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Training Methods and Modalities – German Volume Training

Thursday, August 13th, 2009

German Volume Training (or G.V.T. as it’s known to its friends) is a simple yet brutally effective training method used by thousands of bodybuilders over the years to tremendous effect. In this installment of our ongoing series we will review just how to use G.V.T. to help you in your quest for bigness, or leanness or whatever ‘ness your little heart desires. To be clear, G.V.T. is not intended to be an entire workout in, and of, itself. Rather it’s a technique you would use to add another layer to your existing Body Part Split workout.

Ok, so the fundamentals of G.V.T. are as such:

· Perform 10 sets of a single large compound movement (think squats, deadlifts, rows, bench, etc.).

· Complete alternating sets with an opposite axis (or chain) movement (i.e. rows vs. chest press).

· Select a load of approximately 65-70% of your 1RM.

· Aim for 10 sets of 10 reps (it is unlikely you will accomplish this rep range for the entire set range initially just push as much as you can).

Increase load ONLY when you have progressed to the point of completing all prescribed sets and reps. Once accomplished increase load by 2.5-5%.

· Use this method for ONE exercise per body part (usually the first) during your regular Body Part Split workout.

· Continue with the remainder of your workout as your fatigue levels dictate.

That’s it. And by all accounts it works, and works well. The premise for G.V.T.’s success is something called ‘The Law of Repeated Efforts’, essentially stating: do anything with enough frequency or volume and the cumulative effect will be positive on growth (yeah, I took some liberties with the definition, but you get the idea!). 100 repetitions certainly fits the bill for ‘enough frequency or volume’ don’cha think?

The simple math of the process bears this out, take a look:

10 x 10 x 200lbs = 200 000 lbs. of aggregate work volume

Compared to a typical pyramid loading scheme

1 x 10 x 135lbs = 1350 lbs.

1 x 10 x 180lbs = 1800 lbs.

1 x 8 x 230lbs = 1840 lbs.

1 x 6 x 280lbs = 1680 lbs.

1 x 5 x 330lbs = 1650 lbs.

1 x 3 x 380lbs = 1140 lbs.

Total aggregate work = 9460 lbs.

Now that’s a significant difference in total work performed! Looking at it from this perspective it becomes abundantly clear as to why your body can’t help but change using the G.V.T. protocol.

Ok so there you have it, G.V.T. explained in a nutshell. If you do a quick Google search you’ll find a number of variations on the theme, each promising to improve on the original. Feel free to explore and experiment, but keep in mind if you stray too far from the original it likely really isn’t G.V.T. anymore, not that there’s anything wrong with that of course!

Train hard, train smart and for heaven’s sake, use your head!

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Tags: Bodybuilding, German Volume Training, GVT, weight training
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Training Methods and Modalities – Total Body Training

Thursday, June 11th, 2009

I’d like to be perfectly clear on one point in particular. I happen to really enjoy TBT, and have become a bit of a proponent of late. I’ve used it almost exclusively for the past two years and have had some of the best result of my life. I’ve never been as effortlessly lean/athletic or big and muscular as when utilizing TBT. Meaning, I maintained a single-digit body-fat level without any extra energy systems work or dreaded ‘cardio’!

One of the largest criticisms of TBT has traditionally been the seeming lack of volume per body part. The concern stems from the comparison of traditional Body Part Split (BPS) training wherein you perform multiple exercises (say three to five) for each body part, whereas with TBT you train only one exercise per body part per workout. Although, this criticism tends to break down when you realize you’re still getting multiple exercises per body part merely spread out over your entire week. In fact with my approach to TBT I might train a body part as often as 6 times a week with at least one specific exercise per body part per training day. With some training days consisting of two workouts! Yup, you heard me right. I might utilize the TBT style as often as twice a day.

I can hear the whining now, “But Mario what about overtraining and injury?”

