disappointing thing is that we can't use muscle memory to build new muscle faster. Or maybe there's a way that science hasn't discovered yet.
In the end, maybe bodybuilding isn't such a thankless sport after all.
References:
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28328712
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16183776
- https://opentextbc.ca/anatomyandphysiology/chapter/10-2-skeletal-muscle/
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25344672
- https://www.pnas.org/content/107/34/15111
- https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-20287-3
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30099751
- http://jeb.biologists.org/content/219/2/235
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12641640
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21771261
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23053130
Source: https://pumpsomeiron.com/what-is-muscle-memory-how-long-does-it-last/
