set/reps in winter bulking phase

[TestoSuper]

Hello guys,
the beginning of the winter bulking phase is near, and I would like to ask you how you organize your workouts.
During my last bulking cycle I have been on the classical 10 reps x set, training two muscle groups per day .. this year I would try to change, but I do not know how.
In your opinion, it is better to lower the reps to 6 or 8 and keep with higher loads or increase the reps (12 or more) and concentrate on pumping?
Which you find better for increase mass exsclusively based on your directly experience?
Any advice is appreciated.
Thanks in advance for your replies.

[Charlie67]

For what my limited knowledge is worth... I have tried nearly everything from 1-2 reps, to 20-25 reps... I tried pyramid schemes of all kinds, both over weeks, and intra-workouts (12,10,8,6). Here's what I have learned, IF you give every rep and set your maximal effort, every program works given two factors, consistency and time. If you have that, generally speaking, everything I have tried has moved me a bit forward. For bulking specifically, I find that calorie consumption and food choices tend to create more problems for me then how I work out.

But to give you a more specific answer, When I'm eating well and things are going good, I tend to to stay in the 10-12 range for ancillary exercises (curls, lateral raises, etc) and then I do a 10,8,8,6 range for the bigger lifts (bench, deadlifts, shoulder presses, etc)

Just my 2 cents.

C-

[numbere]

The best method for adding slabs of tissue is HIT.

The goal is to warm the muscle up with a feeler set or two then reach complete failure in the 6-8 rep range. After muscle failure is reached forced reps, rest pause, drop sets and negatives are used to force the muscle beyond failure for a few more reps. Only 2-3 working sets are needed.

When done correctly you can destroy two muscle groups in 45 minutes or less.

Come check out the HIT dungeon in the lounge if you want some proof of it's effectiveness. Marcus is a HIT guru and will help you out with modifying your workouts.

Using HIT and AAS I've put on 25-30lb of muscle in the last two years.

[Marsoc]

Hello guys,
the beginning of the winter bulking phase is near, and I would like to ask you how you organize your workouts.
During my last bulking cycle I have been on the classical 10 reps x set, training two muscle groups per day .. this year I would try to change, but I do not know how.
In your opinion, it is better to lower the reps to 6 or 8 and keep with higher loads or increase the reps (12 or more) and concentrate on pumping?
Which you find better for increase mass exsclusively based on your directly experience?
Any advice is appreciated.
Thanks in advance for your replies.

Seen a study at I finally agree with. It says that volume and weight doesn't really matter. But that you go to actual failure. Or beyond which I like. With drop sets and super sets etc or combos or multiples of both.
Those that went to failure showed increase in mass. Those that didn't either heavy lifts or light with high reps yeild nothing. They measured the gains with various X-ray and a bunch of other stuff

[TestoSuper]

ok..interesting your replies ... numbere HIT means high intensity training, right? so should I do 3 set x 6/8 reps for each muscle group to failure in the last reps?, this applies to larger groups only or for all? and loads are increasing or costant?

[NACH3]

ok..interesting your replies ... numbere HIT means high intensity training, right? so should I do 3 set x 6/8 reps for each muscle group to failure in the last reps?, this applies to larger groups only or for all? and loads are increasing or costant?

After your feeler sets I prefer 1working set to true positive failure(4-8 reps depending) then drop set or RP but you don't want to go way over 12 reps total(I'd say right around 12 reps is my number.... Sometimes you hit em with 2 working sets then drops or RPs s/s etc - learn the lil tweaks that work for you...

**Marcus's HIT Dungeon**

This ^^ has everything you need to know regarding HIT...

[TestoSuper]

ok, I read this post that you give me advice..
thank you!

[numbere]

Below is a post my Marcus I came across when I first started training HIT.

He explains the process clearly and thoroughly.

If I were to paraphrase then much detail would be lost.

Muscle fibers and training
By marcus300

With HIT training we are specifically trying to stimulate a certain type of muscle fiber. We have different muscle fibers in the body and once you know how to train certain ones and the importance of making these grow you can design the ideal training routine to suit your goals. We are all aiming to add muscle tissue and we have to put ourselves under stress by progressively overloading our bodies so they have no alternative but to grow. All muscle contraction starts by nerves being activated, the stronger the nerve signal the more forceful muscle contraction can be applied to the lift. The nerves first get activated by the brain and this is where the mind muscle connection comes into play. I am always saying that you must get yourself in the right mind set for the working set, there are many ways to do this and ive explained many ways in my thread how I go about doing it, but the stronger the mind before the working set the better contraction and force can be applied to the muscle fibers. We can all do 10 reps with a certain weight but you can also really think about those ten reps and really activate the contraction in the muscle and work that muscle to the max and those reps will feel completely different. This is what separates a lot of people so before I move on really think about how you do reps and work that particular muscle to its max. I've seen many members saying they are doing so many reps with a certain amount of weight but I can say I bet a lot aren't really activating that muscle group to the max. Remember everything starts from within your brain, your inner self and how you go about attacking that working set. You have seen how I describe the zone I get myself into just prior to my working set and this is the zone you need to be in to fully work those muscle fibers to the max.

