Back in Finland after my visit home

15th September 2012

It's been a while since I last posted anything.

I've been back in the UK visiting family.

The kids are great and I miss them deeply. My older boy Jun did brilliantly in his 'A' level exams and got into the university of his choice, Sheffield, to read economics.

I've got a great family and I am always thinking of them; Jun, Sean, Eli, Mum, Dad, Katie, Al, Soph. All of them.

...

My father was diagnosed with cancer and had been receiving treatment since March. He was hospitalised due to an infection following chaemotherapy. It really took it out of him and he was greatly weakened.

I managed to get back a couple of days before he returned home. As he was pushed up the path in a wheel chair, my heart stopped. He looked so thin and frail and there was concern about his faculties - we needn't have worried about that though.

Over the course of three weeks or so, we managed to get him back on his feet and exercising a little to get the strength back into his atrophied legs. After three weeks in hospital, the muscle had just slipped off his body. He graduated from a Zimmer frame to a walking stick and was venturing about without any aid when he tripped over and hurt himself.

His confidence took a big knock and he gave up for a while. It must be frustrating being mentally alert and having been previously so active in the garden and in his pottery studio but not being able to get about - the mind being strong but the body being unable.

He got back up but is more down than up.

It's a big shock for all of us but especially mum to see the big strong man who played such a leading role in our lives reduced to thin legs in baggy pyjamas.

I love you dad. We all do and our thoughts are with you always.

HST Blank Printable 15 rep 2 week cycle

15 rep cycle

(Insert 60% of 1 rep max for exercises on final day of cycle. Subtract 1kg each day working backwards for small muscles and 2-5kg for bigger muscles - lighter weights are at beginning of cycle.)

Monday Day 1

General warm up

Body weight leg raise 3 X 20-25

Crunch machine 3 X 20-25

Hyper extensions body weight 3 X 20-25

Legs

Leg press or squat Warm up, 2 X 15 X

Leg curl 2 X 15 X

Leg extension 2 X 15 X (optional)

Chest

Bench slight incline Warm up, 2 X 15 X

Back

Chins or Lat pull down

Wide; Warm up, 2 X 15 X

Narrow; 2 X 15 X

Shoulders

Rear delts

Bent over lateral raise 2 x 15 x

Traps

Shrugs; standing calf press machine 2 X 15 X

Biceps

Standing cable preacher (change frequently) 2 X 15 X

Triceps

French Curl 2 X 15 X

Calves

Standing press 2 X 15 X

Wednesday Day 2

General warm up

Body weight leg raise 3 X 20-25
Crunch machine 3 X 20-25
Hyper extensions body weight 3 X 20-25

Legs

Leg press or squat Warm up, 2 X 15 X
Leg curl 2 X 15 X
Leg extension 2 X 15 X (optional)

Chest

Bench slight incline Warm up, 2 X 15 X

Back

Chins or Lat pull down
Wide; Warm up, 2 X 15 X
Narrow; 2 X 15 X

Shoulders

Rear delts
Bent over lateral raise 2 x 15 x
Traps
Shrugs; standing calf press machine 2 X 15 X

Biceps

Standing cable preacher (change frequently) 2 X 15 X

Triceps

French Curl 2 X 15 X

Calves

Standing press 2 X 15 X

Friday Day 3

General warm up

Body weight leg raise 3 X 20-25

Crunch machine 3 X 20-25

Hyper extensions body weight 3 X 20-25

Legs

Leg press or squat Warm up, 2 X 15 X

Leg curl 2 X 15 X

Leg extension 2 X 15 X (optional)

Chest

Bench slight incline Warm up, 2 X 15 X

Back

Chins or Lat pull down

Wide; Warm up, 2 X 15 X

Narrow; 2 X 15 X

Shoulders

Rear delts

Bent over lateral raise 2 x 15 x

Traps

Shrugs; standing calf press machine 2 X 15 X

Biceps

Standing cable preacher (change frequently) 2 X 15 X

Triceps

French Curl 2 X 15 X

Calves

Standing press 2 X 15 X

Monday Day 4

General warm up

Body weight leg raise 3 X 20-25

Crunch machine 3 X 20-25

Hyper extensions body weight 3 X 20-25

Legs

Leg press or squat Warm up, 2 X 15 X

Leg curl 2 X 15 X

Leg extension 2 X 15 X (optional)

