WW's New SUMMER Log ...

[FFQuads]

Ok, I thought about this more... What about pre-exhaust supersetting?? When I worked with a trainer, I think I was doing something similar to what CK mentioned. Meaning - Do a set of an isolation exercise then right into a set of a compound exercise. I did a lot of this on chest day (when I had a chest day).

I would stay away from this while squating. It is just to easy to hurt yourself when your pre-exhausted and squating.

 

[ck2006]

I'll give my 2 cents.....but only cause I was invited to do so, lol

The way to develop muscle is to train it progressively. This concept is clouded in modern "bodybuilding" literature. "Trainers" advocate all sorts of crap, and the magazines publish all sorts of crap, for somebody either natural or not living on obscene doses of drugs, the most efficient way to build muscle is by training compound lifts in a progressive fashion.

I could write a 10 page post on this, but I will try to get to my point and if anybody has any questions, I'll try to elaborate.

When you squat and work up to 200x8, then the next week you work up to 205x8, and 210x8 the next, that is progress. Training is quantifiable, and if you're eating for your goals, you'll like what you see. If you squat 200x8 one week, 135x15 the next, 225x4 the next, you're all over the place and haven't really progressed with anything......that's my problem with the 'shotgun' approach and training soley for soreness/pump. That is also why most gym goers are plateaued and frustrated and why we have so many 6' guys on the anabolic board who weigh a whole, whopping 175lbs and are plateaued despite 'perfect training for years'.

That being said, my advice is to squat and squat first, train it progressively and eat for your goals. Getting better at squats grows muscle.....making something harder than it has to be (supersets, super slow reps, pre-exhausting, etc etc) is an inefficient waste of time. Look at it this way......which girl will have more developed legs? The one who squats 135x10 or the one who can only squat 45x10.....I hope everyone said the 135x10 girl. Now.....does squatting 45x10 build any muscle?? no....Does squatting 45x10 on a pair of ice skates while drunk make it harder? Yes....does it being harder build any more muscle? NOOOOO......so, just train the big stuff first and get better at it, it really is that simple.

LOL... you just decribed me!! hee hee I am all over the place with all my weights on every body part All THE TIME the only time I saw increases was while I was bulking for a whole 2 months

Question for you then, I get your point and it is really good, but what does one do then when they have reached as big as they want to get and don't want to be any bigger?

 

[BiggT]

LOL... you just decribed me!! hee hee I am all over the place with all my weights on every body part All THE TIME the only time I saw increases was while I was bulking for a whole 2 months

Question for you then, I get your point and it is really good, but what does one do then when they have reached as big as they want to get and don't want to be any bigger?

Really, despite common myth, size is largely determined by caloric intake. Progressive weight training is the stimulus for hypertrophy. If you don't want to weigh more than, say 150, then eat maintainence calories for that bodyweight. In terms of maintaining the muscle you hold at that weight, you shouldn't use 'light weights' as when the stimulus decreases, so does your body's need to hold on to that muscle. Which is why it is important to make training quantifiable and to measure weekly workload to make sure you apply the same stimulus to your body to hold onto the muscle you have.

 

[ck2006]

Really, despite common myth, size is largely determined by caloric intake. Progressive weight training is the stimulus for hypertrophy. If you don't want to weigh more than, say 150, then eat maintainence calories for that bodyweight. In terms of maintaining the muscle you hold at that weight, you shouldn't use 'light weights' as when the stimulus decreases, so does your body's need to hold on to that muscle. Which is why it is important to make training quantifiable and to measure weekly workload to make sure you apply the same stimulus to your body to hold onto the muscle you have.

Ohhhh, but then I am 150 pounds and I don't want to be 150 pounds. however I want to keep my muscle, is it possible, I know I may lose some but will I loose a lot?

sorry to jack your thread ww, Bigg T if you want you can reply in my log?

 

[BiggT]

Ohhhh, but then I am 150 pounds and I don't want to be 150 pounds. however I want to keep my muscle, is it possible, I know I may lose some but will I loose a lot?

sorry to jack your thread ww, Bigg T if you want you can reply in my log?

The best you can do is create a small caloric deficit and SLOWLY drop bodyweight while trying to maintain your strength (you may have to reduce volume a bit). Keep protein intake as high as it ever was, and this is really your best chance to minimize muscle loss, although at some point it's inevitable. The other option is to take copious amounts of anabolics and ancillaries while dieting, lol.

 

[BiggT]

Ok, I thought about this more... What about pre-exhaust supersetting?? When I worked with a trainer, I think I was doing something similar to what CK mentioned. Meaning - Do a set of an isolation exercise then right into a set of a compound exercise. I did a lot of this on chest day (when I had a chest day).

