.gif "IP Gear")
- Joined
- Oct 20, 2005
- Messages
- 816
Overtraining
"If in doubt, do less!"
As weight trainers, we’ve always known about the perils of overtraining. But most of the stuff we read in bodybuilding mags just talks about the signs of overtraining and inevitably says to just take a couple of days off when we see them. Ian took this a few steps further by talking about not just the signs of overtraining but how to prevent it, how to optimize recovery, and how to rationally step back and evaluate your condition. Here are a few of the things Ian has taught us in this area:
The Rest Week: One overriding concept here is to take the steps necessary to prevent overtraining before it occurs. One way to do this is to take a rest week, or half-week, every three weeks or so. Now if you’re an average gym rat, this is a hard pill to swallow. Ian assures us that we won’t shrink during this short time away from the gym; in fact, we may end up getting bigger and stronger in the long run because we’re better recovered and less prone to injuries.
How do you know when it’s time to take a recovery week? Ian recommends you set aside your fears of "shrinking" and unemotionally ask yourself these questions:
1) Do I feel stronger every week?
2) Do I remain excited about training every week?
3) If my goal is to put on weight, is it happening?
4) Am I sleeping well?
5) Do I wake up feeling refreshed each morning?
If you answer "yes" to all of these question, then you’re on the right track. If you answer "no" to a couple of them, then it’s time to take a half-week to a week’s rest. This can be a week of "active rest" if you want, where you take in some outdoor activities and occasional light exercise. Just stay away from the heavy iron during this time.
Now, if your diet is perfect, your training schedule is optimized, and you have pretty good genetics, you may be able to train with weights regularly for up to 12 weeks. But after 12 weeks, even Superman needs a week off.
Sets: Do only 10 to 20 work sets per workout (not per muscle group, Arnold Jr.!) Ian notes that the average, drug-free guy who has a job, family responsibilities or school can only realistically handle 10 to 20 work sets per workout, with 12 being about right for the average dude.
There may be times when more sets are appropriate within a periodized plan, but there are also times when 5 to 15 sets may be even better for you. This may be the biggest pill of all to swallow for those of us that grew up on Arnold’s Encyclopedia of Bodybuilding and two hour workouts. But let’s face it, most of us don’t have Arnie’s freaky genetics or his access to "Vitamin S."
Length of Workout: Ian is a big believer is short workouts. By short he means to keep your workouts to an hour or less, not counting stretching and warms-ups. This is because after about 60 minutes of training, things like your body’s natural androgen levels tend to plummet. This is coupled with an increase in cortisol, which is a catabolic (muscle wasting) agent. Combine these negative hormonal responses with diminishing stores of ATP-CP and neurotransmitters and you’d better get your arse out of the gym in an hour or less if you want to make decent gains.
Lifestyle: Ian was one of the first coaches in his field to stress the importance of lifestyle, or stuff that happens outside of the gym. Stress is the big culprit here and those who have high stress jobs, family demands, and money worries aren’t going to recover quickly. This needs to be taken into consideration or you’ll end up making poor progress. Ian has even gone so far as to say that those who have a lot of stress in their lives may not be able to lose fat easily! Other factors that affect recovery would be nutrition, supplementation, sleep patterns and the amount of physical activity you get outside of the gym.
To most people, Ian seems a little too cautious when it comes to overtraining. But let me ask you this: are you completely satisfied with your progress in the gym? If not, then why not try some of these things out and see what happens? You have nothing to lose and possibly a lot of muscle to gain.
Training to Failure
"At the end of the workout, you should only feel smashed some of the time, not all of the time!"
Here’s another one that takes most bodybuilders a while to accept: you don’t have to train to failure to grow. This relates to overtraining as well. In a nutshell, the average guy can’t train to failure and beyond (forced reps, etc.) without overtaxing his system and halting his progress in the gym.
Some coaches would tell you not to train to failure at all. Coach King has a better idea. Based on his vast experience in the real world, Ian suggests you only train to failure or near failure about once every three weeks. Since most of Ian’s programs involve three week cycles within a larger twelve week plan, this make perfect sense.
Here’s how it works. Let’s say you’ve planned out your training for the next tree weeks. You’ll be using the same exercises and generally the same reps ranges, tempos and rest periods. On week one, you concentrate on perfect form and leave a few reps "in the hole" at the end of each set. If your goal is to get eight reps with a certain weight, use a weight that you can actually lift 10 or 11 times.
On week two you get a little closer to failure, but still fall a rep or two short. Finally, on week three, Ian allows you to go all out and train to failure. He’ll still tell you that forced reps (where you train beyond failure with the use of a partner) are counterproductive for most natural lifters and that such techniques are to be used only on a limited basis and within a periodized plan.
Training Age and Rep Selection
"The more advanced you become, the lower the number of repetitions that will give you the best response."
We’ve all heard the "rules" when it comes to rep selection: one to four reps for strength, around eight to twelve reps for hypertrophy (muscle growth) and over twelve reps for endurance. For the most part, these rules are pretty accurate, although the specific numbers can vary to an extent based on genetics, muscle fiber type and a few other factors.
Then Ian comes along and lays a pretty profound idea on us: the longer you’ve been seriously training (training age) the less reps you’ll need for hypertrophy! In other words, if you used to grow like a weed on ten to twelve reps as a beginner, then your ideal hypertrophy range may be four to six reps now that you have several years of experience.