Chest

Bench slight incline Warm up, 2 X 15 X

Back

Chins or Lat pull down

Wide; Warm up, 2 X 15 X

Narrow; 2 X 15 X

Shoulders

Rear delts

Bent over lateral raise 2 x 15 x

Traps

Shrugs; standing calf press machine 2 X 15 X

Biceps

Standing cable preacher (change frequently) 2 X 15 X

Triceps

French Curl 2 X 15 X

Calves

Standing press 2 X 15 X

Wednesday Day 5

General warm up

Body weight leg raise 3 X 20-25
Crunch machine 3 X 20-25
Hyper extensions body weight 3 X 20-25

Legs

Leg press or squat Warm up, 2 X 15 X
Leg curl 2 X 15 X
Leg extension 2 X 15 X (optional)

Chest

Bench slight incline Warm up, 2 X 15 X

Back

Chins or Lat pull down
Wide; Warm up, 2 X 15 X
Narrow; 2 X 15 X

Shoulders

Rear delts
Bent over lateral raise 2 x 15 x
Traps
Shrugs; standing calf press machine 2 X 15 X

Biceps

Standing cable preacher (change frequently) 2 X 15 X

Triceps

French Curl 2 X 15 X

Calves

Standing press 2 X 15 X

Friday Day 6

(the weights below should be your 60% of 1 rep max.)

General warm up

Body weight leg raise 3 X 20-25
Crunch machine 3 X 20-25
Hyper extensions body weight 3 X 20-25

Legs

Leg press or squat Warm up, 2 X 15 X
Leg curl 2 X 15 X
Leg extension 2 X 15 X (optional)

Chest

Bench slight incline Warm up, 2 X 15 X

Back

Chins or Lat pull down
Wide; Warm up, 2 X 15 X
Narrow; 2 X 15 X

Shoulders

Rear delts
Bent over lateral raise 2 x 15 x
Traps
Shrugs; standing calf press machine 2 X 15 X

Biceps

Standing cable preacher (change frequently) 2 X 15 X

Triceps

French Curl 2 X 15 X

Calves

Standing press 2 X 15 X

Hypertrophy-specific Training. 15 rep 2 week cycle

11th June 2012

The problem I can foresee here is, because I am not lifting very heavy weights at the moment, some of the increments are very small. This will make it difficult to find weights small enough. I might have to double up some of the days whereby I do the same weight on consecutive days and maybe pushing one more rep.

Perform a simple short full body warm up prior to lifting any weights. It is sufficient just to raise the heart rate a bit for maybe up to five minutes.

Do not perform any stretches.

Some of the exercises require a warm up which entails lifting half the target weight 15 times and are indicated below.

2 X 15 means lifting the weight 15 times, resting and then doing it again 15 times. The maximums for each repetition group will be the target weights for the end of the two week cycle.

Back and chest have alternative exercises each time. Day 1, 3, 5 consist of wide and narrow lat pull down for the back and slight incline bench for the chest. Day 2, 4, 6 consist of T-bar row (should be wide and narrow grip) for back and dips or pec deck for chest.
Try to mix up the exercises for biceps frequently.

First cycle
15 rep max programme
Monday Day 1

Abs
Body weight leg raise for now 3 X 20-25

Legs
Leg press or squat; Warm up, 2 X 15 X 75kg
Leg curl 2 X 15 X 75kg
Leg extension 2 X 15 X 75kg

Chest
Bench slight incline Warm up 2 X 15 X 25kg

Back
Chins or Lat pull down
Wide Warm up, 2 X 15 X 40kg
Narrow 2 X 15 X 40kg

Shoulders
Rear delts
Bent over lateral raise 2 x 15 x 4kg
Traps
Shrugs: standing calf press machine 2 X 15 X 40kg

Biceps
Standing cable preacher (change frequently) 2 X 15 X 12kg (Note: Failed. Moved closer to the cable on second set and only managed 12 reps. Try same next time standing slightly further back.)