Just wanted to hit this in particular also.....all you're doing is making something hard for no reason. The benefit of squatting for development is progressively getting good at the movement, which progressively increases the stimulus.

All the supersetting with an iso lift does is force you to use less weight when you squat. Like I said before, squatting in a pair of ice skates after a few margaritas would force you to use less weight too, but it in no way is it beneficial to you. (if you're totally untrained, then you will see gains as something is better than nothing, but there comes a point, real quick, that resistance must be increased in progressive fashion).....I guess if you pre-exhausted and still trained progressively it is better than the shotgun "just get sore and pumped and cross my fingers' approach, but it is inefficient because it isn't the simplest way from A to B......the girl squatting 135x10 will have more development than the girl squatting 45x10, no matter if the 45x10 girl is doing the squats tired, on a swiss ball, drunk, or on a tramploine.

 

[WoNderWoMan25]

Ohhhh, but then I am 150 pounds and I don't want to be 150 pounds. however I want to keep my muscle, is it possible, I know I may lose some but will I loose a lot?

sorry to jack your thread ww, Bigg T if you want you can reply in my log?

Don't worry about jacking... this is good stuff

We BiggT and I love your examples & visuals.

I think my problem is that really just don't know how much weight I can squat right now. I don't know how many plates to pile on & how many reps to do. Probably the bottom line here is that I am stronger than I think I am??

Going back to your original post - The order of where I do my squat *would* affect me, but I only squat at the beginning of a workout. I could factor in what I eat that day... or the day before but I am carb loading the day/night before a leg workout.

 

[BiggT]

Don't worry about jacking... this is good stuff

We BiggT and I love your examples & visuals.

I think my problem is that really just don't know how much weight I can squat right now. I don't know how many plates to pile on & how many reps to do. Probably the bottom line here is that I am stronger than I think I am??

Going back to your original post - The order of where I do my squat *would* affect me, but I only squat at the beginning of a workout. I could factor in what I eat that day... or the day before but I am carb loading the day/night before a leg workout.

To make weight-selection a non-issue, don't worry about failure or 'perceived' effort, that stuff is abstract, subject to influence by too many factors, and unreliable. Start out with a weight that allows you to make all of your sets/reps unassisted and with a little left in the tank, then gradually add 5-10 lbs weekly (keeping the same number of sets/reps and telling your spotter to stay the hell away because the rep doesn't count if they touch the bar and then you'll have to kill them, lol)....over the course of several weeks the top set will get harder and harder and you'll be subjecting the body to increasing loads and stimulating growth. You'll stall eventually, at which point you can reset the weights back a few weeks, use a different rep range, or even substitute exercises.....but the most important thing is that you get better. If you can just simply add weight ot the bar at every workout, do it, milk it for all it's worth......makes changes out of necessity, not simply for the sake of 'switching it up'. If you squat 185x6 today and 205x6 in a year, you got better......if you squat 185x6 today and after all sorts of different routines and programs and 'advanced' methods, you still squat 185x6 in a year, then you need to bash your trainer across the face with an EZ Curl bar and ask for a refund, lol.

 

[WoNderWoMan25]

So what you're saying is that Bunny has already taken your advice. Basically - stop with the 'fluff' - using the squat rack for barbell curls - and focus on the basic compound lifts which will help you increase strength (and/or increase size/build muscle dependant on your caloric intake).

The compound lifts are proven ... for your entire body even if you aren't curling in the squat rack, heheheh. So if I'm right here - Just do what you do - you are saying stick to the squats and the dead lifts, and then the push/pull stuff like bent over rows, bench press, etc etc... Train progressively, yes. I just have to figure out where to start.

 

[WoNderWoMan25]

To make weight-selection a non-issue, don't worry about failure or 'perceived' effort, that stuff is abstract, subject to influence by too many factors, and unreliable. Start out with a weight that allows you to make all of your sets/reps unassisted and with a little left in the tank, then gradually add 5-10 lbs weekly (keeping the same number of sets/reps and telling your spotter to stay the hell away because the rep doesn't count if they touch the bar and then you'll have to kill them, lol)....over the course of several weeks the top set will get harder and harder and you'll be subjecting the body to increasing loads and stimulating growth. You'll stall eventually, at which point you can reset the weights back a few weeks, use a different rep range, or even substitute exercises.....but the most important thing is that you get better. If you can just simply add weight ot the bar at every workout, do it, milk it for all it's worth......makes changes out of necessity, not simply for the sake of 'switching it up'. If you squat 185x6 today and 205x6 in a year, you got better......if you squat 185x6 today and after all sorts of different routines and programs and 'advanced' methods, you still squat 185x6 in a year, then you need to bash your trainer across the face with an EZ Curl bar and ask for a refund, lol.

Ok - We were posting at the same time. This answers my question above ^^^^