**Marcus's HIT Dungeon**

[kelkel]

When you have a GH gut its best to train it

Doesn't look it in your avi!

[Sfla80]

On my way to kill back right now. Looking forward to some heavy tbars

[AD]

found this article in a magazine, that seems to suggest it's better to take creatine post w/o, instead of pre. when do you guys take it?



Latest Research on Creatine and When to Take It


Jose Antonio, Ph.D.


Despite what a few contrarians have claimed, it does matter when you take certain nutrients and supplements. Specifically, it does matter if you get the proper supplements pre-, during or postworkout. Some refer to the entire period as the peri-workout window of feeding (peri means “about” or “around”).

So when it comes to enhancing muscle glycogen repletion, muscle protein synthesis, performance and overall recovery, it’s critical that you take in the proper supplements during the peri-workout window. A simple example would be taking the correct dose of caffeine roughly a half hour before doing cardio—say, running a 10K race. Timing is critical. Getting the caffeine two hours before the race might help, but to take full advantage of its ergogenic effects, closer to the race would be better.

What about creatine? Does it matter if you take it pre- or postworkout? One study has shed some light on that question,and it was performed at Nova Southeastern University—where I’m a professor—by my students.^1 Here’s the lowdown.

Nineteen healthy recreational male bodybuilders were randomly assigned to one of the following groups: PRESUPP or POSTSUPP workout supplementation of five grams of creatine. The PRESUPP group got the creatine immediately before exercise, while the POSTSUPP group got it immediately after. The subjects trained on average five days per week for four weeks, performing a periodized, split bodybuilding routine. They also took the supplement on the two nontraining days at their convenience.

The results: After four weeks of training, the average changes in the PRE-SUPP and POST-SUPP groups, respectively, for bodyweight, fat-free mass, fat mass and one-rep-max bench press were, listed in kilograms: bodyweight, 0.4 vs. 0.8; fat-free mass, 0.9 vs. 2.0; fat mass, -0.1 vs. -1.2; 1RM bench press, 6.6 vs. 7.6. Using some fancy statistical analysis courtesy of my good friend and fellow sports nutrition scientist Dr. Jeffrey Stout, who
crunched some numbers using qualitative inference, we found that creatine supplementation plus resistance exercise increases fat-free mass and strength.

So our statistical analysis suggested that taking creatine immediately postworkout is superior to preworkout in terms of body composition and strength.

There you have it. In already well-trained young men, taking creatine postworkout seems to work better. Does it matter in the long run? That is, if you’ve been taking creatine for years, will it matter what time of the day you take it? Inquiring minds want to know.

/—Jose Antonio, Ph.D./

[hawk14dl]

I was just referred to this thread. I haven't read all of it, but I read the sample workout very early (intended for gbrice)

I just started applying it to myself. I lift alone at home, so I started using rest pauses. 2nd chest session was tonight, added 5lbs and 1 rep from last week.

I'm probably the weakest in this thread, but I can already feel and see a difference. I've been doing things wrong for a long time. Here's to hoping I can start adding some mass to this scrawny frame

[Rusty11]

I feel a bit guilty taking a whole week off. I haven't done that in a long time (6+ months). It's stupid really. At my age, I need to do this much more often. I feel good, so I just keep going. Progression in weight is slow but consistent, but growth has completely stopped for a month. Maybe this rest will spur some new growth???? I'm old, but I fkn refuse to believe I'm done growing. I dunno. Maybe it's diet related. Anyway, I'm antsy right now ready for some DLs

[kelkel]

[QUOTE=AD;6855627]found this article in a magazine, that seems to suggest it's better to take creatine post w/o, instead of pre. when do you guys take it?


I take it anytime it's convenient. I don't think it matters once your loaded with it.

Creatine - Scientific Review on Usage, Dosage, Side Effects | Examine.com

[kelkel]

I feel a bit guilty taking a whole week off. I haven't done that in a long time (6+ months). It's stupid really. At my age, I need to do this much more often. I feel good, so I just keep going. Progression in weight is slow but consistent, but growth has completely stopped for a month. Maybe this rest will spur some new growth???? I'm old, but I fkn refuse to believe I'm done growing. I dunno. Maybe it's diet related. Anyway, I'm antsy right now ready for some DLs

Don't feel guilty. I was just out of the country for a weeks vacation and always skip lifting during that time. I look at it as my rest week. I also don't want to tire myself out while on vacation and spend my time in a gym instead of on a nice tropical beach.....Pina Colada in hand....

