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Started By Jeff (Toronto, M5T, Canada)

Started on: 8/23/2006 9:07:48 PM, viewed 1865 times
For Nick

Nick,

I hope you don′t mind me doing this, I just didn′t want my training log turning into yours 🙂

I just wanted to comment on a few things you posted on my thread, as I think I can give you a little bit of an explanation based on my experiences.

1) " HereŒs a couple of observations, my arms have grown half an inch. I look bigger while caliper readings are the same. "

– At the beginning you′ll get a relatively small glycogen increase which will leave when you reduce your calories later on. Perhaps 1/4" of your increase is glycogen, but the rest will be growth. This is not a bad thing but part of the process, so just go with it and expect it to leave later on.

2) " I have increased strength in reps and/or weight every workout. Its interesting, and Im suprised as I only gain one rep every 2 – 3 weeks on the cons routine. Im still not sure whats going on. "

– You′re experiencing another learning curve here. The more often you do a movement, within your recovery abilities, the better you become at it. In other words, you′ll get better at exercise A faster if you "practice" it twice a week as opposed to once every 3 weeks, as long as you are still within your recovery ability, which you are. This pace will slow as you get more into the intermediate to advance stages.

3) " I say this because, on the first exercise its clear that I am definately stronger, but as you get to the end of the routine of multiple sets, the more drained you become and the less weight you can use. So when it comes to squats….which are near the end….my strength is not up but the same. "

– Which plan are you using? On plan A, Squats are the first exercise? With plan B-D, they′re in the middle I think. I left my book in Holland so I can′t refer to it.

4) "That would show that I am not gaining any muscle……BUT…I understand that I will be very fatigued at that stage and that is a definate factor that will affect my strength. So its hard to tell really. If I manage to increase my strength in squats compared to my current records using HD then I will be convinced that I am gaining muscle without doupt. But until then, although I am suprised, Im still cant be sure about anything yet. "

– Be careful not to equate a lack of demonstratable strength gain with a lack of muscle gain. You mentioned immediate fatigue in the above quotation, but don′t forget accumulated fatigue. The obvious thing to do is to complete the 6 week cycle and then see how fast your strength goes up on a well designed deload. That′s essentially a crude explanation of how this stuff goes.

Again, I hope you don′t mind me doing this. If you want, you can use this as your observation thread.

Cheers Nick,

Jeff

This Topic has 32 Replies: Displaying out of 32 Replies:

KR0ME (London, S, England) on 8/24/2006 1:41:01 PM

No I dont mind Jeff, it cool. I′ll keep you posted.

undercover911 (Columbus, Ohio, U.S.A.) on 8/24/2006 2:36:47 PM

Jeff, You indicated in previous posts that HD wasn"t working for you. Did you ever get to the point where you could dip four 45 pound plates strapped to your waist, Deadlifts at 500 pounds. Well I am doing this and my arms,chest,triceps,back, and legs look like they are going to explode. What is the use of doing HD training if you aren"t going to maximize your potenti

al. I feel you did not incorporate the practical application properly. That being intensity, volume, and frequency. I am training several people and they are growing like weeds. I do not believe you are an exception to HD.

Jeff (Toronto, M5T, Canada) on 8/24/2006 3:01:59 PM

I never got to those poundages EXPERT. In fact, after 7 years of fooling with frequency, volume, and various intensity techniques, following Mike′s theory, I never made it to very impressive poundages at all. I couldn′t bench two plates, had a Dead PR of 340 lbs, with questionable form, and had trouble getting past my bodyweight with chins and dips. So, what is your point? Gaining strength is necessary in the quest for bigger muscles, but unfortunately HD Theory and practice never gave me the strength gains once I got past the initial newbie gain period. I should have left it after the first 6 months, but I instead messed around for another 6+ years.

If you can make impressive strength gains long term doing barely any work, lucky you. My genetics just aren′t that good. If I want to become more advanced, I need more advanced training. Oddly, when I simply started training more, my progress took off. This completely contradicts HD theory, which says I should have overtrained and shrunk.

" Did you ever get to the point where you could dip four 45 pound plates strapped to your waist, Deadlifts at 500 pounds. Well I am doing this and my arms,chest,triceps,back, and legs look like they are going to explode. "

– I am sure that I will look like I am "going to explode" when I can lift those poundages. HD wasn′t getting me anywhere near there anytime soon.

" What is the use of doing HD training if you aren"t going to maximize your potential. "

– I apparently did maximize my potential, my HD potential that is. It just turns out that my potential with HD at that time was well off what my maximium potential is.

Cheers,

Jeff

Tdrag (Belgrade, Serbia, Serbia) on 8/24/2006 4:35:58 PM

hey hitEXPERT how often do you train?Also can you post some pics? With that development you have nothing to hide and also you would fortify the beliefes of many hitters – best you could do for HD community.

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