7 replies to this topic

[ajdos]

Written by AJ

Its funny to me when I am out and about on many of the communities fine forums that people post there training routines that they profess to be what has worked best for them over the years...and I have no doubt that they are being honest with us and themselves when making such statements.
I think that there is an element to all trainees progression of training and recovery over the years that is often neglected or not well considered in the total equation of recovery.
Lets take a look at the whole thing- when you first started your training you had x amount of muscle tissue that could be trained, damaged, recovered, and then if the nutrition and rest were in place over compensation (growth) would occur.
So lets use the analogy that your bodies finite resources of recovery are a work crew of say 15 men.
These 15 men are asked on a regular basis to perform the task of rebuilding- they are given tools and materials to build the tissue back plus a little extra.
Now some time goes by and progress is made- these same 15 men are asked to now rebuild this larger amount of tissue in the same time period with the same means to do so.
I think most of us who are in the work force knows where I am taking this notion.
So the demands placed become greater and greater and the same 15 men attempt to rebuild more and more tissue- except they can't eventually.
So we take some supplements as a attempt to supercharge are 15 men- they work a bit harder and more tissue is gained.
Now we want more and the 15 men simply cannot perform the task in the alotted time- so now AAS and peptides are added, more and more aids for the 15 men to make them more proficient in the same span of time our 15 men even add a couple workers to the force and we have 18 now.
The issue is these men need one variable above all like any workers need- a break, some time off.
This is one of the most neglected elements of training by advanced trainees- the bigger you are the more time, energy and resources the body will need to rebuild this tissue back stronger than it was before.
Rest; more time between workouts and less days of training for a period of time really should be employed to avoid the pitfall of overtraining- this is more important for more advanced trainees who also seem the most resistant to taking time off- the self disciplined sometimes are the worst for taking a break.
Next time you are in a rut and cannot seem to get headway on some gains anymore- take a step back- let those 15 guys get some rest and they will come back and work like dogs for the tissue rebuilding efforts.

[Kabeetz]

Great stuff.

Let me ask you this, simply for arguement's sake. As your body expands, would your body a) not hire more members of the crew and the crew not get more efficient at their job? (though eventually hitting a point of dimishing returns aka genetic limit) ?

[ajdos]

Great stuff.

Let me ask you this, simply for arguement's sake. As your body expands, would your body a) not hire more members of the crew and the crew not get more efficient at their job? (though eventually hitting a point of dimishing returns aka genetic limit) ?

Your body will attempt and will gain a better recovery ability however it will be not proportionate to the increased demands that will be placed upon it.
This was something Dorian Yates/ Mike Mentzer touched upon with their low volume / high intensity training- however there are many ways to manipulate the variables as some people do not respond as well to HIT as they will to high volume- volume trainers will be more succeptable to overtraining, making sure to have periods where you train EOD or 2 on 2 off will be neccesary at some point to allow the body to catch up.

[Blut Wump]

Balancing recovery and manipulating over-training or over-reaching is the cornerstone of dual-factor training or periodization. You push yourself for, typically, four or five weeks until your efforts are becoming counter-productive and then you back off to allow recovery.

After a period of reduced volume and intensity, typically one or two weeks, you can dive right back in again. Most periodized programs will then seque into an "Intensity Phase" where you'll hit up lower reps for more weight but you can equally keep working the higher volume for another period until recovery again becomes a priority.

Even Westside caters to recovery by switching up exercises before you run into overtraining. The more advanced you are then the more able you are to burn yourself out quickly. In WSB this would correspond to the difference between an advanced lifter maybe having to switch up exercises every week as against a less-advanced lifter being able to pound an exercise for three or four weeks before needing to switch it out.

Interesting analogy, Ajdos. I guess the difference between an advanced lifter and a newbie is that the advanced lifter has his 15 (or 18) men stimmed out and working 18 hour days while the newbie has 15 slackers who have their feet up on tea-breaks most of the day.

[sosa1977]

Interesting look at things guys.

[Potimus]

Good post AJ, people tend to forget that they dont grow in the gym; they grow when the eat and sleep.

[test4meplz]

great post aj and i love the analogy.

[LittleBritain]

the little men dont exist though, there is just your brain and the nutrients.

agreed taking a break is beneficial , anything to shock