[kelkel]

I was just referred to this thread. I haven't read all of it, but I read the sample workout very early (intended for gbrice)

I just started applying it to myself. I lift alone at home, so I started using rest pauses. 2nd chest session was tonight, added 5lbs and 1 rep from last week.

I'm probably the weakest in this thread, but I can already feel and see a difference. I've been doing things wrong for a long time. Here's to hoping I can start adding some mass to this scrawny frame

Glad you ventured over here Hawk!

[almostgone]

I was just referred to this thread. I haven't read all of it, but I read the sample workout very early (intended for gbrice)

I just started applying it to myself. I lift alone at home, so I started using rest pauses. 2nd chest session was tonight, added 5lbs and 1 rep from last week.

I'm probably the weakest in this thread, but I can already feel and see a difference. I've been doing things wrong for a long time. Here's to hoping I can start adding some mass to this scrawny frame

Glad you decided to try HIT, Hawk. Post up some of your lifts. It always interesting to see what other people's sessions look like. Personally, I don't worry too much about the whole "
who is strongest" concept. I'm in competition with myself.

[kelkel]

Hawk a handful of us here train at home, myself included. You'll fit right in. Keep reading the older posts and catch up on things. You'll learn a lot and understand the players here as well. Lot of good guys and fun here.

[hawk14dl]

Well, like I said today was chest day (like every other person in the world, I just don't have to wait on equipment lol)

My main compound is the flat bb bench. 2 light warm ups and stretching (bar only, 8 reps followed by stretching). One working warm up, 135x 6. 1 minute rest/drink/load weight. This week's lifts were @210lbs. First set 4 reps, then 3 reps, 3 reps, 3 reps, 2 reps. I was barely able to lock out on the last set.
Dropped the bench to decline, was shooting for 3 sets of 8 @155. Third set only got to 6 and arms started shaking so I racked out.
Finished with some light flyes (pretty well exhausted at that point)

[marcus300]

I was just referred to this thread. I haven't read all of it, but I read the sample workout very early (intended for gbrice)

I just started applying it to myself. I lift alone at home, so I started using rest pauses. 2nd chest session was tonight, added 5lbs and 1 rep from last week.

I'm probably the weakest in this thread, but I can already feel and see a difference. I've been doing things wrong for a long time. Here's to hoping I can start adding some mass to this scrawny frame

Welcome
You really need to read the whole thread and not just jump straight into training to failure and beyond. If your new to this kind of training you need to first learn the basics of HIT.
I know the thread is long but it's vital you start on page one and read. Best of luck

[marcus300]

found this article in a magazine, that seems to suggest it's better to take creatine post w/o, instead of pre. when do you guys take it?



Latest Research on Creatine and When to Take It


Jose Antonio, Ph.D.


Despite what a few contrarians have claimed, it does matter when you take certain nutrients and supplements. Specifically, it does matter if you get the proper supplements pre-, during or postworkout. Some refer to the entire period as the peri-workout window of feeding (peri means “about” or “around”).

So when it comes to enhancing muscle glycogen repletion, muscle protein synthesis, performance and overall recovery, it’s critical that you take in the proper supplements during the peri-workout window. A simple example would be taking the correct dose of caffeine roughly a half hour before doing cardio—say, running a 10K race. Timing is critical. Getting the caffeine two hours before the race might help, but to take full advantage of its ergogenic effects, closer to the race would be better.

What about creatine? Does it matter if you take it pre- or postworkout? One study has shed some light on that question,and it was performed at Nova Southeastern University—where I’m a professor—by my students.^1 Here’s the lowdown.

Nineteen healthy recreational male bodybuilders were randomly assigned to one of the following groups: PRESUPP or POSTSUPP workout supplementation of five grams of creatine. The PRESUPP group got the creatine immediately before exercise, while the POSTSUPP group got it immediately after. The subjects trained on average five days per week for four weeks, performing a periodized, split bodybuilding routine. They also took the supplement on the two nontraining days at their convenience.

The results: After four weeks of training, the average changes in the PRE-SUPP and POST-SUPP groups, respectively, for bodyweight, fat-free mass, fat mass and one-rep-max bench press were, listed in kilograms: bodyweight, 0.4 vs. 0.8; fat-free mass, 0.9 vs. 2.0; fat mass, -0.1 vs. -1.2; 1RM bench press, 6.6 vs. 7.6. Using some fancy statistical analysis courtesy of my good friend and fellow sports nutrition scientist Dr. Jeffrey Stout, who
crunched some numbers using qualitative inference, we found that creatine supplementation plus resistance exercise increases fat-free mass and strength.

