Mike Mentzer just showed up in my suggested videos a couple of months ago so I did some research and am considering his Heavy Duty program for my next lifting cycle. I too would definitely be interested in anyone's thoughts who has done his programming.I was in the gym 6-7 days per week, but at 49, my body can't handle that much training. I have been overtraining.
Has anyone tried more of the Mike Mentzer style of training, 1 max set to true failure and only spending 30 minutes in the gym?
I'm considering finally dropping squats and deadlifts and just being happy with being in better shape than 99% of my peers.
I was in the gym 6-7 days per week, but at 49, my body can't handle that much training. I have been overtraining.
Has anyone tried more of the Mike Mentzer style of training, 1 max set to true failure and only spending 30 minutes in the gym?
I'm considering finally dropping squats and deadlifts and just being happy with being in better shape than 99% of my peers.
I perform only 3 sets per exercise (one warm up set and two working sets) using a Push - Pull - Legs split for the week.I was in the gym 6-7 days per week, but at 49, my body can't handle that much training. I have been overtraining.
Has anyone tried more of the Mike Mentzer style of training, 1 max set to true failure and only spending 30 minutes in the gym?
I'm considering finally dropping squats and deadlifts and just being happy with being in better shape than 99% of my peers.
I did it for a little over a year.I was in the gym 6-7 days per week, but at 49, my body can't handle that much training. I have been overtraining.
Has anyone tried more of the Mike Mentzer style of training, 1 max set to true failure and only spending 30 minutes in the gym?
I'm considering finally dropping squats and deadlifts and just being happy with being in better shape than 99% of my peers.
Yeah you mean HIT? I did this exclusively, apart from BJJ, for about 18 months before I got married. There's a lot of debate about the veracity of the claims but for me it worked and I got stronger and bigger. I was a total novice at that time and also younger so I had those factors on my side.I was in the gym 6-7 days per week, but at 49, my body can't handle that much training. I have been overtraining.
Has anyone tried more of the Mike Mentzer style of training, 1 max set to true failure and only spending 30 minutes in the gym?
I'm considering finally dropping squats and deadlifts and just being happy with being in better shape than 99% of my peers.
Prilepins chart is used in powerlifting very heavily.Has anybody here seen or used Prilepin's chart?
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Basically it's a programming tool where you use a % of your 1RM to target how heavy to train. I'm not a particularly advanced lifter but not terrible either, and I've found it a useful tool. The way I use it is as escalating from a deload in the 3-6 rep range and every week I increase my intensity until I feel like I could benefit from a rest or deload week, usually about once every 6-8 weeks. I've only been using it for a year so far but I've found it pretty sustainable; lifting sessions are demanding but I'm not totally knocked out after them. I test my 1RMs probably 2-3x a year.
Re: isometricsLong post but I've been getting into the weird stuff again.
Lately I have been experimenting with yielding and overcoming isometrics.
Yielding isometric would be like doing a plank and holding the position as long as you can.
Overcoming isometric would be like pressing upward on a door frame as hard as you can.
From reading the literature, it seems like there are some things to consider.
Biggest advantage of isometric training is that they don't take a lot of time and they don't wreck your joints, at all. They likely strengthen tendons if performed properly.
Disadvantage - you do not get the same metabolic benefit as moving through the whole range of motion. I also notice that when I do apply my strength with a full range of motion lift after not doing it for a while, I get sore very easily. This is somewhat alleviated by doing yielding isos for minutes at a time.
If you perform the movement at the moment of greatest stretch, they seemingly carry over in strength through the entire movement. The 15 degrees forward and back has been proven to be a myth, apparently. So if you do a pushup plank, the most advantageous position is the one where your chest about touches the floor and you just hold that as long as you are able. Time will tell if it has actually been "debunked" or not, but I am willing to dink around with it. If it doesn't work, at least I know. If it does work, I just figured out how to get as big and strong as I'll ever get with a 20 dollar tow strap and a few other portable pieces of equipment.
Overcoming isometrics - you should use an object that has a slight amount of stretch to override the nervous system reflex to lower your exertion. So I use a tow strap for these. There is an apparatus that I made, it is basically a big cutting board, hockey pucks on the bottom for height, and a pipe or hooked handles. I loop the towstrap under this for my pulls, presses, squats, deadlifts etc.
General recommendation for overcoming isometric is 6 sets of 6 second max effort for strength, 3 sets of 20 to 45 seconds for hypertrophy, and upwards of 2 minutes for endurance. Allegedly, you can train upwards of every day.
There are devices for isometrics that can measure your strength like an isomax from dragondoor, but I currently have no interest in them, as they cost hundreds of dollars and a towstrap is 20 dollars and does nearly the same thing. If I wanted to, I could get a crane scale and mount it somewhere to figure out my strength of pull or push.