Triceps
French Curl 2 X 15 X 15kg

Calves
Standing press 2 X 15 X 40kg

Notes:
Monday 11th June 2012
This was more difficult than I had anticipated. It is a long time since I did a full body workout with 15 reps. In fact, the last time I did anything similar, my wife was pregnant with my 10 year old son.

Wednesday Day 2
Abs
Body weight leg raise for now 3 X 20-25

Legs
Leg press or squat; Warm up, 2 X 15 X 78kg
Leg curl 2 X 15 X 78kg
Leg extension 2 X 15 X 78kg

Chest
Pec deck 2 x 15 X 25kg

Back
T-Bar Warm up, 2 X 15 X 32kg

Shoulders
Delts rear bent over lateral raise 2 x 15 x 4.5kg
Shrugs Standing calf press machine 2 X 15 X 43kg

Biceps
standing cable preacher (change frequently) 2 X 15 X 13kg
Triceps
French Curl 2 X 15 X 13kg

Calves
standing press 2 X 15 X 43kg

Friday Day 3
Abs
Body weight leg raise for now 3 X 20-25

Legs
Leg press or squat; Warm up, 2 X 15 X 79kg
Leg curl 2 X 15 X 79kg
Leg extension 2 X 15 X 79kg

Chest
Bench slight incline Warm up 2 X 15 X 26kg

Back
Chins or Lat pull down
Wide Warm up, 2 X 15 X 45kg
Narrow 2 X 15 X 45kg

Shoulders
Delts rear bent over lateral raise 2 x 15 x 5kg
Shrugs Standing calf press machine 2 X 15 X 44kg

Biceps
standing cable preacher (change frequently) 2 X 15 X 14kg


Triceps
French Curl 2 X 15 X 14kg

Calves
standing press 2 X 15 X 44kg

Monday Day 4
Abs
Body weight leg raise for now 3 X 20-25

Legs
Leg press or squat; Warm up, 2 X 15 X 80kg
Leg curl 2 X 15 X 80kg
Leg extension 2 X 15 X 80kg

Chest
Pec deck 2 x 15 X 27kg

Back
T-Bar Warm up, 2 X 15 X 34kg

Shoulders
Delts rear bent over lateral raise 2 x 15 x 5.5kg
Shrugs Standing calf press machine 2 X 15 X 45kg

Biceps
standing cable preacher (change frequently) 2 X 15 X 15kg


Triceps
French Curl 2 X 15 X 15kg

Calves
standing press 2 X 15 X 46kg

Wednesday Day 5
Abs
Body weight leg raise for now 3 X 20-25

Legs
Leg press or squat; Warm up, 2 X 15 X 82kg
Leg curl 2 X 15 X 82kg
Leg extension 2 X 15 X 82kg

Chest
Bench slight incline Warm up 2 X 15 X 28kg

Back
Pull downs
Wide Warm up, 2 X 15 X 48kg
Narrow 2 X 15 X 48kg

Shoulders
Delts rear bent over lateral raise 2 x 15 x 6kg
Shrugs Standing calf press machine 2 X 15 X 46kg

Biceps
standing cable preacher (change frequently) 2 X 15 X 16kg


Triceps
French Curl 2 X 15 X 16kg

Calves
standing press 2 X 15 X 46kg

Friday Day 6
(the weights below are 60% of my 1 rep max which I found using the calculator in exrx.)
Abs
Body weight leg raise for now 3 X 20-25

Legs
Leg press or squat; Warm up, 2 X 15 X 84kg
Leg curl 2 X 15 X 84kg
Leg extension 2 X 15 X 84kg

Chest
Pec deck 2 x 15 X 30kg

Back
T-Bar Warm up, 2 X 15 X 36kg

Shoulders
Delts rear bent over lateral raise 2 x 15 x 6kg
Shrugs Standing calf press machine 2 X 15 X 48kg

Biceps
standing cable preacher 2 X 15 X 15kg


Triceps
French Curl 2 X 15 X 15kg

Calves
standing press 2 X 15 X 48kg

Hypertrophy-Specific Training: Writing the programme

10th June 2012

I have slowly been adapting myself to the gym after an absence of a couple of years. It is important not to rush these things at the beginning. If you have been away from the gym for a while or if this is the first time for you to start on a real weightlifting programme, then you need to allow the body to slowly adjust to its new environment. The last thing you want is an injury at the outset of a new regime.