To which I reply, “Overtraining? What means this…overtraining? SHENANIGANS!”All kidding aside much evidence currently suggest the human body is capable of resisting TREMENDOUS stress (WAAAY more than the typical gym rat creates in a workout setting) before succumbing to the perils of overtraining and his diabolical minions central nervous system (CNS) and adrenal fatigue! As for injury, as always use your head and don’t do boneheaded exercises you are incapable of performing. In other words, seek professional help and find a good trainer to work with (I cringe as I say that seeing how most so-called ‘trainers’ aren’t worth the paper their much heralded certificates are printed on!)

I don’t want to spend too much time on the how and why this all works but sufficed to say it works very well. And I cannot overstate the importance of exercise selection, placement order and the rest period timing. I’ll explain more when I provide a sample later.

TBT Pros:

Often results in MORE total volume per body part than BPS.

Can cause more complete fibrous biasing from different angles and types of stimulus.

Due to increased CNS/muscular coordination can (and usually does) result in significant strength gains. (I saw my strength hit levels I had 8 years ago when I was 35lbs heavier!) The stronger you are, the more weight you lift, the bigger the volume of muscle.

Usually much more efficient at burning calories from fat.

Significantly reduced risk of “overtraining”.

Shorter workouts.

Usually doesn’t require a spotter. Although, I like to work with a partner for timings sake.

Promotes athletic performance.

Greater frequency of training stimulus can create a ‘super-compensatory’ effect in the trained muscle.

Likely the best form of training for non-bodybuilders and those who are primarily interested in “lookin’ good nekkid”!

TBT Cons:

Usually doesn’t provide the much heralded and sought after “pump”.

The higher frequency may exacerbate existing musculo-skeletal conditions (injuries, inflammation, tendonitis etc.).

Difficult to implement advanced intensity techniques (drop sets, forced reps, etc.).

Requires specific modulations of exercise selection to address weak points.

Sample Plan

As I mentioned above, exercise selection is extremely important. If all you did was choose your favorite movements, or only ‘pulling’ lifts for example you’d rapidly suffer from the aforementioned ill effects. To avoid this I like to use a simple strategy of push/pull or contrasting lifts. In other words my workout might look something like this.

1(A) – Deadlift

1(B) – Bench Press

2(A) – Chin Up

2(B) – Skull-Crusher

3(A) – Shoulder Press

3(B) – Calf Press

[Editor's Note: All (A) and (B) combinations of exercises included in the above denote a superset and should be trained one after the other]

To be clear I offer these only as examples. Feel free to mix it up with movements you might prefer. I only offer these points to consider in turn:

Try to place the more difficult or involved movements earlier in the queue. Remember, no wrist curls you jack-ass!
Use variations of each movement from day to day. No one says you have to stay with the identical movement every workout. In fact the system works better when you strategically vary stimulus and motor neuron recruitment from one workout to the next. You might want to try a template of two or three similar workouts you can switch up day to day.

As mentioned, I’ve worked up to as many as two total body workouts a day. The trick is to vary some of the loading and volume variables throughout each day and the entire week. For example I might train heavy narrow stance deadlifts in the morning, then I switch up to lighter sumo stance style of deads in the evening.

I hope I’ve provided enough of a template to work with here. As always don’t stick to this verbatim, use your head and go for it.

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Tags: Bodybuilding, Total Body Training, weight training
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Training Methods and Modalities – Body Part Split Training

Friday, June 5th, 2009

Perhaps the most prolific and often used form of weight training in the iron game is the Body Part Split (BPS). While I’m sure most of you reading this have used this BPS system at one time or another (frankly I’m betting most of you have never used anything BUT this style of training) I’ll still give a brief explanation before delving into the benefits and drawbacks.Essentially BPS has you training each major muscle grouping with its own dedicated workout on a particular day. For example Monday: Chest day (it’s universal don’t you know?!) Tuesday: Back day, Wednesday: Legs, and so on. Typically you’d be performing anywhere from 3 – 6 exercises per body part.

With that simple description out of the way let’s delve into some of the pros and cons of BPS training:

Pros

Useful for biasing lagging or weak body points in physique or performance.
Can provide for greater intensity in a given time frame.
ALMOST universally accepted as the most effective method for competitive bodybuilding (but I’m personally not convinced).
Can possibly build greater muscular endurance of a particular joint activator.
Easier to involve intensity tools (e.g., drop sets, forced reps and rest-pause).
Often causes a feeling of muscle soreness in the days following a workout (this is really a matter of personal preference but I kinda like that feeling!).
Usually uses less integrated movements (see my Functional Continuum Part I and II articles for examples). Therefore some exercises might be easier to learn for beginners.

