Questions About My Yates T-Cell Post

[quote]MAF14 wrote:

[quote]Cephalic_Carnage wrote:
If anybody wants to see an example of a routine, just ask… (in the “are people still interested in this?” thread in the bb forum if you can’t post in the cell)

[/quote]

if you dont mind, i would… i personally cant ever decide how i like to warm up with these. also could you point out the differences between 2 set variant and 1 set variant (or is it just that: 1 set vs 2 sets)?[/quote]

[quote]Blaze_108 wrote:
C_C, just read your post in the T-cell Alpha, good read.

I’ve been training with a weekly cycle of :
Back Thickness/Bi’s
Chest/Tri’s
Hams/Traps
Back width/Bi’s
Upper chest/Tri’s
Quads/delts
rest day

For a while I progressed nicely, but as gains have slowed/become minimal I’m planning on going back to a once weekly schedule.

Would this plan fit as a yates-style plan?
Monday:Back/Biceps
Tuesday:Chest/Triceps
Wednesday:Legs
Thurs:Delts+Traps
Fri:rest (or maybe light cardio + abs)
Sat:Bi’s + Tri’s (arms are a weak point, thus the extra arm day)
Sun:rest

Or do you have a program with arm emphasis I could try out?
[/quote]

Going to answer these tomorrow, no worries.

http://tnation.T-Nation.com/free_online_forum/blog_sports_training_performance_bodybuilding_alpha/my_thoughts_on_how_to_handle_yatesstyle_training_no_this_is_not_the_promised_powerbuilding_article_sorry

That’s the post this thread is about, btw. Just for you guys who can’t post in the cell.

(and again, just to make sure: No it’s not the powerbuilding thing I’ve promised to write about)

I will post in the cell. I will devour.

Hey CC,

What do you think of this Yates 2 way split? I’m looking to train 4 days a week and I tend to progress best on a higher frequency (training legs once a week has never worked for me!);

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0KFY/is_1_26/ai_n24356599/

WORKOUT 1
CHEST Barbell bench presses 2 10
Incline barbell presses 2 10
Incline dumbbell flyes 2 10
BACK Pullups 2 10
Barbell rows 2 10
Deadlifts 2 10
SHOULDERS Seated barbell presses 2 10
Dumbbell lateral raises 1 10
Bent-over lateral raises 1 10
ABS Hanging leg raises 2 Failure
Crunches 2 Failure

WORKOUT 2
THIGHS Barbell squats 2 10
Hack squats 2 10
HAMSTRINGS Romanian deadlifts 2 10
Lying leg curls 2 10
CALVES Standing calf raises 2 15
BICEPS Standing barbell curls 2 10
One-arm preacher curls 2 10
TRICEPS Lying triceps extensions 2 10
Straight-bar cable pushdowns 2 10

Would you change any exercises or set/rep scheme so that it could be done 4 days a week instead of every other day like the article suggests?

CC I have been doing your 3 way routine you posted a while back in T-cell alpha way back. It is essentially chest/back/tris , legs, and back. I like this routine because my gym schedule is erratic and, although sometimes I am able to go 4-5 times a week, other times itâ??s only 2-3. This routine, along with some personal modifications, has been working and I am seeing good progress, both in terms of poundage and asthetics.

I was wondering if you could recommend something with a bit more focus on one muscle group that still allows the flexibility of the above routine. I am sure I need a bit of focus on everything but I feel my lagging parts are my arms and my shoulders. Two specialization routines that focus on each of these yet still allow flexibility in terms of taking days off would be golden! THANKS!

Thanks for posting this here and being open to it, sometimes i’d love to put questions to the alpha threads. I happened to stumble on the 2010 vids by accident, searching youtube for blood and guts anyway! Its interesting to hear him put his explanation on the whys and hows, as opposed to watch him in black and white and try and work it out yourself.

In his own original, he works through about 4 sets to his top set for incline bench. i presume though thats simply because working to 4 plates a side cant be leapt to in just 1 or 2 warmups?

I have started the 2010 workout plan exactly as written. i tended to do most of the exercises anyway, perhaps not in the same order or way though. I’ve found 30 mins of fast pace quite a different experience, but i’m sat here with a good worked feeling throughout my chest and back. started to feel a bit sick working the back so fast and hard though. is that just a conditioning / adaption thing? is the fast pace an integral part of the progression?