It is best to start out doing a full body workout three times a week to acclimatise yourself to the gym. If this is the first time you have done weight training, you could stick with this programme for the first 12 weeks. You will see a lot of progress during this time. A good full body workout can be found on exrx here.

Over the last few weeks I have been concentrating on increasing the weights I can lift so that I can find out my weight limits up to 10 repetitions.

I have been following a three day split so I have been in the gym five days a week exercising all body parts twice each apart from the legs which I did only once a week - they are bigger and require more strenuous exercise and longer recovery. I did the split by doing push exercises on Monday and Thursday and pull exercises on Tuesday and Friday and legs on Wednesday.

I am now able to lift slightly heavier weights which has made it possible to calculate all my one rep max's. This means that I can now write my hypertrophy-specific training schedule. This shall follow the principles of low volume and progressive intensity training, an interesting article on which can be seen here.

In my next post, you will be able to see my new training schedule showing all the exercises in the correct order with the weights and numbers of times I shall be lifting them for the next two weeks. The programme is now all planned out to the last detail for the next eight weeks. I shall be posting the schedule in two weekly blocks just in case I need to do any adjustments. I can foresee one problem; because I am not lifting heavy weights yet, some of the incremental increases are very small and these kind of weights are not readily available in the gym. I might have to do some adapting until I can lift heavier weights.

For people lifting heavier weights, and for most of the exercises myself as well, the beauty of this system is that there is no guess work, no "let's just see how many times I can lift this." The intensity increases over the entire course, first on a two week cycle with the number of reps staying the same but the weight increasing from one session to the next. The intensity also increases every fortnight as the weight is considerably increased as you move onto the next repetition max group. You perform your 15 repetition max group of exercises for two weeks, then two weeks of 10 and finally two weeks of 5.

A general warm up for the whole body should be performed prior to lifting any weights. This might involve a few minutes on the treadmill or some Ab crunches just to raise the pulse a bit. The warm up for some of the exercises should consist of lifting half the target weight about 12 to 15 times. This allows you to get used to performing the exercise. It is not necessary to stretch as this just puts the muscle under stress and will result in not being able to lift the weight to the best of your ability and strength.

Putting it into practice; Hypertrophy-Specific Training

10th June 2012

To plan your hypertrophy-specific training schedule you need to calculate your 1 rep max. This is the heaviest weight you can lift just one time and no more.

You do not have to find out what this is by actually lifting it in the gym as doing it this way would take too long to work out. Each time you lift a weight your muscles are weakened so to find out your 1 rep max could take weeks as you would need to allow your muscles sufficient time to recover between experimental lifts. You may find that you can lift a certain weight six times and at this point your muscle experiences complete muscle failure; you are unable to lift it one more time while maintaining correct posture. Never force a lift and never cheat by swinging your torso to help a lift. There are times when you might do negatives, but these should only be incorporated into the end of a workout programme lasting up to 12 twelve weeks; the final week might use negative lifts. I shall write about this in a later posting.

After finding out how many times you can lift a certain weight, as long as it is less than 10 times, you can use a 1 rep max calculator to find your 1 rep max. You also need to find out what your 15 rep, 10 rep and 5 rep max's are so I use the exrx calculator for this which can be found here.

Having input the weight you managed to lift and the number of reps you did into the boxes at the top, the table on the right is populated giving you estimated weights for various percentages of your one rep max.

I use dos Remedios for my estimated reps at percentage of 1 repetition maximum, so for my 15 rep max I need to find the 60% of max, for my 10 rep max, I need to find the 75% of max and for the 5 rep max, I need the 85% of max.

You will need to do this for all the exercises to be used in the workout programme.

Over the course of the last few weeks, I have been slowly increasing the intensity of my weight lifting. I started on weights that I could comfortably lift more than 12 times and over time, I have increased the weight from one week to the next until last week I was lifting weights that I could not manage to lift more than 10 times. I was able to use these weights and the number of reps to predict all my one repetition maximums.

