***** All things Fitness *****

[Megatron96]

Originally Posted by penguinz

How's everyones workouts going? Mine is progressing well. Working sets this week for me are at:

DL: 3x3 405lb
Bench: 3x6 250lb
Squat: High Bar: 3x5 300lbs
Low Bar 3x3 315lbs

Can't wait to hit PRs after this program.

Actually, I've started doing something new (for me) and it seems to be working out pretty well so far. Caveat: I've only been doing this "single body part/week" thing for about a month. But I've seen some gains already.

Pretty impressed about how my back and chest workouts are progressing in particular

[Marcellus]

Originally Posted by Megatron96

Actually, I've started doing something new (for me) and it seems to be working out pretty well so far. Caveat: I've only been doing this "single body part/week" thing for about a month. But I've seen some gains already.

Pretty impressed about how my back and chest workouts are progressing in particular

Help me out here. You only work a single body part each week?

[Megatron96]

Originally Posted by Marcellus

Help me out here. You only work a single body part each week?

In the middle of something here. I’ll post my basic week tomorrow




Okay, just posting a brief description here; gotta pay the bills. Will post my week this afternoon (evening for you guys)


"One set per body part workouts, sometimes called the single set system or high intensity training — HIT for short — are brief but intense workouts where each training set is performed to the point of failure. Reaching failure means you cannot complete any more repetitions without assistance. Popularized by fitness authors Arthur Jones, Ellington Darden, Mike Mentzer and Matt Brzycki, HIT workouts offer a viable alternative to higher-volume training systems."

"A typical HIT workout consists of between six to 10 exercises. Only a single set of each exercise is performed, so workouts should take no more than 30 minutes. The brevity of an HIT workout makes this style of training ideal if you are busy and have little time to train. As you are only performing a single set, it's easy to track your progress in terms of weights lifted or repetitions performed. HIT workouts are conducted at a rapid pace with minimal rest between exercises, so there is a resulting cardiovascular training effect. This effect, termed “Metabolic Conditioning” by author Matt Brzycki, means you get aerobically fitter despite not performing any cardiovascular exercise."



So say i do back on Monday. I won't do back again for at least 8 days (some of these guys say they go two weeks between certain body parts) I might do shoulders on Tuesday, and so on.


I modified the HIT system to fit what I want/need, which I'll post later, but hopefully you get the idea.

[penguinz]

Originally Posted by Megatron96

In the middle of something here. I’ll post my basic week tomorrow

Well? Where the **** is it!

[Marcellus]

Originally Posted by Megatron96

In the middle of something here. I’ll post my basic week tomorrow




Okay, just posting a brief description here; gotta pay the bills. Will post my week this afternoon (evening for you guys)


"One set per body part workouts, sometimes called the single set system or high intensity training — HIT for short — are brief but intense workouts where each training set is performed to the point of failure. Reaching failure means you cannot complete any more repetitions without assistance. Popularized by fitness authors Arthur Jones, Ellington Darden, Mike Mentzer and Matt Brzycki, HIT workouts offer a viable alternative to higher-volume training systems."

"A typical HIT workout consists of between six to 10 exercises. Only a single set of each exercise is performed, so workouts should take no more than 30 minutes. The brevity of an HIT workout makes this style of training ideal if you are busy and have little time to train. As you are only performing a single set, it's easy to track your progress in terms of weights lifted or repetitions performed. HIT workouts are conducted at a rapid pace with minimal rest between exercises, so there is a resulting cardiovascular training effect. This effect, termed “Metabolic Conditioning” by author Matt Brzycki, means you get aerobically fitter despite not performing any cardiovascular exercise."



So say i do back on Monday. I won't do back again for at least 8 days (some of these guys say they go two weeks between certain body parts) I might do shoulders on Tuesday, and so on.


I modified the HIT system to fit what I want/need, which I'll post later, but hopefully you get the idea.

If you are only doing a single set of each exercise and doing 8-10 sets per workout I'm confused as to how you would go 8 days between working specific body parts. Seems you would be working each body part multiple times a week.

[bringbackmarty]

Chris Jones has quite the conundrum, on one hand, he's a pretty nice guy and he's got to go against his buddy kelce's brother, on the other hand he's about 10 sacks short of his bonus. Hope he chose the money this game and keeps his hands to himself after the whistle.

[penguinz]

Originally Posted by bringbackmarty

Chris Jones has quite the conundrum, on one hand, he's a pretty nice guy and he's got to go against his buddy kelce's brother, on the other hand he's about 10 sacks short of his bonus. Hope he chose the money this game and keeps his hands to himself after the whistle.

I think you are lost.

[Bearcat]

I'd be sore all the damn time if I went 8 days between workouts that focused on a specific muscle/muscle group.