I do chest+bi-mon, back-tues, legs-thurs, delts+tris-fri. In the vids he says to leave a day off after back and legs for recovery. i put legs thursday as i have a much longer workout time available, which i might well need, do you think it would have that much difference on recovery?

finally, theres no squats for legs. On the one hand, my gyms leg press and hack squat have stop pins that mean i could train to true eccentric failure, leaving the weight at the bottom and me to crawl out from under. With squats i would always hold 1 or 2 reps back for safety. Whats your opinion on swapping squats and leg press instead of leg press and hack squat machine? i’m wondering which way would progress better?

thanks

what would you recommend for bis for someone with achy wrists? I’m keeping out bar work until I can fix the problem.

last session I ramped to a top set of standing alt db curls (supinate these), then a top set of seated concentration curls, then another set of seating supinated incline curls

CC,
i used to train (in my garage)each muscle once a week, on a 3 splits (chest,bic/ delt,back / tric,legs),just two sets of two different excercises in rest pause mode.

CHEST/BICEPS

bb inclined press 5/2/1
b declined press 8/4/2
bb curl 4/10’/1/1 deloading bb 1

DELT/BACK/abs
bb lumberjack press 6/3/1
dbs lateral raises 10/7/3 plus half reps and 10’ isometric

one db rowing knee on bench 7/4/3
bb t-bar rowing with rope 8

crunches with 45lb on chest x 22/25 reps/30’/5ish, cast away the disk and 5/6 free reps

TRIC/LEGS/NECK

shoulders grip press 8/4/2 plus 10’ isometric
(my bad elbow just like this movement; anything of french presses,lat pulldowns causes pain).

trap-bar DL 12/14 reps plus RP reps until 20th reps (light load=bad knees because of american football)
romanian DL 8

neck extension in rest pause with 45 lb on my head.

I’m progressing,just two problems.

1/i stop the reps when I really am burnt/dead alias bb/db can’t move of half inches…
often I feel tired for 3/4 days after the w/o; in others words, as I really push to limit on first excercise maybe i can cut the second exercise (where I -again- met real failure)??
as for example, I trained hard the back 2 days ago and still feel it very tired; I’m still not in ovetraining mode; eat&sleep well,load a/o reps gos up but I feel tired…
one more thing, I never used juice; this could affect resting time between sessions???

2/my problem is the chest; flat,any advices to force it to bumping???

thanx for your time

Mikael from Italy

[quote]browndisaster wrote:
what would you recommend for bis for someone with achy wrists? I’m keeping out bar work until I can fix the problem.

last session I ramped to a top set of standing alt db curls (supinate these), then a top set of seated concentration curls, then another set of seating supinated incline curls[/quote]

pre-exastion with back movements? Differently angled camber bar? Wrist wraps?

C_C, how would progress in the three weeks towards a PR goal? I assume you wouldn’t just attempt it on the first week since you have some time to accumulate.

[quote]trav123456 wrote:
C_C, how would progress in the three weeks towards a PR goal? I assume you wouldn’t just attempt it on the first week since you have some time to accumulate.[/quote]

I could just tell you “do this exactly”, but really… You’ll find your own rhythm for that.
For now just up the weight if you can hit eight with good negatives on those exercises where you do 6-8… 10 on the 8-10 ones… Etc… This is more of a small weight-jump thing though, 5 lbs or so, for beginners on presses and such probably 10 every now and again, depends.

This isn’t really periodized or anything after all, it’s just standard bodybuilding “add weight when you can”.

Once you’ve done this for a month or two, you’ll have some idea of what you could use as short term goals. Also, if your goal was to go from inclining 200x7 to 210x8 good reps and you manage that in your first or second cycle already… Then go on and do 215 or so during your third cycle, or 220, whatever.

The goal thing is just there to make sure you are actually moving forward.

That way, you don’t end up wasting a year only moving up 10 lbs on the incline or just constantly moving up and down. The goal-setting and -meeting makes sure (hopefully) that you constantly assess your progress and push forward…

Oh, and it’s 3 cycles, not weeks (unless you use a 1/week/everything frequency, which I wouldn’t do tbh… Unless you’re specializing in one bodypart by doing 2 workouts for it and you’re hitting everything else once… But you can also specialize by adding rest-pause or whatever for an exercise or two for that bp). So more like 3x6 days or 3x5 days or so (or uneven cycles if you need to be flexible due to job/uni/whatever).

[quote]browndisaster wrote:
what would you recommend for bis for someone with achy wrists? I’m keeping out bar work until I can fix the problem.

last session I ramped to a top set of standing alt db curls (supinate these), then a top set of seated concentration curls, then another set of seating supinated incline curls[/quote]

If the DB’s aren’t hurting, then keep using them.

