[Article] Fadi on Bodybuilding

[Fadi]

Hi Fadi,

Would be interested to hear your thoughts re why doing a complete split routine is inefficient/not recommended (i.e one body part per day, leaving 7 days to recover).

Most of the people I know at the gym only hit one muscle group a week. Some of them have great physiques, although they have been training for quite a few years.

Steroids perhaps Raphael? If you can recover, then train 3x/day, 7 days/week...if you can recover then supercompensate that is!

I was training 8 times a week as a weightlifter due to the structure of the program and the way it's designed based on my 1RM. This idea is so foreign to most bodybuilders which in my opinion make them take the easier option out by resorting to steroids before exploring a smarter way of training.

PS: Raphael, I wouldn't go as far as to say that a split routine is inefficient/not recommended, as it's evident by the virtue that it's working for some. Everything works for some most of the time. There's a lot more to this of course.

Fadi.

 

[vader-nator]

LOL

"Everything works for some most of the time."

That is a killer statement.

My brain is twisted now.

Rob

Steroids perhaps Raphael? If you can recover, then train 3x/day, 7 days/week...if you can recover then supercompensate that is!

I was training 8 times a week as a weightlifter due to the structure of the program and the way it's designed based on my 1RM. This idea is so foreign to most bodybuilders which in my opinion make them take the easier option out by resorting to steroids before exploring a smarter way of training.

PS: Raphael, I wouldn't go as far as to say that a split routine is inefficient/not recommended, as it's evident by the virtue that it's working for some. Everything works for some most of the time. There's a lot more to this of course.

Fadi.

 

[Fadi]

LOL

"Everything works for some most of the time."

That is a killer statement.

My brain is twisted now.

Rob

Rob, I was looking for an answer I gave and for the life of me I can not find it. I was asked about a system of training and my answer was that it would be best not to rubbish any since they all work for some. You've got the HIT proponent rubbishing the high volume boys; the high volume boys rubbishing the going to failure boys etc etc. I decided that all these different systems have their merits and advocates. I mean one would have to be blind not to see that.

So my comment above: "Everything works for some most of the time," everything here stands for the different styles which obviously work for some. "Most of the time", here means that's the main system these bodybuilders use for years before making a switch then "suddenly begin to improve again". Mmmm, really? I wonder why? My answer back then (and still is), nothing works forever.

Have I confused you even more Rob?! I'll have to find that thread, it would make more sense then...


Fadi.

 

[vader-nator]

I know exactly what you mean....... I'ts just such a deep one. Not confused just perplexed with the magnitude of the statement.

I guess the only real constant is faith.

If you are 100% certain the work you are doing is the way to go then you will be compelled to do it to the best of your ability.

Giving 100% is sure to make your efforts productive......

Even if you don't get enough rest days.....LOL

We are all very obsessive personalities. That makes it all heaps of fun.

Now some food for thought from Mentzer obsessed Rob....
I'm still getting away with 40 mins per workout on a 4 way split with each part trained only once every 12 days.

Still gaining.

Arms pumped are 19.5 inches or 49.5 cm and dips are getting as easy as walking.

So I reckon we should:

Do less!

Take rest days!

and above all have fun arguing. Hee hee!!!!!!

means your money is where your mouth is...... most important way to results.

Rob

Quote Oddball Kellys Heroes " Have a little faith baby. Have a little faith! "

Rob, I was looking for an answer I gave and for the life of me I can not find it. I was asked about a system of training and my answer was that it would be best not to rubbish any since they all work for some. You've got the HIT proponent rubbishing the high volume boys; the high volume boys rubbishing the going to failure boys etc etc. I decided that all these different systems have their merits and advocates. I mean one would have to be blind not to see that.

So my comment above: "Everything works for some most of the time," everything here stands for the different styles which obviously work for some. "Most of the time", here means that's the main system these bodybuilders use for years before making a switch then "suddenly begin to improve again". Mmmm, really? I wonder why? My answer back then (and still is), nothing works forever.

Have I confused you even more Rob?! I'll have to find that thread, it would make more sense then...


Fadi.

 

[azza]

I know exactly what you mean....... I'ts just such a deep one. Not confused just perplexed with the magnitude of the statement.

I guess the only real constant is faith.

If you are 100% certain the work you are doing is the way to go then you will be compelled to do it to the best of your ability.

