hi guys, thanks for the responses.
I generally would agree with all the things you’re saying, but after a few years of training and training on my own (I trained myself my last two years of high school, and have been in both the sprinter and thrower groups at college, so i’ve seen a ton of variety in my training as far as the weight room goes), I think that what I am doing is the best route for me (short term) and that my program will move more towards what you guys are suggesting starting in april and that you may be misled by the amount of text that are in my posts. granted, i will definitely consider your input since i am pretty much writing my program weekly at this point (unsure of nearest competition, may not be until next spring)
rb34, I agree I overdid volume in the workouts. keep in mind though, for exercises like squat or clean, I was lifting at about 50% of my max. and for the 2x10 stuff I wasn’t even very close to failure. I’ve found that as far as muscular growth, I tend to respond much better to high volume, low intensity, at least while my fitness levels are low. the soreness is practically unbearable, but once I start doing technical work again (throwing drills) I will have to lower volume so that I am fresher for specific work. two weeks from now i plan to do 6 reps per set of the primary lifts so for squat it look something like this 5x6 squat@185,225,275,295,295. I just happen to not only be currently out of shape, but awful as far as reps go compared to maxes (put up 215 in the bench when I couldn’t 3 rep 185 at a point)
boldwarrior, ironically, that’s what i’ve been telling many of the kids on my team who simply aren’t adding muscle, yet eating more and moving less never seemed to work for me. for some reason, if i eat more than I need, I tend to just get an upset stomach and go to the bathroom much more often, I have a feeling my body just spits out what it doesn’t need. I can barely add any bodyfat, even if i don’t workout and eat as unhealthy and as much as i can, i never gain any belly fat. i recently began receiving treatment for a sleeping disorder, and since that has started, I’ve seen very quick gains in muscle mass, without eating nearly as much as before. what I will be curious to see is once I get up to the 150 lbs range (about the heaviest I’ve ever been) if I will continue to gain weight. also, as far as time spent in the gym, it usually looks like this for me:
-bodybuilding phase 15’ warm-up, 45’ exercise, 15’ cool-down
-spp 30’ warm-up, 1 hr event work, 1 hr exercise, 30’ cool-down
i know it look like a lot of volume, but its really just two lifts (with the first few being warm-ups, just at a high rep range and low fitness couldn’t move weight up), 2 middle intensity circuits and a couple injury prevention exercises then core. could definitely fit it into 30’ if i was diligent. and i actually am trying to stay away from just compound lifts because I tend to see lots of growth in my chest, back, quads but barely any in my limbs. even if just for aesthetics (i’m so far out of season anyways), i’m trying to even out my build
I eat a lot anyways, naturally. i’ve never seen more results from eating more, but if i let myself ever be hungry, yes, i drop weight fast. so long as i keep my stomach from growling, i will tend to add or hold weight even. if i’m getting stronger and getting sore, i add muscle. if i’m not, i stay the same weight. i think making sure i’m constantly overloading/surprising my muscles is very important for me. whereas i didn’t seem to respond to any speed work that my hs coach, colege coach or i gave myself, strength gains have always come very easy to me. just i also lose them very fast so the fact that i lift very light for most of the last 4 spring seasons mean i lose like 75% of my yearly gains each outdoor season. as a thrower, i bet this wont happen
Janic, my lifting over the last 6 months or so actually sounds pretty similar to what you are saying. what i found, is i was consistently adding a couple pounds of weight every easier week (did 65%, 75%, 85%, 70%, 80%, 90%… type of pattern) but not in heavier weeks. i plan to up intensity linearly and to unload every 3rd or 4th week. i’m just starting april with some submax, high volume work because I usually see huge gains from it, but only if its done while my fitness levels are pretty low. as I get closer to doing specific work, I will move away from high volume and more towards looking to get some heavy weight on the bar with primary lifts. i also plateau if i don’t unload, and i almost never see anything bu benefits from easy weeks, so long as the few before it were challenging