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| Q: Just got The Art of the Deload. The overtraining study you quoted was fairly jaw dropping (for me). I always thought intensity overtraining was worse than volume, but it appears to be the opposite. Given that study, it would appear to me that the best way to induce hypertrophy (via rep work) would do a 1 set to within 1 rep of failure, then do rest pauses or drops, but not to total failure. Thus, you have minimum nervous system fatigue and little potentially anabolic hormone level lowering volume fatigue. Do you agree?
A: I wouldn't say that one is necessarily worse than the other - just that intensity-related overtraining is tougher to detect. Basically, a performance drop-off is all that you'll see (nothing endocrine, and no muscle damage markers).
I think the secret is fluctuation of training stress. It's always about finding a balance between stressors and tolerance to stress. Supplements can help, sleep can help, minimizing stress can help - and the same goes for a host of other factors. The right answer is constantly fluctuating based on what's going on in the world outside the gym. What you outlined might work one week, be too little another week, and too much in a third week. The secret is to listen to your body and eventually learn to be one step ahead of it.
Eric Cressey
Download My New Special Report: The Art of the Deload |
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| Q: I just ordered and downloaded your e-book, The Art of the Deload. I am going to scour and devour it, I am curious about my situation, I am about to turn 50, I am entering my 22nd year of competitive powerlifting, I am used to linear cycles ( I know, seriously old-school) I have toyed with a Westside type template, where I took their standard Max-effort/Dynamic Effort and rolled it over on a three day program (Mon-Wed-Fri Mon), But, when I jump-started my lifting career last Sept for a Push-Pull meet I went back to the standard linear cycle.
After that long winded intro, here is my dilemma, I have a full meet on the last Sat of April (first time for a full meet in 5 years due to Five knee operations) Would a jump into a deloading cycle help me of hurt me this close to a full meet (Raw, no Gear, and no "Gear")?
I have already written out and started lifting my typical Cycle, Should I "dance with the girl who brung me" or kick the old girl to the curb and consider a cycle with the deloading weeks built in?
A: Thanks for your email - and your purchase.
As you can probably tell from my e-book, I'm not a fan of linear periodization at all. If you look at the research (Rhea et al from Arizona State), you'll see that it's been proven inferior to undulating models on multiple occasions. And, anecdotally, the conjugated periodization have had much more success when they switched away from linear.
And, to be honest, if you've had five knee surgeries in five years, you ought to take some PLANNED deloads so that you don't have to take UNPLANNED ones.
Give this article a read; I think it'd interest you in how I structure my stuff:
You can count backward from the date of your meet. |
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| As of July 1, 2006, the IHRSA reported that there were 29,000 commercial fitness centers/health clubs in the U.S.
Now, this is a few years old - and we're in a growing industry (this number had more than doubled since 1995). So, just for the heck of it (and because I'm not going to search around too hard to find the new info), let's say that there are 32,000 now - plus another 3,000 hotel gyms.
Next, assume that of these 35,000 exercise facilities in the US, 80% have purchased Smith machines; that's 28,000 Smith machines in the country. I've seen these retail at anywhere from $1,000 to $2,500 - so let's just say that retail at $1,500. Figure a 30% profit on each one, and here's what you get:
28,000 x $1,500 = $42 million
$42 million x 30% = $12.6 million
Let's assume that these gyms replace their Smith machine, on average, every three years.
$42 million / 3 years = $14 million
$12.6 million / 3 years = $4.2 million
So what does this tell us?
Smith machines are a $14 million/year industry in the U.S alone.
There may be 42 people in the U.S. grossing six figure incomes from Smith machines alone.
Scary thought....
Now, just imagine: leg extensions are even more popular than Smith machines.
Scary thoughts, indeed. |
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| Q: I have pain in the front of my shoulder just at the end of my range of motion on rows. I thought rows were the universally safe exercise when it comes to shoulder health?
