Video: 8 Recommendations for Natural Lifters

Thanks CT for the gem!

#2 key - probably why naturals gravitate toward more concentrated loading (favoring split) on 1-2 big exercises.

Anyone who has done built for bad or big heavy full body (at a high intensity/close to failure, not starting strength technique or explosive emphasis) can relate…the body just gets drained. Systemic stress matters…

I wonder if you have thoughts on why concentrated loading (say one big movement focus), such as layers - done in an intense way (rest pause) hits the INTENSIVENESS and VOLUME and DENSITY (low rest periods obviously)…but offset by one focused movement (less complexity) seem to work so well.

Volume equated, the tissue seems to grow better from 2-3 layer-esque sessions per week versus “spread” out across straight sets (even adhering to the RPE / set guidelines). [this is my opinion/observation…but wondering if you see it across others as well]. Suspect there’s a systemic / “trigger” effect at play…

[EDITED] - for clarification on the split / whole body part…I guess the idea of 3-4 weekly workout (whole body) with 4-5 exercises per session…to hit ideal hypertrophy zone (say RPE 9-10) on 5 sets (just example) would practically mean 3 ball busting (near failure/to failure) sets each training session on bench press / squat / overpress / hinge [as example]. This just seems extremely hard. Even at the 7-7.5 RPE @ 15 sets/muscle per week and 3 sessions that would mean 5x5 at a very intense level for several big lifts per workout (seems very hard after intermediate strength standards)

For instance - rate the following on RPE / enjoyment

Max BP - 250
Front Squat - 315
Trap Bar - 400
OHP - 160

Workout A (layer esque/split) - pick one of the above and ramp up / massive CNS activation and a possible top set 1-3RM or isometric (making following density work easier / better).
So bench day - 225-245 triple / single → 185-205 range volume work, rest pause etc.

Squat day - ramp up to 315 over load / isometric → back down 185-225 rep work

Trapbar / Deadlift day - ram pup to 400 etc / back down

Or workout B

Bench - Bar warmup, 135, 185, 225 (3 warm up sets?) then straight set work (long rest periods 120 seconds etc. between). After this… start heavy squats

Squat - Bar warmup, 135, 185, 225, 275, 315 (3 or 4 warm up sets) then straight set work (long rest periods 240 seconds +)…Now after all this heavy lifting time to do some trap bar / deadlift hinge…[and maybe an overhead afterwards]

I’ve often gone through these two scenarios and workout B becomes way more difficult to stick to and causes lots of mental drain as well (second/third lift feels body numbingly heavy, adrenaline receptors on overdrive/wack…long rest periods can take out potentiation/drive etc.). Wonder how many folks could hit the similar % numbers / or RPE when doing that many big lifts per workout

Just seems like way more practical to do split/1 big movement focus per workout? 4 minutes rest for say 5 sets on one lift is already 20 minutes (not including warmups, the actual reps). Double this if doing some back off work…then add assistance work, how is it possible to do 3-4 big lifts a session at intensity (strength circuit? which would also jack up RPE / systemic stress…)

Is that you in your profile picture? Are those numbers you used real/yours?

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I think that first of all, a full body session will be much longer, it takes time to warm-ups for all the lifts, the session drags on… this is hard mentally and physically, to be able to stat focused and amped up for 2 hours. That’s why when I have such long sessions I don’t hesitate to chat around and all.

Also, doing a full body well you just used your whole body, it took much more energy and neural activation than just a bench session…

@Christian_Thibaudeau 3 quick questions

  1. Could a lift specific setup also work?

Bench+ assistance (chest, biceps)
Squat+ assistance (quads, hams)
Press+ assistance (delts, triceps)
Deadlift+ assistance (back, traps)

  1. What about cardio? Off days or same days as lifting but try to separate by 6 hours
    Sprint 8 or steady state?

  2. If training hard for 6 to 8 weeks could the deload just be a complete week off to recover? I dont like going to the gym to do light or easy workouts. Would rather just take a whole week away

Thanks

Not necessarily. Most of my clients do 3 whole body workouts ans 1 gap session. The whole body workout use 3-5 exercises (3-4 of which are multi-joint lifts) and the gap session is used to work on what you feel were neglected by the big workouts and only uses isolation or low stress (machine) movements. A whole body workouts doesn’t have to use one (or several) exercises for every single muscle group.

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That is 100% accurate which is why I normally have 1 day off between whole body session.

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Sure, a lift-specific workout like you just gave still allows you to hit everything to some extent at least twice per week while have 4 total workouts.

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That is actually a tough question. I like to use steady state cardio (low intensity or even walking) on the days off from lifting, it can even help with recovery.

But I prefer to do the intense “cardio” work (e.g. intervals) on the same days as lifting: I prefer to have 3 higher demand days and 6 high demand days. BUT if you only have one such session per week, it is likely ok to do on an off day.

But I like the following set-up:

Monday: Whole body 1
Tuesday: LISS
Wednesday: Whole body 2
Thursday: Walking
Friday: Whole body 2
Saturday: GAP workout + intervals
Sunday: OFF/Walking

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Absolutely. You won’t lose anything in a week. You could use those weeks to work on mobility for example.

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Thank you for the answers