We are after activating the motoneurons within the network of nerves which is the signal for the muscle to contact, we have many different sizes but we are only interested in the large motonerurons which activate the large muscle fibers. We have slow switch and fast twitch fibers within the body and we are all made up of different amounts, that's why some of us grow bigger and faster and others struggle growing big thick muscles. Usually the guys who struggle with adding slabs of tissue on their frame are the guys who have more slow twitch fibers than fast, and the guys who are more genetically gifted with bodybuilding are the one who have more fast twitch. But either way you need to activate the fast twitch fibers and give yourself the best chance of building bigger larger muscles.The slow twitch ones are the ones what are more suited for endurance and are very resistant to fatigue the aerobic type athletes have a higher amount of these fibers over fast twitch.

Fast twitch muscle fibers are the ones we are concerned with activating and working. There are two types 2a and 2b. The type 2a ones are fibers which get activated when doing higher reps ranges lets say more than 12-15 reps, they are also the fibers what come into action around the 6-12 rep range. Type 2a fibers when activated correctly can grow in size and this is what many people tend to activate and see growth from when they start training. The type 2b fast twitch fibers are the ones what I adore lol these babies are the foundations of building bigger thicker muscles, if you activate these correctly they can grow tremendously in size and grow about 4 times the size of the 2a fast twitch fibers can, so you can see these are the ones what make the difference, but stimulating both type 2a and 2b fast twitch is getting the best out of both worlds but my personal aim and priority is to stimulate the type 2b fast twitch fibers and seriously breakdown these to get me some serious size on my frame.

What's the best way to stimulate the 2b fast twitch muscle fibers I hear you asking, well ive described it all the way through my thread but let me go over it again so you understand how important it is to have the right mind set what I speak of all the time and what kind of stimulation is needed to activate these tough fibers. Usually during a set of about 6-12 reps the type 2a are activated, you know the sets were your repping away and start struggle a little bit and rack it and move on. In basic terms your not going to true positive failure (I can go on and on what true positive failure is but trust me it takes along time to push your body to this limit and a lot of mental dedication its an advance training protocol) now if you took your set to true positive failure and you cant do anymore this is the time when the type 2b fast twitch fibers are activated, once you activate these fibers this is the best potential to really make your muscle grow bigger and thicker.

You will grow with normal sets and reps with modest intensity but if you want serious growth than you have to take your working set to true positive failure, this means using a weight what is heavy enough to make that working set very difficult and then going past true positive failure. Remember the type 2a fast twitch do all do all the work until you get to true positive failure then the type 2b come into play and these are the ones what produce the biggest gains in muscle size. You have to progressively overload your body each time you train, this means add more weight (or reps until you can add more weight) to stimulate growth, you also need to make sure your activating the type 2b fast twitch fibers which only get involved when you go to true positive failure. Your rep range needs to be between 6-12 reps at the failure point, I prefer around 6-8 reps range at failure. This is why its wise to have a partner when trying to activate the type 2b fast twitch fibers because you may think your going to positive failure but you wont be you need that reassurance of a partner who can just take that small amount of weight of the bar at true positive failure so you can mentally get past this sticking point. There are many advance protocols what you can use to get yourself to true positive failure which I've discussed in my thread.

HIT training will activate the tough type 2b muscle fibers and going to true positive will recruit all the muscle fibers which will give you the best chance of some serious tissue growth. Using advance training protocols like drop sets, rest pause, forced, negatives, supersets and even partials can be used to further your beyond failure training to help you activate the type 2b fast twitch fibers.

Original thread:Muscle fibers and training

[TestoSuper]

Below is a post my Marcus I came across when I first started training HIT.

He explains the process clearly and thoroughly.

If I were to paraphrase then much detail would be lost.