A: Normally, they’re a very safe bet – but as with any exercise, if performed incorrectly (or not matched to individual tolerances), they can cause problems.
This scenario most commonly occurs when the humerus goes into end-ROM extension, but the scapula stops retracting. Generally, this early end to retraction occurs secondary to a tight pec minor, which gets people stuck in protraction and anterior tilt. When you keep forcing extension on a fixed scapula, the humeral head translates forward in the joint capsule – and you can develop anterior shoulder laxity over time. A strong subscapularis can help to resist this anterior pull.
However, if your pec minor and infraspinatus/teres minor are tight, subscapularis is weak, and you’re forcing end-range a bit too hard, it’ll irritate you sooner than later. This is why it’s so important to ensure that the shoulder blade move back AND down as you row. You’ll be in trouble if the scapula tilts anteriorly as you approach end-range.
Obviously, there are a ton of other factors at work with shoulder function, but this is a good Cliff’s Notes version to what’s going on with you.
Eric Cressey
Click here to purchase the most comprehensive shoulder resource available today: Optimal Shoulder Performance - From Rehabilitation to High Performance. |
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| Q: I have a question for you in regards to your Off-Season Training Manual. In regards to writing programs and actually doing them, how important is lifting the heaviest weight possible always?
I am for the first time getting out of progressive overload style progression and I like the layout of High, Medium, Very High, Deload. I have already started to incorporate this into my training program.
At the same time, I am fuzzy on exactly how to figure out how much weight I should be putting up week-in, week-out. With progressive overload it was pretty easier. If I did the weight one week, I move up the next.
I have read through the entire thread and you've only mentioned that you should always be using the heaviest possible weight. Maybe I'm over thinking this, but in my mind adding weight while removing volume is essentially the same amount of work. i.e. If I drop a set when moving from high to medium, but add 10lbs to the working weight, am I really even doing a medium amount of work? Regardless, I guess any general advice on your strategy in regards to actual weight on the bar management would be good.
A: You have to listen to your body. No, you aren't going to PR every time you walk in the gym, but it is still important to get some work in. I've often said that programming is 75% in advance, and 25% on the fly. You need to learn to roll with the punches and listen to your body.
Additionally, it's important to learn to understand how rotating your heaviest compound exercises plays into this. You'll see that in the programs in the book, you change every other week. More advanced lifters can change weekly. Novice lifters can go 4-6 weeks without plateauing. Understand where you fall and act accordingly.
Eric Cressey |
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Q: I have a question about your latest blog post. In the question, that was ask, you talk about Dr. Eric Cobb saying "Strength training 'cements' your neural patterns." How does strength training affect your neural patterns vs. repetitive motion with no weight (i.e., weighted squats vs. body weight squats).
A: Give this article a read:
http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=1406720
In particular, pay attention to the Law of Repetitive Motion (#7), which we cover in detail in our Building the Efficient Athlete DVD set. Resistance is the "F" in the equation - and you can use that equation to iron out imbalances in the same way it causes imbalances in the opposite direction (hopefully that makes sense).
Reps are still important – and light weights are the way to go early on when you’re trying to groove appropriate movement patterns. As an example, we can do supine bridges and birddogs to get the glutes firing in our warm-ups, but the real meat and potatoes in terms of ironing out quad vs. posterior chain dominance and improper glute-ham-adductor-lumbar erector firing patterns comes when we add in loaded single-leg movements, deadlifts, box squats, glute-ham raises, and pull-throughs.
Best,
EC |
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| Q: Eric – I read your article, “It Looked Good on Paper,” where you recommended the following for an experienced lifter who is too weak for his cross-sectional area:
Week 1: 8 singles over 90%
Week 2: 6 singles over 90%
Week 3: 10 singles over 90%
Week 4: 2 singles over 90%, or 2x3 easy (5RM load)
My questions are:
1. Do you test out each week?
2. How many times do you do this protocol per week for an exercise - once I am assuming or am I incorrect.
3. When you hit failure just after PR , how do you approach the next set. Drop down slightly and try stay at the highest possible load or back off fully to the drop off threshold and try work back up again (does it matter)?