So our statistical analysis suggested that taking creatine immediately postworkout is superior to preworkout in terms of body composition and strength.

There you have it. In already well-trained young men, taking creatine postworkout seems to work better. Does it matter in the long run? That is, if you’ve been taking creatine for years, will it matter what time of the day you take it? Inquiring minds want to know.

/—Jose Antonio, Ph.D./

I really like creatine but I do have to use 10 to 15 daily. That's split throughout the day but pre and post are the norm for me

[marcus300]

I'm emotionally drained. Tormented by ghosts what visit me often.

[hawk14dl]

Marcus, I'll definitely be reading. I've read quite a few pages now. I've read some of your other threads and stickies too. I'd love to train beyond failure, but training Alone prevents that. I started the rest pause, and so far in a believer.

I appreciate this thread. In going to try to catch all the way up. . I'm kinda slow though, might take me a year or so

[bikeral]

Marcus, Been a while off the creatine. What type do you use? Mixed with carbs or straight mono type?

[almostgone]

Marcus, I'll definitely be reading. I've read quite a few pages now. I've read some of your other threads and stickies too. I'd love to train beyond failure, but training Alone prevents that. I started the rest pause, and so far in a believer.

I appreciate this thread. In going to try to catch all the way up. . I'm kinda slow though, might take me a year or so

Rest pauses and drop setting can be used to train to failure and then some. If you have a Smith machine or squat cage then you can go to failure on most exercises with one of those. If you're doing unilateral exercises w/ dumbbells you can do negatives. There are a lot of options.
There's definitely a lot of good info in this thread. I've found it useful to print out information that hits home with me and post it in my shop.

[AD]

I'm emotionally drained. Tormented by ghosts what visit me often.

is that why you're still up at this hour

[Black]

I just looked up the "loading" process of creatine (last couple post sparked my internet). I have never really taken creatine religously and have recently thought about trying it.

The calculator I used said to load at the following based on my bodyweight:

Week 1: 32 Grams Per Day.
Week 2 - 4: 14 Grams Per Day.
Week 5: OFF - No Creatine Use.
Week 6: 32 Grams Per Day.
Week 7: 14 Grams Per Day.
Week 8 - 10: OFF - No Creatine Use.

That seems kind of ridiculous.

[bikeral]

I just used same calc probably. Be interesting to hear what others think. I know you load first but that calc seems high.

[almostgone]

Woooowwww.....anything over 10g causes me to.....dump my guts.

[marcus300]

Marcus, I'll definitely be reading. I've read quite a few pages now. I've read some of your other threads and stickies too. I'd love to train beyond failure, but training Alone prevents that. I started the rest pause, and so far in a believer.

I appreciate this thread. In going to try to catch all the way up. . I'm kinda slow though, might take me a year or so

Rest pauses is a beyond protocol because at the first rest you should of reached complete failure so rest pausing is a method what takes you beyond that point.

That's why you have to read the full thread and understand what failure is.

I'll post some stuff for you

[marcus300]

is that why you're still up at this hour

No it's not actually. You wouldn't believe why I'm up in the middle of the night but it's not related to my post.

[marcus300]

Marcus, Been a while off the creatine. What type do you use? Mixed with carbs or straight mono type?

I don't load creatine anymore due to how it fuks with my stomach so I take 10-15grams daily and stay longer on it work a lot better than way for me.
I use Mono

[marcus300]

Repost

ARE YOU TRAINING HARD ENOUGH?

I've had a few PM's about training and cycles and one thing what shines through to me is that a lot are not training hard enough they dont fully understand how to train correctly. We spend so much time designing cycles and eliminating sides we think we have the perfect environment to grow into something what looks like it was carved out of stone but after 15 weeks of these super cycles most are pming me asking how can they stop the gains sliding away. We assume members are training hard enough and intense enough but in reality they aren't. I see alot of members just coasting through their training sessions and doing a set number of reps and sets and think the diet and AAS will transform them into a living god but all what happens is the gains slide away and they end up going back on gear to get some kind of size back.

I can't emphasize enough how important it is to find the right training protocol for your body to grow. You have to try many training routines and find which one you respond best to. We also need to get in the right mind set when we walk in that gym, you going there for one purpose and if you don't push your body beyond what its capable of doing your not going to grow bigger. You want to be leaving that gym feeling like you just done 10 rounds with Tyson in his hay day. You have to go through the pain, you have to push and pull the hardest you have ever done before, you have to push your body to places where its never been before and push past the pain every single time you go in the gym.

