First off, I want to again apologize to those who submitted questions as I have been struggling to find an efficient way for me to update Strength Mentors due to lack of time. I think going back to a text format will allow me to be more efficient again due to a slight change in how I copy and paste the email inputs into this blog format.

Thanks everyone for your patience!

Due to a recent house purchase i have had to reduce my training to a more intense weights session....... then five days later a cardio/bodyweight only routine.I am surprised to find that after 6 months of this i have no aches and pains,have gained muscle AND trimmed up.So what am i worried about? i am wondering if this reduced but more intense workout may leave me suseptable to an unexpected injury through my lack of more regular training. I always warm up well and add weight only when deserved.

I am 43. my routine has me rest only 0ne minuite between sets and move as quick as possible to the next exercise and consists of;
3x10 squat
2xweighted pull ups for max reps
2xweighted dips for max reps
2xseated overhead press for max reps
1x25 reps dumbell shrug plus short timed hold
4 mins of weighted crunches.
Total time around 40 mins with warm up and cool down.
my cardio/weights routine consists of 25 mins on cross trainer followed by bodyweight pull ups followed immediately by bodyweight dips for 2-3 sets of each all done alternately back to back. I then do a few overhead presses, curls and some weighted crunch sit ups.

My job involves a lot of walking and climbing (oil refinery ) so i dont really need any more cardio.sorry its a long post with a short question.Keep up the good work everyone.

Paul

Answer:

Paul,

Sounds to me like your doing fine. About the possible injury, I can only tell you this "It happens to the best of us." I have had my share and some. Best of health and best of luck to you!

Jim Bryan

Remember the adage - quality vs. quantitiy - if you are working hard - and training intensely -- less exercise but harder exercise is fine.. In fact as time goes on , results will be better with less injury ...Keep up the good work ...

Sunir

Hi Paul
I myself have pondered that same question before. Years of experimenting have given me the answer and it is a resounding NO. Strength training once per week has reduced my injuries significantly over the years. I had long painful frustrating injuries that were mainly from poor form and overuse. Since I cleaned up my form and went to reduced training at about the same time I can;'t say for sure which was more important but I would guess they contributed equally.
Bottomline If what you are doing is working well don't change it.

Jim Mardis

Hello Paul. Glad to hear from you again. Your routine looks good to me. You seem to be getting what you want out of it, and that's all that matters. You have chosen enough of good quality movements that injury shouldn't be an issue. One suggestion might be when you have milked these exercises for all they're worth, choose different movements next go around. Maybe substitute dumbbell rows for the pull ups, benches for the dips, etc. All this assuming that you can do different movements safely. Keep on keeping on. Good luck to you.

Patrick

I can honestly say that I have been training in abbreviated styles, twice a week (and less), and mostly according to Beyond Brawn since I was about 36 y.o.. I was about 75kg in bodyweight. At 44 years of age, I am now about 190lbs at 5'9". I have trained as hard and as consistently as life has allowed me in the last 7-8 years. I hope you plainly tell me if I should attempt to go further. These are my small "achievements" I am proud to have reached after all these years:

Dips 15 reps with 110lbs, 2-3 reps with 175lbs
SBDL 335 lbs x 12 continuous reps, 20 reps rest pause (nearly killed me)
Overhead press 165lbs 4-5 reps,
Squat 50 reps with 190lbs (4.5 minutes)
2-3 reps chinups with 110lbs

Before working for all these, I had already been "training" 4 days a week with typical Arnold's routines for over 10 years. I remember having trouble deadlifting 170lbs for 1 rep, and only benching 135lbs for 6-8 reps.

Have I reached a ceiling? I really don't think so. But I don't have any other human being to compare with. My age, my medium bone structure (6.5 inch wrist), my inability to recover as well as the young ones. What do you think? Should I keep dreaming? I would love to deadliftn double bodyweight 20 rest pause reps. I would also love to dip 5 reps with my own body weight attached. 20 reps with 300lbs would also be one of my dream targets.

