Random Reflections

Yesterday was my first day on a full body 10X3 (30 rep/set range) Chad Waterbury workout. I’ve believed strongly in frequency principle for awhile now. Over a year ago I noticed my chin-ups never went up faster than the time I just did a few sets 3 X per week. Then I noticed an article on T-nation showing that if one does the same volume over the week but split into 2-3 session/week rather than all in one (i.e. 5 sets bench press, 5 sets incline dumbbell, 5 sets dips in three separate days rather than 1 day) they grow 2-3 times faster in strength and size.

This reasoning led me to believe in DC training style, which I have been avidly educating myself in for several months now. My results have been mediocre and I know why (1) I’m still on a calorie deficit more often than not as I’m trying to get below 10% bf. (2) I’ve only been training for 1 year and all the reading on DC I’ve done has indicated DC is only for those with multiple years of full time training under their belt and who have reached a plateau. Still I stick with it for 3 whole months because as a rule that is the MINIMUM time to be on any one program….frequent shifting is a recipe for disaster.

Then I come across Chad’s training routines and principles and I see the truth in it right away. The fact that he’s worked out the optimal set/rep range, load, rest period, frequency for maximal strength gain, hypertrophy, fat loss by working with countless clients is invaluable information. Also like DC very little emphasis on isolation moves and nearly 100% compound exercises.

But the full body routine is the perfect solution to allow up to 4 training sessions per muscle per week. Theoretically this means 4 stimulation’s for growth per week rather than 1/week (with high volume) or 1-2/week with a DC 2-way split. I can see how I will plateau eventually with this training and I think by then I will be perfectly prepared for another round of DC style training.

Right now I’m restricting my calories more than ever and so will strictly adhere to Chad’s 10 X 3 for fat loss. 30 set/rep range, at 75% 1RM load, 45-75s breaks, 2X weekly. I will stick to this for 8 weeks hopefully dropping 5%bf. Then I will use his max hypertrophy (24-50 set/rep range, 60-90s breaks, 80-90% 1RM, 3-4X week)!!!! I think I will grow muscle like never before when I start this around mid February.

When I think back on the volume training I was doing for the first 8 months of this year (15 sets for chest …all to failure with forced reps, drop setting, negatives…e.c.t.) it makes me sick to think of how over trained I was.

The most important message….knowledge is power. Bodybuilder who do not constantly read are doomed to failure. I always take 100% responsibility. This combined with detailed logging of workouts, diet, and results and success is guaranteed.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 11th, 2007 at 6:11 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.