"Doing more exercise with less intensity,"
Arthur Jones believes, "has all but
destroyed the actual great value
of weight training. Something
must be done . . . and quickly."
The New Bodybuilding for
Old-School Results supplies
MUCH of that "something."
This is one of 93 photos of Andy McCutcheon that are used in The New High-Intensity Training to illustrate the recommended exercises.
To find out more about McCutcheon and his training, click here.
Inspirational as always T! That's some deadlift...tape and all.
I was told back in 1983, by the best knee specialist here, that I'd never squat again! Devastated I walked back to my car in a daze. To add insult to injury, he said "as an experiment I'd like to relocate and reattach your knee tendon".
When I got home my dad gave me the best advice ever; "you know your body better than him, do what you feel is right". So I started slowly building up my squat poundage, and as it rose so did my knee stability. I came to realise what had happened ... as a martial arts instructor, running two dojos, I was kicking for hours 6-7 days a week. And over time my outer-quads built up at the sake of my inner quads, pulling my knee out of alignment.
The day of the operation, which I had canceled, the specialist called saying "you have to come for the operation, the theatre and anesthetist are booked and we are waiting". But I was adamant and ignored him (thank God I did, as a brown belt judo friend of mine underwent a similar operation and she walked with a limp ever since).
The day I squatted 400lb I wanted to take a photo and send it to him...but I refrained.
It takes a lot to bounce back from an injury, and I admire anyone who does. Kudos.
Bench press : @ 80% 8 sets x 3 reps / Suspended row : 8 sets x 10 reps.
KB Complex ( snatch , press , clean n press ) : 3 cycles x 5 reps each.
Fat bar curl / Pushdowns : 3 cycles x 10 reps
Band pull aparts : 3 sets x 50 reps
Aiming to progress my 80% effort on my main lift over some 5-6 weeks whilst increasing the intensity of my assistance/hypertrophy work . I have a nice holiday booked for 6 weeks time and it gives me something to aim to be `in condition` for.
I'm finally considering adding the trap bar deadlift. I used to perform regular deadlifts many years ago and never had an issue with them on my lower back. Comparatively, squats are out of the question as the disc compression from the weight on my shoulders gives me issue from a barbell squatting injury 25 yrs ago (I was young, using too much weight, leaning forwarding too much which is easy at nearly 6'3").
Turpin, I am looking at the trap bar with raised handles since I am taller it seems like it would be more beneficial for me...any thoughts on this? Thanks.
I also have 4 x 4 blocks of wood that go under the large 45-pound plates (this raises the whole thing up by 4 inches, obviously). This allows clients over six feet tall to still deadlift where the hands meet the knees or slightly below without placing too much strain on the spine.
I'm finally considering adding the trap bar deadlift. I used to perform regular deadlifts many years ago and never had an issue with them on my lower back. Comparatively, squats are out of the question as the disc compression from the weight on my shoulders gives me issue from a barbell squatting injury 25 yrs ago (I was young, using too much weight, leaning forwarding too much which is easy at nearly 6'3").
Turpin, I am looking at the trap bar with raised handles since I am taller it seems like it would be more beneficial for me...any thoughts on this? Thanks.
Cheers HH , The trap bar has been a revelation for me and has taken my training to a new level since I started using it.
The bar advertised is almost identical that which I use , with both high and low bar hand positions ( I simply flip it over and use the low bar position ) . I look forward to hearing how you get along with it.
Brian Johnston wrote:
I also have 4 x 4 blocks of wood that go under the large 45-pound plates (this raises the whole thing up by 4 inches, obviously). This allows clients over six feet tall to still deadlift where the hands meet the knees or slightly below without placing too much strain on the spine.
Yeah, I was thinking of some sort of platform perhaps.
I'm finally considering adding the trap bar deadlift. I used to perform regular deadlifts many years ago and never had an issue with them on my lower back. Comparatively, squats are out of the question as the disc compression from the weight on my shoulders gives me issue from a barbell squatting injury 25 yrs ago (I was young, using too much weight, leaning forwarding too much which is easy at nearly 6'3").
Turpin, I am looking at the trap bar with raised handles since I am taller it seems like it would be more beneficial for me...any thoughts on this? Thanks.
Cheers HH , The trap bar has been a revelation for me and has taken my training to a new level since I started using it.
The bar advertised is almost identical that which I use , with both high and low bar hand positions ( I simply flip it over and use the low bar position ) . I look forward to hearing how you get along with it.
Cheers HH , The trap bar has been a revelation for me and has taken my training to a new level since I started using it.
The bar advertised is almost identical that which I use , with both high and low bar hand positions ( I simply flip it over and use the low bar position ) . I look forward to hearing how you get along with it.
