I wish someone would try one of these programs and do a litle test.pick an exercise that you NEVER do(most people don’t do chins so I’ll use that as an ex.)do a set of that ex,here chins, and see how many reps you can get. now at the end of the 2 a day volume workout, when you are all done with the volume try to do as many reps of chins that you can, guess what you are probably no stronger (and probably weeker) how can this be if you had all this “progress” in “functional” strength? fact is you did not, you just learned how to perform the monvements more efficiently, which is the goal of ALL olympic based training programs. now you say that 'cause you can move more wt. your muscles are going to be worked harder, well you did not REALY get stronger so the muscles will not be working harder to lift the increased wt, just more efficiently. this is GREAT for olympic lifting but what good is it for bodybuilding? your time could have been better spent.if you would have REALY gotten stronger you would have increased in the chins but since you were not doing them as part of the program you did not “learn” how to do them more efficiently, if you were stronger you could do more 'cause you were not efficient at the chins in the first place. I did this in highschool (for 2.5 months dureing the summer) I used chins so thats the ex. I used here. why do people want systems from europe anyway, they are for athletes and we all know bodybuilding realy is not an athletic event>
Explain the TITAN system. Its sounds cool.
Yeah Steve,more info on the Titan system would be good,I wasn’t aware Leo had a new program available.Cheers.
Hey Steve, let me know where I can get hold of the new Titan training book. Is there a website to order or a phone number? I found the Big Beyond Belief manual very intriguing at the time and it gave me some interesting ideas at least. I think some of the principles of the program are valid, but the application of those techniques must be individualised, and perhaps with a lower volume for most. I agree with Poliquin though, “How many great bodybuilders have come from Bulgaria?” The answer is, “None.” Bodybuilding in Bulgaria has been considered an anti-government activity- it probably carries the same status as being a member of the Ronald Reagan Fan Club.(Poliquin Priciples p.17)
Hetyet, I’m not sure if I completely understand what you were saying, but I think I do, so I’ll take a crack at it. Long story short: you’re not gonna get stronger after just one workout on this system (or most likely ANY training system, for that matter). You’re going to get stronger over a period of weeks as you first ramp up the volume and stress you’re putting on your muscles for 3 weeks, then back off somewhat for 3 weeks, allowing your body to “catch up,” adapt to, and recover from the initial 3 weeks of higher volume, shorter rest period training. It even says in the manual that during the first 3 week period (called a “ramp”) you won’t necessarily get stronger, and might even feel a little weaker. It’s during the second 3 week phase (called a “supergrowth phase” 
) that you’ll start to see strength increases. I personally found this to be the case as well. So I just don’t think you can use one or two days (or workouts) as an example; it’s more of a longer-phase, whole body adaptation system. And it DID work for me at the time when I used it - SIGNIFICANTLY. Although, as I stated earlier, at this point in my life, for various reasons, it ain’t the best system for me. Hope this helps.
Here’s an idea based on some of my “research” over the net regarding this program. (It’s quite surprising to me that you can find people that will easily disseminate someone else’s program for free.) Instead of hitting everything twice a week (or thrice) why not just hit every bodypart once per week, start with a 5 x 5 rep scheme, one exercise per group, and slightly increae the volume for 3 weeks by 1-2 sets, then drop the volume for another 3? I will give this a try for 6 weeks and let you all know, deal?
I meant to say “increase the volume by 1-2 sets every week for 3 weeks, then drop the volume back to 5 x 5 for 3”…
Sounds like a plan! If you’re really trying to emulate OTS’ theories, then for the first three weeks, as you increase the volume, simultaneously decrease the amount of rest between sets (start with, say 3 minutes and taper down to around 90 seconds by the end of the 3 weeks). For the following three weeks, when you’re using less volume, keep the volume steady (say at 3 sets) as well as the rest intervals, which should be longer again (around 3 minutes). Tell us how it goes.
Here is the link:
http://otsdirect.com/titan/manual.htm
Keep in mind that this is OTS’ own marketing/propaganda scheme. However, on elitefitness many people recently gave a favorable account of the Big Beyond Belief. In fact I don’t think that anyone that tried said it didn’t work.
