Weekly Periodization?

<div>
(6x9base13 @ Jan. 10 2008,12:41)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">I don't do any true negative/eccentric work, mostly because I don't have a reliable training partner (I use dumbbells for my bench/incline presses for the same reason). I suppose I could severely cheat the weight up for most of these exercises and lower it slowly with strict form, but that just sounds like an injury waiting to happen.</div>
No need to cheat. For eccentrics, lift the dumbbell with two hands, lower it with one...
 
<div>
(Lol @ Jan. 10 2008,21:13)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Using all the rep ranges and increasing the loads for all rep ranges each week eventually sees you arriving at RM workouts for all rep ranges in the same week. That's what leegee is on about and it is pretty brutal plus there's also the likelihood of greater accumulated fatigue at that point than if you did a regular HST cycle with zig-zag.</div>
I can see that.

But in my case I don't think it'd be a problem. For one thing, I heal abnormally quickly. From cuts, bruises, and burns as well as workouts - so it probably has more to do with diet and genetics than anything I do (or don't do) in the gym.

I almost always train to one rep before failure (which I've gotten to be pretty good at sensing). On those occasions when I deliberately go to failure, it's with a single static hold at the end of my last set.

I also back off a little if I do feel any next-day soreness (aside from the minor ache I feel when periodically stretching) for two consecutive workouts. I'm probably making slower and smaller gains than I'm genetically capable of, but I'd rather take my time and feel good doing it. I'm a &quot;give it 90%&quot; kind of person - 100% doesn't leave you with anything in reserve, and 110% is just plain silly.
 
<div>
(TunnelRat @ Jan. 10 2008,23:07)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE"><div>
(6x9base13 @ Jan. 10 2008,12:41)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">I don't do any true negative/eccentric work, mostly because I don't have a reliable training partner (I use dumbbells for my bench/incline presses for the same reason). I suppose I could severely cheat the weight up for most of these exercises and lower it slowly with strict form, but that just sounds like an injury waiting to happen.</div>
No need to cheat. For eccentrics, lift the dumbbell with two hands, lower it with one...</div>
That doesn't really work for bilateral compound exercises. Sure, I bench with dumbbells (in part for stabilizer training, in part because I don't have a consistent training partner to spot me) - but a unilateral bench is inherently weak compared to a bilateral bench because it brings the obliques into the picture - in a position that feels really weird because torque at the waist would normally also involve the legs and occur while standing (unless you're a breakdancer or capoeirista). Similar problems emerge with overhead presses and upright rows.

I'll do occasional all-unilateral workouts because they're incredible for developing strength throughout the abdominal wall. But per-arm loads decrease (for the most part, anyway) which I switch to unilateral loading.

Isolation exercises are a different situation, I know. But I've found that they're counterproductive in functional terms because they encourage movement patterns that don't really make much sense.

I tend to go for movements which are the most efficient way to safely get a given load from starting-point A to end-point B. Not because this lets me handle more weight in the gym, but because it translates directly into being able to handle heavier loads outside the gym using the easiest (in relative terms) method for getting the job done.
 
<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">The major problem you run into if you use normal progression is that you will hit your maxes for each rep range all in the same week, which adds new meaning to the phrase &quot;week from hell&quot;. I have done a successful cycle using all rep ranges each week, but my experience did not make me want to do it on a regular basis.</div>

Preciselly why I would not recommend it...however our friend Chris has things pertty much wrapped up...my only recommendation is that he starts a log in the Training Logs as this is yet another &quot;lab coat&quot; experiment where others may end up benefiting from.

<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">I wanna go try out at Planet Witless...and work up to my dead max and DROP it before I walk out.</div>
laugh.gif
laugh.gif


Share the feeling...Witless indeed! How can one do a proper deadlift and not grunt or sometimes bang the weight a little harder, it just happens anyway if you do heavy weights.

<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">deadlifts aren't allowed </div> I think this sentence alone will put anyone of us off that gym.

Yeah...you better off at home mate, make your self a set up there and get going with serious matters, leave the poor little gym weaklings where they belong!
wink.gif
 
Sure thing on the training log.

As to the deadlifts - it's possible to not grunt, since you really just have to tighten the abdominal wall to protect your spine and let some air out to prevent hitting your brain with a sharp blood-pressure spike. I sound more like I'm forcefully blowing out a candle. I've also seen guys who screech like Bruce Lee or do that &quot;Ugh!&quot; from Edwin Starr's &quot;War&quot; - all personal preference.

