Seeing the topics and opinions that the author publishes, I recognize myself in him. There is always a doubt in my head that the next routine will be better. You are constantly in a dilemma as to which will work best for you. You are constantly in a dilemma: should I train a muscle group often, should I train with a high volume, should I train with a high intensity, should I do a work set to failure, should I train as a powerlifter or as a bodybuilder. What if Chris’ programs aren’t right for my purposes … or Jim’s 5/3/1 won’t work for me either. These people do not know my body, I feel what is better for me. And so day after day, year after year, during which routines are constantly changing. And neither the strength has increased significantly, nor the muscles. The only plus is that at least you exercise with resistance 
I understand where you’re coming from on this, but it’s like thinking a medication won’t work for my symptoms because I’m different. I only make progress when I stop feeling like I have some kind of special goals or needs, which I believe is what you’re saying too.
This is exactly what I am saying: many people do not believe the recommendations of leading coaches, which must be followed in order to make progress. Even some who have no experience and knowledge think that they can make a more working program on their own. I’m not one of them anymore
I have often said, almost everyone that walks through the gym doors has their IQ drop 50 points. Almost everyone of them would benefit following the program suggested by someone who has made significant progress. And the younger they are the dumber they are. I can’t tell you how many times I see stick-like kids doing one arm isolation exercises. And if they do squat it is “sky” squats.
Ho ho Nomad My sons train in a similar way, but they are 16 years old. They are aware that they are not training optimally, but I do not allow them to squat and do deadlifts because I am not with them to control the proper performance of the exercises. They are not like sticks, but they do not have a lot of muscle mass. They are athletic. One of my sons has no one to beat him in Canadian wrestling throughout the school, even the older ones he has competed with. Interestingly, my pulling movements, such as rows, are much stronger than his, and in Canadian wrestling he defeats me in a few seconds. Otherwise, my sons usually train 3 times a week with a routine 3x10-12, one exercise for chest, back, shoulders, biceps and triceps, front and back thighs. They like to train as bodybuilders. The other often makes Chin Up and Dips.
Arthur Jones had an idea he called “Tolerance to Exercise.”
He said that different people would respond to different amounts of work. “Easy Gainers” who were strong and muscular would do best on low volume routines, with few sets and heavy weights. They would need longer tine to recover between workouts.
“Hard Gainers” or skinny dudes who struggle to gain mass need more sets of higher reps. And they recover faster that the easy gainers, so they don’t need to rest as long between workouts.
Fred Hatfield thought he was on the right track, but that people could “easy gaining” muscle groups and “hard gaining” muscle groups. And that some body parts like shoulders and triceps recovered fast. And other parts like chest and lower back recovered slower.
To figure out your tolerance to exercise, Hatfield said to find your 1 rep max for a lift. Then see how many reps you could get with 80% of your max. An average dude might get 8-10 reps, a bad-ass easy gainer might get 5 or 6 reps. And the hard gainers may be able to get 15 or 20 reps with 80%.
Not everyone thinks much about this stuff, but Hatfield was super into it. Maybe you could search around for more info if you’re interested.
For some real life action, I check out Charles Glass workouts to understand high volume.
And before you move on from low volume, be sure that you’re bringing the proper Intensity.
I’ve read this, but when it comes to which muscle fibers are most prone to growth. I don’t know if you mean that. So the advice was that if you do more reps with 80% of your maximum, the training should be aimed at doing more reps per set if the goal is hypertrophy. Conversely, if you do less repetitions by 80%, you should train in the low range of repetitions. I don’t know how true that is, I’m just sharing.
Otherwise, I personally have not seen a person who can do 15-20 repetitions with 80% of the maximum. I even remember a statement by Jim - I don’t remember whether in his books or in an article, but according to him / I’m talking from memory / the more repetitions you can do with 80% of your maximum, the weaker you are But there are certainly people who have the same maximum, but can do a different number of repetitions with 80% of their maximum. And I mean not just 1-2 reps difference.
I don’t remember where I read it but this sentence sounds perfect here :
You are not différent, you are wrong.
No, I would say the best way to train for you is mostly down to what your goals are and also maybe also to a great or not so great degree your own personality/psychology ie: what do YOU find intrinsically rewarding w/o wise and also sustainable long-term.
Underrated and underappreciated
Somebody should develop a test so I can skip the trial and error and just jump to the stuff that’s good for me.
Okay so the best way to do this would be:
- start doing shit you saw on instagram by some dude who’s clearly on steroids but claims natty.
- every set has to be RPE 10, even squats
- do that for a LOOONG time
- eat whipped cream first thing in the morning to help increase your ‘insulin resistance’
- start a thread where you complain about your genetics
- ignore the advice given to you in that thread
- then start another thread where you detail your neurotic overanalyzing of everything related to training. Ignore the advice in that thread too
- point out that “everyone can bench 225 on instagram” and use that as further evidence that your genetics are terrible
- fizzle out of training altogether because you’ve tried ‘everything’ without ever following the advice of a coach or program
Then right down what works good for you!
It’s really quite simple
I’ve honestly found that I grow the best doing the stuff I DON’T naturally gravitate toward.
Give me just ONE big set and I will massacre it. I will squat until blood comes out of every orifice. I will blow out all the blood vessels in my face. I will collapse on the floor and crawl back home.
But when I want to grow? Deep Water: 10x10 squats. It sucks SO much, I absolutely hate it, I can’t stand straight sets, and, like taking your medicine, it’s what I need.
I think that’s the power in following programs. It’s very difficult for us to appropriately push ourselves, which is not the same thing as making ourself work hard.
100%. If nothing else, I say it’s the value of following a program when growing is the goal. I’ll write my own intensification block: I’m good at that. But when it’s time to grow/accumulate? I need to outsource.
Thankyou for all the input guys.
I have tried following programs before only to detrain and lose muscle.
Then you should probably just be teaching us instead of having any questions
How much muscle did you lose in how long of a timeframe?
I have done fairly well. I just want to see if there is someting better than what i am currently doing