"keep the muscles guessing" doesn't work ? Yes it does..

[Alzadosghost]

I kept track of things writing them down the first 12-15 years I trained but the last 20 or so years iv had no need for it. I remember what I do. And I’m not making gains like I did the first 10-15 years so it’s not even important for me to keep a log. I’m no longer gaining I’m just refining my body. Dorian didn’t keep a logbook for 20 years. He quit training long before that. Iv been at it for 35 years I know what works for me at this point.

 

[UnholyAlliance]

I kept track of things writing them down the first 12-15 years I trained but the last 20 or so years iv had no need for it. I remember what I do. And I’m not making gains like I did the first 10-15 years so it’s not even important for me to keep a log. I’m no longer gaining I’m just refining my body. Dorian didn’t keep a logbook for 20 years. He quit training long before that. Iv been at it for 35 years I know what works for me at this point.

You know your body well by then as you know how quickly or how slowly a body part developed. If you been in the game a good while you'll become confident in your body.

 

[Alzadosghost]

Gotta disagree bro. The logbook is absolutely necessary. I can look back at 2 weeks, 2 months, even 2 years ago and tell you how many reps I did on what day, etc.

Dorian did it. He was really analytical with it.

And keeping same exercises is the best way to gauge improvement with the logbook.

If you’re constantly switching out exercises, how do you know what’s working and what’s not?

And I’m in no way comparing myself to Yates. You brought him up. I happen to know a few things about the guy as well. The difference between him and I is I continued training even with a multitude of injuries and joint reconstructions and I’m still in the gym every single day working my ass off.

 

[OuchThatHurts]

You guys know you have have different types of muscle fibers, right?

 

[buck]

My experience is for the brain to decide that it needs to grow more muscle. A new stimulus needs to be applied. Adding more weight is one way. It seems to work the best over the long run. When my numbers either weight lifted or body weight stopped going up i would occasionally switch exercises. But i think that is more for energising me to get more excited about my workouts then most anything else. If the brain tells a muscle fiber to fire it does. New movements can be tougher for the brain as the CNS needs to figure out better ways to fire things off so strength gains in the first few workouts are good. Then slow once the brain has to start firing off more muscle fibers to get the job done. Changing the loading parameters from a movement is another way to apply new stress. I never saw a reason to change things if they were working.

 

[aHarness]

The logbook is absolutely necessary.

I think it’s a good tool, but “necessary” absolutely not. We know that a bigger muscle is a stronger muscle, so it’s a good way to to gauge progress.

But at the same time, too many people in my opinion get married to the logbook to the point they’ll sacrifice things like execution and control just so they can write down the number they want to see.

 

[Alzadosghost]

I think it’s a good tool, but “necessary” absolutely not. We know that a bigger muscle is a stronger muscle, so it’s a good way to to gauge progress.

But at the same time, too many people in my opinion get married to the logbook to the point they’ll sacrifice things like execution and control just so they can write down the number they want to see.

All the people I see in the gym keeping track of everything they don’t even look like they train lol I know because Iv seen these people for years in there and they never look any different and use the same weights and do the same things. Same with the ones that are on their phones taking pics and videos constantly of themselves. Nothing special about nearly all of their physiques. I quit bringing my phone into the gym entirely in the Last 8-9 months because I don’t want to be associated with that garbage. I just listen to the voices in my head instead of music and honestly I’m more focused on my training without the distraction. Iv been wearing earplugs so I don’t hear idiots dropping weights on the floor , grunting with fake weights and the shitty gym music. The earplugs put me in my own world entirely

 

[UnholyAlliance]

All the people I see in the gym keeping track of everything they don’t even look like they train lol I know because Iv seen these people for years in there and they never look any different and use the same weights and do the same things. Same with the ones that are on their phones taking pics and videos constantly of themselves. Nothing special about nearly all of their physiques. I quit bringing my phone into the gym entirely in the Last 8-9 months because I don’t want to be associated with that garbage. I just listen to the voices in my head instead of music and honestly I’m more focused on my training without the distraction. Iv been wearing earplugs so I don’t hear idiots dropping weights on the floor , grunting with fake weights and the shitty gym music. The earplugs put me in my own world entirely

I admit I bring my phone into the gym as I use it as my music player and use the SiriusXM app for online streaming. Once my headset goes on and the music pounding, I am in my zone. I tend to give the death stare to those who dare bug me!

But when I see the crossfitters hogging equipment, the rage within rises!

 

[Alzadosghost]

My experience is for the brain to decide that it needs to grow more muscle. A new stimulus needs to be applied. Adding more weight is one way. It seems to work the best over the long run. When my numbers either weight lifted or body weight stopped going up i would occasionally switch exercises. But i think that is more for energising me to get more excited about my workouts than most anything else. If the brain tells a muscle fiber to fire it does. New movements can be tougher for the brain as the CNS needs to figure out better ways to fire things off so strength gains in the first few workouts are good. Then slow once the brain has to start firing off more muscle fibers to get the job done. Changing the loading parameters from a movement is another way to apply new stress. I never saw a reason to change things if they were

 

[Alzadosghost]

You guys know you have have different types of muscle fibers, right?

View attachment 184359

Are you referring to fast/slow twitch or is there something new social media created I haven’t heard of yet? Lol

 

[buck]

Are you talking about fast/slow twitch or is there some new muscle fiber social media created? Lol

My limited knowledge is there are 2 and then there is the crossover ones. But i an not sure what pronouns they prefer.

