Training intensity

**Slimdaddy** · 11-02-2005 01:29 PM

Firstly, I have to say some of the tips and advice gleaned from this site have helped in my training no end. After years of training and getting little result, I have had massive improvement in musculature in the last 3 months. Never knew insulin management was so critical...

However the article on Top Ten Training Errors has me somewhat perplexed, particularly items 2 and 3, Single Factor Training and Intensity.

On the one hand it says "you DO NOT have to fully recover between workouts all the time and nor should you", and on the other things like "this is OK in the short term but to train like this week in week out whilst attempting to increase poundage's or total load in a linear manner is a lunacy".

Does this mean every so often drop the weights a peg or two and perform some "easy" reps/sets rather than try to push the heaviest weights possible so as to just squeeze out the number of reps required? I always thought training to failure was the Holy Grail in weight-training?

Opinions?

**GALTONATOR** · 11-02-2005 01:51 PM

Recovery is important you can hit hard and heavy all year i think rather than a light workout have a week off every 2-3 months

**James Copping** · 11-02-2005 05:49 PM

It means you need to build up the difficulty, then back off before you overtrain to adapt. Then repeat.

read me

**Lowmans** · 11-02-2005 05:51 PM

Quote

Originally Posted by GALTONATOR

Recovery is important you can hit hard and heavy all year i think rather than a light workout have a week off every 2-3 months

Spot on, take a week off every 10 -12 weeks so that your body has a chance to recover fully, then start again. After my week off I tend to vary my training so that I hit the same muscle groups from different angles etc.

**James Copping** · 11-02-2005 05:53 PM

Quote

Originally Posted by Lowmans

Spot on, take a week off every 10 -12 weeks so that your body has a chance to recover fully, then start again. After my week off I tend to vary my training so that I hit the same muscle groups from different angles etc.

I progressively load volume over the course of 3-4 weeks, then have a week or 2 of very low/maintenance volume to allow my body to supercompensate(adapt + grow).