The Flywheel Effect

[DCR]

I laid down for a nap at about 6PM and didn't wake up until 7AM.

Man, when that happens, you know that you powered through a few days. I usually have a hard time sleeping for even six hours without waking. When I go more than that, I know that shit had gotten bad.

[Clearwater47]

I laid down for a nap at about 6PM and didn't wake up until 7AM.

Man, when that happens, you know that you powered through a few days. I usually have a hard time sleeping for even six hours without waking. When I go more than that, I know that shit had gotten bad.

It was bad enough that I was getting sick to my stomach. I'm like chronically short of sleep since changing my work hours last fall, but this was a little worse than normal because I was up later on Friday evening and had to be up early on Saturday morning (which is typically when I catch up on my sleep). I was beat. Needed that rest for sure.

[Clearwater47]

All done as Rest/Pause - each 'set' done to technical failure with 30-45 seconds rest between

Bench Press: 155 pounds x 12 reps - 7/3/2 (Goal = 10-15 reps)
Cable Overhead Triceps Extension: 30 pounds x 18 reps - 10/5/3 (Goal = 15-30 reps)
Bench Press: 155 pounds x 15 reps - 10/3/2 (Goal = 10-15 reps)

Just not been able to lift consistently so I'm making a major change in my programming. I know that I can almost always find short stretches of time to lift. In order to take advantage of that I'm changing to a high intensity approach. I'm largely copying the Doggcrapp training approach, with some minor tweaks.

The majority of the work will be rest/pause. This allows me to pack a lot of work into a short amount of time. Today, for example, my entire workout was just under 15 minutes. This will not be the norm, but the triceps work and the pullups required basically no warmup at all, so they took only about 2 minutes each to complete. I'll only be doing 3 exercises per day - split up as an Upper/Lower.

Progression is simple - when I reach the top of the goal rep range the weight increases. So since I hit the top of my range for Pullups today, next time I'll add weight. The weight will stay the same on the other two exercises.
Likely will be at this same weight for the triceps work for a long time, lol. My plan is to lift 4 days per week initially and then adjust depending upon how I'm recovering.

[DCR]

This is cool. Looking forward to seeing how it progresses.

[Clearwater47]

This is cool. Looking forward to seeing how it progresses.

Thanks man! Me too.

I'm a special kind of messed up when it comes to programming - after we were posting about it a while back I sat down for the next 2 hours and wrote up 4 different program variations, lmao. Did one that follows the original DC (Mon/Wed/Fri with the original body part split), a PPL, and then 2 Upper/Lower variants (1 for 3 days/week and 1 for 4 days/week). Then spent the next several days deciding which one I wanted to run. In the long run it probably makes close to zero difference which one I do, but I just can't help myself.

Definitely plan to stick with this for a good period of time and see how I progress. I know from past experience that my body responds very well to low volume, high intensity programming (on a couple of occasions I did a Bulgarian Method variant that had me maxing out every day - doing a bench one day and a squat/deadlift the next day. Did that for a month, missing only like 2 days in the month I think. It's obviously not sustainable for long periods of time, but I recovered very well and hit all time PR's on everything. So I'm pretty optimistic.

[DCR]

This is cool. Looking forward to seeing how it progresses.

Thanks man! Me too.

I'm a special kind of messed up when it comes to programming - after we were posting about it a while back I sat down for the next 2 hours and wrote up 4 different program variations, lmao. Did one that follows the original DC (Mon/Wed/Fri with the original body part split), a PPL, and then 2 Upper/Lower variants (1 for 3 days/week and 1 for 4 days/week). Then spent the next several days deciding which one I wanted to run. In the long run it probably makes close to zero difference which one I do, but I just can't help myself.

I do this often, and then follow none of them haha.

Definitely plan to stick with this for a good period of time and see how I progress. I know from past experience that my body responds very well to low volume, high intensity programming (on a couple of occasions I did a Bulgarian Method variant that had me maxing out every day - doing a bench one day and a squat/deadlift the next day. Did that for a month, missing only like 2 days in the month I think. It's obviously not sustainable for long periods of time, but I recovered very well and hit all time PR's on everything. So I'm pretty optimistic.

I'd love to try squatting every day for a period, but I'd have to take a sabbatical from my everyday life: 9-10 hours of uninterrupted sleep a night, eat exactly what I want without input from my girlfriend and her kids, relaxed gyms sessions and massages without being rushed... not sure if this is about squats or a desire to be single again.