Here’s how Ian breaks it down:
If your main goal is muscle growth:
0-2 years of experience: 10-15 reps
3-6 years of experience: 8-12 reps
6-10 years of experience: 6-10 reps
>10 years of experience: 4-8 reps
If your main goal is maximal strength:
0-2 years of experience: 4-8 reps
3-6 years of experience: 3-6 reps
6-10 years of experience: 2-5 reps
>10 years of experience: 1-4 reps
And if you want the best of both worlds (size and strength):
0-2 years of experience: 6-12 reps
3-6 years of experience: 5-10 reps
6-10 years of experience: 4-8 reps
>10 years of experience: 3-6 reps
Perhaps this is one reason why gains slow down as the lifter becomes more experienced. Lifting heavier and lowing the rep range may keep the gains coming according to this theory. Pretty interesting.
Balance and Exercise Order
"I don't care what sequencing rules you've been exposed to or have adopted, if it's your weak link or number one priority, do it first."
If you train your chest and back on the same day, when’s the last time you worked your back first? How about arms? Do you ever hit the triceps first? Do the lowly triceps get as many sets and reps as the mighty biceps? On leg day, do you ever train the hammies first? How about the calves? And when you first started training, did you give your legs and back an equal amount of attention as your chest and biceps? Probably not.
Yes, we all know that everything above is a mistake, but it took Ian King to whip our arses into shape and make us do something about it. And if you haven’t done something about these imbalances, then you’ll likely end up with an injury or at least an asymmetrical physique.
Ian says to look back at your usual training split and simply switch things around. If you always train legs at the end of the week, move them up to Monday and you’ll see better results (assuming you’ve had a restful weekend.) Train back before chest and triceps before biceps.
The rule is simple: whatever you train first in the workout or first in the week will get the best results. The problem is that most people train the "fun" exercises and their favorite body parts first. In reality, they should be training the least fun movements and weakest muscle group first in the week and first in the training session.
How long do you have to switch things around? Well, variety is always best, but if you’ve gone two years training the quads before the hams, then it’s safe to say it’ll take almost two years of priority hamstring training to fix any possible imbalance. Also, if you have a weak limb — say your left arm is weaker than your right (hmm, wonder why, Spanky?) — then you should use unilateral exercises (work one limb at a time) and train the weaker limb first.
A more common mistake is to use a different amount of sets per muscle group. Maybe you don’t leave out back work entirely, but you perform twelve sets for chest and then just "throw in" a few sets of pull-downs for back. Big mistake. If you do 12 sets for chest, then you should do 12, or close to 12, sets for back.
To help you understand how to divide and balance out your training, Ian came up with a list of major muscle groups that reflects their function:
Horizontal pulling (row)
Horizontal pushing (bench press)
Vertical pulling (chin-up)
Vertical pushing (shoulder press)
Hip dominant (deadlifts)
Quad dominant (squats)
Ian has a few other categories for abs, lower back, calves, and arms, but the ones above are main muscle groups you need to worry about. Based on this list, you need to be doing vertical as well as horizontal pushing and you need to be doing the same number of sets for each and keep the rep ranges equal where appropriate.
Let me give you an example of how this list can help you. Before Ian provided this simple list, I did almost nothing but chin-up variations for back training. Sure, I did rows occasionally, but not very often as compared to chins. This was an imbalance. Now I do just as many sets of horizontal pulling as I do vertical pulling and it’s really helped my back development.
Hip and Quad Dominant Training Split
Leg training sucks. It’s exhausting, painful, and unless you’re 5’6" and nicknamed "Stumpy," you may not have the right structure to build really massive wheels anyway. But still, ya gotta train the legs!
Before Ian popped up from Down Under, most coaches said to train all the muscles of the legs in one session and use the most efficient exercises. That means squatting and deadlifting on the same day. Problem — As effective as these big mass builders are, they’re also very fatiguing and really sap your energy levels. If you start your workout with squats, your deadlifts will suffer and vice versa.
Here are some exercises you can do on each of the two leg days:
Quad Dominant Movements
Full squat
Partial squats (with increased load)
One leg squat movements
Leg extension
Lunge
Leg press (depending on foot placement and body position)
Hip Dominant Movements
Deadlift and its variations
Stiff-legged deadlift
Good mornings
Power cleans
Hamstring curl
Leg abduct/adduct
Got stick legs? This may be your cure!
Tempo and the Four Second Rule
"Getting rid of the stretch shortening cycle will do more to recruit additional muscle fibers and maximize the effectiveness of your workout than practically anything else you can do."
You may not know this, but Ian King invented modern tempo prescriptions, you know, those 311 or 302 numbers you see listed after exercises in most strength coaches’ training programs. Good thing too, since manipulating rep speed can lead to different lifting goals (hypertrophy, explosiveness, maximal strength, etc.)
And now, for the 489th time, here’s how tempo prescriptions work. Let’s say you’re about to do a barbell curl using a 311 tempo. The first number is the lowering phase, also called the eccentric. You’ll lower the bar to a three second count. The second number is how long you’ll pause at the bottom of the movement, in this case one second. The last number is how long you should take to lift the weight, also called the concentric portion of the lift.
You’ll need to change up your tempo to reflect your goals. For example, while bodybuilders may want to slow down the negatives to induce hypertrophy, an athlete in a combat sport may want to focus more on an explosive concentric. (For a good overview, read Doug Santillo’s article, A Closer Look at Tempo.) And if your goal is to build muscle and attract scores of women, then you better pay attention to the four second rule.
The four second rule is a concept that Coach King and TC came up with for bodybuilders. The idea is simple: One rep — including the lowering, pause, and lifting— should last at least four seconds. So a tempo of 211 would work as would a tempo of 301 or 310. For all the details, read the original article here.
