Low Frequency Training

johnjuanb1 · Oct 3, 2019

tornquad201 said:
how much volume are you doing per bodypart

Typically 4 exercises, 4 sets each per muscle.

TheOtherOne55 · Oct 3, 2019

Biggerp73 said:
It's simple physics because the potential capacity for a physical object to move another object, in terms of it's weight, the force at which it is moved, and the amount of times its moved, is directly related and limited by the size of that object (with other factors like elasticity, etc, also playing a role as variables, too).

You can defend your system all you want, and no doubt it works for some, but I know I've tried both ways of training while natty and while juiced, and while I do find there to be a point past which additional volume becomes counter productive, I find for myself optimal growth occurs with a volume of 8-15 working sets, requiring 6-8 days between working sessions.

And please don't dismiss the 99% of pro BBrs who have trained this way (ie high volume) by saying "they can get away with it because they have great genetics." One could easily say the only reason guys benefit from your style is because they, like Dorian, Mentzer, etc, had great genetics.

As much as we hate it now, we are smarter than we were in the 90's when once a week was the norm. We saw Arnold do it and thought, "if it's good enough for him, it's good enough for us." Since then we've learned that it doesn't take 7 full days to recover...it takes 72hrs if you are KILLLLING yourself. So now we can maybe adjust some stuff to maximize growth right?

And guess what? Me too. I've trained both ways, natty and juiced. And me hits 8-10 working sets every 5 days had me growing the fastest and getting the strongest.

This isn't a black and white answer so we need to stop trying to pretend like it is. We know that working your ass off in the gym, eating and resting works and gets you big. But we also know that everything is highly individual. Some guys grow better with carbs, some guys grow better with fats. So it's pretty safe to assume that training is highly individual too. Saying anything otherwise is just being naive.

Biggerp73 · Oct 4, 2019

TheOtherOne55 said:
As much as we hate it now, we are smarter than we were in the 90's when once a week was the norm. We saw Arnold do it and thought, "if it's good enough for him, it's good enough for us." Since then we've learned that it doesn't take 7 full days to recover...it takes 72hrs if you are KILLLLING yourself. So now we can maybe adjust some stuff to maximize growth right?

And guess what? Me too. I've trained both ways, natty and juiced. And me hits 8-10 working sets every 5 days had me growing the fastest and getting the strongest.

This isn't a black and white answer so we need to stop trying to pretend like it is. We know that working your ass off in the gym, eating and resting works and gets you big. But we also know that everything is highly individual. Some guys grow better with carbs, some guys grow better with fats. So it's pretty safe to assume that training is highly individual too. Saying anything otherwise is just being naive.

Things are individual, I agree.

8-10 working sets every 5 days sounds good to me, too.

But I don't recover in 72 hours. No matter how much gear and food I'm eating. And it is true that a muscle which can lift more weight for more reps and sets is going to be larger than one that can't, all other things being equal.

HONGOGRIMES · Oct 8, 2019

Biggerp73 said:
Things are individual, I agree.

8-10 working sets every 5 days sounds good to me, too.

But I don't recover in 72 hours. No matter how much gear and food I'm eating. And it is true that a muscle which can lift more weight for more reps and sets is going to be larger than one that can't, all other things being equal.

8 or 10 sets to completely to failure?
I notice doing the last series to failure in 4 exercises for example I already feel that I work hard enough, that is I do: first warm-up and feeder sets and I fail in the last set example: db incline, bb bench, dips and flys the last series of each to total failure.

Swifto · Oct 8, 2019

Biggerp73 said:
It's simple physics because the potential capacity for a physical object to move another object, in terms of it's weight, the force at which it is moved, and the amount of times its moved, is directly related and limited by the size of that object (with other factors like elasticity, etc, also playing a role as variables, too).

You can defend your system all you want, and no doubt it works for some, but I know I've tried both ways of training while natty and while juiced, and while I do find there to be a point past which additional volume becomes counter productive, I find for myself optimal growth occurs with a volume of 8-15 working sets, requiring 6-8 days between working sessions.

And please don't dismiss the 99% of pro BBrs who have trained this way (ie high volume) by saying "they can get away with it because they have great genetics." One could easily say the only reason guys benefit from your style is because they, like Dorian, Mentzer, etc, had great genetics.

It takes you 6-8 days to recover from 1 session of 8-15 working sets for a specific muscle group?

Seems like a long time to me, even with adequate food, sleep and AAS.

andishehhank · Oct 10, 2019

If I were to withdraw from referencing anecdotal evidence, I'd say it is my personal observation that if you want to be the biggest your own frame allows, you'd be ideally training to be the bulkiest power lifter possible and doing bodybuilding on top of it including isolation work. I would do it if I could just get the programming and scheduling down.

KTT · Oct 10, 2019

b-boy said:
Phil Hernons program is only like 1 maybe 2 exercises (1 working set) per bodypart. I loved his training system, I got strong as fuck, especially my squats. 1 set of 20 rep squat's
daily was definitely not over reaching for me.

Why don`t you Train like this anymore?
If it's good then you keep it, right?

Elvia1023 · Oct 10, 2019

I am following this training system now. I like to mix things up through the year. I have trained this way and similar ways many times before. I do think slightly more volume and less frequency (each body part 2-3 times weekly with a few working sets each day) is optimal for most but I will still be doing the 1 exercise (1 working set) per bodypart.

Whilst I am all for keeping things simple there should be some intelligent thought put into your program structure especially the more days you train per week. Exercise selection and overall intensity are significant factors. Ones idea of failure is different to others. Meaning for me when I do 1 working set it can get very crazy. To the point I think even if it's just 1 working set you can't do that everyday of the week. Where I go on some sets you only need 1 set and your nervous system takes a fucking big hit. I couldn't do a crazy squat, leg press, pressing movement everyday. However if you do train daily you could maybe add in 2 of those per week and for the others days still go to muscular failure but pick smart exercises (ham curls, leg extensions, flyes etc). I couldn't do what I done on leg press yesterday (minimal time warming up and 1 working set) everyday as I would be mentally drained after a few days. So there comes possible recovery/rest days and many may want to follow this system but for approx 4-5 days per week.

Then comes warm up sets and these are key. Generally I like to warm up slowly but that can't be done with a system like this as you would be in the gym all day (training all body parts). So you warm up your entire body for 5-10 mins then obviously be smart when warming up for each lift. Meaning if you are gonna press 3-4 pps I wouldn't do my typical 6-7 warm up sets (when it's my first exercise) and starting with the bar for 20 reps then doping 15 then 12 etc. At the same time you need to ensure you are safe and warmed up effectively. For this I would recommend a very light set of approx 12 reps then move up and do approx 5-7 reps then as you get heavier even about 3 reps. Then you do your working set of 12 reps. Go through things fairly quickly as well. The CNS still takes a big hit even when warming up if you are doing higher reps. So if you are doing 10 reps in your last warm up set with say 70% of the weight from your working set if you repeat that for every movement that day it's a lot of unnecessary work in regards to the CNS and ensuring optimal recovery between sessions.