Intensity / Progress ==> new person question

[imported_daxie]

Hello,

I've been working out for five years and was always very interested in new training schemes, mainly cause simple schemes don't work for me

Been doing my own HIT's with very good results, but always open for new things.

So I read the article at BB.com, and was interested in trying it out, but have a few questions...

1) You start with a weight (eg at the 15s) that is 1/3 lower than your maximum weight for that amount of reps... It appears to me that those two sets of 15s will be very easy, cause you only use 66% procent of the weight you could take. Doesn't that give a "Is that all?"-feeling both mentally and "in your muscles"? Or are the reps performed in such a manner (slow?) that even that lower weight will be difficult? Or am I missing something completely?

2) When/how do you notice the progress, and how do you incorporate it in your schemes? As it looks to me, after the three mesocycles, you ended every time with a weight that you could already lift 6 weeks earlier? That doesn't seem like progress to me?

3) How can you tell the progress if there is never a new test for max's? Is there an objective way to notice your progress, since it seems the full training scheme with weights is laid out before you start the cycle?

Forgive me if these questions show ignorance, but I have grown accustomed to my hit training, where failure and weekly/two-weekly objective progress on those sets were the basics of my satisfaction of a training scheme.
(For example the first week I did a 8MR with 100, and after four weeks I did a 8MR with 120... That's what I call objective progress, cause it's the same exercise, both performed to failure, at the same time in a routine, with a clear gain.)

Thank you,

Daxie from Belgium

 

[imported_dkm1987]

Quote[/b] (daxie @ April 21 2005,9:28)]1) You start with a weight (eg at the 15s) that is 1/3 lower than your maximum weight for that amount of reps... It appears to me that those two sets of 15s will be very easy, cause you only use 66% procent of the weight you could take. Doesn't that give a "Is that all?"-feeling both mentally and "in your muscles"? Or are the reps performed in such a manner (slow?) that even that lower weight will be difficult?

2) When/how do you notice the progress, and how do you incorporate it in your schemes? As it looks to me, after the three mesocycles, you ended every time with a weight that you could already lift 6 weeks earlier? That doesn't seem like progress to me?

3) How can you tell the progress if there is never a new test for max's? Is there an objective way to notice your progress, since it seems the full training scheme with weights is laid out before you start the cycle?

Forgive me if these questions show ignorance, but I have grown accustomed to my hit training, where failure and weekly/two-weekly objective progress on those sets were the basics of my satisfaction of a training scheme.
(For example the first week I did a 8MR with 100, and after four weeks I did a 8MR with 120... That's what I call objective progress, cause it's the same exercise, both performed to failure, at the same time in a routine, with a clear gain.)
Thank you,
Daxie from Belgium

Yes the submax weights are easy, but when taken into complete context of the program and Deconditioning the lighter weights can prove to be a challenge.

Yes you can adjust rep speed to compensate if you feel you need to.

Progress is noticed in the mirror, scale, myotape and looks you get from others, some think you're nuts, others wish they knew. This is a hypertophy program, even though strength can and does increase it is not the intent of this. Your progress is incorporated every workout hence the progressive resistance nature of the set up.

You are basing progress on strength and neural efficiency, which is all good if those are your aims.

You can retest your maxes at the end of each cycle, if you desire. You can also just add on 5 to 10% to each exercise.

There is a difference between strength training and growth training, if you prefer strength gains, great

. If you are after growth gains you've come to the right place Wecome aboard

 

[imported_daxie]

Quote[/b] ]You are basing progress on strength and neural efficiency, which is all good if those are your aims

Trust me, these are not my aims, but through the years, I have found those the (often) only way of progress indication...
Saying I'm a hardgainer would be underestimating

(oh, and every strenght gaining program I've tried caused me serious overtraining and muscle overtaxing...)

I might give it a try, if I manage to convince my training partner (which goes crazy every time I come up with a new non-standard scheme)

 

[Jester]

I was 93kgs @ start of December....I'm touching 100kgs now, and my bf hasn't changed significantly, in fact I think after HST it has actually decreased a little.