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#1. RE: Mike Strassburg's post on reduced training frequency in Digest #114 - from Andrew M. Baye
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Date: Tue, 17 Mar 1998 22:32:31 -0500 From: "Andrew M. Baye" <drewbaye@gdi.net> Subject: RE: Mike Strassburg's post on reduced training frequency in Digest #114 I know several people, including myself, who have made continuous and impressive progress using Superslow and training at a frequency of only once per week or less. The most any drug free athlete should train is twice per week, with the exception of certain rehab cases. One of my favorite examples is a guy from Wisconsin named Ben Vanderloop, who started training with my younger brother a little over 2 years ago at the Gold's Gym in Green Bay. When he started, Ben was only a little over 140 pounds, which is pretty scrawny at a height of 6 ft. He trained once per week, performing the exact same 5 exercises every workout using the SuperSlow protocol. Calf Raise, Stiff Legged Deadlift, Hammer Leg Press, Hammer Iso-Lateral Front-Grip Pull Down, and Hammer Iso-Lateral Chest Press. His workouts averaged less than 20 minutes. After about two years, Ben weighed a muscular 196 pounds, and was still as lean as he had been when he was in the low 140's. Keep in mind that the workout does not produce any improvements in your body, it's just the stimulus. It's your body that produces the results, and that requires time and energy. If you don't allow your body adequate time to fully recover and respond between workouts, you're going to be preventing it from producing the full response to the workout. As Arthur Jones once said, "Train harder, but train less." Andrew M. Baye www.superslow.com
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#2. weight loss - from OnkieDonky
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Date: Wed, 18 Mar 1998 12:54:42 EST From: OnkieDonky <OnkieDonky@aol.com> Subject: weight loss I compete in powerlifting and lost weight so that I could get into a lower weight class. I lost 14 pounds over 2 months by way of diet and lots of cardio. I'm not sure, but I think I might have overtrained because now I look a LOT smaller. I expected to look smaller, but now it seems as though I lost muscle. The strange thing is, my lifts didn't go down and I actually improved on the deadlift. Can anybody tell me why I look so small if I didn't lose muscle? And if I did lose muscle, why am I improving and staying the same with some of my lifts? I'm not a beginner, so my lifts didn't go up because I became more skilled. Can anybody tell me what I'm doing wrong? I want to lose weight, but not look so small. I understand that if i lose weight I'm going to look smaller, but I had to have been doing something wrong because now I look really small. Any help would be appreciated, Adrian
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#3. Re: Mentzer - from Sonofsquat
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Date: Wed, 18 Mar 1998 21:27:08 EST From: Sonofsquat <Sonofsquat@aol.com> Subject: Re: Mentzer In a message dated 98-03-17 21:19:52 EST, you write: << I just want to share something I recently read on the Mentzer website... Here it is: "The question you should be asking yourself is not how much exercise do I need, but how little do I require" >> I haven't read the whole quote, but this quite different from my training philosophy. I want to know how much will provide optimal growth, not how little do I require. If "more is better", I'm going to do more! << I'm going to do a 6 month experiment using the 2 days a week program. I'll be tracking poundages, reps, Heartbeat during cardio, and any other info I feel relevant. Each month I'll submit a short post to chart my progress (or lack of), and any info I learn along the way. >> Sounds great and I look forward to your updates! Just one suggestion... Cut it down to a 2 or 3 month experiment. My two reasons are: 1. By then your training will probably need a change of pace to continue results; 2. Mentzer claims you can reach your genetic well before then. It would be interesting to find out if this is true... No? Fred Hatfield II BIGBOY's is back! www.colba.net/~john295
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#4. power factor training - from =?ISO-8859-1?Q?=F8rjan_leirheim?=
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Date: Fri, 20 Mar 1998 23:54:19 +0100 From: "=?ISO-8859-1?Q?=F8rjan_leirheim?=" <oeleir@online.no> Subject: power factor training Him8s I just purchased the book "Power Factor Training" by Pete Sisco and John Little, and have just finished reading it. It all seems very logical, and I`d like to give it a try. However, I`d like to hear if anyone here has tried it, and if so, what were your experiences with the system? Thanks Ørjan Leirheim Oslo, Norway
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#5. superslow impressions #1 - from Jarlo Ilano
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Date: Fri, 20 Mar 1998 17:43:45 -0800 From: Jarlo Ilano <jilano@ups.edu> Subject: superslow impressions #1 I have just completed the second of my superslow "trial" sessions. As I had mentioned in an earlier post I would like to share my experiences with you all. (Those certified in superslow who receive this digest ... Mr. Baye, etc.,...please tell me if I am relaying any proprietary information that should not be discussed in the public domain, I only wish to share my experience with training at a certified superslow facility and do not wish to impinge on any regulations, if I am then I shall desist) Anyway, I guess these two free "trial sessions" are an introduction to some general concepts of superslow protocol. In these first two sessions I had performed the following exercises... Leg Press, Chin up, bench press, seated row, overhead press (all performed on machines). The trainer explained a little bit about the theory behind superslow and its evolution from the Nautilus osteoporosis study. Very simply he stated the 10 second momentum free movement technique and the importance of "pushing" an additional 15 seconds or so even though there may be no discernible movement. As I related before there were no warmups and no rest between exercises. Well in this second session (performed 4 days after the first),I concentrated on really pushing myself while trying to maintain the slow tempo. Again the pump after completed the series of 5 exercises was incredible. Some specifics: The trainer was out of my line of sight, and he commented on my performance with admonitions on rep speed, keeping other muscles relaxed (relax your jaw, etc.,), encouragement to push harder when obviously the weight was not budging!,avoid stop and go movement, and other such advice. I was the only one performing exercise in the room and each machine was set up previously to facilitate the nonstop exercise session. I was told that the routine was a "generic" routine designed to work all major muscles and to introduce the proper technique necessary for this protocol. I expect a more specific introduction to superslow protocol at my next session when I become a paying customer. My impressions: The level of intensity that I had generated in the second session was improved from the first. I believe I am learning to generate more effort and to ignore the common sense voice in my head telling me to stop the nonsense and just give up! As someone had emailed me after my first post perhaps my "pain threshold" is increasing as I go through these exercises. I had mentioned that I have always trained with good intensity, but the addition of consistently pushing/pulling for 15 seconds after (which I should add is 15 seconds after the trainer decides movement had ended! which just kills me!) was just incredible. Thus the value of the trainer, beyond their knowledge of the protocol and form, they serve as that encouragement to push beyond what you think you can do. Which leads me to what I learned from this endeavor, and which reiterates what Stuart McRobert and Hardgainer has espoused, along with various hit advocates have related. It is sincere, honest, EFFORT that is required to advance one's strength and muscular development. A willing effort to go beyond your comfort and to engage in an intense, often painful level of exercise is what one needs to really progress. Even those who do not agree with various hit principles, relate that you need this mentality to push beyond yourself. Whether hit, periodization, power factor, or bulgarian whatever, there is always a point in these programs where you need to exert a genuine effort past the point where you would normally discontinue. This takes an incredible amount of mental concentration that definitely requires strong desire and (often overlooked) the practice to truly keep pushing. Which may be why some say that beginners cannot truly go to "failure" as it take repeated sessions of practicing effort to find out what you can actually do. Thus as I progress in my workouts I should truly attempt to approach each exercise with sincere, genuine, concentrated effort. No matter how many times I have heard it expressed before, I guess it cannot be expressed enough that it is in this type of effort that true progress is contained. (Again I hope this is helpful and informative) Jarlo Ilano Student University of Puget Sound Graduate School of Physical Therapy Tacoma, Washington