Overload your body to a state were its screaming for you to stop and no matter what, you couldn't do one more rep even if your life depended on it. If you don't train in this fashion your not training hard enough. Do you want to be bigger than anyone else, do you want to turn heads and do you want to have that monster size what no one else has got then if this is the case stop FUKING around in the gym and stop going through the motions and push past your limits and use methods what take you to hell and back.

I train that hard my eye balls shake and I find it hard to focus, I mentally prepare myself and think of things what make me angry and I push that last rep out no matter what. I kind of like the pain in certain bodyparts and I can push past it into a world of total hell, I feel like I am on fire and I swear I can feel the blood surging through my veins into the muscle what I am working. When I've done my last working set I know I cant perform another rep even if someone had a gun to my head and said you'll die if you don't do another rep, I know I've come to my limit and the sick thing about this is I actually enjoy it., I dream about it, I think about it and I cant wait to get back in the gym to do it again. Its like I'm self harming because the torture I go through is extremely painful but I know this is what I have to do to maintain what I've got and to build those extra few lbs of tissue. This is what seperates the normal guys who look like they go to the gym to the fuking monsters what walk this earth

Now are you training hard enough? ask yourself can you train harder because if the answer is yes your restricting your gains and wasting money and time. Why spend all that money on gear, gh and food when your not attacking your body like you should be. Think about it and make your next workout like your going to war with yourself.

[marcus300]

Repost

The mental training zone

Getting into the training zone mentally is hard work, I've been approached many times via pm on this subject and ive talked a lot about it within this thread but it is hard and probably has hard to learn as learning how to train how I've described throughout this thread. So lets talk about and see your thoughts and feeling on the subject but first let me try and get this across about the mental side of training. When you see Dorian speak or train you can see he is mentally as well as physically strong. Many of the top Pro's seem to have this ability to have this mental focus to train to the level what is required to stimulate those fibers what seem to grow the biggest. I really do think its something what can be learnt and by perseverance we can get this mental focus and use it to its fullest. I've always had the motivation to train and get big and nothing in my life would stop me but I did have to learn how to release those feelings to train to a level were i wanted to get to. Over time I got the mental edge to train to true positive failure I don't know why but its something over the years what came naturally to me and I've mentioned many times within this thread how I try and get into this zone. For me we all have our little things we do to prepare ourselves before one of those working sets what is going to test us mentally as well as physically, I feel this is an individual thing what you have to find what works for you.



For me I think about certain things what have happened to me in my past what ignites my adrenalin and releases an inner aggression what I can only state as unstoppable. I talk to my inner self and take away everything around me, I am alone and only can hear my inner voice speaking and I drift to a time and relive an event in my mind like I am there again, the feelings what I felt at the time I feel again, the atmosphere I feel around me exactly like it was, I relive the exact circumstances at that moment and how I felt after and this completely isolates me from the outside world and I am stuck in the past reliving an event. At a moments notice I can come straight out into this rage and channel these emotions into the working set with the adrenalin flowing and my inner voice shouting at me. I also use another method which works for me also, I can also concentrate and watch myself doing the working and yet again take myself out of the situation I am in and go through in my head what is about to happen and I can trigger the inner aggression. I know I want it so much, I know I have to take myself to places were my body has not been before, I know its going to hurt but I kind of like that knowing I am about to inflict pain onto myself, this again ignites all these feelings inside of me that make me feel unstoppable and no one could out lift or train with the same intensity as me. That's what I feel when I am in this zone I know no one can come close I truly believe this and with that positive thinking I can take myself to failure and beyond. That's the two ways what do it for me.



I know guys who listen to music and crank it up and get into the zone, I know guys who walk up and down thinking about the set and getting into the zone, I know guys who want to be slapped which I've done in the past which instantly releases the fighting instinct which allows you to lift more than you would if you weren't in the zone. The problem is with some guys is learning how to get into this zone, its all about mind control and taking yourself away from where you are and talking to your inner self and produce these feelings. Some people can't do this and it needs to be learnt over weeks/months just like training to true positive failure like we do with HIT. Ever watch Branch pre working set how he gets himself into the zone, you can actually see his eyes change and his whole demeanour into this animal what looks unstoppable, same with Dorian and many others they all have the ability to get into this zone and recruit those tough fibers what only get activated when your at failure and beyond.