Yielding isometrics - they can be used for either strength, hypertrophy, or endurance. They are much easier to scale. The planche and front lever would be a fine example of a yielding isometric that makes you enormously strong over time. Lsit, handstands etc all good for strength in the beginning and endurance as you become more adept. I do mostly endurance work with these. Pushup plank at the bottom position, chinup at bottom slightly flexed and top of the movement, and horse stance for legs. Horse stance looks lame but I have worked up to only a little over 2 minutes and I notice that my legs never tire from normal activities anymore. I also crush a hand gripper and hold it for sets of 30 seconds to a minute. Muscles develop a weird density to them when you train for endurance. It is a very useful strength to have for general life.
Of these, I highly recommend the horse stance. Youtube is a good resource for it. It develops a stability and endurance in the legs that I did not have before.
If this is true it reveals something, most of the guys who fuck are benching normal, respectable natty level weights in the 225-250 range, but the guys OVER 300 lbs aren't getting pussy. Why? Because most guys on gear are doing it to impress people, at first women, at which point they find out women don't like roided up men, so they end up doing it purely for ego to impress other men, which leads to arrogance -> homoeroticism -> body dysmorphia -> mental illness, which means no pussy.
I've been working out for almost ten years and I only managed to bench press 225 for 5 clean reps ONCE in my life and that was after doing a dirty bulk. But the types of guys on places like BB.com or /fit/ would say 225 is weak and go on to say they bench 225 as a warmup and you're a weakling etc.That's pretty interesting. I saw a recent claim that being able to bench 225 pounds (four 45 pound plates, a little over 100kg) puts you well into top 1% of most strongest people, whereas most gym bros consider that a bare minimum to be considered strong at all. 315 on bench, or six plates, is really extremely strong, so maybe the level of obsession, drug use, and general fanaticism most guys would require to get there cuts into your ability to actually meet women or relate to anyone who's not also a hardcore gym rat. In my experience, women don't care at all how much you can bench. It's something to impress other guys.
I also wonder about the low end. Whose max bench press is 125? Maybe women were included in this survey.
Yes, in my experience there is a lot of mental illness and extreme lack of social skills in both the bodybuilding and powerlifting scenes. The powerlifters will often say that physical strength is the single most important thing in life which is such a bizarre idea that I don't know where to start with them. This wasn't even true in the caveman days, but nowadays we have dollies and forklifts for lifting things heavier than our bodyweight in the real world.If this is true it reveals something, most of the guys who **** are benching normal, respectable natty level weights in the 225-250 range, but the guys OVER 300 lbs aren't getting pussy. Why? Because most guys on gear are doing it to impress people, at first women, at which point they find out women don't like roided up men, so they end up doing it purely for ego to impress other men, which leads to arrogance -> homoeroticism -> body dysmorphia -> mental illness, which means no pussy.
The guy with 550 is probably a powerlifter (who may be on gear, maybe not) and probably isn't a narcisstic, image obsessed douchebag.
I've been working out for almost ten years and I only managed to bench press 225 for 5 clean reps ONCE in my life and that was after doing a dirty bulk. But the types of guys on places like BB.com or /fit/ would say 225 is weak and go on to say they bench 225 as a warmup and you're a weakling etc.
The toxicity of these men are self-evident, because apparently when you exceed 250-300 lbs or so you don't get pvssy anymore.
Yeah, I have noticed that mindset as well. If you're doing it purely for aesthetics, hey, I can get that. But the idea that you should be as strong/big as possible at the cost of overall health/fitness is retarded. A lot of guys will be happy with >20% body fat and >34" waists as long as they have high PRs....the "builtfat" look is almost as bad as the skinnyfat look imo, especially if you're short you just look like a complete clown.Yes, in my experience there is a lot of mental illness and extreme lack of social skills in both the bodybuilding and powerlifting scenes. The powerlifters will often say that physical strength is the single most important thing in life which is such a bizarre idea that I don't know where to start with them. This wasn't even true in the caveman days, but nowadays we have dollies and forklifts for lifting things heavier than our bodyweight in the real world.
Would it be cool to be able to bench, say, twice my bodyweight? I guess it would. How would my life improve? I can't really think of any significant way. The amount of energy, time, and probably drug use I'd need to get there would require severely neglecting my family and my career, and probably my health, so it would probably make my life overall considerably worse.
I've been working out for almost ten years and I only managed to bench press 225 for 5 clean reps ONCE in my life and that was after doing a dirty bulk. But the types of guys on places like BB.com or /fit/ would say 225 is weak and go on to say they bench 225 as a warmup and you're a weakling etc