[Clearwater47]

Hatfield Squat: 255 pounds - 2 sets x 5 reps
SSB Calf Raise: 155 pounds x 10/8 reps (5 second eccentric, 15 second stretch at the bottom, explosive concentric)
Leg Curl: 115 pounds x 16 reps - 8/5/3 (Goal = 15-30 reps)

Seems like it was a good idea to start out with a very minimalist approach - I'm still feeling it from my workout on Thursday.
On Hatfield's I could've pushed out at least 1 more rep on each set, but I'm putting a major focus on rep quality right now and I was on the verge of technical breakdown. Going to do my best to keep rep quality consistent and prioritize that over adding reps or weight.

Got a nice pump doing the calf raises. Not sure I like doing them this way, but we'll see how I progress. My forearms were getting as fatigued as my calves from trying to hold myself up with a big stretch on the calves for 15 seconds at the bottom of each rep. Feels like it was as much a forearm workout as it was a calf workout, lol.

[Clearwater47]

All exercises done as 3 rest/pause sets to technical failure

Overhead Press: Goal = 10-20 reps
85 pounds x 19 reps (12/4/3)
Picked a weight I thought I'd get 20 reps with. Nearly got there, but the drop-off in reps after the 1st set surprised me. Will be interesting to see if this is common with OHP.

Shrug Curl: Goal = 10-15 reps
50's x 16 reps (7/5/4)
I hit my goal here, but may either repeat this weight or even lower it because I really didn't feel I was working my biceps properly. May need to switch to something else if this happens again next time.

Hammer Curl: Goal = 15-30 reps
40's x 22 (12/6/4)
Good effort. Kept form solid and pushed to failure. I expected to be close to 30 reps on this, but was more affected by the previous exercises than I had anticipated.

Feels like this is not enough work to progress, but I'm going to stick with it for now. I'd rather be able to get in workouts more regularly (which is the purpose of the shorter workouts) than program more work and not get workouts in often enough. Once I'm doing that more consistently I'll likely add some more volume in.

[DCR]

Feels like this is not enough work to progress, but I'm going to stick with it for now. I'd rather be able to get in workouts more regularly (which is the purpose of the shorter workouts) than program more work and not get workouts in often enough. Once I'm doing that more consistently I'll likely add some more volume in.

Are you going with the DC mandate of hitting each body part twice per week?

[Clearwater47]

Are you going with the DC mandate of hitting each body part twice per week?

It's an Upper/Lower that should be done a minimum of 4 times per week. So in that sense yes - doing 2 uppers and 2 lowers weekly. But the volume per session is so low that I'm not directly hitting every muscle group twice per week. One Upper might focus on chest and the other on shoulders. Lowers might focus on quads one day and hams the other.

As I've written this specific program, It's not something I'd really recommend to anyone because it's far from ideal. It's written specifically for me to assure I can actually get workouts in regularly. It also allows me to ease into the rest/pause style of training, which is obviously a step up in intensity compared to what I've been doing recently. I have other versions of the program where the volume ramps up and I WOULD be actually getting 2x weekly frequency on everything. My goal is to work towards that.

[Clearwater47]

Stiff Legged Deadlift: 320 pounds - 2 sets x 8 reps
Pushed pretty close to the limit here. I'll increase weight next time and won't be surprised if I come up short of 8 reps.
This was the first time I've used a belt on these in a long time and I think maybe it did more harm than good because it starts to restrict me as I get into the bottom position. Might try them without it again next time.

Walking Lunge: 20's - 2 sets x 10 reps
Not 'hard', but was quite fatigued after the deads and that made these a challenge from a stamina standpoint more than a strength standpoint. I totally anticipated this would be the case though, and that's why I chose a fairly light weight. We'll see if I'm able to start acclimating to doing these after deads...

Donkey Calf Raise (Cable): 80 pounds - 2 sets x 20 reps
Slow negative - holding a stretch at the bottom for a few seconds. I felt the burn here - barely eeked out the last rep. Really like the feel of the cable vs weight plates because I was having trouble fitting all the plates between my legs and had to widen my feet much more than I wanted. Will stick with the cable for a while.

Workout took much longer than it should, clocking in almost exactly at 1 hour for 6 sets. The deads really took it out of me and affected the rest of the workout. This is probably sacrilege, but at this moment of time it's almost seeming like a good idea to do the deads either 2nd or last so that I'm fresher for the other stuff. I wouldn't think lunges and calf work would impact deads too much, but what do I know. I'll probably come to my senses before my next session of these.

[Renascent]

Stiff Legged Deadlift: 320 pounds - 2 sets x 8 reps

then...

Walking Lunge

You brave soul.

[Clearwater47]

You brave soul.

