How do I know if my intensity is high enough?

[phreaknite]

Originally Posted by Kane

Lift some heavy fuckin weights and you're lifting intensely...why does everything have to get complicated?!?

ps. Maybe try grunting a bit to increase the mental pump up

I know eric agrees, but I disagree with this. If you just try to pack on random amounts of poundages because they are "heavy" then you may wind up injuring yourself or doing workouts improperly (which goes hand in hand)

If you wanna take ur intensity to the next level I suggest a training Journal. If you keep track of what you are doing each time, and notice you havent increased in a while, bump up the weight a little......that means the block you have hit is probably more mental.

When i feel I am having a hard time lifting the heavy weights and want to pump up my intensity and still get a nice big pump out of my muscles, I superset.

According to Arnold's Bible of Bodybuilding, after 3 minutes rest, your muscles are 92% recovered. After 1 minute, they are approximately 50% recovered. Rest no longer than a minute, because according to the New Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding you want to keep your muscles in a recovery/unrecovered state while you are doing your workouts to recruit more fibers that will encourage muscle growth.

In short, make sure to rest but definitely keep your rests under a minute and if you are having a hard time getting that pump, try supersetting with 0-30 sec rest at most. That's whats helped me.

[EricT]

I think you are misunderstanding what Kane is saying and what I am agreeing too. Which is of course understandable being that is sounds like this random absolute statement. He is making a lot of assumptions such as some of that you mentioned above. When he says "heavy" he means heavy relative to your maximum ability.

He is assuming people know to keep track of what they are doing. Nothing wrong with pointing out some of this I am just saying there is not that much disagreement here. We are just speaking of a more practical and realistic definition of "intensity" rather than "how you feel" or how much you are sweating or screaming. I.E. intensity as a percentage of 1RM.

I would point out that achieving a "pump" is not a prerequisite for growth. I would also point out that the amount of rest time it takes to recover is up to the individual and that at any one time all muscle fuel systems are coming into play to some extent or another but one is dominant.

The amount of rest you take has a lot to do with what you are trying to achieve. *Edit* I know Dave touched on this above.

[Madcow2]

Originally Posted by phreaknite

According to Arnold's Bible of Bodybuilding, after 3 minutes rest, your muscles are 92% recovered. After 1 minute, they are approximately 50% recovered. Rest no longer than a minute, because according to the New Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding you want to keep your muscles in a recovery/unrecovered state while you are doing your workouts to recruit more fibers that will encourage muscle growth.

I would really advise not taking science out of Arnold's book. It is entertainment just like the movie Pumping Iron in which Arnold says "if I did lower reps my muscles would take on the bulky look of a powerlifter's." I haven't read his books more than thumbing through them but he and BBing in general are not good sources for a solid grasp on this stuff.

For instance - in your recruitment take above, that's just not how it works. All fibers get recruited between 50-85% of your maximum voluntary effort. That means the very first rep of your 5RM will recruit all of your fibers. That also means during a 10 rep set, most will be recruited in the first few reps and by the time you get to rep #5 where you can only do 5 more (or your momentary 5RM which is around 85% generally) all your fibers will be recruited. Rate coding and syncronization come into play but it is not how you have it above in any way, shape or form. And this is very well known, absolutely accepted, and very well verified and documented (hence, don't take science from Arnold or most BBing related sites - they are generally horrendous and even when they do have some information behind them, they tend to erroneously extrapolate information in ways that are close to retarded i.e. the under 60 minute workout due to hormonal changes - such horrendous misapplication of information).

I would read this thread and NWlifter's posts to get a solid grasp on this: http://www.drdarden.com/readTopic.do?id=394848.

I would also say, you'd get a lot out of what I've written here: http://www.bodybuilding.net/training...rent-2972.html

[EricT]

Originally Posted by Madcow

would read this thread and NWlifter's posts to get a solid grasp on this: http://www.drdarden.com/readTopic.do?id=394848.

I for one will definitely be reading that. I read a fantastic article on the subject a while back (don't ask me to quote it!). I wish I had saved it.