The main lesson Ian’s taught us: tempo matters.
agnant Rep and Set Protocols
"When I see 3 x 12, I think timewarp...."
Poll the average gym rat and you’ll find that most people stick to the old 3 x 10-12 reps protocol. Well, guess what? According to Coach King, that isn’t the best choice.
There are many reasons for this.
Most trainees perform over seven exercises per workout. Using the 3 x 10-12 approach, that gives you at least 21 sets per workout. Remember, Ian thinks that the genetically average, natural lifter can only afford to perform 12 to 15 sets per training session or he’ll likely overtrain. Also, the 3 x 10 approach may not be appropriate for all exercises. If you do 3 x 10 on the bench press, that doesn’t mean you should do 3 x 10 on the triceps exercises that may follow.
Ian also teaches that exercises performed later in the workout should get a lesser number of sets. This is because neural and metabolic energy levels dwindle during the workout.
The 3 x 10 method is also neurally ineffective. The neural activation may reduce from set to set if you always use the same number of reps and sets, meaning that the inhibition mechanisms of the body aren’t being forced out of their energy conservation mode. This will lead to a reduced work capacity.
So how do you fix these problems? For one, you can use more variety. For example, instead of doing three or four sets for a couple of exercises, do one or two sets for many exercises. That means that instead of doing three sets of standing curls then three sets of preacher curls, try two sets of standing curls, then one set of hammer curls, one set of cable curls, one set of reverse curls, and then one set of preachers. That’s still six sets for biceps, but you’ve greatly increased the variety and the stimulus and lessened the chance for any "use" injuries caused by doing the same darned thing all the time.
You should also cycle in some specific neural (strength) training. That means lifting heavier and doing fewer reps. Try four or five sets of two to four heavy reps for a few weeks. Throw in a "back-off set" if you want, or use the 6/1/6/1 method (both explained below.)
Ian also says that the more experienced you become, the more important it is to include variety in your workouts. Beginners, those with a lower training age, can get by with less variety. (Does this remind anyone else of sex, or is it just me?)
Back-off Sets
"In one set you can develop power and hypertrophy all at once…"
Here’s a bona fide gem which Fred "Dr. Squat" Hatfield wrote about in the 80’s and has been resurrected by Ian for the new millenium. It works like this: Perform a few sets with a heavy weight using low reps, say around four. Now grab a lighter weight and knock out 15 to 20 reps. That’s your back-off set.
This is one of those cool neurological tricks Ian is famous for. Basically, when you come back to a light weight in the back-off set after lifting heavy, you can do more reps at a given weight than you would have if you’d done them as your first set. Plus, you can do them with a greater degree of acceleration in the concentric (lifting) phase. Pretty cool, eh?
Ian recommends that you use back-off sets after heavy sets of six reps or less. He also notes that the greater the contrast between the high load set and the back-off set, the better the effect. For example, going from a negative-only set to a back-off set works extremely well. Ian warns not to use this technique on every set in the workout, though, as it’s very draining and eats into your energy reserves more than a normal set.
Warm-ups
"My warm-up guidelines are aimed at people who want no regrets and the best quality of life after years of lifting weights."
When you read Ian’s 12-week programs , you’ll notice there are a lot of warm-up sets. Many would say that these are excessive, but Ian has his reasons. Most people would knock out a warm-up set or two for bench press and then go right into heavy benching and other exercises. Ian recommends not only several warm-up sets prior to benching, but a warm-up set for your other chest exercises that day as well.
This is because warm-ups aren’t just about warming up. They act as a test run (watch for any "twinges" or unexpected pain) and a neuromuscular rehearsal for the lift, plus they aid in joint lubrication. Neuromuscular rehearsal basically means you warm-up to learn the skill of the lift and get a feel for it. Warm-ups also help you test out your equipment. After all, there’s nothing like psyching yourself up for a big bench only to find the bar is bent.
The take home message is twofold. First, don’t skimp on warm-ups and 2) you need to warm-up every time you change exercises, not just on the first exercise of the workout.
1 1/4 and 1 1/2 Reps
"Loading isn't the be-all and end-all that some make it out to be. In fact, relatively speaking, I think that it's overrated."
That’s right, Ian doesn’t necessarily believe in the "Go heavy or go home!" motto. Instead, he thinks you should do everything you can to make the weight feel heavier than it is, at least if your goal is hypertrophy. This makes a lot of sense. Think about it; who’s working harder, the guy who’s benching with a controlled tempo and a slow eccentric movement, or the guy who’s going heavier but bouncing the weight off his chest like a dork and lifting his butt twelve inches off the bench? Load isn’t everything.
There are several ways to make a light load feel heavier. One of the most grueling and effective methods is to use 1 1/4 or 1 1/2 reps. Here’s an example using squats. Squat down and pause at the bottom. Now come up only one-half or one-fourth of the way and pause again. Go back down, pause and come all the way back up. That’s one rep. One painful rep! You can use the same technique with just about any movement: bench press, curls, leg extensions, skull crushers (tricep extensions) etc.
Many people ask if it matters whether you add the half rep at the bottom or the top of the exercise. You can do both, but Ian prefers you do it in the weaker end of the movement, like coming out of the bottom of a bench press or squat.
This little trick extends the TUT (time under tension) and gives lifters added work in a specific range of motion. It can also be used when you have a minor injury and may not be able to go as heavy as you’d like. Just remember you won’t be able to go anywhere near as heavy as you normally do using this method. But you know what? Your muscles will never know it!