See this is why I need to fully plan out my workouts ahead of time instead of picking exercises on the spot. There's no chance I ever feel like it's a good idea to do both of these on the same day if I'm deciding on the spot, lol.

I feel like the times when I REALLY don't feel like doing a particular workout and I do it anyway are some of the most important and beneficial workouts. Even though I know I'll hate it and try to talk myself out of doing it when it comes time to do the deed, I try to write my programming with the mindset of a warrior because it's the only chance I have of actually acting like one.

[Renascent]

You brave soul.

See this is why I need to fully plan out my workouts ahead of time instead of picking exercises on the spot. There's no chance I ever feel like it's a good idea to do both of these on the same day if I'm deciding on the spot, lol.

Oh, I'm just teasing. I've made "worse" decisions with regard to movement selection and order (and still do).

The anticipation of doing walking lunges drains the color from my face.

But once I get started, it (a) doesn't seem as bad as I anticipated, and (b)

I feel like the times when I REALLY don't feel like doing a particular workout and I do it anyway are some of the most important and beneficial workouts.

[Clearwater47]

Oh, I'm just teasing. I've made "worse" decisions with regard to movement selection and order (and still do).

The anticipation of doing walking lunges drains the color from my face.

But once I get started, it (a) doesn't seem as bad as I anticipated, and (b) I feel like the times when I REALLY don't feel like doing a particular workout and I do it anyway are some of the most important and beneficial workouts.

No worries, I knew you were teasing.

It's the opposite for me - the idea of doing lunges doesn't bother me much, but then I start doing them and I wonder where I went wrong in my life choices, lmao.

Lunges are in the top two for my most hated exercises, but for some reason I just keeping programming them... I must be either dumb or stubborn (it's the latter).

[Clearwater47]

Incline Dumbbell Press: Goal = 15-20 reps
50's x 19 (12/4/3)

Close Grip Bench Press: Goal = 15-30 reps
110 pounds x 19 (12/4/3)
The DB inclines took quite a bit out of me. I almost used 95 pounds as my weight here, and that probably would've been about the right weight, but I really just didn't want to do a real working set with less than 100 pounds, lol.

Lat Pulldown - Close Grip: Goal = 10-15 reps
90 pounds x 25 reps (15/5/5)
Chose too light a weight here. I'll increase next time.

From what I'd read and listened to, typically people get about half the number of reps on the second set as they do on the first when doing rest pause. I'm seeing quite a bit bigger drop-off. Not sure why that is. I'll probably take a couple of rest days now before my next lower workout.

[DCR]

From what I'd read and listened to, typically people get about half the number of reps on the second set as they do on the first when doing rest pause. I'm seeing quite a bit bigger drop-off. Not sure why that is. I'll probably take a couple of rest days now before my next lower workout.

My experience matches yours. Other folks’ definition of failure may not be ours.

[Clearwater47]

My experience matches yours. Other folks’ definition of failure may not be ours.

Yeah, I think this is 100% on the mark. And also the inverse is probably true. Those that have been doing this type of training for longer periods of time likely have a far more refined ability to know when they've completed their final rep.

Right now I just don't stop until I actually fail because there's that lingering question in my mind about whether or not I can actually do another rep. I suspect that as a person gets a better sense of this they can stop at the last full rep and avoid doing that failure rep. In that scenario I could see being able to do an extra rep or two on the following sets. I guess time will tell...

[platypus]

From what I'd read and listened to, typically people get about half the number of reps on the second set as they do on the first when doing rest pause. I'm seeing quite a bit bigger drop-off. Not sure why that is. I'll probably take a couple of rest days now before my next lower workout.

This is my experience too. For example, a recent set of seated dumbbell presses for me was 60x10 rest-pause, and the subsets were 8 reps, 2 reps, 0 reps. I think 1/4 to 1/3 is more common for me on the second subset, and the last one is usually just 1 or 2 reps no matter what came before. That's with 10 deep breaths between each subset.

[DCR]

My experience matches yours. Other folks’ definition of failure may not be ours.

Yeah, I think this is 100% on the mark. And also the inverse is probably true. Those that have been doing this type of training for longer periods of time likely have a far more refined ability to know when they've completed their final rep.

Right now I just don't stop until I actually fail because there's that lingering question in my mind about whether or not I can actually do another rep. I suspect that as a person gets a better sense of this they can stop at the last full rep and avoid doing that failure rep. In that scenario I could see being able to do an extra rep or two on the following sets. I guess time will tell...

Exactly what happened today. I was happy with my squatting and didn’t feel the usual need to destroy myself on everything else, so I cut things about a rep short and voila, hit half the reps on the second and third mini-sets.