I do watch Youtube videos many times before I go training because this for me motivates myself and helps me prepare for what I am about to do in the gym. I know some of you feed of this thread before working out because I can tell with what you say before and after you train, its all about motivation, dedication and having the mental focus to keep positive and have that inner drive. We all have been under a BB with some serious weight on thinking to yourself I am going to fail this, you even say to your partner watch me I think I am going to struggle with this one and guess what happens???? you struggle and the set is a waste of time. We all have been there and ive been there many times in the past thinking this way trying to break into new areas without having the positive mind set or approach what it takes do accomplish this.


Learn how to train your mind and you will develop further not only mentally but physically aswell. I've read a lot of mind control, self help books and I am trained in areas to help direct and open peoples minds. I really enjoy NLP which helped me when I was going through times of trouble in my mind and I couldn't focus on anything. You have to learn this behaviour if it doesn't come naturally, but simple steps and trying what works for you will point you in the right direction were you to can get into the zone what will help you develop further in your training.

[marcus300]

Repost



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.

[marcus300]

Repost

Rep range The ideal rep range for building size and stimulating hypertrophy is the 6 to 12 reps. Less than 6 reps will more or less increase strength and a degree of size, performing more than 12 reps will help build muscle endurance. Make sure that your reps fall within this range and your hitting true positive failure for the best chance of hypertrpohy. If your implementing one of the beyond failure methods such as forced & negs, rest pause or dropsetting you use a weight what is heavy enough to bring your positive failure at the low end of the rep range. An example for rest pause you use a weight what you will hit true positive failure at around the 4th rep then you would rest for around 10-15 seconds and do another couple of reps, then rest again for another 10-15 seconds and hit another 2 reps with the same weight. In total your doing 8 reps which is within range and your going to failure on each rest pause so you have a high chance of stimulating the right fibers to produce the best gains. As your rep range and strength increases towards a total of 12 reps you simple increase the weight being used so your constantly increasing intensity and overload, the two keys principles of any HIT programme. You use feeler sets to determine what weight you will be using on your working set, as you use different methods like dropsetting always makes sure you don't drop the weight to much so your not going over 12 reps in total. If you are you need to be using heavier weight on the drops so your rep range hits below the 12 reps in total. I always like to use around the 8 rep range in total and increase the reps upwards until I feel i can increase the weight so my rep range falls around the 8 rep range again. We are aiming for maximum muscle fiber recruitment hitting these rep ranges at failure will have the greatest potential for muscular growth. The above advice is for someone who is already advanced and is looking to build bigger thicker muscles, its not for someone who is building a base and foundation because these people can really benefit from using a lower rep range aswell as the above.





Stimulating growth

Remember going to true positive failure like I've describe previously hits the toughest muscle fibers what grow the biggest these are the fast twitch type 2b fibers, you hit these fibers and you will have the biggest chance of increasing in size. What we are aiming for is progression overload so you keep hitting the muscles with an increased weight so they need to change and adapt to the overload its being put under. This kind of continuous stress will have a reaction on the body and it will have no other alternative but to grow. We keep within the right rep range what stimulates the biggest growth and we continuously try and increase the intensity by increasing the reps then once the reps increase you increase the weight to bring the reps down within the correct range again. I can't stress enough about taking your muscle to true positive failure, this takes a lot of mental preparation. Before any muscle contraction occurs it originates from the brain sending signals to the nerves, the stronger the signal the more forceful the muscle contraction, in other words control your mind set pre working set and you will be in the best position to take your body to failure and beyond. I've commented many times how I go about doing my mental preparation but you master the mental side and you will see huge leaps in achieving your goals.Release the aggression by talking to your inner self and you will take your body to places its never been before. Stimulate growth by overloading your body to a state were its screaming for you to stop and no matter what you couldn't do one more rep even if your life depended on it, if you don't train in this fashion your not training hard enough.





