Metabolic Day

Hey John,
I enjoyed your article and in particular your metabolic day philosophy piqued my interest. My question is, what % of 1RM do you use for these sets? I do a similar thing for my hamstrings (because they tend to tighten up like a mo fo) but I use super light weight and just really concentrate on the movement and stretch as much as I can. And I hold it for a few seconds in the stretch position. Again, the weight is minimal … my plan was to stretch the muscle using the aid of light weight, but mimicking the same movement that gave me the soreness. Would you recommend going heavier? or is super light and going through the complete ROM just as effective? Thanks!!

anyone? Mr. Berardi? Bueller? … Bueller?

GirtH, don’t get excited, it’s just me. I figure you can pretty much do a GBC workout using maybe 50-60% 1rm lifts at full ROM once a week as a “metabolic” day. For more info on similar practices check out the GPP and “adding extra workouts” articles on Dave Tate’s Elitefts site, which both touch on throwing in lesser-intensity work during the week for either recovery or addressing a week muscle group.

Jeff, thanks for the feedback. And yes, according to many women, I am blessed with substantial GirtH.

My philosophy is a bit different than yours…I dont measure % of 1RM but I handle a wt that I can do for about 12-13 and hit it for 10. The reps are slow and controlled but not exaggerated. However, some days, if feeling particularly ornery and in need of punishment for dietary (or sexual :slight_smile: transgressions from the day before/previous few days, Ill hit it really hard, going to failure on each set (this one is brutal). This is the one that John Koenig and Cy Willson were privy too at the Arnold Classic weekend. I know this seems counterproductive so I usually just go easy. But some days you just feel like driving fast, being adventurous, and slamming your muscles beyond the norm.

Just to present you with another option that I use very frequently… you can start your warm up with a few light sets of a previously worked muscle to facilitate recovery. On an upper body day I’ll go through 3 light sets each for the hamstrings and quads, and on lower body training days I’ll hit 3 sets each for pushing and pulling.

To decrease soreness I highly recommend two of Westside’s methods. First is the 60% rule and second is sled dragging. Both are explained in detail in Dave Tate’s sled dragging article. However, the 60% rule can also be used for movements besides dragging.