Muscle fibers and training
By marcus300

With HIT training we are specifically trying to stimulate a certain type of muscle fiber. We have different muscle fibers in the body and once you know how to train certain ones and the importance of making these grow you can design the ideal training routine to suit your goals. We are all aiming to add muscle tissue and we have to put ourselves under stress by progressively overloading our bodies so they have no alternative but to grow. All muscle contraction starts by nerves being activated, the stronger the nerve signal the more forceful muscle contraction can be applied to the lift. The nerves first get activated by the brain and this is where the mind muscle connection comes into play. I am always saying that you must get yourself in the right mind set for the working set, there are many ways to do this and ive explained many ways in my thread how I go about doing it, but the stronger the mind before the working set the better contraction and force can be applied to the muscle fibers. We can all do 10 reps with a certain weight but you can also really think about those ten reps and really activate the contraction in the muscle and work that muscle to the max and those reps will feel completely different. This is what separates a lot of people so before I move on really think about how you do reps and work that particular muscle to its max. I've seen many members saying they are doing so many reps with a certain amount of weight but I can say I bet a lot aren't really activating that muscle group to the max. Remember everything starts from within your brain, your inner self and how you go about attacking that working set. You have seen how I describe the zone I get myself into just prior to my working set and this is the zone you need to be in to fully work those muscle fibers to the max.

We are after activating the motoneurons within the network of nerves which is the signal for the muscle to contact, we have many different sizes but we are only interested in the large motonerurons which activate the large muscle fibers. We have slow switch and fast twitch fibers within the body and we are all made up of different amounts, that's why some of us grow bigger and faster and others struggle growing big thick muscles. Usually the guys who struggle with adding slabs of tissue on their frame are the guys who have more slow twitch fibers than fast, and the guys who are more genetically gifted with bodybuilding are the one who have more fast twitch. But either way you need to activate the fast twitch fibers and give yourself the best chance of building bigger larger muscles.The slow twitch ones are the ones what are more suited for endurance and are very resistant to fatigue the aerobic type athletes have a higher amount of these fibers over fast twitch.

Fast twitch muscle fibers are the ones we are concerned with activating and working. There are two types 2a and 2b. The type 2a ones are fibers which get activated when doing higher reps ranges lets say more than 12-15 reps, they are also the fibers what come into action around the 6-12 rep range. Type 2a fibers when activated correctly can grow in size and this is what many people tend to activate and see growth from when they start training. The type 2b fast twitch fibers are the ones what I adore lol these babies are the foundations of building bigger thicker muscles, if you activate these correctly they can grow tremendously in size and grow about 4 times the size of the 2a fast twitch fibers can, so you can see these are the ones what make the difference, but stimulating both type 2a and 2b fast twitch is getting the best out of both worlds but my personal aim and priority is to stimulate the type 2b fast twitch fibers and seriously breakdown these to get me some serious size on my frame.

What's the best way to stimulate the 2b fast twitch muscle fibers I hear you asking, well ive described it all the way through my thread but let me go over it again so you understand how important it is to have the right mind set what I speak of all the time and what kind of stimulation is needed to activate these tough fibers. Usually during a set of about 6-12 reps the type 2a are activated, you know the sets were your repping away and start struggle a little bit and rack it and move on. In basic terms your not going to true positive failure (I can go on and on what true positive failure is but trust me it takes along time to push your body to this limit and a lot of mental dedication its an advance training protocol) now if you took your set to true positive failure and you cant do anymore this is the time when the type 2b fast twitch fibers are activated, once you activate these fibers this is the best potential to really make your muscle grow bigger and thicker.

You will grow with normal sets and reps with modest intensity but if you want serious growth than you have to take your working set to true positive failure, this means using a weight what is heavy enough to make that working set very difficult and then going past true positive failure. Remember the type 2a fast twitch do all do all the work until you get to true positive failure then the type 2b come into play and these are the ones what produce the biggest gains in muscle size. You have to progressively overload your body each time you train, this means add more weight (or reps until you can add more weight) to stimulate growth, you also need to make sure your activating the type 2b fast twitch fibers which only get involved when you go to true positive failure. Your rep range needs to be between 6-12 reps at the failure point, I prefer around 6-8 reps range at failure. This is why its wise to have a partner when trying to activate the type 2b fast twitch fibers because you may think your going to positive failure but you wont be you need that reassurance of a partner who can just take that small amount of weight of the bar at true positive failure so you can mentally get past this sticking point. There are many advance protocols what you can use to get yourself to true positive failure which I've discussed in my thread.

HIT training will activate the tough type 2b muscle fibers and going to true positive will recruit all the muscle fibers which will give you the best chance of some serious tissue growth. Using advance training protocols like drop sets, rest pause, forced, negatives, supersets and even partials can be used to further your beyond failure training to help you activate the type 2b fast twitch fibers.

Original thread:Muscle fibers and training

very interesting, thank you!

[Euroholic]

You should Train the same regardless of seasons.