Wave Loading (or the Contrast Method)
You usually see wave loading in the form of the 6/1/6/1 protocol, but you can also use others like 5/1/5/1 or 4/1/4/1. This means you’ll do six reps of an exercise, rest, then do a single heavy rep and then repeat.
Ian has written, "The aim of the first set of six is to enhance the loading potential of the first single rep and second set of six. The second set of six and second single are aimed at exploiting the neural dis-inhibition created by the first. If you don’t respect this — if you go too heavy in the first set of six or first single — you won’t experience this neural dis-inhibition, as it’ll be clouded by fatigue." In a nutshell, that means you can trick your nervous system and be able to lift more weight for a set of six than if you hadn’t done the near-maximal single.
Here’s an example of wave loading using 6/1/6/1:
1 x 6 at 220 pounds (about 100 kg)
1 x 1 at 275 pounds (about 125 kg)
1 x 6 at 230 pounds (about 105 kg)
1 x 1 at 285 pounds (about 130 kg)
Here’s another way to use wave loading. Perform a "wave" of sets, like one set of four, another of three, and the last of two. Increase the weight each time, but don’t train to failure. Now you’re ready for another wave. Do it all again except start the first set with a heavier weight than you used in the first wave. Do that with the other two sets as well. What you’ll notice is that you’ll be able to use a heavier weight in the second wave than what you might’ve been able to do if you hadn’t done the first wave. Nifty, huh?
Wave loading is a really interesting and effective way to lift and you’ll see it turn up in many of Ian’s programs.
Specialization and Maintenance
"Remember, all things being equal, the weakest muscle group should have the greatest percentage of time in which it’s being prioritized."
According to Ian, if an experienced lifter wants to bring up a certain body part, then he’ll need to prioritize. Beginners can make good progress training every muscle group and/or lift with the same intensity and volume, but as we all know, it gets harder to progress the more years you spend in the gym. The answer for the person of advanced training age is to do specialization work for that group of muscles while doing only "maintenance" work for the rest of his body.
Here’s how you can do this. First, if you want to bring your arms up, train them first in the workout and first in the training week. You’ll also notice that in many of Ian’s specialization programs that the prioritized muscle group is hit twice a week, although usually with different exercises. (Ian’s Great Guns link to http://www.testosterone.net/html/107guns.html] program is a perfect example of this.)
While you’re focusing on one set of muscles, you’ll still want to train the rest of the body, but therein lies the catch. Bringing that lagging muscle group up to the next level will take not only intensity, but a higher amount of volume than usual. This means your body is going to have to focus its recuperative mechanisms on that prioritized muscle group. It can’t do this if you’re blasting out intense, high volume workouts for all the other muscle groups too!
So if you’re focusing on your arms, then you need to take it easy on leg, chest and back day. You won’t shrink away and look like Leonardo DiCaprio so don’t panic. The password is "maintenance" and Ian says it doesn’t take much work to maintain a muscle’s size or strength. Just remember to keep the volume low (don’t do many sets, probably around 12 or even less) and avoid training to failure or doing things like forced reps or negative-only training, which can really sap your ability to recovery.
Stretching — Old News and New news
"If your stretching time is any lower than 25% of your strength training time, you're setting yourself up for a major injury in the near future."
Yeah, yeah, you gotta stretch. That’s about as revolutionary as Muscle and Fitness telling us we have to drink more water when it’s hot outside (which they seem to do in every freakin’ issue. All together now — Duh!) Yes, Ian says to stretch, but the way he says to do it may surprise you.
First off, Ian gives us plenty of reasons to stretch. He says training of any type can potentially shorten connective tissue, so you need to stretch not just for the sake of your muscles, but for your ligaments, tendons, and fascia. Stretching maintains what Ian calls a specific joint relationship. He writes, "Put simply, if the bones get drawn closer together than desirable, the impingement of connective tissue at the joint can cause all sorts of problems, especially nerve pinching. This can set off a range of neural activity, all the way from muscle spasms to feelings that the muscle has been torn."
Regular stretching also allows you to obtain joint angles in your strength exercises that’ll provide greater training effects like higher amounts of hypertrophy. That means stretching can make you bigger and stronger in a round about way. Now that should get your attention! Lastly, stretching can help prevent injuries and accelerate recovery.
Ian prefers static stretching as opposed to ballistic or dynamic stretching. Static stretching is basically stretching a muscle to its farthest point and then holding that position for ten to thirty seconds. The other types of stretches involve more movement. He also bucks the current trend and recommends stretching before a workout, although he does suggest you warm up first on an exercise bike or similar before you stretch.
For all the details, read Ian’s Lazy Man's Guide to Stretching. He also has several videos available at his website.
Sorry, Regis, there is no final answer!
"There are no rules, just options!"
I have to admit this was once something that frustrated me about Ian. When asked a question with a seemingly black or white answer, Ian’s response would always start with, "It depends…" There was no cut and dried answer to anything it seemed! Which is better, volume training or HIT? Both can be used effectively within a larger periodized plan. Best rep ranges? All of them! Best exercises? All of them! Best tempo? It depends. Worst exercises? None of them really. Is cardio counterproductive? It depends….
Finally, I realized the reason Ian never gave a succinct answer was because his level of knowledge was so great. Think about it, a person with only a year of training experience usually thinks he knows everything. Just ask him and he’ll tell you. (Proving that the old adage, "A little knowledge is dangerous" is very true.) The more we study training and nutrition the more we come to realize that there are very few final answers to anything. Ian’s work reflects this and teaches us to always be open-minded and flexible when dealing with weight training topics. And as Ian would say, don’t major in minor issues.