[Megatron96]

Okay, here's the basic week:


DAY 1 - Legs


30 Sumo squats
Smith Squats 2 x 10
Leg Extensions 2 x 10
Hamstring curls 2 x 10

20+ minutes Stairmaster



DAY 2 - Shoulders

20 pike pupshups
Seated machine shoulder press 2 x 10
Cable Delt flyes 2 x 10
Incline DB Rear Delt Flyes 2 x 10



DAY 3
REST/Cardio-Calesthentics

DAY 4 - Back

Isometric holds (assisted pull-up machine) 3 x 10sec, Full - 3/4s – Half
Lat pull down machine or Assisted pull-up machine 2 x 10
Seated Row 2 x 10
Close grip supinated grip pull down machine 2 x 10
Face pulls 1 x 10

DAY 5
REST /Cardio-Cal

DAY 6 - Chest

30+ pushups
Incline DB press 2 x 10
Incline DB flyes (or cable) 2 x10
Incline cable press 2 x 10
Pec Deck 2 x 10
Decline DB press or parallel bar dip 1 x 10

DAY 7
Alternate Triceps/Biceps exercises
Arms- Triceps
Dips 2 x 10 or Diamond pushups 2 x 20
Triceps cable pushdowns 2 x 10
Cable triceps rope extensions 2 x 10

Arms-Biceps
Preacher curls 2 x 10
Preacher Hammer curls 2 x 10
Seated single arm biceps curls or Cable Rope Curls 2 x 10


DAY 8
REST

[penguinz]

Originally Posted by Megatron96

Okay, here's the basic week:


DAY 1 - Legs


30 Sumo squats
Smith Squats 2 x 10
Leg Extensions 2 x 10
Hamstring curls 2 x 10

20+ minutes Stairmaster



DAY 2 - Shoulders

20 pike pupshups
Seated machine shoulder press 2 x 10
Cable Delt flyes 2 x 10
Incline DB Rear Delt Flyes 2 x 10



DAY 3
REST/Cardio-Calesthentics

DAY 4 - Back

Isometric holds (assisted pull-up machine) 3 x 10sec, Full - 3/4s – Half
Lat pull down machine or Assisted pull-up machine 2 x 10
Seated Row 2 x 10
Close grip supinated grip pull down machine 2 x 10
Face pulls 1 x 10

DAY 5
REST /Cardio-Cal

DAY 6 - Chest

30+ pushups
Incline DB press 2 x 10
Incline DB flyes (or cable) 2 x10
Incline cable press 2 x 10
Pec Deck 2 x 10
Decline DB press or parallel bar dip 1 x 10

DAY 7
Alternate Triceps/Biceps exercises
Arms- Triceps
Dips 2 x 10 or Diamond pushups 2 x 20
Triceps cable pushdowns 2 x 10
Cable triceps rope extensions 2 x 10

Arms-Biceps
Preacher curls 2 x 10
Preacher Hammer curls 2 x 10
Seated single arm biceps curls or Cable Rope Curls 2 x 10


DAY 8
REST

Are you progressing using this plan?

For most it would not be an ideal plan for either hypertrophy or strength.

This would be more like a de-load week on a hypertrophy program.

[Megatron96]

Originally Posted by penguinz

Are you progressing using this plan?

For most it would not be an ideal plan for either hypertrophy or strength.

This would be more like a de-load week on a hypertrophy program.

I am. The caveat is that I've only been weight training again for about 2.5 months, and only doing this program for about a month. So I know that part of these gains are just me ramping up after the long hiatus. And i know that the growth in my arms/chest/back are mostly water right now.

But 4-5 weeks ago I could barely do 3 reps on the smith bench press @135-lbs, and last week I did 135-lbs/12 times, 155/10, 175/8, 195/5, 215/4.

Similar results in back/arms. And i feel pretty good.


I think what works is that I'm trying to practice perfect form for each rep (something I wasn't super disciplined about before), and I'm using weights that I can control but that are usually heavier than what I was doing in the past. And I'm bumping weight nearly every week, trying to ensure that the last 5-6 reps are nearly impossible. That intensity at the end of each 2nd set of each exercise is what i think has been making the difference so far.



Should've added: Pretty sure that in the past I was over-training; doing 18+ sets per body part, sometimes twice a week. Never saw great physical gains doing that. I'd get pretty strong, but wouldn't see much volume. This program keeps the sets and reps down to a minimum, making it harder to overtrain, which might be a significant part of why things seem to be working well to this point.

[Marcellus]

Not sure whether that workout is effective or not but it doesn't remotely fit the description you gave earlier. Sounds like you are doing a 1 body part per workout to failure program. Not a one set to failure program.