Giving 100% is sure to make your efforts productive......

Even if you don't get enough rest days.....LOL

We are all very obsessive personalities. That makes it all heaps of fun.

Now some food for thought from Mentzer obsessed Rob....
I'm still getting away with 40 mins per workout on a 4 way split with each part trained only once every 12 days.

Still gaining.

Arms pumped are 19.5 inches or 49.5 cm and dips are getting as easy as walking.

So I reckon we should:

Do less!

Take rest days!

and above all have fun arguing. Hee hee!!!!!!

means your money is where your mouth is...... most important way to results.

Rob

Quote Oddball Kellys Heroes " Have a little faith baby. Have a little faith! "

I couldnt agree more, when i first started doing weights 20 years ago, i trained with a mate that had brought Flex magazine, we copied what Flex Wheeler and Shawn Ray did. I soon realised i was on a road to no where when i brought the Weider supplements as well (great to be niaive) What happens then is chronic overtraining and under achieving, also you soon start to hate the fact or loose belief in yourself for not gaining anything. Guess what, fast forward 20 years later and nothings changed, the magazines still publish the pros so called workouts, but now the pros have trainers and the supplements are more confusing and dearer to buy. Lucky i have educated myself. My findings are trainee's dont realy know how to evaluate a program because of where the bar is placed. The talk of 1 set cant possibly work or working 1 bodypart every 10 days cant work. Well much smarter people than us have pondered this and found out for themselfs, Mentzer also smoked after a workout so go figure. Mentzers teachings for someone who took AAS and had great recovery because of this still are great teachings, i go one step further and actually train Dorian style, slightly modified for me though.
AZZA

 

[-LJ-]

I love the table in the first post. Its excellent!

 

[vader-nator]

Thanks bud,

You'd be the only one that agrees with me so far. LOL

I am a bit of a mad scientist.

Have taken economy of drug free recovery to bonkers levels but hey.....

Works for me!

Rob

I couldnt agree more, when i first started doing weights 20 years ago, i trained with a mate that had brought Flex magazine, we copied what Flex Wheeler and Shawn Ray did. I soon realised i was on a road to no where when i brought the Weider supplements as well (great to be niaive) What happens then is chronic overtraining and under achieving, also you soon start to hate the fact or loose belief in yourself for not gaining anything. Guess what, fast forward 20 years later and nothings changed, the magazines still publish the pros so called workouts, but now the pros have trainers and the supplements are more confusing and dearer to buy. Lucky i have educated myself. My findings are trainee's dont realy know how to evaluate a program because of where the bar is placed. The talk of 1 set cant possibly work or working 1 bodypart every 10 days cant work. Well much smarter people than us have pondered this and found out for themselfs, Mentzer also smoked after a workout so go figure. Mentzers teachings for someone who took AAS and had great recovery because of this still are great teachings, i go one step further and actually train Dorian style, slightly modified for me though.
AZZA

 

[kano]

hey fadi.great thread

i workout 3 times a week aswell.are you saying the days i have off i should do high reps on the body parts im lacking in.

 

[Fadi]

hey fadi.great thread

i workout 3 times a week aswell.are you saying the days i have off i should do high reps on the body parts im lacking in.

What do you understand by "high reps" kano? I'm speaking of a very light weight to pump the blood into the lacking muscle so as to increase capillary density. Please do not mistaken that for some high rep bodybuilding workout. Our aim is not the direct building of muscles here but rather capillaries and blood vessels. That in turn would indirectly have an effect on muscle building through the process of a better blood flow to the muscles.


Fadi.

 

[kano]

i understand about light weight and high reps for better blood flow.but when should we do this,after a workout or on the days we have off

 

[Fadi]

i understand about light weight and high reps for better blood flow.but when should we do this,after a workout or on the days we have off

Either.


Fadi.

 

[Bazari]

That's the answer I was waiting for in this thread.

Fadi, in regards to your example full body workout, your rest times are 240secs for week one. Just wondering if your resting after each exercise or your doing them all as a circuit, then resting?

Cheers,

Rick

 

[Fadi]

That's the answer I was waiting for in this thread.

Fadi, in regards to your example full body workout, your rest times are 240secs for week one. Just wondering if your resting after each exercise or your doing them all as a circuit, then resting?