The exercises you need to do the predictions for are as follows;
(Clickable for video)

Squats (due to a lower back weakness and operation to my left knee, I used the leg press machine instead), seated leg curl, slight incline bench press (the incline helps to work the pec minor and front deltoids as well as the pec major. I do the power lifting version) Dips (for chest, I used the pec dec instead as I am not yet strong enough to do proper chest dips), lateral raises for rear deltoids, preacher curls for biceps, standing calf press, chins (again I am not strong enough yet so I used wide and narrow lat pull downs), bent over row (I used T-bar), shrugs for traps (I used the standing calf press machine) and French curl for triceps (like a skull crusher but behind the head and using an ezee bar).

In my next post, I shall show you what the weight training programme looks like for me using the two week cycles for 15, 10 and 5 rep maximums.

Hypertrophy-Specific Training

Taken from the HST website:
http://www.hypertrophy-specific.com/hst_notes.htm

History of HST Hypertrophy-Specific Training™ arose out of the research looking at both the stimuli and mechanisms for muscle cell hypertrophy. Hypertrophy-Specific Training (HST) is based on physiological principles of hypertrophy first discovered in the laboratory. These principles were then organized into a "method" of mechanically loading the muscle to induce hypertrophy. Of course, translating these principles into applicable methods (sets & reps & schedules) brings in some possibility of error. As the science continues to explore the exact mechanisms of muscle hypertrophy, this error will be whittled away. I didn't start out knowing how muscles grew. After all, it is a process that cannot be observed with the naked eye. In the beginning I simply did what others were doing. Then, I began reading muscle magazines and buying books. Still, I wasn't able to achieve the level of muscularity I saw so prominently displayed in the magazines. For about 10 years I trained with all the popular training styles. I made decent progress in the beginning but as time went by, I seldom saw changes in the mirror, at least not any I could get anyone else to notice. But I continued to pursue the art. As I entered college and graduate school, I finally had access to real research that was only just then beginning to take form. The interest in muscle growth is fairly new in academic circles. As I began to explore the research, it became clear to me that the routines and traditions I was exposed to as a bodybuilder, were NOT based on physiological principles on a cellular level. It was a "fantastic voyage" compared to the European inspired global view of training. At the microscopic level scientists were talking about things like "myogenic stem cells", "growth-factors", "mechanical loading", "synergistic ablation", "smeared Z-lines", "MAPk/ERK" and many other things hidden to the naked eye. All of these things were left out of the equation of traditional training routines. As hypertrophy-specific research progressed in specificity it was clear that traditional training routines had stumbled across many important principles of load induced muscle hypertrophy, but because of their limited perspective (volume and intensity) they failed to capitalize on some critical truths exposed by research at the cellular level. The principles of hypertrophy that HST is based on are as follows (not an exhaustive list): HST Principles 1) Mechanical Load Mechanical Load is necessary to induce muscle hypertrophy. This mechanism involves but isn't limited to, MAPk/ERK, satellite cells, growth factors, calcium, and number of other fairly understood factors. It is incorrect to say "we don't know how muscle grows in response to training". The whole point of the HST book is not to discuss HST, but to present the body of research explaining how hypertrophy occurs. Then HST becomes a relatively obvious conclusion if your goal is hypertrophy. 2) Acute vs. Chronic Stimuli In order for the loading to result in significant hypertrophy, the stimulus must be applied with sufficient frequency to create a new "environment", as opposed to seemingly random and acute assaults on the mechanical integrity of the tissue. The downside of taking a week of rest every time you load a muscle is that many of the acute responses to training like increased protein synthesis, prostaglandins, IGF-1 levels, and mRNA levels all return to normal in about 36 hours. So, you spend 2 days growing and half a week in a semi-anticatabolic state returning to normal (some people call this recovery), when research shows us that recovery can take place unabated even if a the muscle is loaded again in 48 hours. So true anabolism from loading only lasts 2 days at best once the load is removed. The rest of the time you are simply balancing nitrogen retention without adding to it.  3) Progressive Load Over time, the tissue adapts and becomes resistant to the damaging effects of mechanical load. This adaptation (resistance to the stimulus) can happen in as little as 48 hours (Repeated Bout Effect or Rapid Training Effect). As this happens, hypertrophy will stop, though neural and metabolic adaptations can and may continue. As opposed to hypertrophy, the foundation for the development of strength is neuromuscular in nature. Increases in strength from resistance exercise have been attributed to several neural adaptations including altered recruitment patterns, rate coding, motor unit synchronization, reflex potentiation, prime mover antagonist activity, and prime mover agonist activity. So, aside from incremental changes in the number of contractile filaments (hypertrophy), voluntary force production (i.e. strength) is largely a matter of "activating" motor units.  