4th Cookie Cutter Cycle

[NWlifter]

So, been reading up on myoreps and other stuff by Borge Fagerli. Towards the end of my 7 week cycle (4th complete hst cycle) I incorporated myoreps into my workout utilizing them on non-compound exercises for back, bis, tris, calves, and hams. I stopped the cycle at seven weeks for a couple of reasons. One, the poundage on some compound exercises was of concern as I train alone. Two, my elbows were killing me. I really needed a break. This was not caused by myoreps. It has been an ongoing problem for a couple of years now. Heavy presses seem to bother them the most. I find that weird, but it’s a fact. I’ve been managing by wrapping them tight with elastic wraps, but they still hurt. Especially the day after. So anyway I’m now on my tenth day of an SD phase. They still hurt though.
I’ve also been intensely studying Gironda’s methods. Actually, Gironda’s and Fagerli’s methods are similar in some aspects. Gironda’s “burns” and myoreps are very similar in nature. There are other similarities in training philosophy also. I guess what basically works, works, with of course various tweaks per the individual trainer or trainee. I’ve recently bought ebooks from both Fagerli and whoever it is that sells the bundle of Gironda ebooks and read them all. I consider them all good reads.
I’m currently contemplating my next cycle. I’m thinking of maybe myoreps for everything this time. Not sure of frequency yet. Brian says 3 times a week but Borge and Gironda seem to lean to 2 times a week. I suppose that would depend on the individual and his recovery ability. Maybe I’ll wing it, and adjust as necessary.
Also, still on low carb diet for the most part. But i drink too much so it’s been slow going. Was over 290 this past December but down to 272 now. Borge’s “zero carb diet” all meat diet was a good read and offers inspiration.
Thanx to Old and Gray for the myoreps tip. Wish you a speedy recovery!
Happy training everyone! May your bicep peaks exceed Arnold’s highest expectations!

https://gumroad.com/read

Hope all that feels better for ya!
Gironda, I love many of this methods. (I agree on some of the exercises, neck presses... ouch!) but the basic ideas.
Like your saying, it's kinda similar to myo-reps. Seems there is a lot of research now finding that just getting the 'good reps' in is what counts.
Myo reps you take a load and go like
12, short rest, 3-4, short rest, 3-4, short rest, etc
Gironda you just divi out the reps different
8, short rest, 8 short rest, 8 etc.
then some studies now show rest pause or drop sets work about the same as regular volume

I used to babble about this years ago, if you take a long rest between sets, then you just end up doing more reps the next set, to cause enough fatigue, to get to the harder good reps, but if you take a short rest, you start out pre-fatigued and start with the good reps. Nice to see what I was saying 15 years ago is proving true.

 

[Robthebod]

Hey Simon! What’s the good news fellow Ironman! Yeah I agree some of Gironda’s methods seem strange to say the least. But hey, they did send him the movie stars for some reason.
As for the neck press, I used to do a lot of regular flat bench press. But I always said, I can’t feel it in my chest. I was a classic front deltoid bench presser. No pump, no burn, nothing in my pecs. No matter how I set up, no noticeable stimulation. And my shoulders were killing me. I actually saw a University of Florida sports medicine practitioner one time who was amazed at the size of my deltoids and diagnosed the root of my pain as biceps tendinitis. That’s what lots of flat benches can do to someone like me. I had not long been doing Beverly International’s Roger Reidinger’s “add 30 pounds to your bench press in 6 weeks” program and had in fact added 40 pounds to my bench in 6 weeks. During the same period I was jumping rope on my off days to the tune of 3000 reps per session. That’s when I began experiencing shoulder and wrist problems. However, with the neck press, I can actually feel the pectoral muscles firing (or stretching) with each rep. I do however, have reservations about getting up to a very heavy load with this exercise given the compromising position of the shoulders. And I’m at that point now. So I’m thinking of a total myoreps routine, maybe 2 or 3 times weekly for each muscle group. Less load, but still have the intensity. Might need the lighter load to give my joints a break. At least for a while, like a cycle or two.
Anyways, good to hear from you! Take care, and pump more iron!

