Keep the Hard Days Hard and the Easy Days Easy: Part 2
In that post, I also mentioned at least one exception, that of block training. A concept that has primarily been applied to cycling (at least that I’ve seen), this has athlete performing multiple days of hard training in a row (the idea being to accumulate fatigue to stimulate fitness) which is then followed by several days of easy training.
Keep the Hard Days Hard and the Easy Days Easy: Part 1
The original idea of alternating hard and easy days appears to have come out of early running training (probably the Oregon system underBowerman ); that’s at least the first modern appearance of the concept I’m aware of. I suspect a lot of this had to do with keeping the runner’s joints from exploding while they were running on a hard track. In any case, alternating harder workout days with easier workout days worked better than trying to go hard all the time.
The Importance of Rest
I want you to ask yourself how many days off you take each week. And when I say off I mean off. Not “I do an hour of aerobics but that doesn’t count.” I mean off. One, maybe two. Probably not that many. How many people (the ones wearing the various braces) are in there every day, sometimes more than once? Either they are doing weights multiple times per week and cardio on the off days or they are doing both each day.
Periodization for Bodybuilders: Part 3
I finished the second part by giving some volume recommendations for both training and maintaining loads for the different components (4 of them) of training: pure strength, intensive bodybuilding, extensive bodybuilding and really extensive bodybuilding. Without recapping that entire article, I’ll simply summarize the loading parameters for each below.
Periodization for Bodybuilders: Part 2
In his original holistic training schema, Dr. Hatfield proposed using three different intensity/rep ranges to optimally stimulate a muscle. This included sets of 4-6 done explosively, sets of 12-15 done rhythmically and sets of 40 done fairly slowly. Different types of workouts were done in a fairly complicated cycling pattern (Hatfield called this ABC training) and, frankly, keeping everything straight was a huge pain in the ass.
Periodization for Bodybuilders: Part 1
Periodization is one of those terms that gets thrown around a lot and can have many many many meanings, depending on who you’re talking to. From fairly generic approaches to cycling training to meticulously planned out programs where ever set and rep is set ahead of time, you can find many different intrepretations of periodization and what it means. In this article series, I want to discuss periodization as it applies to bodybuilding specifically.
