Base Strength
- diminished returns - any scenario where the same investment gives less and less back over time
- progressive overload - continual increase in stress to the body
- stagnation - sudden end of progression caused by end to training adaptation
Brick walls and how to get over them
- one rep maxes should not occur more than twice per year
- Base - existing broad/general physical traits
- Peak - hypothetical limit with a specific threshold
- SAID - Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demands - you develop specifically to the way that you train
- widen the base in order to increase the peak
- SRA model - Stress, Recovery, Adaptation - stress > temporary dip in performance > recovery and gains
- stress and recovery must balance in a training program for an adaptation to be realized
- training pace as a beginner will not be sustainable long term
- intermediate and advanced lifters require considerably more recovery
- body builds a tolerance to not just the amount of stress, but also training threshold, movement patterns, and even the rate and method of stress increase
- DOMS - Delayed-Onset Muscle Soreness
- change rep ranges to preempt stagnation as your body adapts
- there is no single best training method - diminished returns come for everyone
- SRN - Specificity, Recovery, Novelty
- Specificity - relationship between the Base and the Peak
- Recovery - how sustainable the workload is
- Novelty - whether diminished returns have slowed progress
- any successful training method will preempt stagnation by implementing variations in training over the long term
- variation focused on base building and specialization - vary the volume and exercise selection to widen your base
- variation as a method of recovery - subtle changes to the movement or training threshold
- variation is the only answer to diminished returns
- Linear Periodization - volume drops as the average weight used in each session increases over time
- dosing the right variation of Novelty, Recovery, and Specificity will lead to a new growth response
- Block Periodization - similar to linear periodization but emphasis is put on optimizing each block
- Accumulation > Transmutation > Realization - three phases or blocks of the entire macrocycle
- every program needs:
- weekly progressive overload
- transition between phases of high volume base building and low volume specificity
- consideration of recovery
- planned incorporation of novel movements and training thresholds
Wave Progressions
- Waves (3-week: easy/medium/hard cycle) are stacked into Phases, which are alternated between Base and Peak focused
- Base phase: broad selection of exercises, progressively overload by increasing the number of sets, lower intensity (65-80%)
- Peak phase: narrow selection of exercises, progressively overload by increasing the weight, higher higher intensity (80-95%)
- Step Load - keep the weights the same and increase the number of reps or sets
- in the volume-oriented phase, you have to leave reps in the tank on each and every set
- sets of 10 is a proven muscle building approach
- RPE - Rate of Perceived Exertion - ranking of difficulty based on the number of reps left before failure
- most of the work should be at RPE 7 to 9
- AMRAP - As Many Reps As Possible - keep the weight fixed and stop one rep shy of failure
- Linear Peak: high intentisy (85,90,95), low reps (3,2,1), deload every 4th week (5,4,3 reps), test new max after the 12-week phase
- incorporate a full deload on week 4 or reduce RPE on week 1 to allow recovery
Weekly Splits
- DUP - Daily Undulating Periodization - hypertrophy (volume), strength (heavy), power (speed work)
- for squatting, pressing, and pulling, frequency is virtually always at 1 to 3 times per week
- squatting is one of the more bio-mechanically friendlier movements
- deadlifts are much harder to recover from
- squatting performance can boost dramatically when the recovery cost of deadlifts isn’t a factor
- 2x per week programming is the most common approach
- use heavy/light, volume/intensity, or DUP splits