 

[Robthebod]

Hope all that feels better for ya!
Gironda, I love many of this methods. (I agree on some of the exercises, neck presses... ouch!) but the basic ideas.
Like your saying, it's kinda similar to myo-reps. Seems there is a lot of research now finding that just getting the 'good reps' in is what counts.
Myo reps you take a load and go like
12, short rest, 3-4, short rest, 3-4, short rest, etc
Gironda you just divi out the reps different
8, short rest, 8 short rest, 8 etc.
then some studies now show rest pause or drop sets work about the same as regular volume

I used to babble about this years ago, if you take a long rest between sets, then you just end up doing more reps the next set, to cause enough fatigue, to get to the harder good reps, but if you take a short rest, you start out pre-fatigued and start with the good reps. Nice to see what I was saying 15 years ago is proving true.

 

[Robthebod]

What’s up NWl! Yeah seems like your babbling was dead on! Gironda might have been a little on the extreme side, but his methods obviously produced results. I think he was constantly learning and adapting his methods to better and better get results in the shortest timeframe possible. That seemed to be his calling.
I think Borge’s myoreps are a focused methodology of Gironda’s “burns” In other words, Borge has taken Gironda’s “burns” (as practiced by Larry Scott on his famous preacher bench), and by experimentation has more or less furthered it into a science. A prescription of exactly what to do, rep by rep, to produce maximum results in minimum time.
At least that’s the theory. I’ll keep y’all updated on my results as I venture into this strange new world (for me).

 

[_Simon_]

Hey Simon! What’s the good news fellow Ironman! Yeah I agree some of Gironda’s methods seem strange to say the least. But hey, they did send him the movie stars for some reason.
As for the neck press, I used to do a lot of regular flat bench press. But I always said, I can’t feel it in my chest. I was a classic front deltoid bench presser. No pump, no burn, nothing in my pecs. No matter how I set up, no noticeable stimulation. And my shoulders were killing me. I actually saw a University of Florida sports medicine practitioner one time who was amazed at the size of my deltoids and diagnosed the root of my pain as biceps tendinitis. That’s what lots of flat benches can do to someone like me. I had not long been doing Beverly International’s Roger Reidinger’s “add 30 pounds to your bench press in 6 weeks” program and had in fact added 40 pounds to my bench in 6 weeks. During the same period I was jumping rope on my off days to the tune of 3000 reps per session. That’s when I began experiencing shoulder and wrist problems. However, with the neck press, I can actually feel the pectoral muscles firing (or stretching) with each rep. I do however, have reservations about getting up to a very heavy load with this exercise given the compromising position of the shoulders. And I’m at that point now. So I’m thinking of a total myoreps routine, maybe 2 or 3 times weekly for each muscle group. Less load, but still have the intensity. Might need the lighter load to give my joints a break. At least for a while, like a cycle or two.
Anyways, good to hear from you! Take care, and pump more iron!

Haha hey bud .

Ah nice, that's really interesting about benching! If it feels natural and okay to you go for it, I'd for sure also have reservations about heavy loads with the neck press, but that's interesting. It definitely does put the pec major into it's more natural arc. I've always felt bench in the chest, but go to any sort of incline and it goes straight to the shoulders haha.

Ah cool yeah let us known how you find myoreps. And don't shy away from higher reps either, even in the 20-25 rep range for myoreps, myos are definitely optimised for higher reps . Take care and have fun!

