cluelessgoon
New Member
Hello All.
I want to know what the general opinion of alternating workouts is on the forum. My alternating, I mean doing workout A on Monday, B on Wednesday, A on Friday and so on.
I am now on my 3rd cycle of HST, having made good gains on the last 2 (arms up 0.5 inches, chest & legs up an inch, even calves up 0.5 inches!). My tendency during the cycle is to switch to alternating workouts as the cycle reaches the 5s (do the full 15, 10, 5, 5* progression). I tried this alternating style from the start on the last cycle.
Here is an example of what my routine might progress to in the 5s. It's a genuine struggle for me to complete it and I might bin some of the later exercises in reality. I tend to include more isolation work early on - such as cuban presses, leg curls & leg extensions, some arm work, but I just can't maintain it by the time I get to the 5's. I do it mostly for injury prevention and variety early on.
A
Deadlifts 1x5
standing calves (clustered to about 50 reps)
Pullups 2x5
Dips 2x5
Overhead press 2x5
side bends 3x5
B
Squats 1x5
seated calves (clustered to 50 reps)
Incline bench 2x5
Bent over rows 3x5
wt situps 3x5
My reasoning for training in this manner is that I tend to acquire overuse injuries VERY quickly. For example during the 1st cycle doing the same routine each workout I quickly
developed some bicipital tendonitis from pullups (even though they were well under failure). By swapping between 2 workouts I get more rest between identical movements, and still stress the same muscles but in slightly different ways. I don't really enjoy the heavy stuff and find myself feeling really beaten up during the 5s and 5*s (ironic as a former powerlifter eh?!). This is definately worsened during the 5s. When I plan out the cycles (which takes twice as long
) I go from about 55% to 105% on all the exercises and just double up the increments.
I wonder how much people feel repeating the exact same exercises is important with regard to CNS overload, or Repeated Bout Effect. My feeling is that motivation is an important factor and you've got to want to lift 100% by the end of a cycle.
As an interesting side note, I grow best in the 10s. I precede the 10s with either 15s or 12s and when I reach the end of the 10s I've always lost fat and gained muscle somehow! During the 5s I continue to grow & get stronger, but generally also gain some fat and just feel crap by the end!
Cheers
I want to know what the general opinion of alternating workouts is on the forum. My alternating, I mean doing workout A on Monday, B on Wednesday, A on Friday and so on.
I am now on my 3rd cycle of HST, having made good gains on the last 2 (arms up 0.5 inches, chest & legs up an inch, even calves up 0.5 inches!). My tendency during the cycle is to switch to alternating workouts as the cycle reaches the 5s (do the full 15, 10, 5, 5* progression). I tried this alternating style from the start on the last cycle.
Here is an example of what my routine might progress to in the 5s. It's a genuine struggle for me to complete it and I might bin some of the later exercises in reality. I tend to include more isolation work early on - such as cuban presses, leg curls & leg extensions, some arm work, but I just can't maintain it by the time I get to the 5's. I do it mostly for injury prevention and variety early on.
A
Deadlifts 1x5
standing calves (clustered to about 50 reps)
Pullups 2x5
Dips 2x5
Overhead press 2x5
side bends 3x5
B
Squats 1x5
seated calves (clustered to 50 reps)
Incline bench 2x5
Bent over rows 3x5
wt situps 3x5
My reasoning for training in this manner is that I tend to acquire overuse injuries VERY quickly. For example during the 1st cycle doing the same routine each workout I quickly
developed some bicipital tendonitis from pullups (even though they were well under failure). By swapping between 2 workouts I get more rest between identical movements, and still stress the same muscles but in slightly different ways. I don't really enjoy the heavy stuff and find myself feeling really beaten up during the 5s and 5*s (ironic as a former powerlifter eh?!). This is definately worsened during the 5s. When I plan out the cycles (which takes twice as long

I wonder how much people feel repeating the exact same exercises is important with regard to CNS overload, or Repeated Bout Effect. My feeling is that motivation is an important factor and you've got to want to lift 100% by the end of a cycle.
As an interesting side note, I grow best in the 10s. I precede the 10s with either 15s or 12s and when I reach the end of the 10s I've always lost fat and gained muscle somehow! During the 5s I continue to grow & get stronger, but generally also gain some fat and just feel crap by the end!
Cheers