T.
I recall reading years ago that the original Trap bar was invented by a powerlifter named Al Gerard so that he could deadlift pain free. A straight bar bothered his back. Apparently he used the trap bar right up to a powerlifting meet and never had any trouble switching over to a barbell. The Shrug/Hex/Trap bar is an excellent tool!. It can be good for parallel grip overhead presses and bent rows as well depending on the width of the handles. Add partial high pull/upright rows as well to this list.
Gironda dip : 32-33" hand spacing ( I use the reverse grip method , knuckles facing ) head down , chin on chest , shoulders rounded , feet forward , elbows tracking wide ( not back ) and emphasise the stretch position . A great pectoral exercise that ( contrary to others concerns ) has only realised benefit and posed zero issues , shoulder or otherwise.
Training has been going well lately . I have been concentrating on maximising volume at 80% effort culminating in 10 sets x 5 reps on my main lifts over the last week or so.
I have found that the high volume / lower intensity ( intensity = weight lifted ) has plumped out my musculature a little ... now I move forward to a higher intensity / lower volume period for some 6 weeks building to a maximum effort on each lift.
Gironda dip : 32-33" hand spacing ( I use the reverse grip method , knuckles facing ) head down , chin on chest , shoulders rounded , feet forward , elbows tracking wide ( not back ) and emphasise the stretch position . A great pectoral exercise that ( contrary to others concerns ) has only realised benefit and posed zero issues , shoulder or otherwise.
T.
Good to see someone using Gironda Dips. A wonderful but sadly neglected chest exercise. I tried them years ago using parallel bars and nearly dislocated my elbow. A V-shaped bar or a set of Fatgripz on parallel bars have worked a treat. Feels more natural than traditional Dips too.
Good to see someone using Gironda Dips. A wonderful but sadly neglected chest exercise. I tried them years ago using parallel bars and nearly dislocated my elbow. A V-shaped bar or a set of Fatgripz on parallel bars have worked a treat. Feels more natural than traditional Dips too.
Best,
Ray
Yep , I include a lot of Vince's ideas in my training . He was controversial but never wavered in his beliefs and ideals , AND his methods had merit ( lots ! ).
You are correct , the bars for the dips needs to be of correct width ( 33" or so ) in order to facilitate the desired elbow flare ( out to the sides , never back ) otherwise the effectiveness of the exercise is negated . I got these purpose made as I couldn't find a commercial set that fitted the bill.
Brian Johnston wrote:
...Two things got me to 100%... using the MedX low back machine and regularly working (massaging with a therapy ball) my gluteals. I was surprised as to how much low back tightness and pain was caused by knots in my glutes.
In any case, I'm with Turpin... avoiding certain things, particularly those that DEVELOP and STRENGTHEN the lumbar muscles, when a problem exists in the lumbar region, often is not the best thing to do. Of course, every situation is unique.
A few years back, when I was having sacroiliac (SI) issues, I went to my chiro. After treating the area in question, he also noted how tight my glutes and outer hip muscles were.
Regular stretching in this area has helped keep the SI spasms at bay. And, as recommended by our vilified former member Josh T, I regularly include Hip Add work (every 2 weeks).
I have also resigned myself to the fact that my BB Squatting days are behind me. BUT, my quads are doing just fine on a variety of other squats: Pivot, Goblet, and Bulgarian Split styles. I also rotate in Leg Ext and Presses time to time, as part of my HDT/Variety program.
Good to see someone using Gironda Dips. A wonderful but sadly neglected chest exercise. I tried them years ago using parallel bars and nearly dislocated my elbow. A V-shaped bar or a set of Fatgripz on parallel bars have worked a treat. Feels more natural than traditional Dips too.
Best,
Ray
Yep , I include a lot of Vince's ideas in my training . He was controversial but never wavered in his beliefs and ideals , AND his methods had merit ( lots ! ).
You are correct , the bars for the dips needs to be of correct width ( 33" or so ) in order to facilitate the desired elbow flare ( out to the sides , never back ) otherwise the effectiveness of the exercise is negated . I got these purpose made as I couldn't find a commercial set that fitted the bill.
T.
I was never sure about the width required as Vince's suggestion (82cm according to the IronGuru website)seemed to be for everyone. But, yes, having got the pronation right I'm surprised how comfortable it feels. Amazing exercise. Incidentally, have you seen this:
Turin, nice workout and video.
Couple questions.
1.Your 10x5 sets at 80%, how many reps left in tank after each set.
2. How much rest between sets.
Thanks,
Just looking through your log, can I ask you some questions? (Your consistent effort and success, IMO, makes you a very valuable poster on this board)
If you don't mind, love to know..
