[quote]mallen5 wrote:
[quote]Bricknyce wrote:
[quote]mallen5 wrote:
[quote]tentex87 wrote:
I am confused about how much of a caloric excess I should be in with something with this high of volume.[/quote]
That is a very individual question. I tried GVT for the first time in college when I was probably averaging 4 hours a day in the dining hall. I put on a lot of mass in a short time period, and eventually hit my heaviest weight.
The guy I was training with at the time didn’t see any significant difference in his physique, and was disappointed because of the slide of his 1RMs. He thought he was eating well, but in reality, he was lacking calories in the effort of staying relatively clean.
Note: GVT will add mass, and temporarily stall your 1RMs. When you return to heavier weights you will make gains relatively easily.
My advice:
If you are going to try GVT, getting enough calories to benefit from the intense training should be your number one concern.
THAT TYPE OF TRAINING PROGRAM IS NOT DESIGNED FOR CUTTING/FAT LOSS OBJECTIVES.
However, If you gain mass and return to your former eating protocol, you will lose bodyfat because of your increased caloric requirements.
Hope this helps. [/quote]
It’s also the type of training that sets you up for injury and structual imbalance - quite bizarre considering Koresh has always been yammering about “achieving structural balance” with a bunch of contrived muscle testing ratios (eg, external rotations:incline bench press ratio).
Several writers like Ian King, Alwyn Cosgrove, and Eric Cressey have pointed out the flaws in this way of training.
Examples:
10 sets of bench press (horizontal pushing) versus 0 sets of rowing (horizontal pulling)
10 sets of squats (quad dominant) versus 0 sets of any hip dominant exercise
10 sets of chins or pulldowns (vertical pulling) versus 0 sets of overhead pressing (vertical pushing)
Gotta love Koresh and his bizarre fascination with anyone who lives outside of North America - something that’s also strange because he’s lived in North American for quite some time and hasn’t moved to where all the strength greats are, who speak all the languages he loves (eg, Swedish, German, Spanish, Russian, Bulgarian). [/quote]
When we did it we paired exercises antagonistically so that was never an issue. I don’t remember how it was traditionally set up, but I think some simple logic will solve any programming issues one could point out.
I’m not waving the flag of the GVT bandwagon, but I do think an understanding of why it works, and experimentation with volume is good for anyone looking to improve their physique. It doesnt’ have to be an all or nothing approach…
There is no such thing as perfect programming. Every program I have ever seen has holes in it, whether they are apparent initially, or if they develop along the way. [/quote]
Great post.