"If in doubt, do less!"
As weight trainers, we’ve always known about the perils of overtraining. But most of the stuff we read in bodybuilding mags just talks about the signs of overtraining and inevitably says to just take a couple of days off when we see them. Ian took this a few steps further by talking about not just the signs of overtraining but how to prevent it, how to optimize recovery, and how to rationally step back and evaluate your condition. Here are a few of the things Ian has taught us in this area:
The Rest Week: One overriding concept here is to take the steps necessary to prevent overtraining before it occurs. One way to do this is to take a rest week, or half-week, every three weeks or so. Now if you’re an average gym rat, this is a hard pill to swallow. Ian assures us that we won’t shrink during this short time away from the gym; in fact, we may end up getting bigger and stronger in the long run because we’re better recovered and less prone to injuries.
How do you know when it’s time to take a recovery week? Ian recommends you set aside your fears of "shrinking" and unemotionally ask yourself these questions:
1) Do I feel stronger every week?
2) Do I remain excited about training every week?
3) If my goal is to put on weight, is it happening?
4) Am I sleeping well?
5) Do I wake up feeling refreshed each morning?
If you answer "yes" to all of these question, then you’re on the right track. If you answer "no" to a couple of them, then it’s time to take a half-week to a week’s rest. This can be a week of "active rest" if you want, where you take in some outdoor activities and occasional light exercise. Just stay away from the heavy iron during this time.
Now, if your diet is perfect, your training schedule is optimized, and you have pretty good genetics, you may be able to train with weights regularly for up to 12 weeks. But after 12 weeks, even Superman needs a week off.
Sets: Do only 10 to 20 work sets per workout (not per muscle group, Arnold Jr.!) Ian notes that the average, drug-free guy who has a job, family responsibilities or school can only realistically handle 10 to 20 work sets per workout, with 12 being about right for the average dude.
There may be times when more sets are appropriate within a periodized plan, but there are also times when 5 to 15 sets may be even better for you. This may be the biggest pill of all to swallow for those of us that grew up on Arnold’s Encyclopedia of Bodybuilding and two hour workouts. But let’s face it, most of us don’t have Arnie’s freaky genetics or his access to "Vitamin S."
Length of Workout: Ian is a big believer is short workouts. By short he means to keep your workouts to an hour or less, not counting stretching and warms-ups. This is because after about 60 minutes of training, things like your body’s natural androgen levels tend to plummet. This is coupled with an increase in cortisol, which is a catabolic (muscle wasting) agent. Combine these negative hormonal responses with diminishing stores of ATP-CP and neurotransmitters and you’d better get your arse out of the gym in an hour or less if you want to make decent gains.
Lifestyle: Ian was one of the first coaches in his field to stress the importance of lifestyle, or stuff that happens outside of the gym. Stress is the big culprit here and those who have high stress jobs, family demands, and money worries aren’t going to recover quickly. This needs to be taken into consideration or you’ll end up making poor progress. Ian has even gone so far as to say that those who have a lot of stress in their lives may not be able to lose fat easily! Other factors that affect recovery would be nutrition, supplementation, sleep patterns and the amount of physical activity you get outside of the gym.
To most people, Ian seems a little too cautious when it comes to overtraining. But let me ask you this: are you completely satisfied with your progress in the gym? If not, then why not try some of these things out and see what happens? You have nothing to lose and possibly a lot of muscle to gain.
Training to Failure
"At the end of the workout, you should only feel smashed some of the time, not all of the time!"
Here’s another one that takes most bodybuilders a while to accept: you don’t have to train to failure to grow. This relates to overtraining as well. In a nutshell, the average guy can’t train to failure and beyond (forced reps, etc.) without overtaxing his system and halting his progress in the gym.
Some coaches would tell you not to train to failure at all. Coach King has a better idea. Based on his vast experience in the real world, Ian suggests you only train to failure or near failure about once every three weeks. Since most of Ian’s programs involve three week cycles within a larger twelve week plan, this make perfect sense.
Here’s how it works. Let’s say you’ve planned out your training for the next tree weeks. You’ll be using the same exercises and generally the same reps ranges, tempos and rest periods. On week one, you concentrate on perfect form and leave a few reps "in the hole" at the end of each set. If your goal is to get eight reps with a certain weight, use a weight that you can actually lift 10 or 11 times.
On week two you get a little closer to failure, but still fall a rep or two short. Finally, on week three, Ian allows you to go all out and train to failure. He’ll still tell you that forced reps (where you train beyond failure with the use of a partner) are counterproductive for most natural lifters and that such techniques are to be used only on a limited basis and within a periodized plan.
Training Age and Rep Selection
"The more advanced you become, the lower the number of repetitions that will give you the best response."
We’ve all heard the "rules" when it comes to rep selection: one to four reps for strength, around eight to twelve reps for hypertrophy (muscle growth) and over twelve reps for endurance. For the most part, these rules are pretty accurate, although the specific numbers can vary to an extent based on genetics, muscle fiber type and a few other factors.
Then Ian comes along and lays a pretty profound idea on us: the longer you’ve been seriously training (training age) the less reps you’ll need for hypertrophy! In other words, if you used to grow like a weed on ten to twelve reps as a beginner, then your ideal hypertrophy range may be four to six reps now that you have several years of experience.