Advanced training techniques ( don't use these if you have just started HIT, learn how to train to true failure first)



Forced and negatives

When your going to be implementing forced and negatives you need to be using a weight what your going to be hitting around the 3-4 rep range at true positive failure, then your spotter with help you with another 2 reps. I say 2 reps because its about the limit you can do once you have come to true positive failure and your partner is taking some of the weight off you, these forced reps will dig very deep into your muscle fiber recruitment. Once you have finished the forced reps the weight will be at the starting position and you start to complete negatives by lowering the weight very slowly, make sure you resist and fight the weight coming down and once at the bottom your partner will assist you to get the weight to the top of again and you will do another negative and you keep going until you cant do another negative, usually its around 2 negatives. Negatives done at this stage of a working set after positive muscle failure causes serious trauma to the muscle which will stimulate the release of growth factors. Your also 40% stronger on the eccentric part of the lift so once you hit failure in the lifting part of the exercise by yourself and adding forced with your partner the negatives will take you beyond and recruit further fibres like nothing I've experienced with any other training routine. Once this as been hit there is no need to do anything else because the damage has occurred and no more can be recruited only burn out and exhaustion. If we add the reps up you would be doing around 3-4 reps on the positive then 2 forced and then around 2 negative so in total your hitting around the 8 rep range. You have 3 strengths you have the positive, static and negative, the negative causes the most damage to the muscle and is the biggest cause of DOMS, you master negatives and you will see a huge improvement in muscle size and fullness.





Rest Pause

Again use a weight what you will be hitting true positive failure around the 3-4 reps range, put the weight down and rest for around 10-15 seconds which should give you around another 2 reps, then repeat and rest again and hit another 2+ reps again. Your completing a set of around 8 reps than you would normally use but your rest a couple of times within the set for around 10-15 second so you recover just enough to complete another 2 reps each time. This will recruit those tough type 2b muscle fibers and if you use your feeler sets correctly you can really cause some serious damage to your muscle and create an extreme amount of over load your body isn't use to. I like the 8 rep total mark but this isn't set in stone, you may prefer 10 reps in total or even 6 but just try and makes ure your in the 6-12 rep range and work from that to increase the intensity and overload.





Drop sets

This method needs a bit more thinking about but first lets explain what a drop set is. If we use DB curls for an example you would pick a weight again were you would be hitting around 3-4 reps at true positive failure and then get a set of lighter DB's and rep again for another couple of reps and then drop the weight again and curl another set of lighter bells for another 2-3 reps. You have to make sure you drop the weight enough to make sure you get around 2-3 reps out at failure but make sure you don't drop the weight to much, if your repping loads of reps out remember your trying to be hitting around the 8 rep range so when your doing your feeler sets its crucial to make the lighter db set just enough so you keep within the total rep range. Halfs/quarters or partials With partials you are doing a standard working set to which will involve you conducting a strict full range of motion to true positive failure, at this stage you would carry on doing half reps until its impossible to complete another half rep then do a quarter reps right down till you cant move the weight. A fine example would be DB side laterals were you would do strict reps till failure then carry on doing half reps so the DB's are only coming up half way then keep going till your hardly moving the weight from the side. There will be a bit of body assistance and sloppy form come into play towards the end but at this stage its fine just to get those deep muscle fibers working by going beyond failure. Extremely effective way to recruit those tough fibers we require with a constant tension approach.





Hit Supersets

Hit supersets entail you doing one exercise right after another with very little rest as in-between the two movements. With these types of supersets your still hitting the 6-12 rep range so your not doing anymore than 12 reps over two exercises, this is very important. Example you would go to true positive failure lets say on DB shoulder press and be at failure around the 5-6 rep then go straight into db side laterals for another 6 reps at the most which would be failure again. You have to make sure you use the right weight to hit the correct rep range so you don't go over the 12 rep ceiling otherwise you will trigger the muscle endurance and exhaustion and you wont tap into the tough fibers we require. Great examples is coupling compounds movements with isolation.Combination This protocol would consist of a combination of any of the above methods, you could use rest pause and on the second rest pause you may not be able to do anymore reps so you could go straight into a drop set to finish the working set of to failure and beyond. You could even use drop sets with partials on the last drop set to really increase the burn and intensity. The combination is endless, its how you feel to complete the workings set and what you need to do to make sure its a productive one. These are great for a back up plan if your working set starts to go wrong for any reason.





Rest

Using the above protocols is extremely tasking on your body and CNS so you need to make sure the training session are short but intense enough to stimulate growth. You also need to make sure you rest enough and have a good solid diet to suit your requirements. There is one thing for sure its impossible to train like this correctly for weeks on end, no matter how anabolic you are your going to need to pull back on the above movements and decrease the intensity and let the body fully repair and heal. This doesn't mean you have to stop training in this style just take a pullback training routine for a few weeks and lower the intensity and increase the rest days. Cortisol will fight against muscle growth so if you experience any over training symptoms its time to change things around to help your body repair and heal.



