I’m basically saying the same thing as @aldebaran, practically speaking, but with different language:
Define failure for your buddy as form breakdown - that can be as simple as letting your chest drop when doing dumbbell presses - then he can still go closer to his limit.
Seems dumb, but I just prefer the mindset.
I gotta say, I find this interesting.
I had huge success just doing one set no extras, but you hit that set VERY hard/beat the logbook/ go to true failure on pretty much everything but deadlifts.
ie you bench in the power rack, hit a bench PR …then attempt those next impossible reps, get stapled, then crawl out from under the pins!
I also needed to vary my lifts a lot and have recovery weeks just doing machines, basically a deload before I knew what that was.
-Doing true rest pause/beyond failure techniques on top of this will be overkill for 80%+ of trainees especially if have a demanding job.
…Thib brushes over it, but tons of people in his subforum report stalling hard around the 6-8 week mark and generally feeling a bit shit so keep that in mind.
This article is a pretty good breakdown on intensity techniques and how to program them.
I think you were smart in your approach but honestly I wouldn’t go to failure with bench squats.
I think variety is indeed key in this kind of program, rotating every 3-4 weeks exercises.
Or/and doing a deload or opposite training in a 3/1 or 4/2 weeks fashion
Are you being sarcastic or did i miss something
Thanks! Wondering if beginners should do lower or higher volume, as they need to practise the lifts.
Yeah, thats why i was thinking of deloading or taking a week off every 5-6 weeks
I am not being sarcastic. I don’t like employing sarcasm in written communication: it just confuses things.
No way, let’s pit them! When you put it this way, it sounds like the Highlander of Exercise - “There can be ONLY ONE… workout method and coach.”
(Super late to the thread but had to comment.)
Low volume can enable high intensity workouts with quite a good level of frequency (maybe up to 4 times per week for certain muscles/movements patterns).
I know from doing high rep squats 5 times per week with only 1 challenging set for 20 or so reps per day you can gain size and especially strength really quickly, you just have to resist the temptation to start adding in extra work until you are really prepared for it.