Here’s how Ian breaks it down:
If your main goal is muscle growth:
0-2 years of experience: 10-15 reps
3-6 years of experience: 8-12 reps
6-10 years of experience: 6-10 reps
>10 years of experience: 4-8 reps
If your main goal is maximal strength:
0-2 years of experience: 4-8 reps
3-6 years of experience: 3-6 reps
6-10 years of experience: 2-5 reps
>10 years of experience: 1-4 reps
And if you want the best of both worlds (size and strength):
0-2 years of experience: 6-12 reps
3-6 years of experience: 5-10 reps
6-10 years of experience: 4-8 reps
>10 years of experience: 3-6 reps
Perhaps this is one reason why gains slow down as the lifter becomes more experienced. Lifting heavier and lowing the rep range may keep the gains coming according to this theory. Pretty interesting.
Balance and Exercise Order
"I don't care what sequencing rules you've been exposed to or have adopted, if it's your weak link or number one priority, do it first."
If you train your chest and back on the same day, when’s the last time you worked your back first? How about arms? Do you ever hit the triceps first? Do the lowly triceps get as many sets and reps as the mighty biceps? On leg day, do you ever train the hammies first? How about the calves? And when you first started training, did you give your legs and back an equal amount of attention as your chest and biceps? Probably not.
Yes, we all know that everything above is a mistake, but it took Ian King to whip our arses into shape and make us do something about it. And if you haven’t done something about these imbalances, then you’ll likely end up with an injury or at least an asymmetrical physique.
Ian says to look back at your usual training split and simply switch things around. If you always train legs at the end of the week, move them up to Monday and you’ll see better results (assuming you’ve had a restful weekend.) Train back before chest and triceps before biceps.
The rule is simple: whatever you train first in the workout or first in the week will get the best results. The problem is that most people train the "fun" exercises and their favorite body parts first. In reality, they should be training the least fun movements and weakest muscle group first in the week and first in the training session.
How long do you have to switch things around? Well, variety is always best, but if you’ve gone two years training the quads before the hams, then it’s safe to say it’ll take almost two years of priority hamstring training to fix any possible imbalance. Also, if you have a weak limb — say your left arm is weaker than your right (hmm, wonder why, Spanky?) — then you should use unilateral exercises (work one limb at a time) and train the weaker limb first.
A more common mistake is to use a different amount of sets per muscle group. Maybe you don’t leave out back work entirely, but you perform twelve sets for chest and then just "throw in" a few sets of pull-downs for back. Big mistake. If you do 12 sets for chest, then you should do 12, or close to 12, sets for back.
To help you understand how to divide and balance out your training, Ian came up with a list of major muscle groups that reflects their function:
Horizontal pulling (row)
Horizontal pushing (bench press)
Vertical pulling (chin-up)
Vertical pushing (shoulder press)
Hip dominant (deadlifts)
Quad dominant (squats)
Ian has a few other categories for abs, lower back, calves, and arms, but the ones above are main muscle groups you need to worry about. Based on this list, you need to be doing vertical as well as horizontal pushing and you need to be doing the same number of sets for each and keep the rep ranges equal where appropriate.
Let me give you an example of how this list can help you. Before Ian provided this simple list, I did almost nothing but chin-up variations for back training. Sure, I did rows occasionally, but not very often as compared to chins. This was an imbalance. Now I do just as many sets of horizontal pulling as I do vertical pulling and it’s really helped my back development.
Hip and Quad Dominant Training Split
Leg training sucks. It’s exhausting, painful, and unless you’re 5’6" and nicknamed "Stumpy," you may not have the right structure to build really massive wheels anyway. But still, ya gotta train the legs!
Before Ian popped up from Down Under, most coaches said to train all the muscles of the legs in one session and use the most efficient exercises. That means squatting and deadlifting on the same day. Problem — As effective as these big mass builders are, they’re also very fatiguing and really sap your energy levels. If you start your workout with squats, your deadlifts will suffer and vice versa.
Here are some exercises you can do on each of the two leg days:
Quad Dominant Movements
Full squat
Partial squats (with increased load)
One leg squat movements
Leg extension
Lunge
Leg press (depending on foot placement and body position)
Hip Dominant Movements
Deadlift and its variations
Stiff-legged deadlift
Good mornings
Power cleans
Hamstring curl
Leg abduct/adduct
Got stick legs? This may be your cure!
Tempo and the Four Second Rule
"Getting rid of the stretch shortening cycle will do more to recruit additional muscle fibers and maximize the effectiveness of your workout than practically anything else you can do."
You may not know this, but Ian King invented modern tempo prescriptions, you know, those 311 or 302 numbers you see listed after exercises in most strength coaches’ training programs. Good thing too, since manipulating rep speed can lead to different lifting goals (hypertrophy, explosiveness, maximal strength, etc.)
And now, for the 489th time, here’s how tempo prescriptions work. Let’s say you’re about to do a barbell curl using a 311 tempo. The first number is the lowering phase, also called the eccentric. You’ll lower the bar to a three second count. The second number is how long you’ll pause at the bottom of the movement, in this case one second. The last number is how long you should take to lift the weight, also called the concentric portion of the lift.
You’ll need to change up your tempo to reflect your goals. For example, while bodybuilders may want to slow down the negatives to induce hypertrophy, an athlete in a combat sport may want to focus more on an explosive concentric. (For a good overview, read Doug Santillo’s article, A Closer Look at Tempo.) And if your goal is to build muscle and attract scores of women, then you better pay attention to the four second rule.
The four second rule is a concept that Coach King and TC came up with for bodybuilders. The idea is simple: One rep — including the lowering, pause, and lifting— should last at least four seconds. So a tempo of 211 would work as would a tempo of 301 or 310. For all the details, read the original article here.
