Any new bodybuilding training ideas?

[Methyl m1ke]

We (the majority anyway) have been lifting a lomg time. Not trying to reinvent the wheel anymore. I like to train high volume and moderate to high intensity. Ill pick a weight ans number of reps and keep doing sets of say 12 reps, and keep doing sets until i fail at 11. Next workout i go up a couple of pounds. Its tough.

Tonight i was supersetting arms and got to my last set of concentration curls and decided to throw some singles alternating hand each rep but at rep 3 i was like "i bet i could get 3" and just barely got 3 each arm unilaterally so, i was thinking what to do and didnt realize i was doing reps still, 1 at a time alternating and at 3 i said to myself "could we possibly get 3 again?? Impossible" so i gave 100 and got 2 clean reps per arm unilaterally. So i did 3 singles per arm again. And tried 3 my arm was not obeying so i got up and stretched my biceps and chest, paying close attention to feeling each pectoral muscle each individual fiber in each pectoral elongate and become even more swollen than it had been the last 45 minutes. Swollen and about to explode out of my body!

So the tempo goes like this (weight stays the same throughout, and each and every rep after 12 was all i could get)(not much if any rest between reps or alternating hands)
L12 R12
L1 R1
L1 R1
L1 R1
L3 R3
L1 R1
L1 R1
L1 R1
L2 R2
L1 R1
L1 R1
L1 R1

Thoughts, anything to share?

[IroNat]

Doug Hepburn Training, Changes in Later Years

https://ditillo2.blogspot.com/2024/06/doug-hepburn-training-changes-in-later.html



One thing Doug changed later in his life is that you DO NOT do the Power and Pump programs together in the same workout.

He felt the Pump program was overkill and probably did him more harm than good. 8 sets of singles followed by a full 5x5 would kill any of us over time.

He refined the training he recommended  when older and wiser, in the late 1990s before his death.

It went like this:

"A Routine"
Use singles, start with 4 total and build up by one single per workout until you hit 10 singles total.

"B Routine"
Use triples and do the same progression. 4 sets of triples, add a triple each workout until you get to 10 sets of triples.

"C Routine"
5 sets of 3, add 1 rep per workout until you're at 5 sets of 5.
Note: If using this routine, ALWAYS add the workout's rep to the FIRST sets until you hit the goal. For example:
3/3/3/3/3
4/3/3/3/3
5/3/3/3/3
5/4/3/3/3
5/5/3/3/3
etc.

Contrary to some of the altered layouts online, Doug would NEVER superset. He mentioned that the idea was silly and it took away from focus on the lift you're working on. He liked to focus and would meditate between his lifts.

He was a very big believer in self-hypnosis/auto-suggestion.

Doug NEVER used percentages.
Working weights were to be
"HEAVY ENOUGH TO STRAIN WITH BUT NOT YOUR MAX."

He would use TWO exercises per day, split them into upper and lower body.
He would Overhead Press and Bench one day, and
Squat and Curl on the other.

He used to shoot for two of the same workout in 8 days, i.e.,
one day on, one day off.

At a later age he found he had even better results if he went one on and two off.

So, to simplify the whole approach:

First 3-4 months -
4 singles working up by one single a workout to 10 singles.
When you peak out and can't add any more weight . . .

Second 3-4 months -
4 sets of triples working up by one triple a workout to 10 triples.
This was used until you were using the same weight for triples as you did for singles on the A routine.

Use them in order . . . A routine then B routine. The C routine is just a shortened version of the B routine. Choose the C routine if you prefer not to hang around for 10 sets as in the B, simple as that.

[nobody in particular]

best piece of advice I ever read on rep ranges was from the late Dr Ken Leistner I think in 'the steel tip' - it was reprinted in 'hardgainer' magazine . Like everything else some advice is good some bad, work out what works for you etc.

Anyway he talked about how some people are just wired CNS to do certain rep ranges, and it can vary from person to person and muscke group to muscle group. His exampe was the at the time NFL strength test where his adopted son got something like 20-23 reps (iirc correctly the test was max reps with 225). He made the point that his son then went on to do 17-18 reps with 315 even though that wasn't the test parameter. Point being he 'gassed' at around 20 reps in the exercise.

Long story short, I was always good (for me, relatively speaking) doing slightly lower reps on pressing exercises, seemingly just how Im wired up, but could go higher with rowing/pulling. Lower back and lower body lower reps worked better. When I abandoned the 'need' to stick to certain rep ranges and focussed on what worked for which muscle groups for me, I made more progress. In real world terms that meant anything from 3-8 reps for pressing and about 8-20 for rowing. Calves I could do anything pretty much as long as I 'did' train them.