 

[Alzadosghost]

My muscle fibers identify as strong and stronger

 

[Alzadosghost]

I admit I bring my phone into the gym as I use it as my music player and use the SiriusXM app for online streaming. Once my headset goes on and the music pounding, I am in my zone. I tend to give the death stare to those who dare bug me!

But when I see the crossfitters hogging equipment, the rage within rises!

Fucking cross fitters. Lol there was this guy today or should I say kid that had possibly the narrowest shoulders Iv ever seen doing 1/4 rep incline dumbbell presses super super fast ten he litterally threw the dumbbells on the floor and stood up and did a bunch of really uncoordinated jumping jacks lol and he was wearing a mouthgard. Not the kind inside your mouth but a football mouthgard that covers his lips and had the strap hinging down. He also had on rainbow colored leg warmers like richard Simmons wore. And the fucker was glaring at me for laughing hysterically at him.

 

[UnholyAlliance]

Fucking cross fitters. Lol there was this guy today or should I say kid that had possibly the narrowest shoulders Iv ever seen doing 1/4 rep incline dumbbell presses super super fast ten he litterally threw the dumbbells on the floor and stood up and did a bunch of really uncoordinated jumping jacks lol and he was wearing a mouthgard. Not the kind inside your mouth but a football mouthgard that covers his lips and had the strap hinging down. He also had on rainbow colored leg warmers like richard Simmons wore. And the fucker was glaring at me for laughing hysterically at him.

That kid must been pretty bad at though lol...I might have chuckled inside at how hysterical it all was.

 

[Brock456]

All the people I see in the gym keeping track of everything they don’t even look like they train lol I know because Iv seen these people for years in there and they never look any different and use the same weights and do the same things. Same with the ones that are on their phones taking pics and videos constantly of themselves. Nothing special about nearly all of their physiques. I quit bringing my phone into the gym entirely in the Last 8-9 months because I don’t want to be associated with that garbage. I just listen to the voices in my head instead of music and honestly I’m more focused on my training without the distraction. Iv been wearing earplugs so I don’t hear idiots dropping weights on the floor , grunting with fake weights and the shitty gym music. The earplugs put me in my own world entirely

To each their own.

I can’t remember the exact reps I got last lift for every single exercise, let alone 2 weeks ago.

I keep track of everything - forced reps, spot, notes of my form, etc.

And while it is a battle vs the logbook, I never sacrifice form for an extra rep or more weight.

 

[Biggerp73]

as Ronnie used to say "keep it simple" he very rarely changed his training routine

It's a simple analogy - if you want to be the best F1 driver in the world, will you drive a F1 car for a month, a WRC car for a month, and a truck for another month? Will you drive F1 until you are as good as you can be at it

I'm not trying to be the worlds best incline bench presser or the world's best hack squatter

I want the worlds best muscles

As long as I stimulate the muscle maximally for the workout, avoiding both under training and overtraining, it doesn't matter if I used a dumbbell flat press or a machine decline fly

In fact rotating exercises could allow more recovery theoretically

 

[luki7788]

I'm not trying to be the worlds best incline bench presser or the world's best hack squatter

I want the worlds best muscles

As long as I stimulate the muscle maximally for the workout, avoiding both under training and overtraining, it doesn't matter if I used a dumbbell flat press or a machine decline fly

In fact rotating exercises could allow more recovery theoretically

you don't understand - if you change exercises every training, you won't be able to use progressive overload correctly - I believe that you always need to have a basic movement in your training in which you will progress (personally, I like to have two and rotate them every week, e.g. hack SQ and smith SQ)

 

[juggy38]

Push A, Push B, pull A/B, legs A/B. I only switch exercises when i stall for a couple weeks, or get a nagging overuse injury. Plenty of exercise variety. If your doing more, then it’s fuckarounditis.

Ex: A

Hammer chest press
Incline db press
Upright rows
Dumbell laterals
EZ bar skull crushers
OH rope ext

Ex: B

Slight Incline smith bench
Pec deck
Cable shoulder laterals
DB OHP
V-bar push downs
Dips

That gives you 4 exercises to progress on for a training block. Then the next block you can switch them all or just a couple.

 

[aHarness]

you don't understand - if you change exercises every training, you won't be able to use progressive overload correctly - I believe that you always need to have a basic movement in your training in which you will progress (personally, I like to have two and rotate them every week, e.g. hack SQ and smith SQ)

I like to have one to two compound movements (incline smith for chest or t bar rows for back for example) that I dedicate to that progressive overload approach, then go more intuitively for things like flies, lateral raises, curls, pullovers etc where I focus more on volume and pump

 

[UnholyAlliance]

Push A, Push B, pull A/B, legs A/B. I only switch exercises when i stall for a couple weeks, or get a nagging overuse injury. Plenty of exercise variety. If your doing more, then it’s fuckarounditis.

Ex: A

Hammer chest press
Incline db press
Upright rows
Dumbell laterals
EZ bar skull crushers
OH rope ext

Ex: B

Slight Incline smith bench
Pec deck
Cable shoulder laterals
DB OHP
V-bar push downs
Dips

That gives you 4 exercises to progress on for a training block. Then the next block you can switch them all or just a couple.

Nice structure and pretty doable for keeping workout time to like an hour or so. Spending 2 hrs in the gym is less productive IMO.