What do you think of my routine (mods, please dont move this)

[AAP]

Again, you are over complicating things and missing the point. 19 sets of 3 reps? Dillett style will result in nothing. Dorian style will result in overtraining.

There is NO way you can do 50 straight continous reps and make the first 15 of them count. Sorry, that is nothing but aerobics right there.

60 is not a magical or zen number. Once you have gotten to the point that you see progress from doing 60, you can reduce it to 50 or as I have done 40.

The system has nothing at all to do with training, reps or sets. It is written to force the trainee to forget the so called "standard" that often passes for truth and thus start listening to his body. Once you tune into your body and force it to respond to a fixed number of reps - no matter how many sets - you apply that same understanding to the regular training you go back to doing. I, for one never count sets in the gym. I don't go in and say I am going to do 3 sets on flat bench, 3 sets flyes, etc.. I go in and think I am going to work the upper portion of chest first with dumbell presses. If it takes me 8 sets of dumbell presses before I am satisfied that I have effectively hit the target muscle, so be it. If I do two sets and feel like it is toast, again - it doesn't matter. Then I move on to the next exercise which would be something like inner chest or outer sweep of the pecs. Some days I can work chest completely in about 7-8 sets. Other days, I may need 14-16 sets. It is NOT about counting sets, it is about stimulating muscle response.

 

[The Shadow]

Ahem...so doing 60 reps didn't mean 60 reps per se?

Spliting upper and lower is stuff I agree with.


But for you to do 40 sets of an exercise is just stupid.

 

[AAP]

Ahem...so doing 60 reps didn't mean 60 reps per se?

Spliting upper and lower is stuff I agree with.


But for you to do 40 sets of an exercise is just stupid.

Ahhh... now you are grasping the concept and thinking differently. See, it is not a training routine you analyse, or compare, or evaluate, etc.. It is just one you simply do.

When you hit rep 60, if you do not feel like you achieved enough muscle stimulation, then you failed. Chances are you wasted reps at the beginning of each set.

When you hit rep 60 and you feel as though you ache and are overtrained. Then again, you failed. Chances are, you tried to go heavy on each rep and did a lot of 3-4 all out rep sets.

It is just 60 reps for you to use or misuse accordingly. Only when you tune into your body's performance and limitations will you see progress. When you see progress, then you KNOW that you have established the mind/muscle connection necessary to make your regular workouts even more productive. Which may mean doing more sets or doing less, all depending on what your body is telling you.

Just try it on your next chest day. You have nothing to lose. Try it, then you may understand the principle behind it. It is really not about training. With this, you have a 66.6% of failing. You have three options. Undertraining, Overtraining, or hit it perfectly. Once you start hitting it perfectly with consistentence and seeing the 33.3% of progress on a regular basis, then you start to see that training is not about sets or reps. It is about effort and contraction. Just try it, if you don't like it that one chest workout, you have not lost anything.

And yes, I have done many 30-40 sets for one body part many times. I am not sure of the number, but as I said it was over the course of 2 hours of DVD movie watching. I simply pick something like side laterals or dumbell tricep extensions (something I can do sitting on my couch) and just do sets throug out the movie. I am not sweating. I am not breathing heavy. I am not unable to follow along with the movie. If I were, I would never be able to do such voluminous sets. It is just push-squeeze, push-squeeze while watching tv. And I have seen results in the mirror from this. When you do high number of sets like this, you MUST use a low intensity or you will be doing more harm than good.

 

[The Shadow]

IMO - intenstiy is the main ingredient gor muscle growth....doing 40 sets thru a 2 hour movie ins't intense enough to cause muscle breakdown I would think.

 

[AAP]

Come over for dinner, a DVD and dumbell laterals.

I am considering buying the Hammer Strength laying leg curl so I can do volume training on my hams. I honestly have made visible progress in the side delts and triceps regions from volume sets.