Thing is, I still consider Dr Darden’s (or Jim Flanagan’s in this case) earlier routines of great value.
Having mixed and combined several Darden routines over the past years - I confess I personally experience greater benefits from this - than 30-10-30 alone! That being said, I have yet to try the M3 program.
Never rely upon a single tool more than the contents of the toolbox.
Just figured out that the article being discussed is on T-Nation, so I finally gave it a read.
Must say that the idea of starting a set with a 1-RM, no warm up, kind of worries me. As I get older, easing into heavy work by doing some warm-up sets seems a lot safer. And, to be honest, I feel like I can use more weight if I warm up a bit versus hitting a 1-RM cold (literally).
Actually, Dr Darden writes that one warm up set is recommended. I missed that myself when I first read the article.
I did a prolonged warmup set with 50% of max weight, about 15 reps, which felt adequate. I can’t stress enough the necessity of carefully easing into the first max rep. Also, I consciously chose a lighter weight estimate for the max rep, as I did this routine for the first time (you may compensate for this in the final reps).
Please try this routine, but go gently on the max rep weight initially.
Now, two days later I understand what Flanagan meant by waking up the muscles. Whether it’s inflammation, fluid or compensatory mechanisms, my muscles are fuller as a direct effect of the routine. A great plateau braker indeed.
I just love these HIT set extending techniques, meaning the M3 will be interesting someday up ahead.
Curious…as it did not say in the article, how long to wait after the warmup to begin the one rep max set
performing a warmup would be wierd as i cant remember the last time i did a warmup set, lol
Waitaminute. What Big Jim routine did YOU do?! The one I remember is a 1RM Positive, followed by a 60-sec Negative. Which one are you doing and where did you find this routine?
I waited one minute between the warm up and max rep. The article states 2 mins of rest in between excercises - meaning I do the warmup set after a minute, and then the max after another minute post warmup.
It’s easy to overthink this. I believe you would not go wrong with even more rest periods, as the sets are exceptionally long and taxing. This is NOT metcon.
Search author Ellington Darden, PhD in articles on Tnation.
The routine is 6 excercises + 2 finishers (complimentary work on weak areas).
I could swear the version in ‘The New HIT’ only had Steps 1 through 3. I will have to check when I get back home on Sunday.
I have that book, just looked, could not find any reference to Big Jim Flanagan workout routines
So much for my habit of skimming through articles… One warm-up set would make it feel a lot safer.
Mostly as an aside, I’ve seen some barbell programs where you warm up, do a heavy single (sort of a training max, to gauge how well you feel that day), and then drop down the weight an appropriate percentage and do several sets of 5-8, leaving a couple reps in reserve until the final set.
This strikes me as kind of the multiple set analog of the Big Jim routine. I’ve actually used that kind of multiple set routine, and find that it is easier to recover from (vs doing AMRAP every set). It just can seem a little tedious if you are in a rush.
How about splitting the workout in half? Pulling muscles, hammies Day 1. Pressing muscles and quads Day 2?
Sorry, wrong one. I’m pretty sure it’s in ‘New BB for Old School Results’ book!
That’s what I was thinking… Except with 1 or 2 muscles being hit BOTH workouts!!
I looked in that book too, could not find the specific routine of 3 exercises…if you do, let me know which page
There’s 6-8 exercises in this routine, with the last 2 being accessory work(or regular set). You want to split this up? I’m not getting that.
I don’t get all the confusion about this routine? Split it up, which book, etc. The routine article is listed in this forum, the old Darden forum,the Darden section on old time strength(John Wood), on the internet. It’s a straight forward routine that will blast your muscles, and leave you feeling it for at least a couple days! Give it a go!
Hey, Hey, Little Bear — don’t get all bent out of shape. We’re just spit-balling ideas and talking it out. It’s how these talk forums work. Otherwise, it would the OP saying “Try this routine!” and then 2 or 3 replies of “Sounds Cool… I will” and/or “Tried it and it kicked my ass!!” and then the thread would be over. Is that what you want?
Has anyone actually tried this?
I might because I have to be off for 3 days later. I can easily stretch to 4. Would be interesting to try. Dunno how I could measure my body response.
Super late on this reply but I can answer any questions you have on this. If you still have them
What is your training like nowadays?