In HT1 I am finding myself in a bit of middle ground on some of the days. Today was upper 5 x 5 day. The rest periods are 90 seconds as recommended. I find that I do not need to wait 90 seconds to be able to get the next five reps. But I can not go heavier and complete my full 5 reps even if I do wait the 90 seconds. Am I explainng it properly? I did about 60 seconds rest on all sets today and got through my weights. Going any heavier I would not have completed the 5 reps.
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38 year old coach to my 8 year old son, 6 ft tall jungle gym to my 10 year old daughter, 184 lb husband to my wife of 15 years and a 11% BF fitness addict best friend to all 3 of them.
I know you feel you don't "need" the full 90 seconds, but it is 90 seconds for a reason. If you only rest 60 seconds on your 5x5 days, then you'll have to only rest 40 seconds on your 4x10 days and 20 seconds on your 3x15 days to get the effect that Alwyn is shooting for.
I found myself doing the same thing. I thought I read in the book that the rest is a pretty much a guideline, not an absolute. For example, I believe in the strength program, the recommended rest is 3 minutes, but Lou makes the comment that if you only need 2 minutes you would be ok.
Yes to a limit. I go as heavy as I can to still get 5 reps. If I know I can not move up in weight to get 5 reps I will stay where I am.
For instance on the 5 x 5 of Incline DB press today I did my first set with 65lb db's, my second with 70's, my third with 75's and my last two with 80's. I will start with 70's next time but know I could not get 85's this week for 5 reps.
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Stats:
38 year old coach to my 8 year old son, 6 ft tall jungle gym to my 10 year old daughter, 184 lb husband to my wife of 15 years and a 11% BF fitness addict best friend to all 3 of them.
Yes to a limit. I go as heavy as I can to still get 5 reps. If I know I can not move up in weight to get 5 reps I will stay where I am.
For instance on the 5 x 5 of Incline DB press today I did my first set with 65lb db's, my second with 70's, my third with 75's and my last two with 80's. I will start with 70's next time but know I could not get 85's this week for 5 reps.
I do my sets the opposite way. I'll warmup but then use the heaviest weight in the first set. If I can't get all five sets at that weight I'll drop down to complete the reps.
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its hard to see how going shorter on the rest could hurt you, but if there is a technical reason against doing it, hopefully LS or AC will let us know.
For what it is worth, I have found the 1.5 lb. plates that came with my "Dan Lurie" barbell set helpfull. I thought that there would be little practical difference between going up by 3 or 5 lbs., and most of the time there is none. But last night I was unable to complete the last two sets of the close grip bench press with my starting weight, so I took off the 2.5s and put on 1.5s and was able to finish.
I know that several outfits still sell 1.5 or 1.25 plates. I have seen some at Omnifitness (made by Cap, I believe) and I think that New York Barbells also sells them.
its hard to see how going shorter on the rest could hurt you, but if there is a technical reason against doing it, hopefully LS or AC will let us know.
It's not that it would hurt you, but if you change a dymanic of one workout of the program, you need to change it by an equal amount for the other workouts or you risk not getting the full intended effect of the program the way it was designed.
Yes to a limit. I go as heavy as I can to still get 5 reps. If I know I can not move up in weight to get 5 reps I will stay where I am.
For instance on the 5 x 5 of Incline DB press today I did my first set with 65lb db's, my second with 70's, my third with 75's and my last two with 80's. I will start with 70's next time but know I could not get 85's this week for 5 reps.
Why not start with the 75's or 80's (after your warm-up sets of course) and see if you can get them for 5x5 instead of increasing on every set? You might start needing the 90 seconds, lol.
I think of the rest periods as guidelines or maximum rest intervals. If you're ready to go early, then go. If it's been 90 seconds and you'd rather rest a bit more, go anyway, lol. Others may have a different and just as valid take on that, but that's what I do.
Why not start with the 75's or 80's (after your warm-up sets of course) and see if you can get them for 5x5 instead of increasing on every set? You might start needing the 90 seconds, lol.
