The Chronicles of “B”

Yesterday I came across a blog by BodySpace member Jim Cipriani user name jimcip72. The title of the blog was “To Make Gains, Progression is the Name of the Game” and the topic of the blog was Progressive Overload. In the words of Mr. Cipriani

“You cannot increase your strength by lifting things that are already easy. For muscular growth stimulation, you must constantly attempt the momentarily impossible. Below a certain intensity of effort, no amount of exercise will produce growth stimulation. For maximum growth stimulation, an intensity of effort that at least approaches your momentary limit is an absolute requirement.”

At the end of Jims blog he provided a link to his website so I went there and read a couple more excellent blogs on Progressive Overload and High-Intensity Bodybuilding. As I read these blogs a light began to come on and I realized that I knew absolutely NOTHING about training intensity or the meaning of training to failure. I thought I did but as I read Jim’s words I had to admit I didn’t….Again, in Jims words

Maximum intensity is only produced when an exercise is taken to a point where another rep would be impossible.
Those words really struck a chord with me…...a point where another rep would be impossible.

Now anyone who knows me knows I’m a pretty intense guy and anyone who’s ever worked out with me (Susan & Maggie) knows that I’m all business in the gym. I lift heavy and I take it very seriously. But, after hearing Jim describe true intensity I realized I was not even approaching true intensity…so as I started my workout yesterday my number one goal was to achieve maximum intensity.

<em />Yesterday was arm day and I set out to take the intensity to a level higher than anything I’d never experienced before. I started with very heavy weight…enough I could only do 6 to 8 reps tops using very strict form. I emphasized the negative reps big time taking as long as 8 seconds to lower the weight and had Maggie help cheat a few reps till my muscles were crying for mercy and I could no longer move the weight on my own. Then instead of stopping I dropped the weight…immediately picked up a lighter weight and banged out a few more reps using the same level of intensity. I continued doing drop sets till even the lightest weight was impossible to move.

OH MY GOD! I could not believe what was happening! My muscles were so pumped I thought the skin was gonna tear and I had veins bursting out everywhere! It was incredible. I had never ever experienced anything like this before! I was sweating like a dog, was about to empty the contents of my stomach, and was making sounds that were strangely sexual sounding! Lol! I used to claim to be a Hard Core Mutha but yesterday I redefined hard core!

I could not believe what was happening! My muscles were so pumped I thought the skin was gonna tear and I had veins bursting out everywhere! It was incredible. I had never ever experienced anything like this before! I was sweating like a dog, was about to empty the contents of my stomach, and was making sounds that were strangely sexual sounding! Lol! I used to claim to be a Hard Core Mutha but yesterday I redefined hard core!<em />Let me tell you my friends if you are truly serious about gaining mass and getting huge and have the guts to take yourself to a level of pain that only a true Hard Core Mutha can endure…do yourself a favor and go read Jim’s blog and visit his site…you won’t be sorry. That is till Mr. DOM’s comes to pay you a visit. LOL!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 15th, 2008 at 5:03 am and is filed under Training. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.