Feel sets The feel sets are sets what you will do previous your working set, these sets are done so you can determine what weight you will be doing on your working set. Sometimes on my first feeler set it feels light and I'm very powerful so the next feeler set I will put some poundage on and see how that feels, again if that feels easy I know I can go heavier on my working set. I also take in consideration what I am going to be doing whether its forced and negs or rest pause or drops, I just judge a weight what I will be hitting failure around the 4th - 6th rep mark or less and then incorporate the beyond failure protocols. I also remember what I did last time I did that movement because in the back of my mind I know I have to overload my body. I am always pushing heavier weights or trying to increase the intensity





.Nutrition

Food is a major player when we are building muscle tissue or shredding bf. We need to eat enough energy releasing foods to fuel our workouts and also to promote muscle building. Nutrition is a very individual thing and nothing is set in stone no matter who tells you it is, its not. We are all different and have different levels of activity and we need to establish a baseline diet and work off this to suit your needs and goals. Make no mistake if you want to grow bigger thicker muscles than your going to have to eat big, train big and be consistent with everything you do. Once you establish your maintenance diet you can put a strategy together to add muscle and body weight or shred body fat. Learning how your body responds to different amounts of calories will be one most beneficial things you can do because this will open a plan to determine how you go about attacking and achieving your goals

[almostgone]

Repost

The mental training zone

Getting into the training zone mentally is hard work, I've been approached many times via pm on this subject and ive talked a lot about it within this thread but it is hard and probably has hard to learn as learning how to train how I've described throughout this thread. So lets talk about and see your thoughts and feeling on the subject but first let me try and get this across about the mental side of training. When you see Dorian speak or train you can see he is mentally as well as physically strong. Many of the top Pro's seem to have this ability to have this mental focus to train to the level what is required to stimulate those fibers what seem to grow the biggest. I really do think its something what can be learnt and by perseverance we can get this mental focus and use it to its fullest. I've always had the motivation to train and get big and nothing in my life would stop me but I did have to learn how to release those feelings to train to a level were i wanted to get to. Over time I got the mental edge to train to true positive failure I don't know why but its something over the years what came naturally to me and I've mentioned many times within this thread how I try and get into this zone. For me we all have our little things we do to prepare ourselves before one of those working sets what is going to test us mentally as well as physically, I feel this is an individual thing what you have to find what works for you.



For me I think about certain things what have happened to me in my past what ignites my adrenalin and releases an inner aggression what I can only state as unstoppable. I talk to my inner self and take away everything around me, I am alone and only can hear my inner voice speaking and I drift to a time and relive an event in my mind like I am there again, the feelings what I felt at the time I feel again, the atmosphere I feel around me exactly like it was, I relive the exact circumstances at that moment and how I felt after and this completely isolates me from the outside world and I am stuck in the past reliving an event. At a moments notice I can come straight out into this rage and channel these emotions into the working set with the adrenalin flowing and my inner voice shouting at me. I also use another method which works for me also, I can also concentrate and watch myself doing the working and yet again take myself out of the situation I am in and go through in my head what is about to happen and I can trigger the inner aggression. I know I want it so much, I know I have to take myself to places were my body has not been before, I know its going to hurt but I kind of like that knowing I am about to inflict pain onto myself, this again ignites all these feelings inside of me that make me feel unstoppable and no one could out lift or train with the same intensity as me. That's what I feel when I am in this zone I know no one can come close I truly believe this and with that positive thinking I can take myself to failure and beyond. That's the two ways what do it for me.



I know guys who listen to music and crank it up and get into the zone, I know guys who walk up and down thinking about the set and getting into the zone, I know guys who want to be slapped which I've done in the past which instantly releases the fighting instinct which allows you to lift more than you would if you weren't in the zone. The problem is with some guys is learning how to get into this zone, its all about mind control and taking yourself away from where you are and talking to your inner self and produce these feelings. Some people can't do this and it needs to be learnt over weeks/months just like training to true positive failure like we do with HIT. Ever watch Branch pre working set how he gets himself into the zone, you can actually see his eyes change and his whole demeanour into this animal what looks unstoppable, same with Dorian and many others they all have the ability to get into this zone and recruit those tough fibers what only get activated when your at failure and beyond.



I do watch Youtube videos many times before I go training because this for me motivates myself and helps me prepare for what I am about to do in the gym. I know some of you feed of this thread before working out because I can tell with what you say before and after you train, its all about motivation, dedication and having the mental focus to keep positive and have that inner drive. We all have been under a BB with some serious weight on thinking to yourself I am going to fail this, you even say to your partner watch me I think I am going to struggle with this one and guess what happens???? you struggle and the set is a waste of time. We all have been there and ive been there many times in the past thinking this way trying to break into new areas without having the positive mind set or approach what it takes do accomplish this.