Victor

Answers:

Hello Victor. Thanks for the question. I really don't know what to make of your question. I'm one that's not big on negativity, and there seems to be plenty in your question. First off, congratulations on what you've achieved so far. Those are no small feats. As a matter of fact they're pretty damn good. Secondly, you don't have to compare yourself with anyone else. That's the great thing about the iron, in that it's just you and it. Comparing yourself to someone else probably has a lot to do with why you did the Arnold type routines in the first place. You are the only person you have to compare yourself to. Thirdly, yes things will change as you get older. But don't ever give up. If you're in good health then give your all each time you workout. Strive to do another rep or add a small amount of weight. Obviously at 44, things will be much different that someone half your age, but who cares? You would be hard pressed to find someone 22 that could even come close to lifting what you have, must less doing it. As you get older and you've built some decent muscle and strength, do all you can to maintain it. Father time is going to do what it's going to do, but you keep lifting and don't worry about it. Good luck.

Patrick

what do you do when you plateau on h.i.t?? are you supposed to deload and work back up to your 8-12 rep max??

Derek

Answer:

Derek,

Effort based training, training with a high level of intensity, is the same as any training system when a plateau occurs. Evaluate your recent training and determine what may have caused the stalemate. The best solution may be a change in exercise modality (barbell bench press to dumbbell bench press), an adjustment in repetition range, or a reduction in training frequency. The important thing to remember is that plateaus happen and no training program is perfect or will last forever so make adjustments and learn to adapt your training to the situation.

Good Luck
Doug Scott

Change exercises, Change sequence, Change rep guide, Take some time off, Take some easier training sessions. Whatever you do, don't let it get you down. Good luck!

Jim Bryan

Hello Derek,
When you stop progressing on an exercise, either replace the movement with a similar one, or keep using the same movement. Either way start at about 80% of your previous best and work back up slowly. And it doesn't necessarily have to be in the 8-12 rep range. Thanks and good luck.

Patrick

I have been trying some high intensity routines for a few weeks now. So limited sets, going as hard as I can. The results are good in terms of being able to see a visible difference and I am slowly building weight lifted. The downside is that even when leaving several days between sessions, I am still feeling over trained. For example, my workout mid-last week was 1 set each of deadlift, bench, DB row, shoulder press, curl and crunch – so six sets in total. I was feeling drained and had tight muscles all the day of the session, slept little for the next couple of nights and took four days to recover. I trained again today and already feel terrible.

My questions are: does HIT simply overtax the central nervous system of some people? Are there people it isn’t suitable for? I am 52 now, so I wondered if age was a factor. I’m frustrated because I can see a difference and feel good in the workout, but afterwards it doesn’t feel right.

Thanks

Stephen

Answer:

Yes, Stephan it can be easy sometimes to get into a situation of over training when your intensity is high. I don't agree with long periods of no training in between workouts. I feel that regular, consistent training has more healthful benefits than a few "Killer" workouts that leave you on your ass for a long period of time. To me that just doesn't make sense anymore. (Yes, I did do that once upon a time) Why not do some easier training (meaning not to complete failure) for periods of time and when you feel up to it go to failure on exercises that don't completely kick your butt. Whether or not it is taxing your "Central Nervous System", I'll leave for others to discuss. I feel over the years that the newer HIT types have invented buzz words and the science that surrounds the use of these words and have made HIT too inflexible. Whatever way of training you use you have to keep things simple and don't be afraid to adjust your workouts. As you age you may not be able to go to "death's door" in your workouts. That doesn't mean that you can't have great sessions in the gym. You can, and you can enjoy it too. Best of luck!

Jim

Stephen
HIT places tremendous stress on both the central nervous system and the muscular skeletal system ..If you are feeling so drained after the workouts back down the intensity a bit .. At you age maybe it is just taking you longer to recover. Most people do not have the ability to train with a high level of intensity every workout. HIT style training is also very demanding mentally - essentially asking your body for a perosnal best each time in the workout room. All of this takes a toll on the body from an energy standpoint. Try to get adequate rest , make sure you are eating enough calories and drinking enough water ... Add an extra day of rest if you feel drained. At your age I might add some exercises and back the intensity down a bit, or train hard one workout and cut it back the next - maybe trying to to kill it every workout ...Hope this helps and good luck !!!

Sunir

Hey Stephen,
If you can feel and see a difference in your workouts then you're doing something right. You didn't say what you do outside of the gym as far as job or hobbies. At 52 your recovery isn't going to be what it was at 22. But beyond that age has nothing to do with whether HIt will work or not. If you work hard enough you will see results. Don't go to the gym unless you are completely recovered. How many days that is will vary depending on what you have going on and how hard you work in the gym. For some people it can be as many as 10-14 days. With HIT, if you're training as hard you can, you're not going to want to go to the gym within 3-4 days. But if you're seeing results and adding a little weight slowly, you're doing something right. Something might be amiss with your nutrition. Without knowing some factors of your training it's hard to pinpoint. Good luck.