Cons

The compounding nature of stress, from doing multiple exercises per body part, can force an accommodation by reducing intensity and loads used.
Probably not the best choice for those looking to improve athleticism and conditioning (although since most high school coaches/gym teachers aren’t aware of other methods, this is all they teach to their athletes).
May not provide the optimal training stimulus to body parts requiring greater training frequency or volume (you usually only train each body part once per week).
Usually requires a spotter to help with many lifts.
Often criticized as only being good for building “non-functional” (it’s in quotes people!) muscle.

A sample workout might look something like this:

Day 1 – Legs

Squat

Leg Extensions

Stiff Leg Deadlifts

Standing Calf Raises

Day 2 – Chest

DB Bench Press

Cable Flyes

Decline Barbell Press

Explosive Push-Ups

Day 3 – Back

Deadlifts or Bent-Over Rows

Chin Ups or Pull-Downs

Single-Arm Rows

Straight Arm Pull Downs

Day 4 – Shoulders

Standing Dumbell Press

Cable Side Raises

Cable Front Raises

Seated Barbell Press

Day 5 – Arms

Close Grip Barbell Press

Lying Dumbell Extensions

Single Arm Cable Pressdowns

Standing Barbell Arm Curls

Dumbell Hammer Curls

Barbell Preacher Bench Curls

I intentionally didn’t include any sets or rep scenarios, for as always it depends on what you’re trying to accomplish. However I will suggest no matter what your goals, a couple of warm up sets for the first exercise per day is probably a very good idea.

It should go without saying there is no one perfect way to train. In fact there isn’t a right or wrong way to train, it’s all about the difference in stimulus and how you adapt to it.

Keep this information in mind as we delve deeper into this series and try to use your head in figuring out what to do next.

Next installment we’ll examine the flip side of BPS and examine Total Body Training.

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Tags: Body Part Split, Training, weight training
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How Many Sets?

Tuesday, May 5th, 2009

If you’ve been in the iron game for any length of time you might be aware of the eternal debate on how many sets and by extension how many reps you should be performing. On one side we have the proponents of the High Intensity Training approach (H.I.T.) who typically advocate a single set to failure (and refer to themselves as Jedi’s…seriously). On the other side of the spectrum we have the more traditional bodybuilding protocol of multiple sets per body part and not always to failure.

Each method has its merits and detractions, so as usual the best approach is somewhere in the middle. In the past I’ve used both HIT and a high volume approach with just about equal success. This success with either method simply reinforces the thought of all training modalities having merit for some length of time. The key is the constant change up and variation. That said I’ve also recently been experimenting with something a little different from either approach with tremendous positive results.

I’ve recently been experimenting lifting with as much speed as I can safely execute the movement. This guarantees maximum force output (Force = Mass x Acceleration) and therefore optimum fibrous recruitment. You may have read about this in a previous post in this very forum, so I won’t get into the benefits of lifting fast in this post. One thing I will add is a thought on the optimal number of repetitions. The whole high reps for fat loss and low reps for muscle building strikes me as a little silly and arbitrary when one considers how the nervous system really works so I began searching for a more definitive measure of effectiveness.

I came across a rather interesting idea that described doing as many sets as necessary to get to a magical number of approximately 25 repetitions. In execution it goes something like this:

Choose a weight you feel comfortable with for about 6-7 repetitions
Begin your first set with strict form
Soon as the rep speed slows down in the slightest end the set (don’t try to squeeze out ‘one last rep’) note how many reps you’ve completed
Once you’ve recovered appropriately, begin the next set
Repeat until you’ve reached 25 repetitions

In other words you might achieve 6 repetitions the first ‘set’ and then only 4-5 in the next set and so on and so on in a decreasing rep pattern. That’s ok - the goal is to hit 25 repetitions irrespective of number of sets. Now if you’re hitting 12 reps on your first set chances are you’ll want to increase the load. This is a great way to manage fatigue and maximise performance per exercise. By keeping the rep speed high and forceful you should be getting better overall muscular activation and therefore strength and growth benefits.