I can’t use the straight bar either, and the EZ bar makes my extensors (forarm) go tight or something… Pretty much always done mostly DB work.

Some preacher machines work all right… Others don’t…

I don’t really know if you have the same issues I do, though, so you should ask BushidoBadBoy about your wrists. He’s a lot more knowledgeable about that kind of thing than I am.

[quote]uklifts wrote:
Thanks for posting this here and being open to it, sometimes i’d love to put questions to the alpha threads. I happened to stumble on the 2010 vids by accident, searching youtube for blood and guts anyway! Its interesting to hear him put his explanation on the whys and hows, as opposed to watch him in black and white and try and work it out yourself.

In his own original, he works through about 4 sets to his top set for incline bench. i presume though thats simply because working to 4 plates a side cant be leapt to in just 1 or 2 warmups?
[/quote] It can be done of course, but why risk it… One thing to remember is that the 2010 vid series workout is just an example, if you need another warm-up, then do one as long as it doesn’t affect your work set negatively. [quote]

I have started the 2010 workout plan exactly as written. i tended to do most of the exercises anyway, perhaps not in the same order or way though. I’ve found 30 mins of fast pace quite a different experience, but i’m sat here with a good worked feeling throughout my chest and back. started to feel a bit sick working the back so fast and hard though. is that just a conditioning / adaption thing? is the fast pace an integral part of the progression?
[/quote] If you need 2 minutes here and there, take 2… You probably won’t stick to 1 as you get stronger anyway… More of a guideline I think (consider that most people doing this do so with a training partner… 1 minute rest periods are pretty much your partner doing his set, relaxing for a few sec, then you doing yours, etc).

[quote]

I do chest+bi-mon, back-tues, legs-thurs, delts+tris-fri. In the vids he says to leave a day off after back and legs for recovery. i put legs thursday as i have a much longer workout time available, which i might well need, do you think it would have that much difference on recovery?
[/quote] Depends… If your low back is tight from deadlifts on back day, you might want to consider changing something… But in general, you should be fine imo.
I personally don’t like some things about the example split in the 2010 vids (bis with chest, tris with delts, back the day after bis…), but ultimately everyone has their own preferences and you’ll develop yours as you go… So make modifications where needed. [quote]

finally, theres no squats for legs. On the one hand, my gyms leg press and hack squat have stop pins that mean i could train to true eccentric failure, leaving the weight at the bottom and me to crawl out from under. With squats i would always hold 1 or 2 reps back for safety. Whats your opinion on swapping squats and leg press instead of leg press and hack squat machine? i’m wondering which way would progress better?
thanks[/quote]
No power rack available?
Hm.

You don’t really need to squat in order to progress, but it’s helpful especially if you ever want to do a powerlifting meet… You could just work up to a non-failure top set or two of squats or front squats every leg session, then do your leg press and/or hack machine and see how that goes. Just keep an eye on your lower back arch and recovery.

Sorry I’m not being overly specific with what you should do, but it really comes down to you developing your own habits and preferences there.

[quote]Gup wrote:
CC I have been doing your 3 way routine you posted a while back in T-cell alpha way back. It is essentially chest/back/tris , legs, and back. I like this routine because my gym schedule is erratic and, although sometimes I am able to go 4-5 times a week, other times itâ??s only 2-3. This routine, along with some personal modifications, has been working and I am seeing good progress, both in terms of poundage and asthetics.

I was wondering if you could recommend something with a bit more focus on one muscle group that still allows the flexibility of the above routine. I am sure I need a bit of focus on everything but I feel my lagging parts are my arms and my shoulders. Two specialization routines that focus on each of these yet still allow flexibility in terms of taking days off would be golden! THANKS!
[/quote]

Hm.

What are you doing for your delts and arms currently?

[quote]Quidlicker wrote:
Hey CC,

What do you think of this Yates 2 way split? I’m looking to train 4 days a week and I tend to progress best on a higher frequency (training legs once a week has never worked for me!);

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0KFY/is_1_26/ai_n24356599/

WORKOUT 1
CHEST Barbell bench presses 2 10
Incline barbell presses 2 10
Incline dumbbell flyes 2 10
BACK Pullups 2 10
Barbell rows 2 10
Deadlifts 2 10
SHOULDERS Seated barbell presses 2 10
Dumbbell lateral raises 1 10
Bent-over lateral raises 1 10
ABS Hanging leg raises 2 Failure
Crunches 2 Failure

WORKOUT 2
THIGHS Barbell squats 2 10
Hack squats 2 10
HAMSTRINGS Romanian deadlifts 2 10
Lying leg curls 2 10
CALVES Standing calf raises 2 15
BICEPS Standing barbell curls 2 10
One-arm preacher curls 2 10
TRICEPS Lying triceps extensions 2 10
Straight-bar cable pushdowns 2 10

Would you change any exercises or set/rep scheme so that it could be done 4 days a week instead of every other day like the article suggests?[/quote]

That’s an awful lot in one session esp. during that first day.
The split is form an advice column in a muscle mag, right? Might be ghost-written tbh (ask bricknyce).

