What's best: To work out sparingly at top performance every time, or more often?

[no one]

wow bro you are nailing the posts as of late. This is motivating on so many levels, fearless strong minded attitude. It's what takes you to the next level, 

thanks brother. very nice to hear coming from you.

know what prompted this discovery? cycling.

i stopped playing sports in my 20's was always athletic. i scrapped it all cause god forbid any cal i take in not go towards building muscle.  fuck i was dumb.

so i started cycling to the gym, just for exercises sake. 30k return trip. plus now im doing a lot of singletrack. im prolly averaging over 150k a week, and have at least 19 hrs of saddle time this month alone. for 400+ km.

what i discovered is exactly what ive said here- your body will build up a tolerance to the stresses you put it under, and not just build up a tolerance, but be able it increase its ability to perform to the demands you put on it, given proper rest, nutrition and anabolics- to aid in repair not for growth per say.

my cycling plus workout is a 3hr session of intensity. i dont rest between sets, and i average 24ish km/h on a mountain bike when im cycling so im hauling ass the whole time. i would wager my heartrate is well over 130-150bpm for those 3 hrs.

i do this 4 times a week, on top of the rec riding i now do. i feel great. i am in the best shape of my life. not just to look at but functionally. and i have only just started. by fall i know it'll be insane what i'll be capable of doing.

i think what helps is that guys like us who have trained for decades are really in tune with their bodies. we know when to eat, when to train, when to back off, when to push the throttle. i think if i didnt have this awareness a person could prolly burn out as it is a fine line between repair and ability to perform at max levels consistently.

the body is an amazingly resilient and remarkable mechanism. the feats you hear guys being able to do leave you go- how the fuck can he train like that, or perform like that. its simple he just went out and started doing it and kept pushing himself and didnt ever allow it to be 'good enough' im constantly battling the clock when i ride trying to be faster. im always trying to set PBs (personal bests) it drives me to be better.

at the end of the day, your drive determines your abilty to increase performance as long as the other 3 things i mentioned are in place. i think at the end of the day, everyone has the physical ability to do these things. its just not alloowing yourself to believe it cant be done, and just going out and doing it, not just at the same level, but better and faster every time.

[oldtimer1]

Is this a disguised HIT vs volume debate? I see what you did.

 When you are young and bodybuild you should train for strength. Even then the weight should by cycled. Hitting max weight every time you train is just nuts. Olympic lifters and Power lifters don't do it so why do bodybuilders think every session should be maxed weight.

 When you get to around 45 to 50 you have to be aware of joint issues. How many guys who started bodybuilding  at 18 have severe shoulder problems past 40? Many now have knee, back and hip issues in their 50's. 

If I had to do it again I would train for strength in my 20's. IN my thirties and forties I would train with volume but still have strength days mixed in. In my 50's and beyond I would train with mainly volume with strength being used sparingly. 

[oldgolds]

I've been training hard for 48 years(natty) This is what works for me now. I train heavy one time per week. Arms one week and bench, lats, shrugs,abs the next. I'm actually amazed that I'm getting bigger and stronger. I'm 5'11 and 215. Carrying a little too much bodyfat but not to bad(no gut) I'm starting to think that I was over-training for most of my life.

[MAXX]

Stimulate don't annihilate.

-Lee Haney

Ronnie was the other way around and he won 8x Mr. O's in a more competetive era(90's)

[thebrink]

A god damn seniors circuit on here.

[calfzilla]

Ronnie was the other way around and he won 8x Mr. O's in a more competetive era(90's)

But look at them now in their retirement years. 

[Henda]

Is this a disguised HIT vs volume debate? I see what you did.

 When you are young and bodybuild you should train for strength. Even then the weight should by cycled. Hitting max weight every time you train is just nuts. Olympic lifters and Power lifters don't do it so why do bodybuilders think every session should be maxed weight.

 When you get to around 45 to 50 you have to be aware of joint issues. How many guys who started bodybuilding  at 18 have severe shoulder problems past 40? Many now have knee, back and hip issues in their 50's. 

If I had to do it again I would train for strength in my 20's. IN my thirties and forties I would train with volume but still have strength days mixed in. In my 50's and beyond I would train with mainly volume with strength being used sparingly. 

great post.
i couldnt agree more with the point i bolded. took me years to learn this. before that i followed progressive overload style of training and took a weight to failure and tried to add weight or reps each week. the result was always the same once past raw begginer stage, good for first 4 to 6 weeks, then very little progress, always feeling tired and weak out of gym, and eventually bareley getting a rep or too witha weight that was done for 6 + the week before.

trying out a routine that wave cycled the weights and varied the volume and included deload days was a godsent, stregth skyrocketed, shoulders and lats had stretch marks for first time ever in 5 years of training, strong out of the gym as well as in. far better long term strength gains despite slower ahort term.
suprisingly most of the size gains came when deloadin and not pushing into new poundage territor.