As always let me know how it works out!

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Tags: muscle growth, sets, weight training
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The Functional Continuum Part II

Thursday, April 30th, 2009

Last week we discussed the seemingly ‘circus act’ quality of many so called ‘functional’ movements, and how unstable surface training might actually be detrimental to performance. This instalment will take a quick look at the other side of the spectrum by virtue of ‘isolation’ exercises.

Any bodybuilder wannabe worth his/her salt would have at one time or another referred to “isolating a muscle for peak gains”. What I want to discuss is how this notion of muscular isolation is a little silly. You see, no matter how hard you try you can’t truly isolate a muscle. Even if you try to remove all other joint activity (i.e. a preacher bench curl) you’ll never get just one muscle to work independent of all others, the body simply doesn’t work that way.

Imagine your muscles working as a highly trained philharmonic orchestra playing a symphony. There might be times in the performance were the conductor (you) want to bias or bring up certain instruments in volume (muscular focus) and make others take a back seat by reducing their loudness. This dynamic contrast is kind of how your body works. While you can bias and get a particular muscle group to work a little harder by mechanically increasing the load on a particular joint that same muscle group doesn’t actually work strictly on its own. All the other muscles in the area (and some no where near it!) work to provide a platform from which your target muscle group can contract against (like an instrumental solo in an orchestral piece). Further as the position of the joint in question (remember muscles function to move joints and their associated bones) changes so does the neural hand-off of the muscular bias from one to another. In other words, one muscle changes roles and passes off the bulk of the activation stimulus towards force opposition for a slightly different role (i.e. joint management or plane maintenance) and so on down the line as the movement is completed and repeated.

Sufficed to say, aside from the complexities of the above explanation, muscular isolation while nice in thought is more myth than reality (kinda like the male ‘G’ spot!). Our muscles all work in a highly orchestrated and organized manner to make any and all movement possible.

Still need more proof? Ok, try doing a standing barbell curl while I come over and take a scalpel to your Achilles tendon. Assuming you get past the shock and initial pain you’ll be hard pressed to generate enough tension in your body for your elbow flexors (the muscles that bend your elbow) to contract against! See, no isolation!

Ok, so what does this mean? It means you need to be very aware of what’s going on inside your body at all times. Just because you’re moving a weight doesn’t mean you’re accomplishing what you think you might be or what the ‘program’ says. Again, I encourage you to be aware of your body, really feel what is going on and think about the movements you are performing. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, weight training is so much more than just moving weights around. It’s about proper and effective activation of muscles through the appreciation of structural anatomy. Sure, many people get some benefit from throwing weights around in the gym with little if any regard for the things I’ve been discussing in the last couple of articles, but man, just think how much more you can accomplish when you consider all the factors! Imagine how many years of safe, injury-free lifting you can benefit from when you respect the structure of the body and the way physical forces affect it. It brings a tear to my eye I tell ya!

So I encourage you again, think, use your head, READ and ask lots and lots of questions. Train smart, train hard, and train safe.

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Tags: biceps, Bodybuilding, Isolation, weight lifting, weight training
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The Functional Continuum (or is that the Functional Conundrum?) Part I

Saturday, April 25th, 2009

If I hear one more trainer, or read one more article telling me I must train functionally I swear I’m going to vomit! What does functional even mean? From what I can tell from most of these so called “experts” is that “functional training” is akin to precariously perching yourself on an unstable surface whilst balancing a broomstick on end in one hand and whipping yourself silly with a ‘bodyblade’ with the other hand!

Pardon my foray into the sublime for a moment but seriously, it seems the more creative and weird the exercise many trainers come up with the more ‘functional’ they claim it to be! Guess what I say? SHENNANIGANS!! (bet you didn’t see that one coming?!)

