Learning As I Go
I have been taking a ton of training notes over the past 8 months. Everything I do and notice I write down. This way, I can figure out what variables are working or not. As far as my upper body, I really think by using rest/pause during those sets and then doing extra reps makes a big difference. For example, with my shoulders….if I am doing 20lb lateral raises and get to 12 reps, I stop for 5 seconds, then go for a few more reps before I finish the set. If I do that, I really feel the pump and heat in my shoulders. For some reason, just doing standard sets and increasing the weights doesn’t give me that burn because I do less reps, or more reps if I drop the weight. It must be putting the small muscles under tension longer and I think I am achieving growth from it. I just started doing this with some of my back exercises, hoping that the fibers are slow twitch and will respond the same way as I go further with training. Today, I used rest/pause with lat pulldowns. I was using 85lb and had to stop at 12 reps. So I stopped,counted to 5 and busted out a few more. I really felt it in my lats. I am also stretching the muscles I am working in between every set with upper body.
Now comes the lower body. For me, this is a totally different workout. I don’t try to push the reps, just stay on the planned amount and try to increase the weight. I can feel the burn pretty much right away with most of the exercises. I vary the tempo, last leg workout I used 4-2-4. The last reps I hold at the top til I can’t take it anymore. As long as I do some sort of final exhaust…like jump squats or walking lunges, my legs respond well. The final exercise is very important for me …I have alot of fast twitch fibers in my legs and they fail quickly, so I need that extra total burnout at the end of the workout to call upon all the less utilized fibers to pitch in 
I am enjoying the challenge of finding the most effective stratagies for myself. Once again, we are all very different and I am determined to make the most of my workouts. I encourage everyone to keep track of this kind of information. It will help you!!
March 19, 2009 at 8:59 pm
Your title says it all. I am still and always learning. (and have so much more to go) But that does sound intense. I have usually done 3-4 sets(8-10 reps per set) increase weight each set and have a 5th set with a much lighter weight until it BURNS and can’t do another rep. I am a slacker when it comes to legs (bad I know) but I have started, as in the past 3 weeks, to dedicate an evening to nothing but legs & abs. And although i am very sore the next day, I have felt bettert respnse strength in just 3 weeks. So, whatever else you workouts are made up of, keep it up because with all respect, you look GREAT! (A+ legs too)
March 19, 2009 at 9:23 pm
Wonderful post!!!! I employ rest pause sets often, especially with delts. It’s the best way to blast past a plateau, in my opinion.
March 21, 2009 at 8:28 pm
Your willingness to listen to your body, and try new approaches will serve you well. Good luck, and enjoy your journey.
April 20, 2009 at 3:30 am
I’m on Chalean extreme 12 week training program now and she does that like you do: do your set of 12, then wait for max 10 sec and then 3 more very slow reps and she says: GET EXTREME!!
Wow after that I really feel the burning!