[Madcow2]

Enoka's Neuromechanics of Human Movements is basically 'the book' for this type of stuff. This is where most of the information has been synthesized and you can reference any individual studies that you might want to read through right from there. You might also take a look at nwlifter's site http://www.hypertrophy-research.com/, specifically the page for contraction and fatigue http://hypertrophy-research.com/page5.html. Lots of great stuff there.

[phreaknite]

Thank you very much for correcting me and bringing that to light

I am still relitively new to the BB'ing way of life and I was citing the research I have been going by up until now. I will DEFINITELY read those articles and pick up that book. I purchased Arnold's bible to bodybuilding book and Franco Columbu's book on nutrition, so another book for my library is welcomed...

Thanks very much again for correcting me on this. I like to be as educated as possible and I will check out your articles that you cite as being accurate.

Just as a sidenote, I have been following some of the principles in those books an it has led me to great results, so while the information may not be 100% accurate there is MUST be some truth behind the content of those books since it HAS worked with my body and my training...

[EricT]

Originally Posted by phreaknite

Just as a sidenote, I have been following some of the principles in those books an it has led me to great results, so while the information may not be 100% accurate there is MUST be some truth behind the content of those books since it HAS worked with my body and my training...

I'm probably one of the few people who have never picked up the Arnold book so I don't know much about what's in it. But I definitely understand what you are saying. I don't think anyone would say that nobody can ever get results from it especially when first starting. Just don't rely on it for accurate science. You will find that there are plenty of huge guys that have no real idea of the science nor could they accurately explain what got them there.

Originally Posted by Madcow

hence, don't take science from Arnold or most BBing related sites - they are generally horrendous and even when they do have some information behind them, they tend to erroneously extrapolate information in ways that are close to retarded i.e. the under 60 minute workout due to hormonal changes - such horrendous misapplication of information).

[phreaknite]

gotcha, I must say I learned much from you already Eric

[EricT]

Thanks a lot. That's a very nice thing to say. Especially after Madcow's post. I think we are all learning from each other but when you start seeing some of the stuff from guys around here you'll realize how dumb I am .

[Madcow2]

Originally Posted by phreaknite

Thank you very much for correcting me and bringing that to light

I am still relitively new to the BB'ing way of life and I was citing the research I have been going by up until now. I will DEFINITELY read those articles and pick up that book. I purchased Arnold's bible to bodybuilding book and Franco Columbu's book on nutrition, so another book for my library is welcomed...

Thanks very much again for correcting me on this. I like to be as educated as possible and I will check out your articles that you cite as being accurate.

Just as a sidenote, I have been following some of the principles in those books an it has led me to great results, so while the information may not be 100% accurate there is MUST be some truth behind the content of those books since it HAS worked with my body and my training...

Do not buy Enoka's book at this point - stuff like that is neat but you do not need that book for BBing. Basically what I told you and what you'll find in that thread is all you need. You'll find this information is A LOT harder to get your brain around and you might read tons and only get a few things for application.

If I was to suggest a book it would be this one Starting Strength:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/097...023947?ie=UTF8
Here are some reviews: http://www.startingstrength.com/reviews.html

After that this one is the next.
Practical Programming (Out in August):
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/097...lance&n=283155

On my site here: http://www.geocities.com/elitemadcow...icles,%20Tools
you will find interviews with the Mark Rippetoe and Glenn Pendlay as well as their joint programming piece - if you like this type of stuff you will devour these and those books. This is basically a primer for the above books. Keep in mind these books are largely written for coaches, but no one and I mean no one at any level whatsoever from beginner to elite lifter has not found them valuable and learned something from them.

Also, there are some recommended books here: http://www.geocities.com/elitemadcow...cs/Sources.htm

I would really advise the Startign Strength and Pracitcal Programming first. Some of these are very very deep and require a very big foundation to get much out of. A lot on that link are more like textbooks, not what you are used to reading in the BBing section of Barnes & Noble.

Also - a lot of things can and have worked. It's not one way or best way. In addition the target moves in both the short term and the longer term and what is golden now will not be golden in 10 weeks and you don't train a beginner like an advanced lifter. So just keep the big lifts moving. Maybe read some of the posts I put here: http://www.bodybuilding.net/training...rent-2972.html. And check out some of the stuff in the trianing theory section of my site.