One set per body part workouts, sometimes called the single set system or high intensity training — HIT for short — are brief but intense workouts where each training set is performed to the point of failure. Reaching failure means you cannot complete any more repetitions without assistance. Popularized by fitness authors Arthur Jones, Ellington Darden, Mike Mentzer and Matt Brzycki, HIT workouts offer a viable alternative to higher-volume training systems."

"A typical HIT workout consists of between six to 10 exercises. Only a single set of each exercise is performed,

IMP what you described above would look more like this and do it several times a week -

1 set of DB bench press to failure
1 Set of DB curls to failure
1 Set of DB rows to failure
1 Set of squats to failure
1 set of military presses to failure
1 set of tricep extensions to failure

etc....

Like pen said, as long as you enjoy it and will keep doing it, it will be effective in that manner.

[Megatron96]

Originally Posted by Marcellus

Not sure whether that workout is effective or not but it doesn't remotely fit the description you gave earlier. Sounds like you are doing a 1 body part per workout to faulted program.



Like pen said, as long as you enjoy it and will keep doing it, it will be effective in that manner.

Yeah, I did mention in the first post that I modified it quite a bit. When I was researching HIT, part of the program is mechanical discipline/perfect form. Any deviation is considered 'failure.' But I'm 54, so I can't go nuclear intensity every workout. What I'm doing is probably more like "Medium-High intensity," lol.

So, in practice, if I'm on Day 4 (back), those isometric holds are to help me get to failure quicker. The 10 seconds is a guideline; i hold as long as I can, which right now is about 20 seconds per with a 20 second rest between reps.

Then when I do the APUs, I've got 30-lbs. assistance, and I'm trying to complete each rep as perfectly as possible, with a 3-5 sec hold at the top/bottom. Contraction is about 1 second, and then I try to make the stretch last at least 3-4 seconds. usually by the time I get to the 5-6 rep of each set, I'm starting to struggle. At that point, I just try to complete at least 5 perfect reps. The last 5-6 reps of the 2nd set are usually hard as hell. Minimal rest for me is about 90 seconds.


It's still really early; I've only been doing this for about a month. But the gains in strength/stamina, or rather the gains in the weight I've been able to move and the number of reps has increased by maybe 30-40%? Of course, i know that a lot of that is just because I'm still ramping up after taking 3 years off from weight training. We'll see how things go a couple months from now.

[Megatron96]

Originally Posted by Marcellus

Not sure whether that workout is effective or not but it doesn't remotely fit the description you gave earlier. Sounds like you are doing a 1 body part per workout to failure program. Not a one set to failure program.



IMP what you described above would look more like this and do it several times a week -

1 set of DB bench press to failure
1 Set of DB curls to failure
1 Set of DB rows to failure
1 Set of squats to failure
1 set of military presses to failure
1 set of tricep extensions to failure

etc....

Like pen said, as long as you enjoy it and will keep doing it, it will be effective in that manner.

So originally, I thought that HIIT was pretty much as you described it above. But after a couple weeks of doing some research, I lit upon Mike Mentzer's version of HIIT, and began doing it his way (mostly), which looks something like this:
https://www.muscleandfitness.com/fle...nsity-workout/


And this is basically the template I've been using for about 3 months now. Seems to have worked for my back/chest/arms, with noticeable improvement/gains in those areas.

Overall, I'd say I was happy with the results that I got over the past 3.5-4 months. Going back to a more conventional workout plan next week, but I'm planning on going back to Mentzer's HIIT program in the fall.

[Bearcat]

Originally Posted by Megatron96

So originally, I thought that HIIT was pretty much as you described it above. But after a couple weeks of doing some research, I lit upon Mike Mentzer's version of HIIT, and began doing it his way (mostly), which looks something like this:
https://www.muscleandfitness.com/fle...nsity-workout/


And this is basically the template I've been using for about 3 months now. Seems to have worked for my back/chest/arms, with noticeable improvement/gains in those areas.

Overall, I'd say I was happy with the results that I got over the past 3.5-4 months. Going back to a more conventional workout plan next week, but I'm planning on going back to Mentzer's HIIT program in the fall.

I've watched some stuff on even lower rep ranges and lately have heard a few mentions of mixed rep ranges. I've found it interesting because I've been pretty consistent at improving from 8 reps and then increasing weight when I can do 12 reps.

The main reason is being old and worrying about joints, but considering maybe dropping into <8 here and there.

re: 'beyond failure' of sorts, I've been doing drop sets for a little while on leg day.... I don't track so close that I can say whether there's been significant increase in progress per workout compared to before, but it's at least a quicker way to add a few sets at the end of a workout. And it feels accomplished to be super wobbly heading out of the gym, heh.