One of my key operating principles is that two successive workouts should be as dissimilar as possible, given whatever constraints you happen to have. The negative effects of fatigue that accumulate from a given activity are more specific to similar subsequent activities than they are to dissimilar activities.
Here’s a simple example of this principle in action. Let’s say you’re planning to perform two upper body workouts per session. You’re first session might look like this:
A-1) Barbell Incline Press
A-2) Chest-Supported Row
B-1) Lying Dumbbell Tricep Extension
So in the above hypothetical, you’ve got a nice balanced session consisting of direct work for the chest, bask, triceps, and biceps. Needless to say, you’ll want to train these same muscles again on day two, but in a different way. One possibility might look like this:
A-1) Dips
A-2) Pullups
B-1) Tricep Pushdowns
B-2) Standing Hammer Curls
Now we’re working the same overall muscle groups that we trained in day one, but hitting those muscles from different angles, using different exercises.
Yet another way to introduce additional variety is to use varied set/rep brackets. This is especially useful when you need (or just want) to do the same exercise(s) in two successive sessions.
So if, for example, you squat twice a week (and I’d argue that if you did this, you’d still be better off varying the type of squat you do each session, such as back squat followed by front squat), you could use heavier weights for low reps on day one, and lighter weights for higher reps on day two. By varying the training stimulus in this way, you’ll recover better from session to session.
This Week’s Training
Weekly Training Volume: 48,032 lbs (Last Week’s Volume: 56,295 lbs)
This was a productive week, although I’ve certainly felt the fatigue from the previous two weeks of high volume. This week I performed the third workout from the Matt Kroc deadlift cycle, which entailed 400lbs (5×1). I certainly hope the old saying, “Fitness is masked by fatigue” is true, because lemme tell ya, those five singles were crazy hard!
Aside from that, most of my key lifts were strong and my body comp has been responding positively as well. Thanks everyone, and if you’ve got question or comments, I’m always pleased to hear them.
Significant Lifts:
- Cambered Bar Squat 275×5
- Dumbbell Bench 95’s x8
Monday, June 30, 2014, 5:10 PM
Bodyweight: 202.4 lbs
Volume: 20,175 lbs
CAMBERED BAR SQUAT
Set 1: 65 lbs × 5
Set 2: 115 lbs × 5
Set 3: 155 lbs × 5
Set 4: 205 lbs × 5
Set 5: 245 lbs × 5
Set 6: 275 lbs × 5
BACK EXTENSION
Set 1: 135 lbs × 10
Set 2: 135 lbs × 10
Set 3: 135 lbs × 10
SWINGS
Set 1: 100 lbs × 15
Set 2: 100 lbs × 15
Set 3: 100 lbs × 15
LEG EXTENSION
Set 1: 165 lbs × 10
Set 2: 165 lbs × 10
Set 3: 165 lbs × 10
Wednesday, July 2, 2014, 1:00 PM
Bodyweight: 201.4 lbs
Volume: 11,977 lbs
BENCH PRESS
Set 1: 45 lbs × 5
Set 2: 95 lbs × 5
Set 3: 135 lbs × 5
Set 4: 165 lbs × 3
Set 5: 195 lbs × 3
Set 6: 195 lbs × 3
Set 7: 195 lbs × 3
Set 8: 195 lbs × 3
Set 9: 195 lbs × 5
Set 1: 9 reps
Set 2: 8 reps
Set 3: 7 reps
Set 4: 6 reps
BICEP CURL
Set 1: 75 lbs × 10
Friday, July 4, 2014, 1:10 PM
Bodyweight: 200.6 lbs
Volume: 4,570 lbs
DEADLIFT
Set 1: 135 lbs × 3
Set 2: 135 lbs × 3
Set 3: 135 lbs × 3
Set 4: 225 lbs × 3
Set 5: 315 lbs × 1
Set 6: 365 lbs × 1
Set 7: 400 lbs × 1
Set 8: 400 lbs × 1
Set 9: 400 lbs × 1
Set 10: 400 lbs × 1
Set 11: 400 lbs × 1
Saturday, July 5, 2014, 8:43 AM
Bodyweight: 200.2 lbs
Volume: 11,310 lbs
BENCH PRESS (DUMBBELL)
Set 1: 100 lbs × 15
Set 2: 145 lbs × 12
Set 3: 190 lbs × 8 (Video Below)
Set 4: 130 lbs × 15
CHEST-SUPPORTED ROW
Set 1: 100 lbs × 8
Set 2: 100 lbs × 8
Set 3: 100 lbs × 8
Set 4: 100 lbs × 8
BICEP CURL (DUMBBELL)
Set 1: 70 lbs × 10
Set 2: 70 lbs × 10
A big believer in practicing what he preaches, Charles Staley trains and competes just like his clients. Every Friday you can read what Charles has done this week in his workout sessions.
