I’m trying to find the original article on “layers” as I have heard it referenced throughout this site.
Can anyone help me ? I searched the site for “layer” but came back with countless threads on the topic and no specifics articles.
There was no original article. it was in a livespill we first heard the beginnings of it and it has been pretty much popularized through threads, spills, and forums. you have to search the threads, or I believe Lonnie123 posted a summary in one if his threads.
Without getting into specifics, the basic idea is one lift a day, and performing a number of “layers” with that lift.
The first layer is always ramping to a max (1RM, 2RM, 3RM) starting at about 60% of your max. Do 1-3 reps, add weight, repeat until you hit the max you can do with good form. That becomes your “training max” for the rest of the workout.
Then there’s often clusters. These are usually done at 90% of that max. You do a rep, rest 7-10 seconds, do another. Repeat until you can’t do anymore. That constitutes one set. Your goal is to get 3-7 reps in each cluster set; if you get less than that, lower the weight for the next set; if you get more, raise the weight.
Then there’s sometimes heavy density lifting (HDL) which can be 70-85% of that max. There’s a number of different approaches; one involves doing as many reps as you can, waiting 10-15 seconds, and doing it again. Another uses 5 reps, rest 7-10s, 4 reps, rest, 3, rest, 2, rest, 1. Either way, you’re trying to get in a fair amount of volume in a short period of time.
The arrangement of which layers you do, whether to ramp to 1/2/3RM, as well as which exercises you do each lift with… these are all different depending on which particular application of the layer system you’re using. There’s some for fat loss, some for hypertrophy, some for powerlifting, some for olympic lifting, etc.
The layer system info came out mainly through the LiveSpills when those were more prominent a year ago or so, Info creeped in until the original layer info came out in one spill.
The spill with the collected layout of the system is here: http://www.T-Nation.com/strength-training-topics/2190
And a thread on the forums came up detailing a bit more of the collected information here: T - Competitive Bodybuilding - Forums - T Nation
The thread is really good reading and I recommend it for those who are just getting into the layers, or want a refresher on the original ideas.
I thought the livespill mentioned that it was going to be released but it never materialized. I wonder if when he’s done playing with it he will eventually release it as a program.
Thanks a lot guys