So, I decided over the winter break to finally give EDT an honest 3 month Shot. What better time, when my recovery is optimized and nutrition levels will be at an all time high in terms of quality and intake?
I have a couple thoughts though, that I’m not sure have been discussed in previous threads - many of which I have been going over:
One - I’m working out with a partner, this does regulate rest times, to a degree, but it seems like basically we are alternating one another and performing the exercises in an almost continuous circuit fashion. Has anyone else done EDT with a lifting partner? How have they managed this?
Two - What type of baseline have people established in terms of repetitions per workout? Forrester mentioned in a previous thread that he was working with about 60 reps for an exercise, and increasing the load when he could perform 20% more, or so. Anyone else working with higher/lower total rep ranges?
I’m sure Charles Staley could provide some excellent insight into this, if he is around the forum somewhere. I’d appreciate responses from anyone who has used the program and has thoughts regarding it, however.
I’m doing this right know with my wife(she is one strong woman-numerous wins in powerliting& strongwoman) yestarday we did bench her with 195 for multiple singles and me with 285 for multiple singles we both managed 13 reps in the 15 minutes PR zone-tough workout but manageable
First of all, I assume you will be doing an EDT routine geared towards hypertrophy and not strength gains. In any case, I personally would not undertake the program with a training partner. EDT is too individualized…the rest between sets will not be the same from person to person…the length of the sets themselves will differ…the loads used will most likely be different from person to person (and changing them each set would be detrimental to the timing of the program). The same factors which make it a great “auto-regulation” program seem to be the same ones that might make it very difficult to perform with a partner while giving a maximal effort. I would like to hear others thoughts on this as well.
Oh, and in my bouts with EDT I have shot for between 45-65 reps per exercise...I have consistently fallen in this range unless I grossly under or overestimated my loads on the first day. See the articles themselves for more details (20/5 rule, proper load selection, etc.).
Steve pretty much covered everything I was going to say, nice work. I would like to add that now that we have multiple EDT programs we are all going to have to start specifically stating which ones we are referring to in our posts. For the EDT for hypertrophy workout, a partner would be a bad idea IMO. For the EDT for fatloss/strength version that Dapper was talking about I think that a partner might be feasible, but I still think it might be limiting your PR progression. It’s really cool that you have a dedicated w/o partner, I just think that the EDT concept would be carried out better when it’s done solo. One last thing, I am not sure which thread you were referring to but I tend to up the weight by 20% when I start exceding 60 reps per set. Steve’s statement about keeping his reps between 45-65 was right on with what I think is most effective for a hypertrophy program but I also like to go tad heavy. Sorry if I stated otherwise and caused confusion. Train hard!
Thanks for the responses guys. Interesting insights. Yes, it is the EDT for hypertrophy scheme, although Leg day is my own evil concoction. Anyways - it seems like our reps are falling right around the numbers you mentioned. In hindsight, I’m not sure the partner thing is much of a deal, except i have a spot so i can use a barbell for bench… I’ll have to see how things progress and get back to everyone with my ‘bastardized’ EDT experience.
Kudos’ this thread was a good idea. I agree with everyone. To summarise: Dont workout with partner, its distracting at times, dont stare at the hot latina on the treadmill, however when you are doing an exercise you need a spot for, like lying extensions, i always get a friend to come with me and just stand with the bar to be ready to gimmie a quick lift off, other than that they do nothing but yell LIFT BITCH. My reps are range from 40-60. Also i want to ask a question to add to the thread, does anyone else have trouble on pullups with EDT. I go up on everything BUT pullups, no matter what grip i use. Sometimes i even get less reps, and when i do go up, RARELY, its by a single rep. It is very frustrating.