Current Bodybuilding Training Thread 2.0

Im asking this because always when a see a big natural guy he always claims he stick to the basic, add’s weight to the bar, wont use many intensity methods and thats basically what im doing for the past 1~2 years and i feel like i didnt get many gains…and when i did the craziest training im my life with this natural friend i got visible gains …it was a different stim that i wasnt used to , but anyway…

Seems to work for Meadows and his people. Obviously not natty, but he basically never does the same workout twice. Even for his intermediate trainees he only keeps one “indicator” exercise in to measure progress

Obviously he uses the staples, but the exercises, order, and execution are changed almost every workout. He does periodic a bit though (increases sets over the cycle, then drops back and goes crazy on the intensity techniques.

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I sort of do this, but in a very minor way. Because I always have a day in between sessions, I choose an exercise I think that would benefit me the most, and do it as my last exercise every day.

So I could bring up my lateral delts by doing a few sets of laterals, or a few sets of curls, or core work, or whatever.

Right now it’s face pulls.

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I think it’s a great way to train, provided you’ve enough experience. If an inexperienced lifter tries it they’ll just fart about without getting much done.

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the barbell is on my side. i hold it like a suitcase. trying to balance the bar also makes the muscle work harder.

i train with a similar tactic. i have very limited options ( 2 dumbbells, 1 barbell and a bench ) so exercises are generally the same but i change the order / tempo, add intensity techniques like rest pause, 1 1/2 reps, supersets, bottom partials or do a reverse pyramid instead of a regular pyramid in some exercises. sometimes i do lots of exercises but 2 sets of each. sometimes i do just 2 exercises but 6-7 sets of each. i always try to change something and i keep improving. ( physique wise )

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What is everyone’s thoughts on bodybuilders utilizing planned deloads?

Big fan, personally. I do them every 12 weeks or so.

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i dont do deloads but generally i take a week off every 3 months.

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I call it taking a week or day off here and there and not killing oneself when they don’t feel well. Or they can just plan on lowering volume and/or intensity of effort every x number of weeks.

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I haven’t done a traditional deload either, but every 3 months or so I’ll take out most intensity techniques (supersets, dropsets, pause reps, partials, etc) and ease up on the volume for a week or two.

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Very interesting that you all (and John Meadows) mention the the 3 month/ 12 week mark, as opposed to deloading every 4 to 6 week which is common for strength athletes and seems to have been adopted by many of the new online hypertrophy gurus.

Sounds like a pretty traditional deload to me!

huh…I guess I was always under the impression that deloads went for 4-6 weeks…Well, good for me!

Amended statement: Apparently, I partake in a deload every so often :slight_smile:

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Nope, 1-2 weeks is typical. Maybe 3 after a grueling competitive season, but fitness would definitely start to erode by the 4-6 week mark, which would pretty much defeat the purpose of a deload (allow accumulated fatigue to dissipate while maintaining fitness levels).

I often hear the argument that we should not rely upon what the elite to for advice. But my program, based upon Frederick Hatfield’s and Dorian Yates’ plans, involves “deloading”, but only it happens very differently. You have three types of workouts: the “A” workout which is referred to as active recovery, “B” which are your typical ordinary strength workouts and “C” which are your intensity type workouts. Therefore you have deloads in each muscle group.

I believe in instinctive, but not spontaneous instinctive training. The system allows you to change about your ABCs based upon how you recover from the stresses you place on yourself in the other workouts.

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I was digging around the archives here and it seems Clay Hyght is probably most in line with what is being recommended in these threads:

That particular article gives a 4 and 5 day template, and links to a 2 part article that BrickHead would probably very much approve of. Worth reading for a “body building basics” kind of mentality.

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Yes, I think those are the best bodybuilding articles on this site. And they are written by a bodybuilder. Hmmm… does that say something?

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I’ve manipulated nutrient timing a lot, but I’ve never cycled them over the days (carb cycling). Maybe I have in that my pre-workout meals and post-workout meals contain slightly smaller portions of oatmeal or jasmine rice or whatever when I’m training arms as compared to the days I train legs or back, for example.

I’ve been more interested in educating myself on this topic, but I’m not sure WHICH article to trust (so many result are given from a search). I was wondering if anyone had a link to something they trust on this topic.

Or, hell, let the conversation keep going concerning carb cycling and/or nutrient timing.

This is an outstanding article, it’s the first program I used and I went with it for about a year. I think it’s a perfect, simplistic, effective way to train consistently for the long term. Sure other techniques or programs could be added/switched out as necessary, but I think this is the “foundation” of what bodybuilding training is all about, basic split routines, each muscle hit once every 5-7 days, compound and isolation movements, addressing weak points.

If you read his articles here that precede the template:

He talks about the basic principles of bodybuilding training, which have pretty much all been hit at some point on these threads.

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