Thoughts?

[Irishpunk]

Ill probably catch hell for this but being generally uneducated in the art of training, I have turned in the last few months to workout plans by CT Fletcher, DLB, Kai Greene ETC. Lots of reps at challenging weight. Usually upwards of 800-1000 reps per night. Ive been told im "over training" however I don't feel fatigued at all. general good workout soreness maybe but nothing extreme. ive made some really good gains in strength and size. Just wondering how others feel about these youtube stars workouts.

[Hard_Body]

What are your goals? strength,size, endurance? all this high rep stuff seems much more endurance based. If you are natural I do not think doing lighter weight high reps on everything will give the optimal size and strength you are looking for. Have you been listening to Kali muscle as well? A while back he had this "5 hunnit series" 500 reps for every muscle, high reps. just pump training.

[marcus300]

How long have you been training?

[600@50]

ive made some really good gains in strength and size.

If you're pleased your results why change what you are doing? Maybe you can do the real high volume work and it'll work for you. Don't be afraid to try different things. You may find a program that will work better.

[Irishpunk]

Ive been training for just over a year, I am natural *at least until I get in good enough shape to consider otherwise*. As far as my goals I am looking for overall size/ strength. im not looking to become a body builder or super cut. just a big guy in great shape. I have watched the Kali Muscle videos, I have to admit I have a hard time taking that guy seriously. Now I do also make sure im increasing in weight weekly or bi weekly. I also take the time to do maxs-heavy sets but with all the extra body fat im toting around ive been afraid to try for size right now

[marcus300]

Ive been training for just over a year, I am natural *at least until I get in good enough shape to consider otherwise*. As far as my goals I am looking for overall size/ strength. im not looking to become a body builder or super cut. just a big guy in great shape. I have watched the Kali Muscle videos, I have to admit I have a hard time taking that guy seriously. Now I do also make sure im increasing in weight weekly or bi weekly. I also take the time to do maxs-heavy sets but with all the extra body fat im toting around ive been afraid to try for size right now

Within your first year any kind of training will produce gains IMHO, once you come to a sticking point in your results then its time to change things around and try different protocols. 800-1000 reps per night sounds like wasted reps to me but again if your gaining stick with it until you start standing still with your progress.

[Irishpunk]

Within your first year any kind of training will produce gains IMHO, once you come to a sticking point in your results then its time to change things around and try different protocols. 800-1000 reps per night sounds like wasted reps to me but again if your gaining stick with it until you start standing still with your progress.

Honestly when I first decided to try it, it seemed excessive to me as well but its turned into a lot of fun with what id consider to be good results. My favorite in that lineup of workouts is called The Iron Marathon. I was going to post a link to the youtube video but it seems I don't have access to do that

[Hard_Body]

Honestly if you've been training just over a year you shouldn't be doing all this high rep pump training stuff, just focus on big lifts and progressing on them every week, What are you dead lifting and squatting?

[Irishpunk]

Honestly if you've been training just over a year you shouldn't be doing all this high rep pump training stuff, just focus on big lifts and progressing on them every week, What are you dead lifting and squatting?

Im doing my deadlift reps at 260- usually 3-4 sets 15-20 max is 365. squats I do my reps at 305 same set setup, max still not sure *getting hurt scares the s**t out of me* but I can comfortably do a 5 rep set of 375

[Hard_Body]

whats your bodyweight sitting at, those numbers are impressive for 1st year, just keep progressing on those and you will grow man,

[Irishpunk]

im stuck in a rut between 275-285. down from 370s. I wrestled from childhood all the way through my senior year when I ended up with a L4-L5 injury and surgery that put me under for a year. then I got depressed fat and lazy..typical self pity story. I just want to get back where I was and then shatter that and progress to the next level.

[Hard_Body]

congrats on losing 100 pounds though, Whats your goal weight at? Higher rep workouts might suit you better if your trying to lose weight.

[Irishpunk]

congrats on losing 100 pounds though, Whats your goal weight at? Higher rep workouts might suit you better if your trying to lose weight.

Thank you.its been a fun ride so far. My goal is 245. And im always willing to try new things if you have suggestions to improve the way I'm doing it and I do not expect an easy road or short cuts

[Khazima]

Man those are some serious numbers for first year of training, what about bench?