1) You mentioned how the low volume higher intensity caused you to lose musculature, can you expand on that?
2) I noticed your meals, they seem to be lower carb. One day you posted you ate 4 times, mostly just good foods, low carb, a good amount of protein. It surprised me as I would have guessed you ate 5-6 times a day and a LOT more food. Have you ever mapped out your daily calories, carbs, protein and so forth?
3) When you do the multiple sets, cumulative fatigue workouts, how much rest between sets? How close to failure is your last set of that scenario?
4) I think you said you mostly succeeded with an ABA BAB rotation, like 1/2 the body day one, other half day 3, back to first 1/2 day 5, etc, is that right?
Good to see someone using Gironda Dips. A wonderful but sadly neglected chest exercise. I tried them years ago using parallel bars and nearly dislocated my elbow. A V-shaped bar or a set of Fatgripz on parallel bars have worked a treat. Feels more natural than traditional Dips too.
Best,
Ray
Yep , I include a lot of Vince's ideas in my training . He was controversial but never wavered in his beliefs and ideals , AND his methods had merit ( lots ! ).
You are correct , the bars for the dips needs to be of correct width ( 33" or so ) in order to facilitate the desired elbow flare ( out to the sides , never back ) otherwise the effectiveness of the exercise is negated . I got these purpose made as I couldn't find a commercial set that fitted the bill.
T.
I was never sure about the width required as Vince's suggestion (82cm according to the IronGuru website)seemed to be for everyone. But, yes, having got the pronation right I'm surprised how comfortable it feels. Amazing exercise. Incidentally, have you seen this:
Daryl Conant ( the guy in the video ) has done much to publicise Vince`s methods BUT I don't agree that this is `correct` form . What is exhibited here is an exaggeration of the movement that actually takes away from the benefit of the exercise.
Vinces way ( as in my pic ) was with the feet just in front of the face ( not straight out )with the body making a soft crescent shape . To raise the legs only serves to unnecessarily bring into play the psoas and hip flexors , none of which will contribute to the pec involvement.
gdm wrote:
Turin, nice workout and video.
Couple questions.
1.Your 10x5 sets at 80%, how many reps left in tank after each set.
2. How much rest between sets.
Thanks,
Thank you , the 10 sets x 5 reps is with around my 8 rep max ( single set ).
I take around 2-3 mins between Heavy working sets and 1 min rest between my lighter accessory work.
Just looking through your log, can I ask you some questions? (Your consistent effort and success, IMO, makes you a very valuable poster on this board)
If you don't mind, love to know..
1) You mentioned how the low volume higher intensity caused you to lose musculature, can you expand on that?
2) I noticed your meals, they seem to be lower carb. One day you posted you ate 4 times, mostly just good foods, low carb, a good amount of protein. It surprised me as I would have guessed you ate 5-6 times a day and a LOT more food. Have you ever mapped out your daily calories, carbs, protein and so forth?
3) When you do the multiple sets, cumulative fatigue workouts, how much rest between sets? How close to failure is your last set of that scenario?
4) I think you said you mostly succeeded with an ABA BAB rotation, like 1/2 the body day one, other half day 3, back to first 1/2 day 5, etc, is that right?
Thanks if you have the time, cheers dude!
Thank you,
1. The low volume / high intensity and subsequent low frequency realised a loss of both condition AND musculature . I believe this to be due to the smaller ( faster recovering ) musculature only receiving secondary stimulus (when using the consolidated routine )and was realising a degree of atrophy due to both the lack of direct stimulus AND the lack of frequent exposure . I could not increase the exposure lest my recovery from all out effort suffered further ( even NTF ).
2. I eat high fat / moderate protein / low carb and average 3 meals daily. The higher fats suit me better as an energy source and they satiate longer without the subsequent high / low blood sugar spikes associated with higher carb eating programmes. I eat every 6 hrs or thereabouts which allows full/proper digestion of my food before the process begins again. At age 50yrs this works for me , maybe not for others.
3. 2-3 mins on my main Heavy working sets and around 1 min on my accessory work . I never go near failure on my main lifts , but my last set on accessory work comes pretty close and is hard to complete.
4. YES , upper / lower split . Actually the split revolves around my main lifts 1. Squat & accessory 2. OHP & accessory 3. Deadlift & accessory 4. Bench press & accessory ... but in effect it becomes ONE DAY upper & ANOTHER DAY lower body emphasis work.
Good to see someone using Gironda Dips. A wonderful but sadly neglected chest exercise. I tried them years ago using parallel bars and nearly dislocated my elbow. A V-shaped bar or a set of Fatgripz on parallel bars have worked a treat. Feels more natural than traditional Dips too.
