I have a very logical approach to the way I exercise. Since I study exercise science, specifically resistance / strength training, particularly for muscle balance and health, I have taken a drastically different path than that of most S&P forum-goers. I've since read Urban's Soapbox, and had some different ideas floating in my head, and want to see how people in here think generally, if it's not just exactly what Urban has in his Soapbox.
Specifically, I want to know what people find "wrong" with my workout methods, and why.
On each set, I push my muscles until they can go no further safely. For instance, on a bench press, my last rep is the one where I don't think I could get another one all the way to full extension. I usually have to inhale and exhale three times on that last repetition just to get the weight all the way to the top. So, I don't choose the number of reps I'll do; I do as many as I can.
So, since I can't do anything on my target muscles for a few minutes, I tend to go do lift with muscles that have nothing to do with the muscles I just burned out (active recovery). As such, I like to do bench presses and one-arm rows back to back. As such, I pick muscles I want to strengthen that don't conflict with each other, rather than espouse the classic powerlifter movements.
More specifically, I pick muscles that have balance issues between them, since they don't usually conflict with each other even in compound movements. As discussed in this thread, one should keep a balance of strength between antagonistic muscle pairs, such as the biceps and triceps. Now, chest and lats are diverse muscles and don't always work opposite of each other, but...well, it's the best I've got.
Also, I feel that starting a set with a muscle that isn't fully recovered isn't training it properly, since endurance fibers recover faster than strength fibers, hence I'd be doing more endurance work when I'm not so interested in it. So, with the idea of assistance lifts, I wouldn't want to do them right out of barrel after the main lift. Perhaps I'm being too nitpicky. This is one of those things about the strictness of my logic on sets.
Anyway, my method works well to make use of downtime, hence allowing for a maximum number of sets within the 45-60 minutes maximum, before you start to get overtraining symptoms. So, when I see about lifting for deadlifts, bench press, and squats, it seems fine, just that all that downtime in the middle, when I could be lifting something else, seems like a waste. Again, my strictness on how I start my sets may be limiting me here.
Please let me know what kind of misconceptions I've got going and how I can make improvements based on the general spirit of the forum.
Specifically, I want to know what people find "wrong" with my workout methods, and why.
On each set, I push my muscles until they can go no further safely. For instance, on a bench press, my last rep is the one where I don't think I could get another one all the way to full extension. I usually have to inhale and exhale three times on that last repetition just to get the weight all the way to the top. So, I don't choose the number of reps I'll do; I do as many as I can.
So, since I can't do anything on my target muscles for a few minutes, I tend to go do lift with muscles that have nothing to do with the muscles I just burned out (active recovery). As such, I like to do bench presses and one-arm rows back to back. As such, I pick muscles I want to strengthen that don't conflict with each other, rather than espouse the classic powerlifter movements.
More specifically, I pick muscles that have balance issues between them, since they don't usually conflict with each other even in compound movements. As discussed in this thread, one should keep a balance of strength between antagonistic muscle pairs, such as the biceps and triceps. Now, chest and lats are diverse muscles and don't always work opposite of each other, but...well, it's the best I've got.
Also, I feel that starting a set with a muscle that isn't fully recovered isn't training it properly, since endurance fibers recover faster than strength fibers, hence I'd be doing more endurance work when I'm not so interested in it. So, with the idea of assistance lifts, I wouldn't want to do them right out of barrel after the main lift. Perhaps I'm being too nitpicky. This is one of those things about the strictness of my logic on sets.
Anyway, my method works well to make use of downtime, hence allowing for a maximum number of sets within the 45-60 minutes maximum, before you start to get overtraining symptoms. So, when I see about lifting for deadlifts, bench press, and squats, it seems fine, just that all that downtime in the middle, when I could be lifting something else, seems like a waste. Again, my strictness on how I start my sets may be limiting me here.
Please let me know what kind of misconceptions I've got going and how I can make improvements based on the general spirit of the forum.