But I have to go lighter to accommodate the need to be able to set it down softly. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, since setting things down softly is also a measure of coordination and control. The part that bothers me is being pestered by people who don't trust that I'm not going to break their floor or throw my back and try to sue them.
 
Just to pop in and then out.....I've been doing the weekly cycling style for the past 6 cycles. I've been using HST solely since 2001. I do it as Lol (?) described.

Sat-10s
Mon-15s
Wed- 5s

I increase the load on everything, every week, and each cycle usually lasts 8 or 9 weeks, with the last 2-3 weeks being max effort and beyond. I've noticed that this is a great way to recomp my body. Keep in mind that I'm not really going for maximum size anymore. I do want to keep growing, but staying lean and big while improving my overall athleticism is my current goal. This method has proven to work very well in that regard.
 
I still want to try the 3 ranges in one workout scheme. I'm thinking of the conditioning it would provide, while adding strength.
I understand if there's a need to be quiet and to let down weights gently; it's just not ever going to be my style. I do let down the weights slowly for training's sake, until I'm nearing the maxes, where I say 'scrooit' and bring out the animal...who makes noises similar to the 120decibel heavy metal that surrounds the lifts. It's not karate, but there is a similarity in the focus, lung control and pressure that explodes from the inside to the outside.
The negative half of the rep is half of the training. When maxing, or pulling the last rep up to failure, I don't think the neg is even necessary. Clank.
 
<div>
(quadancer @ Jan. 11 2008,17:54)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">I still want to try the 3 ranges in one workout scheme. I'm thinking of the conditioning it would provide, while adding strength.
I understand if there's a need to be quiet and to let down weights gently; it's just not ever going to be my style. I do let down the weights slowly for training's sake, until I'm nearing the maxes, where I say 'scrooit' and bring out the animal...who makes noises similar to the 120decibel heavy metal that surrounds the lifts. It's not karate, but there is a similarity in the focus, lung control and pressure that explodes from the inside to the outside.
The negative half of the rep is half of the training. When maxing, or pulling the last rep up to failure, I don't think the neg is even necessary. Clank.</div>
Three ranges within one workout? Now, you are talking about High Intensity Training!
 
No, I'm not guys. If you do the 15's or whatever first, it stands as a warmup, the &quot;tens&quot; or midrep set is a builder, then the lowrep set is where the iron meets the muscle, if not under a bit of fatigue from the earlier sets. But you only do one set of each, post warmup.
As for Hell Week, yes and no. How do you think PL's work out? Not all their workouts are for one exersize or rep range. The trick I've found is that on max day, you ramp up quickly to your max, so it's not possible to do this scheme that way for 3 or 4 exersizes. I would pick the two I'm nearing maxes in and do them one day, and just max the others the next workout, prioritizing things. One thing I've seen guys in here do wrong is to do too many sets before trying a max - even very knowledgable guys like Tot, but I'm not sure he was intending for a max when he started that set.
There are other systems that use variable reps in a workout, but I'm thinking HST style specifically, with progression as the primary factor, so even if you just went as you were into max week, your maxes might be lower, but higher each cycle nonetheless. The point here is to build mass, keep conditioning (or even improve it), and lessen injuries; not to make max lifts. The max lift is simply a relative setpoint reference for the progression, not a contest goal. It's one of the times where you have to leave the ego at the door for the sake of growth. I've not posted this idea yet on any other site, but it is time for a labcoat opinion I guess. I think Coach Hale has my back since he believes that ALL the rep ranges are necessary and valuable, even though lowrep/high weight recruits all muscle fibres.
 
I think for overall conditioning there is no better way to train than to do 15's, 10's &amp; 5's each week. I have done this in the past (many years ago) but I concentrated more on adding a set to each exercise each week for 3 weeks working from 3 sets for each exercise up to 5 sets (I had not heard of HST yet at the time). Then drop the sets back down to 3 and increase weight for 3 weeks. Then start over again. Do this for a few cycles and you WILL improve your conditioning much more than you do with the standard HST protocol. Will you gain more size? That I don't know. I may try it again some time to see what happens as a comparison to the standard HST workouts I have been doing.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top