Best,
Ray
Yep , I include a lot of Vince's ideas in my training . He was controversial but never wavered in his beliefs and ideals , AND his methods had merit ( lots ! ).
You are correct , the bars for the dips needs to be of correct width ( 33" or so ) in order to facilitate the desired elbow flare ( out to the sides , never back ) otherwise the effectiveness of the exercise is negated . I got these purpose made as I couldn't find a commercial set that fitted the bill.
T.
I was never sure about the width required as Vince's suggestion (82cm according to the IronGuru website)seemed to be for everyone. But, yes, having got the pronation right I'm surprised how comfortable it feels. Amazing exercise. Incidentally, have you seen this:
Daryl Conant ( the guy in the video ) has done much to publicise Vince`s methods BUT I don't agree that this is `correct` form . What is exhibited here is an exaggeration of the movement that actually takes away from the benefit of the exercise.
Vinces way ( as in my pic ) was with the feet just in front of the face ( not straight out )with the body making a soft crescent shape . To raise the legs only serves to unnecessarily bring into play the psoas and hip flexors , none of which will contribute to the pec involvement.
T.
Yes, as far as I'm aware, Gironda said to go as low as you can comfortably go. Conant makes great play on being personally trained by Gironda so maybe such an excessive ROM is okay for him. How he will be in the future, though, is another matter.
Again, nice to see your videos and progress. Always something to learn.
Hey thanks a bunch for answering all my questions!
(I commented below each paragraph below)
Thank you,
1. The low volume / high intensity and subsequent low frequency realised a loss of both condition AND musculature . I believe this to be due to the smaller ( faster recovering ) musculature only receiving secondary stimulus (when using the consolidated routine )and was realising a degree of atrophy due to both the lack of direct stimulus AND the lack of frequent exposure . I could not increase the exposure lest my recovery from all out effort suffered further ( even NTF ).
Interesting, I had found that too with very low volume and low frequency, some strength but it stalled , but a loss of size
2. I eat high fat / moderate protein / low carb and average 3 meals daily. The higher fats suit me better as an energy source and they satiate longer without the subsequent high / low blood sugar spikes associated with higher carb eating programmes. I eat every 6 hrs or thereabouts which allows full/proper digestion of my food before the process begins again. At age 50yrs this works for me , maybe not for others.
What got you eating like this?
I did that all last winter and now still lower carb but not super low carb. I was overweight and having some glucose tolerance issues and it's the recipe for helping that. I've seen others who have no glucose issues also eat low carb just for health reasons.
I always wondered IF a person could really make muscle gains eating like that though, and you now show that they sure can! Very cool, apparantly the research is right and carbs are NOT needed for muscle gains like they used to think.
3. 2-3 mins on my main Heavy working sets and around 1 min on my accessory work . I never go near failure on my main lifts , but my last set on accessory work comes pretty close and is hard to complete.
OK, cool, so big heavy, take a good rest.
4. YES , upper / lower split . Actually the split revolves around my main lifts 1. Squat & accessory 2. OHP & accessory 3. Deadlift & accessory 4. Bench press & accessory ... but in effect it becomes ONE DAY upper & ANOTHER DAY lower body emphasis work.
T.
OK, cool. Snapshot then is 3 days a week, upper lower split 'basically' then, very cool.
Thanks again, really appreciate the detailed info.!
Daryl Conant ( the guy in the video ) has done much to publicise Vince`s methods BUT I don't agree that this is `correct` form . What is exhibited here is an exaggeration of the movement that actually takes away from the benefit of the exercise.
Vinces way ( as in my pic ) was with the feet just in front of the face ( not straight out )with the body making a soft crescent shape . To raise the legs only serves to unnecessarily bring into play the psoas and hip flexors , none of which will contribute to the pec involvement.
T.
.....................
Yes, as far as I'm aware, Gironda said to go as low as you can comfortably go. Conant makes great play on being personally trained by Gironda so maybe such an excessive ROM is okay for him. How he will be in the future, though, is another matter.
Again, nice to see your videos and progress. Always something to learn.
Best,
Ray
Daryl Conant admits he only conversed with Vince via telephone and thru booklet courses , he never did visit the gym or meet him in person.
What he demonstrates is his interpretation of the Gironda dip. I have seen all manner of interpretations of this exercise but the Above ( pic ) is Larry Scott performing the exercise as intended and the way I interpret the move too.
Gotcha! So, not exactly following the advice of Gironda verbatim. Highly unlikely that video would attract many to the exercise or Gironda's ideas in general.
Not seen the Scott photo. But that's close to how I see the exercise. Thanks for posting it.
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