Here's a good program Jason Blaha's Ice Cream Fitness 5x5 Novice Program | Muscle & Strength

All those workouts you're doing suck, as marcus said a lot of wasted reps. Might be good to do every now and again but doing every workout like that will produce inferior results to something like the 5x5 novice program.

Also, check out his youtube channel 'juggernautfitnessTV', one of the most informative relatively big channels, the real informative ones are hard to find and very small but he is great with legitimate knowledge and experience.

[Irishpunk]

My bench is at 225 comfortably for my heavy sets. Again I don't like to feel like I'm going to die when I lift. I briefly looked over the 5x5 you suggested and will print it out tomorrow at work and give it a shot at the beginning of next week. It looks like with the cutting version it's right up my alley. I definitely appreciate all the help guys. Keep sending stuff my way. I love sponging up the knowledge

[Khazima]

My bench is at 225 comfortably for my heavy sets. Again I don't like to feel like I'm going to die when I lift. I briefly looked over the 5x5 you suggested and will print it out tomorrow at work and give it a shot at the beginning of next week. It looks like with the cutting version it's right up my alley. I definitely appreciate all the help guys. Keep sending stuff my way. I love sponging up the knowledge

No worries man, places like this are a great way to expand your knowledge. Just gotta learn to sift through the bullshit.

[gbrice75]

Man, with all the info and 'gurus' available to us today via YT, social media, etc., it's amazing anybody is making any progress at all - because people are jumping from routine to routine every month.

Personally, I'm a fan of higher volume training. There are guys who swear by it, just like there are those who swear by HIT.

There are many ways to skin a cat. The bottom line is no matter what approach you choose to take, stay consistent for a fair amount of time with the goal being continuous progress. That could mean an extra rep, an extra set, added load, shorter rest, faster set, or adding in any 'advanced' techniques (e.g. rest/pause, static holds, negatives, drop sets, etc.).

I'm with Marcus; if you are making progress with what you're doing, then for the love of God, stick with it!!! At some point, you WILL plateau. That's when you can decide what to change up.

Hope this helps.

[gbrice75]

PS - re: overtraining - I'm of the opinion that it's an overhyped, overused term and excuse mainly from lazy gym rats. Look at the legs on cyclists who ride tons of miles every day - do their legs look atrophied? Small and weak? Hell no. Some of them have legs that rival those of bodybuilders. That's just one example, there are many more.

I used to worry about overtraining, and always thought I was - until I *really* was. Point being - when you're there, you won't be wondering, you'll know it. Unmotivated, cranky, weak, nagging pains (joints/ligaments etc.), you can literally feel when your CNS is friend.

With that said, I can't stress enough how important periodization is, assuming you're really hitting it hard on every single workout. When you start to feel any of those symptoms (beyond just a single workout; we all have bad gym days), it's time to back off for a couple of weeks and rest your entire system.

[Irishpunk]

The last two posts have been very reassuring and confidence building. I always thought I had to do what worked for everyone else to get the results I was looking for. After reading these I think I'll stick with my routine until I hit a plateau. Then I'll take a run at the 5x5. I get strange looks when I tell people the reps I do with the weights I do it with but it works really really well for me and it's brought me down 100 lbs. Added nearly 2 inches to my arms. Also coming from a wrestling background I'm used to training to the extremes and pushing my body past what I think it can do. In closing my coach always told me "why limit yourself to someone else's max?" And i think that's something everyone here can relate too

[gbrice75]

training to the extremes and pushing my body past what I think it can do

Bingo. Supramaximal sets isn't the only way to achieve this. Push your body out of it's comfort zone and it'll have no choice but to respond via adaptation. We're biological beings; it's what we do.

In closing my coach always told me "why limit yourself to someone else's max?" And i think that's something everyone here can relate too

Definitely. It took me a long time to stop comparing myself to other people. The only person you should be trying to compete with and beat today is you from yesterday. Sounds corny, but it's the truth.

[Buster Brown]

Bingo. Supramaximal sets isn't the only way to achieve this. Push your body out of it's comfort zone and it'll have no choice but to respond via adaptation. We're biological beings; it's what we do.

Definitely. It took me a long time to stop comparing myself to other people. The only person you should be trying to compete with and beat today is you from yesterday. Sounds corny, but it's the truth.

You nailed it........adaptation. Our bodies like homeostasis....that's why it wants to always return to it. You need to force your body to adapt to the demands being placed on it in order to grow ....and unfortunately it's not done in a linear fashion.