Functional training isn’t about how silly you can make an exercise look. It isn’t about how many Bosu balls you can jump up and down on. It isn’t even about working your ‘core’ whatever the heck that is! ($20 bucks to the first person who can point to their ‘core’ muscles!) Functional training is really whatever exercise you do that makes you better at whatever it is you want to do! In other words if your personal ambition is to become better at standing on an unstable surface in the gym while balancing odd paraphernalia in your hands and whistling Dixie all at the same time, and you train this particular ‘skill’ then you my friend are training in a functional manner! However if you think that doing so will somehow translate into increasing your ability to play football for example, then you might want to lay down and have a nap, I promise I’ll wake you when the circus comes to town for your audition!

Often times we confuse balance training with functional training. Somehow, somewhere, someone figured that training on an unstable surface might have some real world transfer to sports. While this idea in and of itself isn’t necessarily wrong, there isn’t a heck of a lot of research to support this contention. But since lack of evidence rarely stands in the way of a ‘good idea’ the silly trend of balance boards and half balls and other implements began.

Here is my take: Since most sports performance improves with greater strength your training efforts should likely be focused on increasing your strength. Pushing off an unstable surface in say a squat or a lunge position actually limits your ability to generate force. Limiting your force output means you likely are not generating enough effort to produce strength gains. Now you might possibly be increasing certain elements of muscular endurance but I ask “What’s the point of having endurance if you have no strength or speed to endure?” (Credit to world renowned sprinting coach Charlie Francis for that one.)

Is there a benefit to unstable surface training? I think so, but I’d likely reserve it for rehabilitative applications. I really don’t see a tremendous benefit to so-called balance training or ‘over-speed’ training for most athletes. Our CNS simply doesn’t work that way. Your body will always do what it can to get the job you’re asking of it done. If you’re asking your body to balance on a ball it will do it’s damndest to do just that. However, if an imbalance in muscular force production exist somewhere in your body, this weakness to strength ratio disparity will only increase! Your body will compensate with the stronger active muscles and continue to bypass the weaker muscles which haven’t been turned on yet. Even worse since the larger more powerful muscles can already handle that reduced level of force production they really aren’t benefiting much from such activity. Indentify these weaker or ‘off’ muscles, get them activated and watch your performance increase.

Next instalment we’ll look at the other side of the Functional Continuum by examining so-called ‘isolation’ movements and see why there really is no such thing and how you can use a simple concept to ‘turn on’ those lagging muscles.

*Credit to my lovely wife Deyra for the idea for this instalment.

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Tags: balance training, Bosu ball, core training, functional training
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Flexibility vs. Mobility

Friday, April 17th, 2009

Another very popular request I get is to recommend the best method to improve one’s flexibility. As usual my first question back is “Why do you want to improve your flexibility?” You see most people don’t really have a good answer other than because they think they should have some arbitrary measure of flexibility. Again as usual I call Shenannigans! Most people don’t understand the difference between flexibility, which I define as the ability to achieve a certain range of motion or position, and mobility which I consider the capacity to control your joints in those same positions. Simply put in layman’s terms, yeah you can touch your nose to your knees, but if you have to get your buddy Big Tony to sit on your neck to do so what’s the point?!

I fail to see the positive benefits of simply passively forcing a limb into a position (typical of most stretching modalities) when you can’t demonstrate solid control over your joints in that same position. I see this approach as flawed, why compromise future mobility and joint stability for hyper-flexibility now? If you are a gymnast or circus performer of some kind then this might be required and/or desired, but for most of us this simply isn’t the case as we likely don’t want to be dependant on canes and crutches to get around at the age of 40.

Consider carefully what your goals are and act accordingly

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Tags: Add new tag, Bodybuilding, flexibility, mobility, stretching
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Maintaining Focus

Monday, April 13th, 2009

Even someone as hardcore as myself has those days where staying in bed is a lot more appealing than hitting the weights. No matter how motivated or inspired you’ve been, there will come a day when you just wanna say F it! The first step to overcoming this problem is admitting that it exists. And no I’m not talkin’ “My name is Jay and I am a quitter.”