Learn how to train your mind and you will develop further not only mentally but physically aswell. I've read a lot of mind control, self help books and I am trained in areas to help direct and open peoples minds. I really enjoy NLP which helped me when I was going through times of trouble in my mind and I couldn't focus on anything. You have to learn this behaviour if it doesn't come naturally, but simple steps and trying what works for you will point you in the right direction were you to can get into the zone what will help you develop further in your training.

NLP= neurolinguistic programming?

[marcus300]

NLP= neurolinguistic programming?

all that and you pick 3 letters out oh wise one Mmmmmmmmmm

Your correct, its used for many things

[almostgone]

Lol, I "skim read" and then reread. It's an old habit that helps me identify which questions to ask.

[Java Man]

Marcus,

I'm fukked.

I've been so ill, and so much shit has happened to me, I'm 195 now, down 55 lbs. All that friggin hard gym work down the crapper. But on the positive side, I think all the illness is behind me, so the only way I can really look at my situation is like one big challenge to get back to my former self.

And I'm home now, and just renewed my membership at the gym. This is going to be a long road back to recovery.

Muscle memory. It won't take that long. You're probably shredded now at least, right? WB from Afghanistan.

[Java Man]

Marcus, I'll definitely be reading. I've read quite a few pages now. I've read some of your other threads and stickies too. I'd love to train beyond failure, but training Alone prevents that. I started the rest pause, and so far in a believer.

I appreciate this thread. In going to try to catch all the way up. . I'm kinda slow though, might take me a year or so

I train alone. I think many of us do. It's nice to have someone spot me once in awhile for negatives with free weights but a spotter is not necessary to stimulate growth. Be creative. Beyond failure doesn't have to mean heavy. I use the Smith for just about every exercise imaginable.

[Java Man]

Its an old injury from around 15 years ago, I haven't really been training that much around 2-3 times per week at the moment and ive been leaving some lifts out what would cause me more pain, I have been sat down a lot at the computer during the day which could be causing me grief. I am getting old and tired maybe its time to go to the doctor and see what he can do for me but every time I go anywhere and they look at me they say stop training for a few months and I think to myself " yeh you stop fuking eating for a few months see how you like it " Its all down to my old power lifting days when I shifted some serious poundage to feed my ego and the gym spectators, totally stupid looking back and to even think about doing 1 rep max now is insane and retarded does nothing for bodybuilding.

Lol. Seriously. Last time I went to the doctor he says I'm still too heavy, need to lose more weight. Asks me if I'm still lifting weights, have I changed my diet at all?. I look at him like are you ****ing serious? I'm down 20lbs from a little over a year ago, bp and cholesterol are both much better and bf is 20% instead of 35+. Completely changed my body composition but he's just looking at that GD bmi chart.

[Java Man]

Hello guys, long time since i was on here. I did what i said i wouldnt and let my time off with my op get the better of me. Anyway trained today for first time in nearly 5 month. Felt great to get back at it, weight was right down but ill get it back up there. I look like a bag of shit at the minute all soft and lost muscle tissue.

It will come back, in much less time than it took to get it the first time. Don't be discouraged by it.

[Java Man]

Sorry for the extreme chain posting haha. Just getting caught up

[almostgone]

Glad to see it, Java!!!

[almostgone]

all that and you pick 3 letters out oh wise one Mmmmmmmmmm

Your correct, its used for many things

Yes a very useful tool/process. Shows how resilient the human mind is and how strong of a muscle the brain really is. I've skimmed the surface of the subject but it really deserves more of my attention.

[kelkel]

I just looked up the "loading" process of creatine (last couple post sparked my internet). I have never really taken creatine religously and have recently thought about trying it.

The calculator I used said to load at the following based on my bodyweight:

Week 1: 32 Grams Per Day.
Week 2 - 4: 14 Grams Per Day.
Week 5: OFF - No Creatine Use.
Week 6: 32 Grams Per Day.
Week 7: 14 Grams Per Day.
Week 8 - 10: OFF - No Creatine Use.

That seems kind of ridiculous.

You don't really even need to load. Just start with your normal daily dose. It'll just take a little longer to be effective.
Read that link I posted from Examine.com re Creatine.

[kelkel]

You wouldn't believe why I'm up in the middle of the night.

I would.