Cheers,

Rick

4 minutes rest is taken after the set of 6 reps. When the reps are low and the weight is heavy, your CNS system needs time to reload before you continue on. Whenever the weights get heavy, it's not the muscles that take longest to recuperate from a set, but the CNS instead. And if you attempt another set before the CNS has recovered, you'll fail. Generally speaking, muscles recover up to 75% of their strength within 45 seconds of terminating a set. However, it takes a further 2 to 3 minutes for total muscle recovery.

Please note, a muscle is one thing, a nerve that fires and make that muscle contract is something else altogether. The heavier the weight, the more nerve recruitment. And since nerve cells take longer to recover than muscle cells, a longer time would be required between heavy weight (low reps 1-6) sets.

Here's a link for you: http://books.google.com.au/books?id=K2AoqL5FdJEC&pg=PA193&lpg=PA193&dq=nerve+cells+take+five+or+six+times+longer+to+recover+than+muscle+cells&source=bl&ots=W1-8e9K8ll&sig=FWx_rVmti1X2_k0s3955eRebw1o&hl=en&ei=RmoOS8DZJ5OMkAWy6OCiBw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CA4Q6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=&f=false

Please look at page #193 under the heading: Intensity and Recovery. Thank you Bazari.


Fadi.

 

[Christian]

love u fadi

 

[Fadi]

love u fadi

Ah you're a funny man n00bs; thank you Sir.


Fadi.

 

[trofius]

So fadi what % of max would you consider low weight and what would you call high reps?

 

[PowerBuilder]

40-50% my bet would be

 

[MikeW]

Enter the 100 REPS! Ah, not for growth mind you, not directly anyway. You see, this 100 reps are done with very light weights (hence no need for a gym trip, a 5kg d/bell or a 10kg barbell will do just fine thank you very much). This is NOT the 20+ rep squats I mentioned above. This here is serving a totally different purpose. What purpose? The purpose of increasing capillarisation in muscle tissues as well as increasing the capillary’s density. What does this mean to your precious muscles? Well it simply means that more oxygen and nutrient dense blood will be delivered to them.

40-50% my bet would be

Based on the paragraph above from Fadi I'd suggest 40-50% to be way too much. Try 10%. You're looking to flood the muscle with blood not to fatigue it.

Great thread Fadi, thank you! I'll incorporate this into my programme. My biceps and shoulders have always lagged. I'm a bit of an inverse Fadi!

Cheers,
Michael

 

[Christian]

High reps is such a different feeling i just did 80 presses with just the handles of dumbells just feels warm and tingly alot different to 3x6 that i have gotten accustomed to.

 

[Fadi]

So fadi what % of max would you consider low weight and what would you call high reps?

Hi Mick,

I see that two replies by two gentlemen have been given and both are right depending on the circumstances.

I consider 50% to be low weight as I consider 10% to be ultra low weight which would call for ultra high reps giving one a totally different feel and effect from performing the high reps at 50% of 1RM.

Let me give you an example with some numbers here Mick...

My bodyweight was between 73-75kg at the time and my best back 1RM squat was 200kg. Now on many occasions I did do 130kg x20 but more often 120kg x20-30 reps. Percentage wise that works out to be 60-65% of my 1RM.

From the above you can see that I could easily perform 100kg which is 50% of my 1RM for 50+ reps.

All the above is not considered ultra high reps that I was talking about when I was discussing capillary density and the increasing of blood vessels. Why, aren’t 50 reps with 100kg good enough for the job? Sure but it's not the best because of a drawback that was picked up by MikeW, when he mentioned muscle fatigue. It would certainly be defeating the purpose if I could not walk the next day after doing 100kg for 50 or so reps or 120kg for 20 or 30 reps. My aim with the ultra high reps is to flood the muscles with nutrient dense blood so as to increase and widen the superhighways (as I called them in my cardio and weights article here: http://ausbb.com/general-topic/9358-cardio-weights.html).

Okay, so what weight to use with the ultra high reps; try 10-20%, that would equate to something like 20-40kg squats for 100 reps (preferably non-stop). When you're doing them, your mind would start to play tricks on you telling you to stop this silliness and/or that you won't recover from the agony you're currently going through. Tell it to shut up; continue and have a laugh afterwards when you know you've conquered the biggest hurdle of them all; your own self!


Fadi.