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Frequency: I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say this is the most important variable in a training system. Why? Well, the timeframe for muscular growth is hard-wired into people. More intense workouts don't elongate the time necessary to repair the muscle. This is because, at the cellular level, the same thing occurs every time there's damage. mRNA is activated, IGF-1 spills out, etc, etc. This response lasts, at best, 48 hours.
If you don't buy that, PM me because the response is technical.
It makes sense, then, that in order to be in a continuous state of growth, one should work muscles about every 48 hours.
Volume and Genetics: I'm generally a low volume advocate because, the truth is, you really only need one single set to cause growth. But, it's not quite so simple. With volume, it's a case of diminishing returns. That second set WILL CAUSE MORE GROWTH over that first set. But is it going to be twice as much growth? No. The third set? Even less additional growth. Those who are familiar with math will recognize this as a very steep asymptotic function.
So what's the appropriate volume? Here's where the "everybody's different" argument can be applied correctly. People mistakenly use that argument in a Mentzer sort of way to determine frequency. That's counterproductive because our growth is all based on the human norm timeframe. It's all about how much volume one can handle without compromising frequency. Because, more volume is better, but not if you need more time off. Recovery Genetics should determine training volume, not frequency.
So many programs are based around some magic combination of reps and sets. Like the 5x5 program. Why 5x5? No particular reason. My guess would be because they're both 5's, and people like symmety, as well as numbers that are related to 10, the base number system we use. Would 5x3 be any less effective? Probably not. In fact, you could probably work out more than once a week if you dropped the volume in such a way.
HST acknowledges that the volume isn't so set in stone. Nowhere on the site does it say "do x sets," it just says "Start with one of everything. If you still feel energetic, bump it to 2." Etc. I'd love to see more people try HST, because if you already do 5x5 or AnimalMass DFHT, it's not too much of a stretch of the imagination to see where HST would be very effective.
-casual
If you don't buy that, PM me because the response is technical.
It makes sense, then, that in order to be in a continuous state of growth, one should work muscles about every 48 hours.
Volume and Genetics: I'm generally a low volume advocate because, the truth is, you really only need one single set to cause growth. But, it's not quite so simple. With volume, it's a case of diminishing returns. That second set WILL CAUSE MORE GROWTH over that first set. But is it going to be twice as much growth? No. The third set? Even less additional growth. Those who are familiar with math will recognize this as a very steep asymptotic function.
So what's the appropriate volume? Here's where the "everybody's different" argument can be applied correctly. People mistakenly use that argument in a Mentzer sort of way to determine frequency. That's counterproductive because our growth is all based on the human norm timeframe. It's all about how much volume one can handle without compromising frequency. Because, more volume is better, but not if you need more time off. Recovery Genetics should determine training volume, not frequency.
So many programs are based around some magic combination of reps and sets. Like the 5x5 program. Why 5x5? No particular reason. My guess would be because they're both 5's, and people like symmety, as well as numbers that are related to 10, the base number system we use. Would 5x3 be any less effective? Probably not. In fact, you could probably work out more than once a week if you dropped the volume in such a way.
HST acknowledges that the volume isn't so set in stone. Nowhere on the site does it say "do x sets," it just says "Start with one of everything. If you still feel energetic, bump it to 2." Etc. I'd love to see more people try HST, because if you already do 5x5 or AnimalMass DFHT, it's not too much of a stretch of the imagination to see where HST would be very effective.
-casual
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