Go, Vince!
I pinched a nerve and probably had a class-A muscle tear (I suspect in my right triceps) almost a year ago. Even now, my right side pressing strength is compromised. It's a shame, too, because I was stronger than I'd ever been :|
Anyway, training has become almost a chore. I'm 33 and I've been doing this almost 20 years. After awhile, without the ability to make any progress (apart from getting lean again), I barely care. And why should I? I recently took almost 2 months off the gym and lost very little size or strength. One or two hard workouts and I look about as good as ever have at this weight.
So, you inspired me. I also decided to start training arms every third day. But man, you must have the endurance of a marathoner. In my first Basile Arms-Only session,
I was somewhat limited in equipment (one adjustable dumbbell). So, I did very strict one-armed curls and one-armed overhead triceps extensions. I aimed to get 15 reps on the first set of each and keep on until I'd done at least six sets of each exercise, or 12 sets total.
I overestimated my curling strength a little, so the first set saw me curl 90 for 13 R, then x12 L (weights are exaggerated so I don't sound like a twink). I went on to the triceps movement, really emphasizing a deep stretch.
Then came biceps round 2. Holy shit! In spite of a decent amount of rest, that "90 lber." limited me to 7 with the right arm and 6 with the left. I had to raise my elbow a bit to get those last reps, too. By the time round 3 came around, I struggled like crazy to get just 5 reps with each arm. Triceps saw an even greater drop: my first set, with a comparatively modest 60 lbs. (coughcoughBULLSHITcoughc
ough)
, I managed 25 reps with my good arm. The second set? Down to 12 -- and the third, a very hard-fought 6.
Obviously these are not the ideal exercises, and I do think exercise selection can make a measurable difference. But I tend to disagree with you in as much as one kind of curl or triceps movement is an order of magnitude or more effective than all the rest. Dips of both varieties, close-grip bench, some kinds of pulley extensions ... they all seem about the same to me in the long run, and I'm not talking about periods when I've "used" either. It might strike you as overly simplistic, but really, a curl's a curl, and a triceps extension is more or less as effective as any variation thereon. (I am not talking about what's easiest on the elbows, mind you. That is a separate issue IMO.)
I've done two workouts so far. The first resulted in awesome DOMS, but that's no surprise: of
course I'll be sore after not training for a few weeks. My second workout was a little shorter; in lieu of three sets to failure, I threw in some post-failure techniques and did two sets. My arms are sore now, 48 hours later, but not very. Also notable is the fact that after three days' rest, I was barely, if at all, stronger than in the first workout.
I'll keep at it for awhile. I will note a few things:
*I completely agree with you about focusing on a couple of bodyparts at a time, at least in the context of stimulating maximum growth in those muscle groups. Apart from obvious things like body mechanics, there's a reason that the guys who bench the most weight aren't also the best squatters and deadlifters: training all three hard is simply too much for most people to manage in a given training cycle.
*I'm unconvinced that "big muscles are meant to move maximum resistance for many sets." Maybe that's true of a predominantly slow-twitch guy, but look at my example. Yeah, I made up those poundages for fun, but the very real drop-off is significant -- and no amount of "conditioning work" is going to change that. It's how I've always been; do a set to momentary failure, and -- pardon my language -- my strength is more or less fucked for the bodypart trained. Even a 10 minute rest interval and second set will see me go from a 315x4 incline (real number, when I was at my best) to 225 for a very hard-fought 9. Ordinarily, if fresh, I could incline 225 for at least 18 reps, 20 if I bounced it off my chest like a spaz. That is a BIG difference. And I will say that I am not a small guy. Fat by bodybuilding standards, but still small by no means.
But I think you are onto something when it comes to those last, really hard reps that we struggle to complete. Lots of intense contractions seems to translate to growth.
As such, I submit that the old sets and reps paradigm is outdated. Instead of doing X sets of Y continuous reps, why not pick a modestly heavy weight -- say, something that limits you to ten -- and, a'la the breathing squat program, do it for twenty or more?
Put another way, say you're doing a curl with your 10 RM. Grab the weight, strictly curl it and perform the negative smoothly. Put it down. Take a couple of breaths. Pick it back up and repeat. As time goes along, you're permitted more deep breaths between repetitions. But the idea is to do as many reps as possible with a given weight before, even with the benefit of a 30 second or more breather, you just
can't curl it again.
It seems to me such a method (which I more or less ripped off from the German PITT system) would permit far more intense contractions against a given weight than the standard old 5-6 sets of "do your best!" And I'm dubious such an arm workout could be successfully conducted every 72-96 hours. I figure I'd get weaker at that rate, with the possible caveat that switching through a pool of exercises, like Dante Trudell advocates, might mitigate that to the point that I could keep registering strength gains.
On that note, Vince, what do you say about a bigger muscle = a stronger muscle on an individual's basis? I submit that a drug-free fellow could train himself into the ground and be sore for six months on end, but if he's not stronger on a near workout-by-workout basis, he ain't gonna grow.
Again, I wish you the best of luck. You seem to be off to a good start
