All posts tagged experiment

Bodyshock: Alternative Routine

by Shane on May 26, 2010 in Experiments, Workout Routines with No comments

As I mentioned in the outline of my first workout experiment, I want to make use of “muscle confusion” to increase my gains. The idea is to switch up the training routine as soon as a performance plateau is reached. This should reduce habituation and “force” your muscles to keep growing in order to adapt to the new situation.

Here’s the alternative routine that I’ve been using for the upper body split the past week (you can see the original routine here):

 

Exercise: Sets: Weight:
Inclined Bench Press (Barbell) 3 35 Kg / 77 lbs
One Arm Dumbbell Rows 3 15 Kg / 33 lbs
Lateral Raises 3 10 Kg / 22 lbs
Close Grip Pull Ups 3 0 (Bodyweight)
Dumbbell Flies 3 20 Kg / 44 lbs
Upright Rows (Barbell) 3 30 kg / 66 lbs

 

The exercises are all performed as supersets.

I’m only doing this routine for a few times before switching back to the original routine, but with different weights than before.

The Bodyshock experiment will conclude in just a few weeks and I’ll publish a full report and progress pics once it’s done.

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The First Experiment – Codename: Bodyshock

by Shane on April 17, 2010 in Blog, Experiments with No comments

Here’s the simple outline for my first experiment: I want to see if I can stimulate muscle growth and strength increase by “surprising” my body. I will do this by switching up the training routines before I hit a plateau.

I bet most people reading this are familiar with the typical training plateau: You start out with a routine and continually manage to improve by adding more repetitions and/or more weights for each exercise. To begin with, it’s very apparent that you’re making great progress (at least if you’re keeping a training log – which you should). But soon, progress slows down and after a while it seems you are stuck at your current level of strength and you just can’t manage to break past a certain point.

At this point, it’s advisable to change the routine in some way. Even just changing the sequence of the exercises can make quite a difference.

I want to take this principle a step further and change up the training routine several times in short succession, once I hit a plateau. I want to make sure that my body can’t just adapt to a new routine within a few days, so I’ll go through several changes.

The plan is as follows: After a maximum of two months on my current routine, I will do one week with a new routine and low weights/high repetitions. After that, I’ll change the routine again and go for high weights/low repetitions. Then I’ll switch routines for a third time and go for medium weights/medium reps once again.

In other words, I want to change several aspects of my training routine, once a week. I think that should keep any kind of habituation at bay. Of course, once this is done, I do have to go back to a steady routine again, otherwise it will probably jeopardize my potential gains.

In Short
Right now, I’ll stick to my current routine for two months, or until I hit a plateau. Once I go into the “Bodyshock” phase, I’ll post it here and let you know how it goes.

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