I personally would stick with a 3-way and try for 4-5 days per week (but you can be flexible and go anywhere from 3 to 6). A 2-way for yates-type work means doing a lot per session and that makes it hard to really give those sets your best shot esp. towards the end of a session.
The routine quoted also takes even longer than usual because you’re doing 2 work sets for everything instead of 1 work set…

Now there are some non-yates-y options for training 4 days a week with higher frequency per bodypart, but this is the wrong thread for those…

As for your statement that working legs once a week has never worked for you, what do you mean exactly? Couldn’t progress in weight etc?
Tbh., I don’t really believe that for one guy, training something once a week doesn’t work at all and for the other guy, training something twice or three times doesn’t work at all… Probably a matter of figuring out how to make it work (not saying there is one frequency everyone HAS to use or anything, but that comment did make me wonder if perhaps you aren’t just missing some basic part of the equation… That could mean reduced training efficiency with other methods as well).

[quote]Cephalic_Carnage wrote:

[quote]trav123456 wrote:
C_C, how would progress in the three weeks towards a PR goal? I assume you wouldn’t just attempt it on the first week since you have some time to accumulate.[/quote]

I could just tell you “do this exactly”, but really… You’ll find your own rhythm for that.
For now just up the weight if you can hit eight with good negatives on those exercises where you do 6-8… 10 on the 8-10 ones… Etc… This is more of a small weight-jump thing though, 5 lbs or so, for beginners on presses and such probably 10 every now and again, depends.

This isn’t really periodized or anything after all, it’s just standard bodybuilding “add weight when you can”.

Once you’ve done this for a month or two, you’ll have some idea of what you could use as short term goals. Also, if your goal was to go from inclining 200x7 to 210x8 good reps and you manage that in your first or second cycle already… Then go on and do 215 or so during your third cycle, or 220, whatever.

The goal thing is just there to make sure you are actually moving forward.

That way, you don’t end up wasting a year only moving up 10 lbs on the incline or just constantly moving up and down. The goal-setting and -meeting makes sure (hopefully) that you constantly assess your progress and push forward…

Oh, and it’s 3 cycles, not weeks (unless you use a 1/week/everything frequency, which I wouldn’t do tbh… Unless you’re specializing in one bodypart by doing 2 workouts for it and you’re hitting everything else once… But you can also specialize by adding rest-pause or whatever for an exercise or two for that bp). So more like 3x6 days or 3x5 days or so (or uneven cycles if you need to be flexible due to job/uni/whatever).

[/quote]

Gotchya

Might as well see how you’d put it together

C_C, you never addressed my post and the other that you quoted in the OP. Sorry if you’re working on that currently.

[quote]Cephalic_Carnage wrote:

Sorry I’m not being overly specific with what you should do, but it really comes down to you developing your own habits and preferences there.

[/quote]

Thanks for the reply CC. Thats what i thought it may come down to anyway. thats why i wanted to do the routine as posted first, work thoruh it a few weeks before changing anything. i have one or two tweeks in mind, like swapping db rows for bb which i find easier to be strict on.

I’d be interested to see your sample routine as well, see how it compares…

[quote]Blaze_108 wrote:
C_C, you never addressed my post and the other that you quoted in the OP. Sorry if you’re working on that currently.[/quote]

Will get to them eventually, sorry (I usually click on skip to last post whenever I open a thread of mine and work my way up, and sometimes I want to take a little more time to formulate my answer so I skip a post to get back to it later).

I don’t really have as much time as I used to back when my “how do you train” thread was started… Between being married now, overhauling the house and so on time sort of flies… And then I still want to play a computer game every now and again, you know, nerd tradition and all :slight_smile:

CC, if you don’t mind, can you go into detail on how you feel about using intensity techniques. I know failure is the goal of every set, but how often should we go past failure with either forced reps from a spotter, or just rest-pause? Everyone recovers different, and I find myself using RP’s a lot, I’m curious if too much of a good thing can be bad.