As far as the new Titan Training goes, no one has had enough experience with it yet to give much feedback. The reports were that the people who had been on it for a few weeks had good results. I guess, according to the reports, Leo said the single most important factor that makes Titan Training better is that it is only four days a week now, once a day. Essentially eliminating any possible overtraining, according to him. One more quick note. Everyone on elitefitness claimed to make these incredible gains w/o being on the juice. So it seems that overtraining wasn’t too much of a factor before. But I think Leo changed it so that it will work better for older individuals as well, at least that is what it sounds like. Anyway, I’m getting a little long-winded here so, just go check out the link and elitefitness if you want.
Check out what Pavel had to say in The Evil Russian Part II interview. I think it really relates to the basic philosophy behind the OTS workouts and why they work.
T: Every time I read your stuff you shock me with something. Let’s hear one of your ideas about training that would shock T-mag readers.
Pavel: There is a belief that you have no business coming back to the gym until you can better yourself. You must have complete recovery, they say. This is totally ridiculous. This is called distributed loading and it?s something that?s fine for beginners, perhaps for intermediate athletes, but not for advanced athletes. The alternative is concentrated loading. You build up the fatigue then you back off and taper.
For example, the Russian national powerlifting team is benching up to eight times a week. Obviously, they do not completely recover, but they build up the volume and the fatigue, then have some unloading workouts, high volume, low volume, high intensity, low intensity, then medium etc. There is such a thing as continuity in your training. As long as you keep stimulating the nervous system with the stimulus, even if your body is not totally recovered, you?re going to make much better gains. Once in a while go easy, once in a while go hard? this is where instinctive training comes in.
Some pseudo-scientific authorities make fun of bodybuilders who train instinctively. But sometimes it really does make sense. Today you may be able to do five sets of five in the bench. Tomorrow you can come back and do three triples with the same weight. You’re not totally recovered, but you’re greasing the same groove in the nervous system. Then maybe you can bench again the third day, really beat it up, and then take two days off. That’s something to consider.
Does anyone have any more information on the details of the Titan system, i.e. how it differs from the original Serious Growth system (other than the fact that it’s only 4 days per week)? Thanks.
I did a little research and discovered that the core of the Titan system revolves around something called muscle rounds. Apperently you can keep intensity AND volume at a relitivly high level for the duration of your workout.
DEMICI, I was talking about after the WHOLE program was over, what I’m saying is that after 6wks you will be able to handle more wt. in the exercises you were training but only because you are more profficient at them NOT because you got stronger or bigger. if you don;t believe me try it, just do me a favor and do an ex. you won’t be doing dureing the program before you even start it, then after you are done try the same ex. w/the same wt. and see if you get stronger, I say you won’t(I did not) remember this is after the WHOLE program. the reason to use an ex. that you won’t be useing dureing the program is that you need an ex. that you did not “practice getting better at” to realy judge your progress
If they don’t tell you in the manual, then let me tell you here: do not go to failure on this program. I happen to train my whole body 3 times per week and while the volume stays at 2 to 3 sets per muscle, the intensity never gets to the point of failure or even a rep away. If so, I’d be burned out in a couple of weeks. I’ve found personally, that shying away from failure while going for more volume allows me to make better muscle and strength gains. That could be one of the keys to getting this system to work for you.
I would be interested in finding out about the new titan training system, and the old big beyond belief that someone mentioned was developed for the SEAL’s. Any information and links would be appreciated.
het said, “…fact is you did not, you just learned how to perform the monvements more efficiently, which is the goal of ALL olympic based training programs.” WHAT? What kind of science have you been looking at? Olympic training causes huge increases in power and strength!
Just wondering if you could post the program that you did while with the SEAL’s? Very interested in seeing the nuts and bolts of it.
het said, “I’m saying is that after 6wks you will be able to handle more wt. in the exercises you were training but only because you are more profficient at them NOT because you got stronger or bigger.” So if you’re able to handle more Wt. after a HIT cylce then you’re stronger? If it’s after anything else you’re more efficient? By the way what’s the difference between lifting heavy weights more efficiently as opossed to being stronger? NONE!!! it’s the same thing!! interchangeable terms. When you say more efficiently you mean recruitment an fireing of fibers more efficiently, etc.
I don’t understand the uproar. This seems to be almost the exact same program as TC’s oscillating wave program, except the training frequency is higher.
Any word on where to find the SEAL version of the OTS program? Would be interested in seein it.