Patrick

Do you get the same benefits doing squats with a machine, as opposed to doing barbell squats?

Answer:

Squats done freely are probably the most productive exercise one can do for overall body growth stimulation, however the exercise can be tough on knees and on the lower back.

Squats on a machine - may not give you the same overall body stimulation, but it can work the target muscles without the added stress to the delicate knee and low back regions.

Regardless on which exercise you choose, make sure your form is perfect and keep the reps slow with no bounce out of the bottom of the rep and no lockout at the top.

Good luck !!

Sunir

Hello Tony,
The answer to your question is no. Nothing comes close, other than the classic deadlift and it's variations. The barbell squat is the most productive movement that you can do as long as you can do it safely. I never was built for it, but I spent plenty of my time with that barbell across my back. The various "squat machines" or leg presses just don't give you the metabolic work that squats can give you. Besides the fact that you aren't working as near as much muscle. Squats are the most technically demanding exercise too. From the time you go to unrack the bar, to when you put it back up, you can't lose focus for one second. Just standing there with a 250 lb barbell on your back is work in itself. Machines such as the Tru Squat, and the Hammer Strength or Nautilus leg press are excellent ways to work your hip and thigh musculature, but when compared to the barbell squat, it's like apples and oranges. Good luck to you and thanks for your question.

Patrick

There are many opinions about this. My feeling is this: With free weight squats "balance" is a big factor. With machine squats, not so much. Power lifters need to get comfortable with the squats they compete with. For development and just pure strength, I don't see a big difference. That is unless your Squat machine is dangerous.

During the bulk of my power lifting career I did most of my squatting on a very heavy duty Smith Machine that Dick Fudge built for Al Christensen. I used an Olympic set when I could, to maintain the "feel" of a free squat. If you read some of the "opinions" that go around on the net now you would think I couldn't have been successful.......................but I was.

My answer is this: I think you'll get out of it what you put into it. Think safety and train progressively. Good luck!

Jim

I'm starting up HIT after a 5-6 yr. layoff. Been lifting, but more it's been more volume, but HIT thrown in from time to time. Gains have stalled, feeling worn down & tired. AND I have no energy for my basketball trianing/playing. How do I cycle my HIT so I can attack my bball w/o being drained. Normally I'll be HITing mid-late morning & playing bball in the early to mid evening - nightime.

Last time I used HIT I went at it hard every workout & after 2-3 months of that I dreaded my workouts & stopped. So how would I go about cycling my HIT workouts? Thanks!

Answers:

Dean,
Are you weight training so you can be a better BB player? If you are then just keep things in perspective. High Intensity Training fits in well for athletes. There is nothing wrong with cutting back to one full body High Intensity workout a week while Basket Ball games are frequent. The first thing you have to do is make a decision. Do you want to concentrate on B Ball or gym workouts? You can do both but one has to take a secondary position. Sounds to me like B Ball is your first choice. So I would cut back the weights to the point that you keep your strength and conditioning but don't rob your energy. Make your workouts fit. Good luck!


Jim Bryan

Hello Dean,
There are a couple of things. You don't say how often you are playing basketball. Asyou know there are many different ways to play b-ball. You can play the driveway two on two, or full court 5 on 5. Obviously the 5 on 5 will be much more strenuous. If you're doing that 3-4 days a week, that in itself will take a lot out of you. You mentioned two key words in your question, and those were "more volume." When you start doing more exercise than what is needed to become stronger on, all you're going to get is rundown and progress will be non-existent. The basketball playing will have more of an effect on your training than the training will on your playing. I don't know how often you're working out, or how many exercises you're doing, or even what you're trying to accomplish, but I would suggest two days a week, or 3 workouts every two weeks, with a major hip/thigh movement and a pushing and pulling movement done at each workout. Pick movements that are safe for you and that you can progress on. Sick with the best exercises out there and work hard on them. You can do one set, or multiple sets. It doesn't matter. Just as long as you can add a little weight to the bar or do another repetition each workout. You're going to have to work hard at what you do though. Good luck and check back.

Patrick