Almost There.
Almost back to baseline.
For me to start feeling "strong," or at least semi-strong, I need to be able to hit 185kg/405lbs on the BSQ for a triple. I should be there in about 16-17 days. Not a lot of weight for sure, but like I said, this is "baseline."
I've been very impressed with how my body's responded to this last squat cycle. My strength has come back very quickly. Dr. Cobb was right: Once we removed the compensations it would return very fast. So, I'm actually looking forward to his next prediction: A 30% strength increase above previous bests. That would put me on the medal stand at Nationals. I sense this to be true by the speed at which my strength has returned. We'll see.
This week has been a bridge: I decided to go with the 5x3 since the 355/5 x3 on Sunday was a 9 on the RPE scale. Last night I hit an easy 345/3 x5 with 3 minutes rest. Sunday will be 365/3 x4-5.
Then Tuesday starts the 3x3 with 5 minutes rest. True strength training. My favorite.
Bodyweight's staying up too--holding pretty steady around 220lbs pretty routinely. Time to eat more.
Going to the platform tomorrow. Should be even more fun now that my leg strength is returning.
Almost back to baseline.
For me to start feeling "strong," or at least semi-strong, I need to be able to hit 185kg/405lbs on the BSQ for a triple. I should be there in about 16-17 days. Not a lot of weight for sure, but like I said, this is "baseline."
I've been very impressed with how my body's responded to this last squat cycle. My strength has come back very quickly. Dr. Cobb was right: Once we removed the compensations it would return very fast. So, I'm actually looking forward to his next prediction: A 30% strength increase above previous bests. That would put me on the medal stand at Nationals. I sense this to be true by the speed at which my strength has returned. We'll see.
This week has been a bridge: I decided to go with the 5x3 since the 355/5 x3 on Sunday was a 9 on the RPE scale. Last night I hit an easy 345/3 x5 with 3 minutes rest. Sunday will be 365/3 x4-5.
Then Tuesday starts the 3x3 with 5 minutes rest. True strength training. My favorite.
Bodyweight's staying up too--holding pretty steady around 220lbs pretty routinely. Time to eat more.
Going to the platform tomorrow. Should be even more fun now that my leg strength is returning.
posted by Geoff Neupert at
12:04 PM
7 Comments:
geoff, why the emphasis on timed rests for strength work? I would think you wouldnt care about rest periods when training for absolute strength gains.
Great question. It's part of an accumulation/intensification program I'm putting together for myself. Plus, the lower rest periods allow me to focus a little more on hypertrophy. Of course, this brings up the age old question about which is better for hypertrophy: Total tonnage or tissue degradation? Methinks a little of both so that's why I set up the cycle that way.
I think if the tonnage is heavy enough one can get the tissue catabolism necessary for hypertrophy without the short rest periods. of course i did short rest period via boxsquat speed sets but never with heavy( >80%) weights.
I never wanted to rush into real heavy weights but I hate short rests in any form so that's just me. seems to be working well for you.
Rif, I think the short(er) rests create "artificial loading," meaning, they challenge the tissues/organism to adapt in a "quasi-safer" way than the heavier loads with non-specified and longer rests. The danger in using heavier loads too soon, is the inability of the connective tissues to strengthen at the same rate as the muscles themselves.
Of course, fatigue is fatigue no matter how you slice it and it still needs to managed regardless of the load or rest periods. Failure to do so as we both know experiencially leads to injury.
Your thoughts?
Geoff,
As you progress I would increase the rest periods. Your ideas behind balancing out tendon/connective tissue vs. muscle strength are good but I think the progressive cycling of the load takes care of this.
Still working on those 2 minute OL rest periods? ;)
Or it could be that I am just lazy and like to rest ;)
Brett, Hey, back off man--I'm up to 5 minutes of rest between sets this week on squats. ;] And I'll have you know that I rested 5 mins. between sets when training for my last meet. So, I'm right there with you.
I'm interested in exploring more the nature of connective tissue strength v. muscle tissue strength with progressive cycling. It's something I never really thought about until recently. To be honest, I'd rather favor the heavier loads and longer rest. Seems like a simple concept, but something tells me we are overlooking something.
Great discussion here!
Do you think if your connective tissue was not up to par for the lift that your movement would degrade and you would violate the 4EE (elements of efficiency) sooner since the body is trying to protect itself?
Any thoughts about the effect of local ischemia by shorter rest (higher reps) for hypertrophy?
Balancing fascial density in multiple planes via movement selection?
Thanks!
Mike N
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