High intensity training
From CppWiki
Since February, I (Paul Parks) have been on a high-intensity training workout regimen. This isn't the first time I've tried it, but this time I'm planning to stick with it. My training journal is also online, where you can see my progress with weights and reps along with a diary of my workouts.
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[edit] Description of the Routine
When I started the workout cycle described below, was working out on Sunday and Wednesday of every week, with cardio workouts interspersed between. I'm now lifting every fourth day and doing high-intensity cardio on the middle day between workouts. The basic idea is that as you become stronger and start lifting heavier weights, you add more rest days between workouts to give your muscles, and indeed your entire body, time to recover and grow.
All working sets are performed for 1 set to muscular failure, except warm-up sets. Warm-up sets are usually compound exercises performed with ~60% of the working weight. These are performed to 6-8 reps, perhaps fewer for deadlifts; just enough to warm the muscle but not enough to fatigue it.
"Muscular failure" means that you can no longer move the weight while maintaining strict form, despite your greatest effort. I make limited use of static contractions and negatives, but these aren't necessary at the start.
Keep a log of your workout so you know how much weight you lifted and how many reps you completed. I carry around a pad and pencil with me, and when I get home I record the workout in a spreadsheet. When you reach or exceed the upper limit of the prescribed rep range for an exercise, increase the weight enough at the next workout so that the muscle fails around the lower limit of the range.
All repetitions are performed at a slow pace: four seconds in the concentric (or lifting) phase, two seconds pause while fully contracted, and four seconds in the eccentric (or lowering) phase. Exercises with lockout positions, such as chest presses or leg presses, have no pause between concentric and eccentric phases.
The target rep range for all working sets is 6-10 reps, so that you reach muscular failure somewhere in that range. The exception is leg and ab exercises, where the target range is 12-20 reps, due to lower neuromuscular efficiency in those muscle groups.
Make sure you understand proper form for all of the exercises, especially deadlifts. When you deadlift you must keep your back "straight," which actually means it maintains the same natural curve that it exhibits when you stand erect. If you bend your lower back while lifting you're in danger of herniating a disc, and that will end your lifting career rather quickly. It's worth learning how to do deadlifts correctly, because they're incredibly productive, and they'll improve your strength quickly. If you're really not comfortable with deadlifts, you can substitute shrugs, either with a barbell or dumbbells.
Get plenty of sleep between workouts, and increase your Calorie consumption enough to build new muscle, but not so much that you start adding fat. I eat five or six times a day, mostly carbohydrates, with plenty of protein and a small amount of fat. Also, drink LOTS of water, between 3 quarts and a gallon if you can stay close enough to a toilet throughout the day. Muscles are 70% water, and they require water and carbohydrates in order to synthesize new contractile tissue from protein. It's a good idea to have a light snack with plenty of quality carbs about a half hour before your workout, and another similar snack just afterward.
When you start to feel like you're still tired when it's time for the next workout, or if your muscles are still sore when it's time for the next workout, or if your strength gains cease, take a week or two off and rest, then resume the cycle and add an extra day of rest between workouts.
[edit] Motivation
While it's always nice to have larger muscles than you have right now, the real reason I started this for general fitness. At the beginning of 2007 I was quite possibly in the worst physical condition of my life, and something had to change, so I got back into lifting and it's going to remain a part of my life.
Besides looking better and feeling better about yourself, another benefit of increased muscle mass is increased metabolism and total daily energy expenditure. This is a much better method of shedding fat and keeping it off than yo-yo dieting. If you decrease your intake of Calories without adding some sort of resistance-training program you're in danger of actually losing muscle mass along with fat, which means your metabolism will decrease and gaining the weight back will be easier.
If you're afraid you'll look like one of those guys in the Mr. Olympia contest if you do this routine, well, quit worrying. That takes years of training, superior genetics, strict dieting, and usually some choice pharmaceuticals. You'll gain muscle, sure, but you won't look freakish. On the other hand, if getting huge is your goal, then this program is still for you. Bodybuilding luminaries such as Mike Mentzer, Boyer Coe, and Dorian Yates have built massive physiques with low-volume workouts similar to this one. In fact, the routines described below are based heavily on routines recommended by Mentzer.
[edit] Supplements
I don't use them. It's not that I have any moral problems with protein shakes, vitamins, creatine, or any other legitimate supplement like that, but I just don't care to use them. I'd rather eat plenty of good, healthy food, drink lots of water, and get enough sleep. I'm getting stronger, building muscle, and losing fat, so why should I pay money for anything else? As for steroids or hormones... forget it! I'd think it's stupid to use those. I can see absolutely no reason to risk the side effects in the absence of a serious medical condition that would indicate their prescription.
[edit] The Routine
Before each workout I warm up for three or four minutes on an elliptical machine to get my blood moving and my entire body warm. Warm-up sets are performed until the muscles are ready to work, but not fatigued. Working sets are performed to positive muscular failure.
[edit] Workout one: arms & shoulders
- 1 warm-up set of machine chest presses or bench presses
- 1 set of triceps extensions, IMMEDIATELY followed by
- 1 set of machine chest presses or bench presses
- brief rest
- 1 warm-up set of under-hand, close-grip pulldowns
- 1 set of bicep curls, IMMEDIATELY followed by
- 1 set of under-hand, close-grip pulldowns.
- brief rest
- 1 set of upright barbell rows
[edit] Workout two: legs & abs
- 1 warm-up set of leg presses
- 1 set of leg presses
- 1 set of calf raises
- brief rest
- 1 set of weighted ab crunches
[edit] Workout three: chest and back
- 1 warm-up set of machine chest presses or bench presses
- 1 set of dumbbell flies or pec-deck flies, IMMEDIATELY followed by
- 1 set of machine chest presses or bench presses
- brief rest
- 1 warm-up set of under-hand, close-grip pulldowns
- 1 set of lat machine pullovers or dumbbell pullovers, IMMEDIATELY followed by
- 1 set of under-hand, close-grip pulldowns
- brief rest
- 2 warm-up sets of deadlifts (60% target weight, then 75% target weight)
- 1 set of deadlifts (shrugs may be substituted for deadlifts)
[edit] Workout four: legs & abs
- 1 warm-up set of leg presses
- 1 set of leg extensions, IMMEDIATELY followed by
- 1 set of leg presses
- brief rest
- 1 set of calf raises
- 1 set of weighted ab crunches
[edit] Update: Consolidated Routine
Beginning in June I'm starting a consolidated routine consisting of the following exercises, at least for a couple of months. As in the workout above, I will rest four days between lifting workouts with one high-intensity cardio workout in between.
Each exercise is performed for one warm-up set followed by one working set to muscular failure.
[edit] Workout one: Legs & Arms
- Palms-up, close-grip pulldown
- Leg press
[edit] Workout two: Chest & Back
- Dips
- Deadlift