The main lesson Ian’s taught us: tempo matters.
agnant Rep and Set Protocols
"When I see 3 x 12, I think timewarp...."
Poll the average gym rat and you’ll find that most people stick to the old 3 x 10-12 reps protocol. Well, guess what? According to Coach King, that isn’t the best choice.
There are many reasons for this.
Most trainees perform over seven exercises per workout. Using the 3 x 10-12 approach, that gives you at least 21 sets per workout. Remember, Ian thinks that the genetically average, natural lifter can only afford to perform 12 to 15 sets per training session or he’ll likely overtrain. Also, the 3 x 10 approach may not be appropriate for all exercises. If you do 3 x 10 on the bench press, that doesn’t mean you should do 3 x 10 on the triceps exercises that may follow.
Ian also teaches that exercises performed later in the workout should get a lesser number of sets. This is because neural and metabolic energy levels dwindle during the workout.
The 3 x 10 method is also neurally ineffective. The neural activation may reduce from set to set if you always use the same number of reps and sets, meaning that the inhibition mechanisms of the body aren’t being forced out of their energy conservation mode. This will lead to a reduced work capacity.
So how do you fix these problems? For one, you can use more variety. For example, instead of doing three or four sets for a couple of exercises, do one or two sets for many exercises. That means that instead of doing three sets of standing curls then three sets of preacher curls, try two sets of standing curls, then one set of hammer curls, one set of cable curls, one set of reverse curls, and then one set of preachers. That’s still six sets for biceps, but you’ve greatly increased the variety and the stimulus and lessened the chance for any "use" injuries caused by doing the same darned thing all the time.
You should also cycle in some specific neural (strength) training. That means lifting heavier and doing fewer reps. Try four or five sets of two to four heavy reps for a few weeks. Throw in a "back-off set" if you want, or use the 6/1/6/1 method (both explained below.)
Ian also says that the more experienced you become, the more important it is to include variety in your workouts. Beginners, those with a lower training age, can get by with less variety. (Does this remind anyone else of sex, or is it just me?)
Back-off Sets
"In one set you can develop power and hypertrophy all at once…"
Here’s a bona fide gem which Fred "Dr. Squat" Hatfield wrote about in the 80’s and has been resurrected by Ian for the new millenium. It works like this: Perform a few sets with a heavy weight using low reps, say around four. Now grab a lighter weight and knock out 15 to 20 reps. That’s your back-off set.
This is one of those cool neurological tricks Ian is famous for. Basically, when you come back to a light weight in the back-off set after lifting heavy, you can do more reps at a given weight than you would have if you’d done them as your first set. Plus, you can do them with a greater degree of acceleration in the concentric (lifting) phase. Pretty cool, eh?
Ian recommends that you use back-off sets after heavy sets of six reps or less. He also notes that the greater the contrast between the high load set and the back-off set, the better the effect. For example, going from a negative-only set to a back-off set works extremely well. Ian warns not to use this technique on every set in the workout, though, as it’s very draining and eats into your energy reserves more than a normal set.
Warm-ups
"My warm-up guidelines are aimed at people who want no regrets and the best quality of life after years of lifting weights."
When you read Ian’s 12-week programs , you’ll notice there are a lot of warm-up sets. Many would say that these are excessive, but Ian has his reasons. Most people would knock out a warm-up set or two for bench press and then go right into heavy benching and other exercises. Ian recommends not only several warm-up sets prior to benching, but a warm-up set for your other chest exercises that day as well.
This is because warm-ups aren’t just about warming up. They act as a test run (watch for any "twinges" or unexpected pain) and a neuromuscular rehearsal for the lift, plus they aid in joint lubrication. Neuromuscular rehearsal basically means you warm-up to learn the skill of the lift and get a feel for it. Warm-ups also help you test out your equipment. After all, there’s nothing like psyching yourself up for a big bench only to find the bar is bent.
The take home message is twofold. First, don’t skimp on warm-ups and 2) you need to warm-up every time you change exercises, not just on the first exercise of the workout.
1 1/4 and 1 1/2 Reps
"Loading isn't the be-all and end-all that some make it out to be. In fact, relatively speaking, I think that it's overrated."
That’s right, Ian doesn’t necessarily believe in the "Go heavy or go home!" motto. Instead, he thinks you should do everything you can to make the weight feel heavier than it is, at least if your goal is hypertrophy. This makes a lot of sense. Think about it; who’s working harder, the guy who’s benching with a controlled tempo and a slow eccentric movement, or the guy who’s going heavier but bouncing the weight off his chest like a dork and lifting his butt twelve inches off the bench? Load isn’t everything.
There are several ways to make a light load feel heavier. One of the most grueling and effective methods is to use 1 1/4 or 1 1/2 reps. Here’s an example using squats. Squat down and pause at the bottom. Now come up only one-half or one-fourth of the way and pause again. Go back down, pause and come all the way back up. That’s one rep. One painful rep! You can use the same technique with just about any movement: bench press, curls, leg extensions, skull crushers (tricep extensions) etc.
Many people ask if it matters whether you add the half rep at the bottom or the top of the exercise. You can do both, but Ian prefers you do it in the weaker end of the movement, like coming out of the bottom of a bench press or squat.
This little trick extends the TUT (time under tension) and gives lifters added work in a specific range of motion. It can also be used when you have a minor injury and may not be able to go as heavy as you’d like. Just remember you won’t be able to go anywhere near as heavy as you normally do using this method. But you know what? Your muscles will never know it!