[Methyl m1ke]

best piece of advice I ever read on rep ranges was from the late Dr Ken Leistner I think in 'the steel tip' - it was reprinted in 'hardgainer' magazine . Like everything else some advice is good some bad, work out what works for you etc.

Anyway he talked about how some people are just wired CNS to do certain rep ranges, and it can vary from person to person and muscke group to muscle group. His exampe was the at the time NFL strength test where his adopted son got something like 20-23 reps (iirc correctly the test was max reps with 225). He made the point that his son then went on to do 17-18 reps with 315 even though that wasn't the test parameter. Point being he 'gassed' at around 20 reps in the exercise.

Long story short, I was always good (for me, relatively speaking) doing slightly lower reps on pressing exercises, seemingly just how Im wired up, but could go higher with rowing/pulling. Lower back and lower body lower reps worked better. When I abandoned the 'need' to stick to certain rep ranges and focussed on what worked for which muscle groups for me, I made more progress. In real world terms that meant anything from 3-8 reps for pressing and about 8-20 for rowing. Calves I could do anything pretty much as long as I 'did' train them.

Yeah same here. Ive always done better with high reps for upper body low reps for lower back legs etc.

[Van_Bilderass]

Yeah same here. Ive always done better with high reps for upper body low reps for lower back legs etc.

Usually people claim legs respond better to higher reps, say 12-15 for quads, 8-10 for upper body. It's a pretty standard claim. And oh yeah, around 15-20 reps for calves.

Recently I saw a comment that "science bros" today claim there's NEVER any need to veer outside 4-8 reps for any bodypart if training for hypertrophy. You can do other rep ranges if you prefer, just that there's no need. I don't know that that is true, just reporting the claim

I do all kinds of rep ranges, singles up to 150 reps Sometimes singles actually feel safer than higher rep ranges.

[IroNat]

Usually people claim legs respond better to higher reps, say 12-15 for quads, 8-10 for upper body. It's a pretty standard claim. And oh yeah, around 15-20 reps for calves.

Recently I saw a comment that "science bros" today claim there's NEVER any need to veer outside 4-8 reps for any bodypart if training for hypertrophy. You can do other rep ranges if you prefer, just that there's no need. I don't know that that is true, just reporting the claim

I do all kinds of rep ranges, singles up to 150 reps Sometimes singles actually feel safer than higher rep ranges.

Are these rest-pause reps?

[Van_Bilderass]

Are these rest-pause reps?

I do high reps for submaximal warmups, or for example at the end of heavy deadlift sessions to "pump more blood" into my lower back, on a low back extension machine.

I've actually only now started with true rest pause training for the first time in my 40 year lifting career! For example, I do 12 reps on leg extension to failure, take 20-30 deep breaths and go again, until I can't do even one rep after the rest. My rest is longer than typically prescribed for RP but if rest for a shorter interval I can't get any meaningful reps in. I'm kicking myself for not doing this sooner LOL. I've been more into drop sets and such. With RP I get more total high load, productive reps in. If for example we assume that the last 2-3 reps in a set are the productive ones. Do you use RP?

[joswift]

yes, stop doing it, its fucking stupid.

[1Patrick]

Not sure if this move is new ,but Kai’s boyfriend  swears this gave  Kai better buttocks control.

[Methyl m1ke]

Usually people claim legs respond better to higher reps, say 12-15 for quads, 8-10 for upper body. It's a pretty standard claim. And oh yeah, around 15-20 reps for calves.

Recently I saw a comment that "science bros" today claim there's NEVER any need to veer outside 4-8 reps for any bodypart if training for hypertrophy. You can do other rep ranges if you prefer, just that there's no need. I don't know that that is true, just reporting the claim

I do all kinds of rep ranges, singles up to 150 reps Sometimes singles actually feel safer than higher rep ranges.

My legs grow pretty much from anything, but they fatigue fast. Takes very little to stimulate them. I sometimes go pretty high rep on leg presses thats it. Also at least for me doing legs if i can get more than 10 the weight is just not heavy enough to accomplish anything.

[Methyl m1ke]

I do high reps for submaximal warmups, or for example at the end of heavy deadlift sessions to "pump more blood" into my lower back, on a low back extension machine.

I've actually only now started with true rest pause training for the first time in my 40 year lifting career! For example, I do 12 reps on leg extension to failure, take 20-30 deep breaths and go again, until I can't do even one rep after the rest. My rest is longer than typically prescribed for RP but if rest for a shorter interval I can't get any meaningful reps in. I'm kicking myself for not doing this sooner LOL. I've been more into drop sets and such. With RP I get more total high load, productive reps in. If for example we assume that the last 2-3 reps in a set are the productive ones. Do you use RP?

Triple drop sets were my bread and butter many years.

[Humble Narcissist]

yes, stop doing it, its fucking stupid.