 

[NWlifter]

What’s up NWl! Yeah seems like your babbling was dead on! Gironda might have been a little on the extreme side, but his methods obviously produced results. I think he was constantly learning and adapting his methods to better and better get results in the shortest timeframe possible. That seemed to be his calling.
I think Borge’s myoreps are a focused methodology of Gironda’s “burns” In other words, Borge has taken Gironda’s “burns” (as practiced by Larry Scott on his famous preacher bench), and by experimentation has more or less furthered it into a science. A prescription of exactly what to do, rep by rep, to produce maximum results in minimum time.
At least that’s the theory. I’ll keep y’all updated on my results as I venture into this strange new world (for me).

Hey Rob,
True, myo is more like burns
I agree, Gironda had some cool ideas, I know the basic idea of 'reps' short rest 'reps' short rest, etc. works, it always works well for me, it does cause the fastest size gains for me anyway. I did it last summer and gained quite a bit, and with puny little light weights too.

 

[Blade]

Well, I wasn’t inspired by Gironda at all, I had barely read any of his work back when I first started developing Myo-reps. I must give the most credit to Mathias Wernbom who I had lots of interesting discussions with, the idea being spawned after his occlusion research and then his epic frequency/volume/intensity paper in 2007 (I first started developing Myo-reps in 2006). I should also give credit to Dan Moore of Max Stimulation, a respected member of this board a few years ago. The three of us had some pretty amazing e-mail convos back then, I have saved a lot of that material and to this day I see research being posted that validated what we only speculated and theorized about 10 years ago.

 

[Old and Grey]

Good to hear from you Borge. I agree with you about Gironda. He is most famous for his drunken tirades in his CA gym. Dan seems to have disappeared about 10 years ago. I heard from him via email once but nothing again. At almost 73 years of age, I still use your myo reps alternating every 6 months or so with a bit heavier work. Keep up the good work. Bob

 

[NWlifter]

Well, I wasn’t inspired by Gironda at all, I had barely read any of his work back when I first started developing Myo-reps. I must give the most credit to Mathias Wernbom who I had lots of interesting discussions with, the idea being spawned after his occlusion research and then his epic frequency/volume/intensity paper in 2007 (I first started developing Myo-reps in 2006). I should also give credit to Dan Moore of Max Stimulation, a respected member of this board a few years ago. The three of us had some pretty amazing e-mail convos back then, I have saved a lot of that material and to this day I see research being posted that validated what we only speculated and theorized about 10 years ago.

Hey Borge, good to see ya on here. I remember all that too. I used to be on that 'email roundtable' with you, Dan, and Mathias, those were some interesting discussions back then

 

[Blade]

Hey Borge, good to see ya on here. I remember all that too. I used to be on that 'email roundtable' with you, Dan, and Mathias, those were some interesting discussions back then

Ah yes, you were indeed - I just couldn’t remember your screen name attached to your real name. Those were some good times

 

[NWlifter]

Ah yes, you were indeed - I just couldn’t remember your screen name attached to your real name. Those were some good times

They were for sure, Mathias was cool, rare to have an active researcher, talk this stuff with people like us, and he trained himself so had his own personal data he shared. Very cool memories!

 

[Robthebod]

Well, I wasn’t inspired by Gironda at all, I had barely read any of his work back when I first started developing Myo-reps. I must give the most credit to Mathias Wernbom who I had lots of interesting discussions with, the idea being spawned after his occlusion research and then his epic frequency/volume/intensity paper in 2007 (I first started developing Myo-reps in 2006). I should also give credit to Dan Moore of Max Stimulation, a respected member of this board a few years ago. The three of us had some pretty amazing e-mail convos back then, I have saved a lot of that material and to this day I see research being posted that validated what we only speculated and theorized about 10 years ago.

Hi Borge. I did not mean to imply that your work was based on Gironda’s methods, although upon rereading my post I can certainly see how it could be perceived that way. My apologies for the misunderstanding.

 

[Blade]

Hi Borge. I did not mean to imply that your work was based on Gironda’s methods, although upon rereading my post I can certainly see how it could be perceived that way. My apologies for the misunderstanding.

No worries, Rob