Wave Loading (or the Contrast Method)
You usually see wave loading in the form of the 6/1/6/1 protocol, but you can also use others like 5/1/5/1 or 4/1/4/1. This means you’ll do six reps of an exercise, rest, then do a single heavy rep and then repeat.
Ian has written, "The aim of the first set of six is to enhance the loading potential of the first single rep and second set of six. The second set of six and second single are aimed at exploiting the neural dis-inhibition created by the first. If you don’t respect this — if you go too heavy in the first set of six or first single — you won’t experience this neural dis-inhibition, as it’ll be clouded by fatigue." In a nutshell, that means you can trick your nervous system and be able to lift more weight for a set of six than if you hadn’t done the near-maximal single.
Here’s an example of wave loading using 6/1/6/1:
1 x 6 at 220 pounds (about 100 kg)
1 x 1 at 275 pounds (about 125 kg)
1 x 6 at 230 pounds (about 105 kg)
1 x 1 at 285 pounds (about 130 kg)
Here’s another way to use wave loading. Perform a "wave" of sets, like one set of four, another of three, and the last of two. Increase the weight each time, but don’t train to failure. Now you’re ready for another wave. Do it all again except start the first set with a heavier weight than you used in the first wave. Do that with the other two sets as well. What you’ll notice is that you’ll be able to use a heavier weight in the second wave than what you might’ve been able to do if you hadn’t done the first wave. Nifty, huh?
Wave loading is a really interesting and effective way to lift and you’ll see it turn up in many of Ian’s programs.
Specialization and Maintenance
"Remember, all things being equal, the weakest muscle group should have the greatest percentage of time in which it’s being prioritized."
According to Ian, if an experienced lifter wants to bring up a certain body part, then he’ll need to prioritize. Beginners can make good progress training every muscle group and/or lift with the same intensity and volume, but as we all know, it gets harder to progress the more years you spend in the gym. The answer for the person of advanced training age is to do specialization work for that group of muscles while doing only "maintenance" work for the rest of his body.
Here’s how you can do this. First, if you want to bring your arms up, train them first in the workout and first in the training week. You’ll also notice that in many of Ian’s specialization programs that the prioritized muscle group is hit twice a week, although usually with different exercises. (Ian’s Great Guns link to http://www.testosterone.net/html/107guns.html] program is a perfect example of this.)
While you’re focusing on one set of muscles, you’ll still want to train the rest of the body, but therein lies the catch. Bringing that lagging muscle group up to the next level will take not only intensity, but a higher amount of volume than usual. This means your body is going to have to focus its recuperative mechanisms on that prioritized muscle group. It can’t do this if you’re blasting out intense, high volume workouts for all the other muscle groups too!
So if you’re focusing on your arms, then you need to take it easy on leg, chest and back day. You won’t shrink away and look like Leonardo DiCaprio so don’t panic. The password is "maintenance" and Ian says it doesn’t take much work to maintain a muscle’s size or strength. Just remember to keep the volume low (don’t do many sets, probably around 12 or even less) and avoid training to failure or doing things like forced reps or negative-only training, which can really sap your ability to recovery.
Stretching — Old News and New news
"If your stretching time is any lower than 25% of your strength training time, you're setting yourself up for a major injury in the near future."
Yeah, yeah, you gotta stretch. That’s about as revolutionary as Muscle and Fitness telling us we have to drink more water when it’s hot outside (which they seem to do in every freakin’ issue. All together now — Duh!) Yes, Ian says to stretch, but the way he says to do it may surprise you.
First off, Ian gives us plenty of reasons to stretch. He says training of any type can potentially shorten connective tissue, so you need to stretch not just for the sake of your muscles, but for your ligaments, tendons, and fascia. Stretching maintains what Ian calls a specific joint relationship. He writes, "Put simply, if the bones get drawn closer together than desirable, the impingement of connective tissue at the joint can cause all sorts of problems, especially nerve pinching. This can set off a range of neural activity, all the way from muscle spasms to feelings that the muscle has been torn."
Regular stretching also allows you to obtain joint angles in your strength exercises that’ll provide greater training effects like higher amounts of hypertrophy. That means stretching can make you bigger and stronger in a round about way. Now that should get your attention! Lastly, stretching can help prevent injuries and accelerate recovery.
Ian prefers static stretching as opposed to ballistic or dynamic stretching. Static stretching is basically stretching a muscle to its farthest point and then holding that position for ten to thirty seconds. The other types of stretches involve more movement. He also bucks the current trend and recommends stretching before a workout, although he does suggest you warm up first on an exercise bike or similar before you stretch.
For all the details, read Ian’s Lazy Man's Guide to Stretching. He also has several videos available at his website.
Sorry, Regis, there is no final answer!
"There are no rules, just options!"
I have to admit this was once something that frustrated me about Ian. When asked a question with a seemingly black or white answer, Ian’s response would always start with, "It depends…" There was no cut and dried answer to anything it seemed! Which is better, volume training or HIT? Both can be used effectively within a larger periodized plan. Best rep ranges? All of them! Best exercises? All of them! Best tempo? It depends. Worst exercises? None of them really. Is cardio counterproductive? It depends….
Finally, I realized the reason Ian never gave a succinct answer was because his level of knowledge was so great. Think about it, a person with only a year of training experience usually thinks he knows everything. Just ask him and he’ll tell you. (Proving that the old adage, "A little knowledge is dangerous" is very true.) The more we study training and nutrition the more we come to realize that there are very few final answers to anything. Ian’s work reflects this and teaches us to always be open-minded and flexible when dealing with weight training topics. And as Ian would say, don’t major in minor issues.