A: This would only be performed once a week on a lower and/or upper body day. There are essentially tests built in to each session.
For the singles over 90% stuff, how you get those numbers will depend on your best for the day. Here's what it might look like on a bench for you:
45x10
135x5
185x3
205x1
225x1
230x1 (PR for the day) - 90% of 230 is 207, so only the 225x1 would count toward your total (you've got two over 90% by this point)
So, to get five more singles, you'd take between 210 and 220 for your remaining sets.
If you MISS a rep, count it as two singles over 90%. The idea is to NOT miss reps, though.
Remember that you aren't going to be using the same exercise each week; you'll want to rotate more frequently than that. |
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Q: I want to ask for some advice on transforming my body so that I can become an elite athlete.
Current Stats :
Age - 17
Height - 193cm
Weight - 85kg
Gender - Male
My goals are :
- Increase speed and vertical leap
- Get bigger and stronger
- Increase flexibility and range of motion
- Improve endurance level
- Keep body fat percentage low
- Improve basketball skills (eg shooting, passing, dribbling)
The sport that I compete in is basketball. I do MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) as training and for fun as well.
What sort of training should I do considering what my goals are and what sports I am doing?
I have done lots of research on athletic improvement but there is so much information out there and it is hard to know what information I should use. None of the countless number of training books and programs I have bought tailors specifically to what my goals are either; I’ve read DeFranco, Cosgrove, Ferruggia, and Baggett.
A: 1. Recognize that you cannot ride two horses with one saddle. It's very difficult to develop endurance and maximal strength/power simultaneously, but at your age, it's still likely a possibility. Strength endurance is dependent on maximal strength, so if you get stronger, you'll automatically improve endurance-wise regardless of what endurance-specific activities you do.
2. There are many ways to skin a cat. DeFranco, Baggett, Cosgrove, and Ferruggia are all good friends of mine and all of them get results. Additionally, there are hundreds of other coaches getting results - and all of them are using unique programs. What you'll find is that we all agree on the 90% and play around with the leftover 10%. And, what you’re also find is that no matter how well written a book is, it’ll never cater to your specific situation perfectly.
3. A large portion (probably 75%) of my athletes are your age, and I have an appreciation for what it takes for you to compete at the next level, if that's of interest to you. Right now, focus on becoming a better ATHLETE before you work overtime becoming a better basketball player, MMA fighter, etc. Can you jump rope? Can you do a clean push-up? Can you even skip? How about sprint mechanics; are they good? If you're like most of the kids who walk into Cressey Performance on Day 1, the answer is NO - and we need to backtrack a bit.
If the answer is YES, you need to take into account your injury history and some performance testing. In my Off-Season Training Manual, I talk about tests to determine whether you need more strength, more reactive work, or a combination of the two. Generally speaking, basketball guys are a lot of the strength component with some lower volume reactive work at strategic points in the off-season.
Eric Cressey |
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| To some, resistance training is the Rodney Dangerfield of the running community; it gets no respect. To others, it’s like Tom Cruise; runners think it might be useful, but it just doesn’t make any sense to them. And then, there are those to whom resistance training is like Abraham Lincoln; it’s freed them from being slaves to ineffective programming. As a performance enhancement specialist who has a lot of “Abe” endurance athletes under my tutelage, I’d like to take this opportunity to bring the Rodney and Tom runners in the crowd up to speed. With that in mind, let’s look at the five most prominent myths present in the running community with respect to resistance training
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| If you're an athlete - you must squat. Period. This straight-to-the-point gives you 10 tips you can use right away to instantly increase your squat strength, which means more strength on the combat field!
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LEARN
HOW TO
DEADLIFT
- Avoid the most common deadlifting mistakes
- 9 - minute instructional video
- 3 part follow up series
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