4) Strategic Deconditioning At this point, it is necessary to either increase the load (Progressive load), or decrease the degree of conditioning to the load (Strategic Deconditioning). The muscle is sensitive not only to the absolute load, but also to the change in load (up or down). Therefore, you can get a hypertrophic effect from increasing the load from a previous load, even if the absolute load is not maximum, assuming conditioning (resistance to exercise induced micro-damage) is not to extensive. There is a limit to the number of increments you can add to increase the load. You simply reach your maximum voluntary strength eventually. This is why Strategic Deconditioning is required for continued growth once growth has stopped (all things remaining equal). HST Methods Utilizing lactic acid as a stimulus for tendon repair/health Now HST incorporates a few other things such as higher reps (for lactic acid) to prepare the muscles and tendons for future heavy loads. This serves as "regular maintenance". Without it, you increase your risk of chronic injuries and pain. The metabolically-taxing reps enhance healing of strained tendons. Compound Exercises HST also suggests using compound exercises to maximize the effects of loading on as much muscle as possible per exercise.  Progressively Adjusting reps to accommodate Progressive Load HST suggests that you use 2 week blocks for each rep range. Why? It has nothing to do with adaptation. It is simply a way to accommodate the ever increasing load. Of course, you could adjust your reps every week (e.g. 15,12,10,8,5,etc), but this is more complicated and people might not understand. Often times, in order to communicate an idea you must simplify things, even at the expense of perfection. If people can't understand it, they won't do it. What good would that do or anybody? Then, over time, people figure out for themselves the other possibilities that exist within the principles of hypertrophy.  Low volume per exercise (average volume per week) HST suggests that you limit the number of sets per exercise per workout to 1 or 2. This is based on "some" evidence that sets beyond the first "effective" set do little more than burn calories. There is nothing wrong with burning calories, but when you get to be my age you just don't have the exercise tolerance that you once did. Using hormone replacement (HRT) therapy would of course, increase the number of sets you could do without undue stress. Some may question the validity of HST not utilizing more than 1 or 2 sets per exercise. The number of sets is set low to accommodate the frequency necessary to create an effective and consistent environment to stimulate hypertrophy. Over the course of a week, the volume isn't that different from standard splits (e.g. chest, shoulders, triceps, back biceps, legs). (see table below) Instead of doing 6 sets on bench in one workout, those sets are spread over the course of a week (2 on Mon, 2 on Wed, 2 on Fri). Either way the muscle sees 6 sets each week, however, with HST the distribution of the loading sessions creates a consistent environment conducive to hypertrophy. When you do all six sets at once, you put unnecessary drain on the central nervous system (CNS) and invite centralized overtraining symptoms and burnout. Multiple Consecutive Eccentric Workouts HST utilizes, when practical, eccentric workouts for 2 consecutive weeks. This suggestion is only for exercises that can be performed in eccentric fashion without risk of injury. Eccentric sets are performed with weight that exceeds their 5 rep max. This is done to extend the progression in load, began at the beginning of the HST cycle, for an additional 2 weeks. The fear of over training is no greater during these two weeks than previous weeks if volume is controlled for. Recent research has demonstrated this (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 to name a few). Clearly, the effects of eccentric muscle actions on muscle tissue are one of the most well researched subjects in exercise physiology.As the research continues to explore the facets of load induced muscle hypertrophy, HST will apply the new knowledge and become even more effective. For today, HST represents the state of the art and science of hypertrophy. I have now used these principles myself, and have used them successfully to train competitive bodybuilders for some time. It is not "specifically" designed for competitive track athletes, Powerlifters or Olympic lifters, although I have had many athletes from different sports apply HST to their off-season training with ground breaking results. It is designed according to research looking specifically at muscle hypertrophy, not muscle performance. This subject deserves a lot more attention than I am able to give it here. I will cover the topic more thoroughly in the future, including the references that first shed light on the principles that gave rise to HST. In the meantime, if you want to grow as fast as possible, you must apply currently known hypertrophy-specific training principles. HST Notes All maxes should be established before beginning the first cycle. Your maxes will determine what weights you will use throughout the entire cycle. Find your 15 rep, 10 rep, and 5 rep max lifts for each exercise you are going to use. For the second cycle simply add 5-10 pounds to all lifts. • There is an obligatory increase in weight (from 5-20 lbs.) each workout. This means that at times you may be working with less than your maximum weight for any given rep scheme. This is by design. You will reach max poundages for a given rep range on the last workout of each two week block. • Determining weights for each workout: Assign your max weights to the final workout of each 2 week block. Then, in 5-10 pound increments, assign weights in decreasing fashion starting from the last workout working backward to the first. So, for example, if your 10 rep max is 200 pounds, assign 200 pounds for the last workout of the 10 rep block, then assign weights that build up to your max in 6 workouts. For our example, using 5 pound increments, the weights for the whole 2 week block would be 175,180,185,190,195, and 200. Do this for each exercise for each rep scheme. • The obligatory increase in weight adheres to the principle of Progressive Load. Physiological systems always seek balance or homeostasis. This means they will react, change, and adapt in order to counter act the stressor that is forcing the system to go out of balance. In the case of mechanical loading, the load is the stressor, and an increase in connective tissue and muscle proteins is the reaction designed to bring the muscle back into homeostasis. • Repetitions will decrease every 2 weeks in the following order: 15 reps for 2 weeks Þ 10 reps for 2 weeks Þ 5 reps for 2 weeks Þ then continue with your 5 rep max for 2 weeks or begin 2 weeks of negatives. 15¹s can be skipped when you are about to start over after the first 8 week cycle. If you are feeling strain-type injuries coming on don't skip the 15s. • The decrease in reps accommodates the increasing load. However, the high rep workouts serve an important purpose. Higher volume anaerobic work benefits the muscle by both increasing resistance to injury as well as increasing functional capacity. • Sets will be limited to 1-2 per exercise. There is no problem with a single set per body part as long as it is a maximum effort and/or the rep tempo and form is strictly controlled or the weight is extremely heavy preventing further sets. • What most people understand to be overtraining is a result of Central Nervous System (CNS) fatigue. It has been mistakenly believed that overtraining symptoms arise from fatigue of the muscle tissue itself. Research has demonstrated this NOT to be the case. Keeping CNS fatigue low during frequent training allows dramatic strength gains, thus allowing higher and higher poundages to be used thus promoting ongoing hypertrophy. • Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday & Saturday are rest days. Light cardio (20-40 min.) may be performed on rest days. Incline treadmill (brisk walk) should be first choice. • Rest is important. Although it is fine to experience some accumulation of fatigue, adequate and regular rest is important to avoid injuries and control stress. • Complete each workout using designated poundages even if muscles are slightly sore from previous workout. It is important to know the difference between an injury and ordinary muscle soreness. NEVER train a muscle that is at risk of injury. Always warm up sufficiently to avoid injury. • Following each 6-8 week cycle, a one-week period of Strategic Deconditioningshould be taken during which no, training should be performed. This time is used to recuperate and allow any minor over-use injuries to heal. Try to get plenty of sleep as well as participate in leisure activities outside of the gym. • Strategic Deconditioning is very important for long term growth. You have to do it eventually if you hope to bust a previous plateau in ³size². Once your muscle is tuff as shoe leather, all the work in the gym serves only to maintain what size you already have. SD primes the muscle to respond once again to the training stimulus and allows growth to resume. • The whole workout can be split into a morning and afternoon session. It can likewise be doubled, performing the same workout morning and evening. Keeping volume (number of sets and exercises) low is critical if doubling the workout.

