Is This Normal?

[cgpdwheeler]

ok, background first i am 5'9'', 25 and weighed 214lbs when i got back into lifting, i got down to 190lbs about a 2 1\2 months ago and now im gaining wieght back up to 199lbs. I have been getting about 3000ish or more cals a day and i have been lifting 3 times a week.

i'm getting really good results, very happy but the past few week i have only been able to get to the gym once a week due to work. and i have made better gains the past few weeks than when i was going 3 times a week. i keep a weekly picture file of me and have noticed a pretty big difference in the last 3 weeks or so. is this really out of the ordinary? or do some people do better lifting 1 time a week? i was kind of thinking it might just be the results of the past year or so of hard lifting just now starting to show, or is it possible to make gains jsut lifting 1 time a week.

i am now at 199lbs, and 14% bf acording to my scale, i started at 214 lbs and 17% almost a year ago, slow but going in the right direction.
i have been trying to follow the 5X5 workout that is in the sticky as much as possible.

[Riddick2112]

welcome to the world of the "deload" ;-)

Your body is getting some extra rest which is allowing fatigue to dissipate which in turn allows further adaptation from the previous training.
If you were to continue to train once a week for say a year's time, you may make gains or you may not but your work capacity and anaerobic conditioning would go into the toilet.

just my $.02

[EricT]

X2

[cgpdwheeler]

thanks guys, i have to say i do fee better. i finally got a membership to the ymca here so now i dont have to use my bow flex anymore! cant wait until this evening to go!

[BrianMcG]

You may find the writings of Mike Mentzer interesting concerning your progress on your one day a week schedule.

Mike Mentzer.doc

Mike Mentzer2.doc

Mike Mentzer3.doc

Mike Mentzer4.doc

[Riddick2112]

interestig yes, but watch out for that Mentzer stuff!!! i bought into the HD "theory" for over 5 years and ended up so deconditioned and so out of shape that i was able to begin again with Rip's Starting Strength program and do well with it!
Mike was a brilliant writer and a great thinker but his axiomatic "one-size fits all, i'm right everyone else is wrong" attitude about his methods is, at this point, laughable to me.
bottom line- progressive long-term reductions in volume and frequency are ass-backwards to human physiology and the GAS.
beware!

rant over

[BrianMcG]

You are correct in that Mentzer does come off very sanctimonious and all knowing. But what I hope many people get is that they don't need to spend 2 hours in a gym 6 days a week to see progress. In fact that is a great way to not see progress and get burned out.

As much as Mentzer likes to admonish the super high volume crowd only being good for people with superior genetics and on steroids, I feel his one set only ever few weeks is basically the same, only good for people with really good genetics and on steroids.

I think something a little more in between is best for most people (that are not juiced that is).