Quote:
Originally Posted by scott free
(Post 10681983)
Show me a link that says its not a sound principle, I'll wait...
|
http://www.t-nation.com/training/p90...sion-the-truth
I tried P90X for a little while, and yeah my endurance went up but my overall strength suffered greatly. So...I did some research an found the attached article written by Charles Staley, from the article:
"P90X uses targeted training phases so your body keeps adapting and growing. You'll never "plateau" – which means your body will never get used to the routines, making improvements slow down or even stop."
Please allow me a moment here, because there are so many great ways to destroy this claim, I'm not even sure where to start. Here's how I'll tackle it: Since I know many P90X converts liken themselves to being super-intense athlete types, maybe it might be instructive to look at how the typical Olympic athlete trains. Let's take the sport of weightlifting. When you look at a 3-minute video clip of great weightlifters in training, it's quite exciting and inspiring. You'll wanna go straight to the gym after watching these amazing lifters.
Being one of these lifters however, is a very different story. The truth is that, day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year, nearly all
National and World-level weightlifters perform no more than about 6 exercises, and perhaps a few slight derivations of them. It's really like being a monk – if you've got even a speck of ADHD in you, you won't be able to hang. Every day is pretty much the same old thing: snatch, clean & jerk, pulls, squats. Every day. Over, and over, and over again.
Muscle confusion isn't about preventing plateaus; it's about giving beginners enough variety so they won't immediately get bored and quit. And when you constantly vary your training, you might not be as likely to quit, but you're not going to make any real progress.
Think about learning a language in high school. If you take 4 years of French, you'll be quite proficient by the time you graduate, right? Now, along the way, there will be days (and perhaps weeks) where you're sick and tired of studying the subject, but that's the price you pay for personal development. If instead, you took French as a freshman, Spanish as a sophomore, Italian as a junior, and Japanese in your senior year, you'll be a lot less bored, but the price you'll have to pay is reduced competency. This is a universal principle of personal development, and it applies to the weight room as much as it does to the classroom...
Like much of P90X's marketing, muscle confusion is a concept that has a kernel of truth to it, but it's a very old idea, and if you mention it to an experienced lifter, he'll smile in knowing recognition of your ignorance."