The best way to get back on track is setting goals – small achievable stepping stones to get you to that ultimate prize at the end. While you might already have a major goal in mind like a contest or maxxing out your bench, larger goals can seem unattainable and can de-motivate you. When your morning alarm starts feeling like the beginning of a prison sentence, make your goals smaller and easier to attain. Add an extra exercise to each training session BEFORE you leap right into another whole session. Bump your weights up by 5 pounds instead of expecting to go right to a 45 pound plate. Go from level 5 to level 6 on the treadmill instead of expecting to run a marathon in a week. Once you’ve set these smaller more reasonable goals, be sure to also reward yourself. Giving yourself something to look forward to can keep you motivated, like a new protein flavor or an extra hour of sleep on the weekend. The key is making sure the reward is not a punishment for your body, but more like a dessert.

I tend to use my fridge for more than just a place to keep chicken breasts, when I need motivation. I’ll put a motivating picture up there or even write my goal for the week down so I see it EVERY day. Keep a running list of all the goals you completed. The longer the list gets – you’ll see how much more motivated you get.

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Letting Loose Without Letting Go

Monday, April 6th, 2009

Dieting is a mental game as much as it is a physical game. Your stomach tells you it wants food by “feeling“ hungry. Your brain tells you it’s hungry by making you think non-stop about that large pizza you could be ordering right now.

So you made it through the sugar, carb and booze-filled holiday season, but no matter the time of year, you’ll always be faced with the dilemma of staying in and practicing Zen-like restraint, or going out with friends and risk blowing your past week of strict dieting – all for a few drinks at the bar. You want to let loose and have a good time, but you’re afraid that will completely derail your diet train.

Not so. You can be smart about it. Sometimes you need a little sanity break from all the chicken breasts and MuscleON. Here are some quick survival tips:

Moderation: When you’re out and the party leads you to the bar, try to reduce the calorie intake by choosing mixed drinks over beer. It will give you the control over what goes in your glass as pure spirits are lower in calories. Pair them with a diet soda or low-calorie drink mix for a lower-calorie buzz.
Move: Keep moving at the party and you’ll work that off before the night’s over. If you’re not one for dancing, at least try to stand as much as possible – you’re naturally going to want to walk around.
If you must: Drink beer, then look online to see which beer has the best taste-to-calorie ratio.
If It Tastes Too Good, It’s Probably Not Good For You: Just avoid the high-fat drinks like cream liqueurs or sugary, girly drinks. Of course, the thought of sipping on an appletini never crossed your mind anyway, did it? I thought not.

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Tags: alcohol, Bodybuilding, dieting, weight training
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Chew vs. Sip – Food Logic

Wednesday, April 1st, 2009

When your fridge has more fungus than a mushroom farm and your cupboards are bare, it’s tempting to consider dropping real food altogether. With the day-to-day grind of work or school and managing a serious training schedule – food prep is sometimes the last thing you want to do. The easy fix – just drink shakes for every meal to keep those nutrient counts high. WRONG! Throw in a good “greens” shake to get your daily veggie count up. And who needs a Foreman Grill right? WRONG AGAIN! While it seems like the easy solution, don’t do it. No matter how little time you have in a day, always try to make at least 50% of you meals solid, functional food.

A nutritional supplement is just that, a supplement. Your diet should be built around whole foods, with your powders and capsules augmenting your daily nutritional needs in the meals you cook. Protein, carbs and fats aside, studies are constantly being released listing the anti-oxidants, vitamins and even enzymes that we previously were unaware we needed have been in whole foods like fruits, veggies and meats all along. The food you eat is fuel, plain and simple. So make sure you balance your meals, whether whole foods and shakes – not just for the purpose of building muscle and strength – but for overall health and function.

Don’t confuse the ease of taking supplements with the necessity of a balanced diet. Someday we may all have flying cars and protein pills, but until then, eat a banana.

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Archive for the ‘Training’ Category

Training Methods and Modalities – German Volume Training

Training Methods and Modalities – Total Body Training

Training Methods and Modalities – Body Part Split Training

How Many Sets?

The Functional Continuum Part II

The Functional Continuum (or is that the Functional Conundrum?) Part I

Flexibility vs. Mobility

Maintaining Focus

Letting Loose Without Letting Go

Chew vs. Sip – Food Logic

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