A Southern Yankee's Winter Blast

Just finished watching Generation Iron.

Really inspiring stuff there. Gives me some self reflection. Looking at those guys its like WOW, im nothing.

Motivates me to up my cals and really get big.

Im not really a fan of the current pro physique that everyone is striving for but it IS impressive.

Makes me think what I could be doing better. What my potential is. What my goals are. You know. Life questions
 
I meant IFBB pros. I dont dig the hugeness. Like arnold said in the movie. Symmetry and artistry goes out the window now days
 
I been researching on training to failure recently. I must admit im kind of surprised by the evidence that it doesnt seem to help muscle growth. Ive always trained to failure. I did it instinctively since I was a teenager.

Some of the evidence points to the peak muscle contraction is about 3 reps short of failure. Ive read training to failure often produces a higher 1RPM but is negligible in muscular hypertrophy.

Kind of turned my world upside down. Any one care to weigh in?
 
I would be interested in reading the info you got. I never was able to get results until i began training to failure. I can think of several that do (did), mentzer, yates, centopani... Some more extreme than others in thier measure of intensity.
 
You have to train for the stance- you can't try a wide stance, see weights drop and call it inferior. Wide stance is the ONLY way to squat big- and im not talking under 500. There is not a human on planet earth squatting 900+ with a narrow stance. As @Voltrader alluded to less up and down distance is absolutely a factor but the biggest reason for a wide stance is knee stability. In a narrow stance your knees can travel both in and out- very little stability and greater chance for injury. In a wide stance you drive out with your feet- plant them against the outside edge of your shoe and all your stability knee wise comes from being able to bear down and out with your feet.

It just really sucks having your weights drop... it can take up to a year to feel as comfortable wide as narrow. These are truths for me at 6'2" 265... some body types can squat narrow but very few and they are not the body types moving half a ton. *I max at about 450 right now. I prefer repping squats to max effort.

Deducting with a wide stance is a sumo deadlift. There is no clearly defined "better" way to deadlifts. People sets records both ways all the time- sumo deadlifting heavy takes SERIOUS PRACTICE. Less up and down space to cover but worse leverage and less room for error imo.
For me the wide stance seems to stress my knees more, and I just can't drive through the lift. I agree in theory that a wide stance should be less effort, but it doesn't work for me. It's a fifty pound difference from wide to narrow on my dead lift, and that to me is all I need to know.

The wide stance doesn't that just make less distance traveled. I agree the narrower a stance the more you can drive with your heels equaling more power.

You're like me it sounds. All the guys I lift with go with wide stances on squat and dead lift, but I get more power from keeping my feet directly under my shoulders with my toes slightly outward. Shades n stache may do the trick.

Couple weeks ago I found some Tom Platz videos and noticed he squats with his feet practically together. Decided I would try it and honestly its better. Wide stance seemed to make my glutes and hams overly worked. When I went narrow I felt like the weight was binding up my quads and I could explode thru it like a compressed spring.
 
I been researching on training to failure recently. I must admit im kind of surprised by the evidence that it doesnt seem to help muscle growth. Ive always trained to failure. I did it instinctively since I was a teenager.

Some of the evidence points to the peak muscle contraction is about 3 reps short of failure. Ive read training to failure often produces a higher 1RPM but is negligible in muscular hypertrophy.

Kind of turned my world upside down. Any one care to weigh in?



I think that research is flawed. I do not believe if you didn't stop 3 reps short from muscle failure you screwed yourself on muscle growth. muscle growth is about how well you tear down the muscle and than how well you feed those muscles, so they can repair to be bigger and stronger muscles for the next training day. you might as well throw that research out the window. best way to train would be to train 4 to 6 reps for 6 week, than 8 to 12 reps for 6 weeks, and than 15 to 20 reps for 6 week, than repeat. IMHO
 
Im accepting this new idea of not training to failure. A simple google search will bring evidence up to consider. Im just beginning to soak it all in now and try to apply it.

The problem with training to failure is it involves the CNS. Now when I routinely train to failure I notice a burnt out sensation that last several days. When in reality my muscles are g2g. The stress hormone cortisol is released when your body becomes taxed beyond its capacity. Cortisol is the enemy of muscle hypertrophy. It reduces protein synthesis and puts you in a susceptible state to becoming sick.

NOW I have whole heartedly thrown myself in the training to failure camp. But I see some valid points here. If evidence shows peak muscle contraction occurs 3 reps shy of failure then training past that point IS counter productive.I guess the idea being overload the muscle fibers with volume and not the CNS.

I tried it today with my shoulders and arms workout. I made it a point to NOT go to failure every set. More or less I stopped 2-3 reps short of failure. This allowed me to use more weight longer. Do I feel like it worked...yes I do. I dont think my workout suffered because I didnt go to failure. Itll take some work. I have to reprogram myself here but I do feel their is something of value here
 
true you can't train to failure all the time. if you pay attention to all the heavy training like DC or some of the others. they always have a cruise week or two, to give the CNS a break.
 
Damn so you mean all those years of me struggling my ass off for those last few reps wasn't even worth it? Well that's actually good to know though bro. I will be doing the same from now on. Why risk hurting an injuring yourself if you can get just as an effective workout without going all the way to complete failure. Seems like I've heard that before but never really paid any mind to it. Well my minds paying to it now lol.
 
To me the definition of training intensely has ALWAYS been the willingness of the lifter to push thru the pain and muscular failure. So far its worked for me however I do see flaws here.

I notice when I watch pros train alot of the time they aren't training to failure. Like phil heath for example. I never see him pushing thru the failure zone. Hes not the only one either.

So that leads me to believe those that see benefits to training to failure have superior CNS recovery. That would mean if those individuals with this trait learn to train in a different manner we could achieve in leaps and bounds. imho
 
Damn so you mean all those years of me struggling my ass off for those last few reps wasn't even worth it? Well that's actually good to know though bro. I will be doing the same from now on. Why risk hurting an injuring yourself if you can get just as an effective workout without going all the way to complete failure. Seems like I've heard that before but never really paid any mind to it. Well my minds paying to it now lol.
Dont take my word for It. Research and decide for yourself. To be fair I have NOT read that training to failure is a waist. I have seen that it can hinder growth but not waist per say
 
you guys should be lifting heavy in the beginning of your workouts and hitting failure with lighter weight at the end of your workouts. I'm not still trying to bench heavy or squat heavy at the end on my workout. that shit should of been done before you ever get close to failure. even if you stayed squatting the whole workout I would be lowering the weight like pyramid training. IMHO
 
Either way HF its intriguing and has to make you think. We all get stuck in our ways. Im no different but for what ever reason I had an epiphany last night. Im all about putting the work in but I just want to get there as quickly as possible
 
To me the definition of training intensely has ALWAYS been the willingness of the lifter to push thru the pain and muscular failure. So far its worked for me however I do see flaws here.

I notice when I watch pros train alot of the time they aren't training to failure. Like phil heath for example. I never see him pushing thru the failure zone. Hes not the only one either.

So that leads me to believe those that see benefits to training to failure have superior CNS recovery. That would mean if those individuals with this trait learn to train in a different manner we could achieve in leaps and bounds. imho



Phil like most drop the weight down and do 20 reps. training heavy and training light both work, but the guys that train light are not strong. that is why you need to do both. IMHO
 
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