Creator's Training Tip Thread

[Zigurd]

Amazing thread. I am perplexed at how much knowledge you have =)

 

[The Creator]

haha thanks guys! I left my physiology book at work so I will wait to properly cite the information about deloading that I have in there!

 

[The Creator]

Tip 11

Train to stimulate, not annihilate. When developing your program, there are a lot of things to take into consideration. Most of the information that I have for this tip has been pulled from Mike Stone's research who I believe to be the leading researcher in muscular strength and development. The first thing I would like to discuss is reps. I will break these up into heavy (3-5 sets 3-5 RM) Moderate-heavy (3 sets 8-10RM) and light (2 sets 12-15RM). Now for all of these you come out to similar overall volume....So does this mean that your muscles will respond similar? The answer according to Stone is no. While it is true that your "heavy" fibers are the largest, recent research shows that they are less likely to hypertrophy when compared to "moderate" fibers. Now before I go on, keep in mind that this is only regarding natural lifters. The rep range where fibers are most likely to hypertrophy is in the 8-12 possibly up to 14. As a whole, this is the range bodybuilders should be aiming for.
As far as sets are concerned, I believe this is where most people go wrong. According to Stone, 5-10 sets per muscle group is the optimal range for maximal muscle gains per session. Remember, train to stimulate and then move on. I believe most people on this board fall into an 8 set category for most muscle groups.
Lets move on to rest in between sets. For maximal hypertrophy, rest should be 1-4 mins between sets. More specifically, 60 seconds for maximal testosterone and 90 seconds for maximal GH. Rest between workouts should be 24-48 hours.

When designing your program, here are your program variables
-exercise choice
-intensity
-number of sets
-rest period
-exercise order

As you overload, the following should be considered
-intensity
-frequency
-volume

Here is a basic breakdown for hypertrophy
-Repeated submaximal efforts
-intensity should be 80-90%
-volume 5-10 sets/muscle
-density 1-4 min between sets
-24-48 hours between sets

I recently sat down with two of our universities top doctors of exercise physiology and they were both went as far as to say, natural lifters looking for hypertrophy should undoubtedly be hitting each muscle group twice a week with 8 sets per muscle group for most muscle groups. One of them didnt believe one would get much natural size from consistently hitting each muscle group once a week. Something to keep in mind when developing your next routine!

 

[curtisymoo]

thats good stuff to know. thanks creator

 

[miamiracing]

last time i trained with dridderz i did stiffed leg deadlifts and he got very horny when he saw my gluteus.. how can i change that?

 

[tim290280]

I recently sat down with two of our universities top doctors of exercise physiology and they were both went as far as to say, natural lifters looking for hypertrophy should undoubtedly be hitting each muscle group twice a week with 8 sets per muscle group for most muscle groups. One of them didnt believe one would get much natural size from consistently hitting each muscle group once a week. Something to keep in mind when developing your next routine!

While I agree with this I know that there will be BBers *cough*Blake*cough* that will disagree with this. And I think this is where the difference in loading and the level of fatigue and muscle damage comes into play. A lot of muscle research is done on athletes who can't afford to be stiff and sore all week. They need to be able to train everyday and perform at competition level on the weekend (or peak for whatever event). Recreational BBers and even Pro BBers aren't necessarily having to do anything anywhere near approaching athletic, so they can go overboard with drop sets and giant sets and other "intensity builders" on any bodypart they like. Personally I think this is fine until you have a real job, or family commitments that mean you can't be perpetually sore.

 

[The Creator]

While I agree with this I know that there will be BBers *cough*Blake*cough* that will disagree with this. And I think this is where the difference in loading and the level of fatigue and muscle damage comes into play. A lot of muscle research is done on athletes who can't afford to be stiff and sore all week. They need to be able to train everyday and perform at competition level on the weekend (or peak for whatever event). Recreational BBers and even Pro BBers aren't necessarily having to do anything anywhere near approaching athletic, so they can go overboard with drop sets and giant sets and other "intensity builders" on any bodypart they like. Personally I think this is fine until you have a real job, or family commitments that mean you can't be perpetually sore.

I am finding it is very difficult to find good research on hypertrophy at the bodybuilding level, and I have been told that it is too hard to control these individuals training, supplementation, and diet. So the question becomes "how much is too much?" and "at what level can you increase overall volume?" I presented these questions and the answer seem to come back the same, and that is that no muscle should be getting more than 10 direct working sets to failure in a single session. We know that extreme DOMS is not a pre-requisite for growth so it is difficult to gauge exactly where to stop. But I do know that if you hit 8 sets one day, and 8 sets 72 hours later, the quality of those 16 sets will likely be higher than if all 16 were done in a single session. More force, more energy, typically equals better development. The research is far from definitive, but every physiologist that I have spoke with and all the research I have read supports less volume per day and greater frequency.

 

[tim290280]

^^ Most of the weightlifting community agrees too. Even powerlifters are doing two bench days and two squat/dead days.

I know BBers like to think they are special and there is more than one way to skin a cat but I agree that frequency and progressive overload are the only things that seem to matter.

 

[wrestling lyon]

great tip about squatting
i can't stand people with the worst form
it's funny, yet sad at the same time, seeing the huge lineman for football try and squat because they look like they are doing more of a good morning than a squat
and during wrestling when we do 50 reps of bodyweight squats and people just bend over and call it a squat
i should print this out and post it on the wall for them to read haha

 

[wrestling lyon]

and tim what are cuban presses?
i have never heard of these before

 

[tim290280]

^^ Well you grab some chick from Cuba.........

Take a BB or DB. Raise as you would for and upright row but stop at the point where your arms hang straight down and your elbows and upper arms are parrallel with the floor. You then externally rotate your arms (rotate the arm at the shoulder backwards) so that you move the bar or DBs in an arc in front of your body to the top of your head. You then press to extension and reverse the motion. At all times your scapulars should be retracted and depressed.

Do a google search for a video of it; preferably the one Eric Cressey did.

 

[wrestling lyon]

tim: thanks for explaining that out
i don't think i need to see the video i stood up while re-reading your post and mimicked the motion, your explanation made it simple
still might check it out though

 

[The Creator]

^^ or have them face a wall with their toes about an inch away from the wall and have them squat. This will fix some excess forward lean in no time. I laugh every time I have somebody do this and they say that they keep running into the wall. I prescribe some foam rolling, stretching, etc. and have them come back when they can get parallel in this position.

 

[Hypocrisy86]

hey man, was wondeing if elbow sleeve wraps (like ronnie uses) can help out during arm workouts, i gotta weak left arm, and have small pain near elbow area, would the compression help out?

 

[tim290280]

^^ They are just like knee sleeves. No actual joint support but they do keep the joint warm and improve blood flow so you should get less joint issues.

After using the ones for my knees I'm thinking of getting a pair for my elbows before winter.

 

[Hypocrisy86]

^ thanks.

 

[Maxmonzter]

bump

 

[The Creator]

Solid bump. Let me know what you guys want to hear. I will work on getting that deloading tip up!

 

[tim290280]

^^ Deloads, training cycles...... anything really.

 

[Natzo]

You really made me think about training every muscle group twice per week..

How would a routine like that look like? How could I put them into 4 days?

My chest usually still hurts 3 to 4 days after.. hitting it twice would be a good ideia?

Edit: Lately I've been doing something similar for my Biceps. I trained them with chest 3 exercises 2-3 sets, this is like Monday, and Saturday I train them a little bit softer 2 exercises 2 sets.

And they seem to respond well to that my peaked has increased and everything.

I think I going to check your log!