.gif "IP Gear")
- Joined
- Jun 8, 2002
- Messages
- 4,917
The Shock Effect
Q: Can you really "shock" muscles into growing? The old school bodybuilders used to use that term a lot, but is it true?
A: Yes, I think it's still true. In fact, if something doesn't grow, you can train it three days in a row.
I had a national caliber bodybuilder who couldn't put legs on. At his height he should've weighed 240, not 210. I made him do legs nine times a week and four months later he weighed 242.
One of my old mentors used to say to me, "If you're not making progress, overtrain until you're depressed, then take five days off. Then you'll grow."
So let's say you're a guy who has no lats — you're as wide as a fucking pencil. Train your lats three days in a row. The reps might look like this:
Day #1: 6-8 reps
Day #2: 10-12 reps
Day #3: 20-25 reps
Then take a day off and train the rest of your body parts for the week. As for exercises, you'll change the lat exercise each of the three days.
Remember, hypertrophy is a biological adaptation to a biological stress. If something doesn't kill you, then the more you put stress on it the more it will adapt. If the .22 caliber doesn't work, use a .50 caliber.
It's backed up in the scientific literature that you can train a muscle up to nine times a week, as long as you give it some time after to rest. In other words, if you don't train to the point of depression, it doesn't really work.
Keep the rule of 20% in mind. Let's say you can bench press 300 pounds for sets of five. Train until you can only do 240 for sets of five. Controlled overtraining in other words. Take five days off and when you come back you'll bench 330.
Another way that works well for strength is to train with singles (10-12) five days in a row for the same lift. Take two days off, you get a personal best.
The problem is that most people don't have the balls to do this. They won't overtrain to that point and will panic when they drop just five pounds on their bench. They need a slave driver coach to make them do it. You have to reach that 20% drop. When you show up at the gym and start crying for no reason, you're there.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
I took this off MM because i wanted to discuss this here. Has anyone ever tried something similar? What were the results?
Q: Can you really "shock" muscles into growing? The old school bodybuilders used to use that term a lot, but is it true?
A: Yes, I think it's still true. In fact, if something doesn't grow, you can train it three days in a row.
I had a national caliber bodybuilder who couldn't put legs on. At his height he should've weighed 240, not 210. I made him do legs nine times a week and four months later he weighed 242.
One of my old mentors used to say to me, "If you're not making progress, overtrain until you're depressed, then take five days off. Then you'll grow."
So let's say you're a guy who has no lats — you're as wide as a fucking pencil. Train your lats three days in a row. The reps might look like this:
Day #1: 6-8 reps
Day #2: 10-12 reps
Day #3: 20-25 reps
Then take a day off and train the rest of your body parts for the week. As for exercises, you'll change the lat exercise each of the three days.
Remember, hypertrophy is a biological adaptation to a biological stress. If something doesn't kill you, then the more you put stress on it the more it will adapt. If the .22 caliber doesn't work, use a .50 caliber.
It's backed up in the scientific literature that you can train a muscle up to nine times a week, as long as you give it some time after to rest. In other words, if you don't train to the point of depression, it doesn't really work.
Keep the rule of 20% in mind. Let's say you can bench press 300 pounds for sets of five. Train until you can only do 240 for sets of five. Controlled overtraining in other words. Take five days off and when you come back you'll bench 330.
Another way that works well for strength is to train with singles (10-12) five days in a row for the same lift. Take two days off, you get a personal best.
The problem is that most people don't have the balls to do this. They won't overtrain to that point and will panic when they drop just five pounds on their bench. They need a slave driver coach to make them do it. You have to reach that 20% drop. When you show up at the gym and start crying for no reason, you're there.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
I took this off MM because i wanted to discuss this here. Has anyone ever tried something similar? What were the results?
