How often do you do drop sets, forced reps, etc.? And does CNS recover more slowly?

[SteelWeaver]

I've been doing the alternating heavy week light week thing that W6 suggested, and have found my strength gains on a lot of lifts to be improving faster than the rather slow pace of before.

I used to try and lift heavy and very intensely every week, but then I'd be tired, and didn't improve much. Now I do drop sets and forced reps, with sometimes negative sets, every 2 weeks only, and always feel fresher and more "ready" for heavy weeks.

My question is, why does this work? Is it because my form is maybe improving on the lighter weeks? Or is my CNS getting a chance to recover better over two weeks? Or is it muscle recovery itself? Or a combo of all of these? I read somewhere recently that it can take the CNS up to 10 days or more to recover completely ...

Just wondering ...

 

[Arioch]

Depends on your level of conditioning, and what exactly you are doing to stress the CNS. For maximal effort, the CNS can recover in as little as three days for trained athletes. For lower intensities, skilled lifting can be repeated later in the day, such as an AM session for the snatch or clean performed at 80% 1 rm, and then a PM session for the other lift. This is an extreme example, and it should be noted that the lifting is never done to failure, and the volume is relatively low.

The higher the volume per training session, the longer it will take to recover. And all other things being equal, a highly skilled athlete should recover quicker than a lesser athelte.

 

[SteelWeaver]

Thanks guys. What I mean when I say lifting heavy and really intensely is: 6-10 reps to concentric failure, drop the weight, rep out to positive failure again, then drop again, for drop sets.

On forced rep sets, pick a weight I can get 5-8 reps with, do as many as I possibly can, then get my spotter to help me on the concentric portion for as many more reps as I can handle, which is usually close to or at eccentric failure. Sometimes, if I'm feeling up to it, I'll drop the weight and throw in a drop set at this point, but unless I drop it reasonably significantly, I can't more than about 4 reps.

Both of above for last one or two sets of an exercise. Volume is 2 bodyparts per workout, 12 sets for large muscle groups, 8-9 sets for smaller muscle groups. Reps have been around 6-10 for the last while, so, not maximal effort. (That's low reps, high weight, high sets, right?)

I don't think I qualify as a highly skilled athlete. tee hee

So how, and how often, do other people here usually do drop sets, negatives, forced reps, breathing reps, rest-pause reps, etc.?

So going to failure (especially eccentric) taxes the CNS the most/very heavily?

 

[Arioch]

Eccentric failure does not tax the CNS as heavily as a maximal effort lift (1rm). Eccentric loading causes the most microtrauma within the muscle fibers themselves, and *may* cause the most strain on the endocrine system.

Even when training to concentric failure, repeated sub-maximal training sessions for the purposes of either active rest or skill-type training do not cause additional damage.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/...ve&db=PubMed&list_uids=11834116&dopt=Abstract

FWIW, I never do forced reps or drop sets.

A lot of bodybuilders swear by them.

 

[Gladiola]

Bump - I've been wondering this too.

With a drop set or 'negative' set - I end up very fatigued, so I do them only as the last set for that entire body part. I also do them only on "heavy" days - so every other week.

Mostly just cuz I like it - on heavy shoulder days I've been doing drop sets of lateral raises, on heavy bicep days I've been doing negatives with regular easy-bar curls. I really think both have helped with size gains.

I got the brilliant idea to do a drop set with chest by doing decline push-ups with weight on my back & having my training partner change the plate to decrease the weight... he he, but I had underestimated how fatigued I was from the previous 11 sets - 3 different exercises. I think I pushed out 8 reps total. Gotta gauge that better next time.

 

[SteelWeaver]

Ha ha. Yeah, sometimes that happens, but better that than picking a weight that's too light and repping out 30 on the second drop before you feel anything!! (no, I've never done that, lol, but sometimes I misjudge and end up doing 10 or 12 on the drop - bit of a waste.)

On heavy weeks I've been doing forced reps on the last set of my compound movements, then drop sets, or sometimes, rest-pause sets, on the last set or two of one or two other movements. Sometimes I get really nuts and do forced reps followed immediately by drops, then I'm TOAST!

I don't think I'll know how effective any of this is for hypertrophy until I stop dieting, at which point I have the strong suspicion that my lifts and size will go through the roof (and I am SOOOOoo pumped for that moment!). I've made good strength gains, for me, ever since I started the heavy-light alternation - that, along with a better split, has given me better progress than I ever had before.

If you want to really toast your shoulders, lean against a wall or something, leaning to the left, say, with the db in your right hand, then do incline one-arm lateral raise drop sets. OWWW! One arm really lets you focus, no momentum, no cheating.