NOTE: Workouts should be done in similar fashion for each rep scheme using the appropriate poundages

determined by your ( )RM.

Steve Reeves Ultra-Symmetrical Physique Ratios

3rd June 2012

I have taken my wrist and ankle measurements and punched these into several on-line body size calculators. They all use the same methods so the readings were all the same. The measurements are based on a calculation performed during the Victorian period using statues from the Roman and Greek empires which depicted what was considered to be the perfectly proportioned male body which while being muscular was not massive.

Steve Reeves

Steve Reeves, who competed in body building in the 40's and 50's was probably the ultimate body builder from the pre-anabolic steroid era. He tweaked the calculations used by the Victorians slightly whereby for his perfect symmetry, the calves, neck and biceps should be the same circumference, the chest should be twice the thigh and the waist double the neck. Although I can't verify this last ratio, his measurements satisfied the other criteria for what he considered the ideal body.





Based on a wrist measurement of 18.5cm or 7.8", here are my ideal and actual measurements using this calculator.

                                                                   need
Chest 120cm, 103cm, 47", 40.6"                 +17cm
Waist 84cm, 93cm, 33", 37"                        -9cm
Bicep 43cm, 36cm, (left 35cm) 17", 14"       +7cm
Calf 41cm, 41cm, (left 38cm) 16", 16"          0
Thigh 64cm, 57cm, (left 55cm) 25", 22"       +7cm
Neck 44cm, 39.5cm, 17", 15.6"                  +4.5cm
Forearm 35cm, 31cm, (left 28cm) 14", 12"   +4cm
Hip 102cm, 101cm, 40", 40"                        0


(I find it hard to believe that my hip size is considered to be all right. Everyone I know tells me I don't have a bum. Maybe that's more to do with the shape and contrast with my waist.)

Steve Reeves Ultra-Symmetrical Physique Ratios for me
                                                                            need
Chest = Hip 101cm X 148% = 149cm-/*58.7"        +46cm
Waist = Hip 101cm X 86% = 87cm/34"                 -8cm
Bicep = Wrist 18.5cm X 252% = 47cm/18.5"         +11cm
Calf = Ankle 24cm X 192% = 46cm/18"                 +5cm
Thigh = Knee 39.5 X 175% = 69cm/27"                 +12cm
Neck = Head 57.5 X 79% = 45cm/17.7"                +5.5cm

*This is clearly wrong! Arnold Schwarzenneger had a 57" chest
This seems very out, so adjusting for a smaller waist of 31" which I had in 2005, would give;

                                          need
Chest = 136cm-/53.5"        +33cm
Waist = 79cm/31"               -14cm
Hip = 92cm/36"                  -10cm

As the ankle, wrist and head cannot change, the rest stays the same.

I don't have a hip measurement for Steve Reeves but this would make my other measurements pretty close to his.

            Steve Reeves             Ideal Me      

Chest           54"                        53.5"
Waist           30"                        31"
Bicep           18.5"                     18.5"
Calf              18.5"                     18"
Thigh            27"                        27"
Neck            18.5"                     18"

We are nearly the same height with Steve Reeves at 185cm and me at 188cm, so this makes a lot of sense.

Steve Reeves

While it could be easy to be disheartened by this, one should remember that there is no point in having a goal that doesn't aim for the ideal and stretch you along the way. I know it is going to be extra hard for me considering my past injuries and weaknesses and my age but this is the picture, the image I shall keep in my mind from which I shall gain encouragement.

It's interesting to see that my ideal neck, calve and bicep measurements are all around the 18" mark - the same as Steve Reeves. Yikes. Now there's a challenge but if he could do it then why not? Interestingly enough, I notice that I am only 3cm taller than Steve Reeves and while he was 97kg my ideal according to his calculations would be 104kg.

Steve Reeves

All right he was genetically gifted but he didn't know that before he started out and in fact he had to do it twice. After once having built the ideal body, Steve joined the American war effort in 1944, contracted malaria, and lost over 20lb of muscle as well as the will to continue competing. He bounced back after recovering from his illness and gained the muscle all back in 4 months doing a simple full body work out.

Now, despite the fact he had superior genes, I still find this story a great motivator. While I can't remember my previous measurements I do remember that at the age of 40 my waist was 31", so I know for this body part at least, I can achieve better than my ideal!