i own ford and iron fist

[GunnedDownAtrocity]

pretty lame way of getting your attention, but i have been out of the game for a couple years and had two quick questions.

1. what happened with the gymnastics experiment ford? i keep hearing you bring it up, but how did it negatively effect your lifting. i was thinking of doing something very similar ... maybe along the lines of the crossfit thing chieffox mentioned ... but wanted to ask you what went down with you first.

2. iron ... i heard you allude to the the years you spent doing low rep sets almost as a waste of time. last i was around here high weight low reps was the shiznit so i'm just wondering what's changed. is the pavel approach laughed at now or am i still ok going in that direction?

i'm not expecting you guys to type out books either ... i'd just really appreciate some general direction or even links on what i could be reading. i always trusted your guys advice before so i wanted to check in.

[Ford Prefect]

I own a Ford too. Taurus to be exact.

A little jammed up now. I'll explain a little later or tomorrow.

[IronFist]

2. iron ... i heard you allude to the the years you spent doing low rep sets almost as a waste of time. last i was around here high weight low reps was the shiznit so i'm just wondering what's changed. is the pavel approach laughed at now or am i still ok going in that direction?

Low reps are awesome for building strength. I used low rep training exclusively when I was training for the deadlift in a powerlifting meet last March.

The bad part about low reps is, when done exclusively, they KILL your endurance. I got to a point where I could bench 245 x 5 but I could not do 135 x 12 without seriously cramping up. So, when I went to try to build mass again (or attempt to, on my ectomorph frame), and I was doing higher volume with 8-12 rep sets, I was lifting little girly weights because I had no endurance at all.

This is obvious when you consider SAID (specific adaptation to imposed demands). Your body gets better at what you make it do, and it gets worse at what you do not make it do. Since I was not making my body lift relatively heavy weights for higher reps, it became less efficient at doing so. And since I was lifting heavy weights at low reps, it became better at doing that.

Low reps are awesome for building strength. Just make sure you know what the consequences are if you do it exclusively.

I'd say a good mix of various rep schemes over time is probably the best for overall gains. But, as with anything, it depends on your goals.

[Serpent]

With MA in mind, it's better to stick to around the 8 - 10 rep mark, with occasional cycles of high weight 5 x 5's and occasional cycles of high rep or extensive BWE. You won't excel in any particular area (i.e. you could be stronger or have a bit better endurance, etc.) but the all-round skills fit better with MA training. Of course, that's assuming that you do lots of MA training and keep your cardio up to scratch too. This way you're not likely to gain a lot of size, but do you wanna be a fighting machine or a beach poser?

You could call it 'following the middle path'.

[Vash]

Holy ****ing **** on a Platter of Jesus-Loves-You, it's Serpent!

[Ford Prefect]

Hey GDA,

I went on a couple month stint where I exclusively did gymnastics and plyometrics for strength while encorporating kettlebell's, clubbells, calesthenics, and very light barbell exercises in a crossfit type fashion for endurance. I certainly got better at the gymnastics moves and I now feel I have better control over my body as well as more awareness of my muscles, but my weightlifting suffered GREATLY. I'm very close to being back where I was years and years ago when I first started lifting weights. It will likely only take a few months to retrain myself, but it is very discouraging none the less.

I was expecting a dip in strength levels on the weights, but not one as dramatic. Another case for how strength is so task specific. I can do things that I had no chance of doing before and things that most lifters wouldn't have a prayer of doing either, but right now my old 5rm would smash me flat. When I gain my strength back, I'll be all the better for it considering my new skills. If somebody wanted to do something similar, then I'd definately recommend they do it while being balanced out by weighted compound lifts to supplement their gymnast training.

You just hear these stories of elite gymnasts moving monster weight the first time they touch them, and people want to attribute that to some sort of ttraining effect from gymnastics. I wanted to see for myself what would happen to relatively competent weight lifter if he would forsake weights and train like a gymnast.

[GunnedDownAtrocity]

thanks guys.

so walking the middle path seems to be the basic point behind what all of you are saying.

i have been checking out the crossfit thing and i was going to start last night, but it was just too **** nice out not to go for a bike ride and then a walk with the girls. probably the last night well have like that for at least 3 months or so. ill be starting that this week, maybe even tonight.

anything you guys recommend in additon to the crossfit training? there is no way im going to jump in quite as intense as what they have posted so doing some other stuff shouldnt be out of the question.

right now i mostly bike and lift.

[Serpent]

Holy ****ing **** on a Platter of Jesus-Loves-You, it's Serpent!

Hi. Just passing through.

[Vash]

Hi. Just passing through.

por que?

Ahem.

I meant, "Poooooooorrrrrrrrrrrrrrr Quuuuuuueeeeeeeeeee?!?!?!"

[Serpent]

Pork? Like a bacon sammich?

[GunnedDownAtrocity]

i eat at least one turkey sandwich every day.

i need to start throwing sum baccon on dat sumbich.

[IronFist]

^ And guacamole.

And if you put all that on rye... oh man... that's a good sandwich. Unless you're one of those people who hates rye, then I would use something else.

[GunnedDownAtrocity]

honey wheat

thats the **** right there

[Toby]

The bad part about low reps is, when done exclusively, they KILL your endurance.

Since when did you care about endurance?

Some people persist with PTP . I find PTP and HIIT to offer a good balance combined with my MA.

Hi Serp!

[Serpent]

Wow, it's like a reunion in here.

Hey Tobes!