I think of the rest periods as guidelines or maximum rest intervals. If you're ready to go early, then go. If it's been 90 seconds and you'd rather rest a bit more, go anyway, lol. Others may have a different and just as valid take on that, but that's what I do.
I will be starting heavier next time. My goal will now be to complete all 5 sets with 80's and maybe one or two sets with more. BUt that is my first goal.
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Stats:
38 year old coach to my 8 year old son, 6 ft tall jungle gym to my 10 year old daughter, 184 lb husband to my wife of 15 years and a 11% BF fitness addict best friend to all 3 of them.
Rook...do you not bench some ridiculous amount? Why only 80's for the incline presses? Is there a bit of an imbalance there?
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Regret for the things we did can be tempered by time; it is regret for the things we did not do that is inconsolable. -- Sidney J. Harris
Rook...do you not bench some ridiculous amount? Why only 80's for the incline presses? Is there a bit of an imbalance there?
My flat max was 275, most likely 265 or so right now. 225 on incline.
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38 year old coach to my 8 year old son, 6 ft tall jungle gym to my 10 year old daughter, 184 lb husband to my wife of 15 years and a 11% BF fitness addict best friend to all 3 of them.
I ask cause I haven't been able to BB press since the last time I did my rotator cuff in (I was up to 110kgs for 3x8 at that stage, no 1rm).
My flat press with DBs now is 45kg's for 5x5 and incline will start out at 42.5 and drop to 40's to finish.
What do the rest of you find is the ratio between your flat and incline bench?
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Regret for the things we did can be tempered by time; it is regret for the things we did not do that is inconsolable. -- Sidney J. Harris
I went over this in an e-mail with Alwyn and he suggested that I could tweak the rest periods a little based on my personal recovery between sets. This is not a blanket statement to change the workouts or rest periods, but I shaved it to 75 seconds and sometimes 60 and made good progress.
__________________ In Fitness & Friendship, MAHLER
______________________________ __________________________ There is no light at the end of the tunnel. You carry the light with you.
I ask cause I haven't been able to BB press since the last time I did my rotator cuff in (I was up to 110kgs for 3x8 at that stage, no 1rm).
My flat press with DBs now is 45kg's for 5x5 and incline will start out at 42.5 and drop to 40's to finish.
What do the rest of you find is the ratio between your flat and incline bench?
Good question. I wold ove to kow the responses.
I have found my biggest imbalance is lower body to upper. I did NOT complete workout B AGAIN! I am going to have to start fresh next time. Really drop the weights in Squats and Deads and focus on completing the routine. Then I will work may way up from there. I had a horrile nights sleep again and that may be part of it. I am going to get back on the ZMA to see if it helps with some sleep.
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38 year old coach to my 8 year old son, 6 ft tall jungle gym to my 10 year old daughter, 184 lb husband to my wife of 15 years and a 11% BF fitness addict best friend to all 3 of them.
Are you doing the routine the wussy correct way or are you making the butch mistake I made and supersetting the squats and deads?
There are two threads below on this topic - I think everyone should do it my way - cause if I had to cry like a little girl infront of everyone at the gym it's only fair everyone else does too! Regardless of the authors corrections...
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Regret for the things we did can be tempered by time; it is regret for the things we did not do that is inconsolable. -- Sidney J. Harris
What do the rest of you find is the ratio between your flat and incline bench?
Irish, I think this is very individual. I have guys whose flat and incline are almost the same (the incline being slightly lower), but I think most guys' incline drops quite a bit from their flat bench. It depends on what you've trained the most too. My own incline bench is very close to my flat bench. It's just very individual.
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Regret for the things we did can be tempered by time; it is regret for the things we did not do that is inconsolable. -- Sidney J. Harris
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Stats:
38 year old coach to my 8 year old son, 6 ft tall jungle gym to my 10 year old daughter, 184 lb husband to my wife of 15 years and a 11% BF fitness addict best friend to all 3 of them.
I would come back with a cutting retort....but you have H2 and FL3 ahead of you so I'll just sit here smuggly and wait!
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Regret for the things we did can be tempered by time; it is regret for the things we did not do that is inconsolable. -- Sidney J. Harris
Rest vs. Recovery
Linear Mode
