Body by Science / HIIT Experiment

[Aaron r]

I have been following this thread with intrerest. At 170cm and 100kegs I am no lightweight. I have done weights most of my life really because I just enjoy it. This style of training is new to me and I think it works.
I have some weights at home I play with. I have started this style of training and it is painful but works. Thanks for the information.

 

[Scottie]

although there aren't any changes with my body weight

Me neither. I weigh exactly the same as when I started. And I can say for sure that my legs are way stronger than they used to be. Upper body, not as much.

Then again, I didn't really have any weight to lose, so I'll take that as a good thing. But this is definitely not a "bulk up" kind of workout - unless you're genetically predisposed to looking like He-Man!

 

[Hi_Henry]

Hi Guys, with great interest I have been following your discussion here and am in the process of integrating this into my weekly routines.

In the process of my reading about baking soda, pH levels of blood etc. I came across this article which completely changed my false understanding of what breathing is all about. It has completely clarified my understand of why the masters of Chinese Martial Arts always emphasized that your breath should as smooth as silk and nearly imperceptible. I swear, it never made sense to me WHY this was so when I heard this or read it. The answer is in this article and I found my understanding ONLY TODAY,

Buteyko Breathing

The topic of breathing has been touched upon in this section of the forum but I though I would bring it back to your attention as some may not be aware of what happens when you breath TOO HARD AND TOO FAST.
That lightheadedness is not because your organism has too much oxygen.

 

[Thebull]

I want to add, today I had to carry the plastic water container down the stairs at work for the water machine. They have felt heavy in the past. I carried it down the stairs comfortably with my left hand which isn’t my strong arm.

I’m 48 years old I can’t remember feeling this strong, I reckon it weighed about 15-20 kg. I was surprised how easy it felt. I’m exactly the same weight as I was.

 

[Aeneas]

I have only done it once while in the South of France in late May and a few days later, I noticed a soreness in my left forearm, which has persisted. It is close to the albow and it could be that a muscle or more likely a tendon was strained from the workout and I have given it rest since then. It is much better now, though not good enough to start implementing the program again.

 

[luc]

Me neither. I weigh exactly the same as when I started. And I can say for sure that my legs are way stronger than they used to be. Upper body, not as much.

Then again, I didn't really have any weight to lose, so I'll take that as a good thing. But this is definitely not a "bulk up" kind of workout - unless you're genetically predisposed to looking like He-Man!

Well, I don't know about weight, but my body definitely changed - visibly a bit more muscles, broader shoulders, a bit more "bulky"... without gaining any "fat", as far as I can tell. But then again, before changing my diet, I always had a predisposition towards chubbiness, so my genetic type might be conducive to building a bit more muscle than the skinny types. He-Man I am not though

 

[whitecoast]

I need some advice. My chest press and overhead press have have not shown any improvement over the three or four weeks, even after dropping my training to once every ten days (and even once every fourteen days for the last day). Chest press stayed at 115lbs for the past 5 training sessions, the only difference being my TUL decreased consistently to 45. My overhead press remained at 80 for the past 2 sessions, with TUL dipping as low as 20.

I looked in Body By Science, and the authors recommended that I could simply drop one of the pushing exercises. I think I will do that, on top of reverting back to the last weight I had with a "good" TUL. Any other recommendations are welcome.

Both my pulling exercises continue to improve, so I'll continue with those as-is.

 

[Cosmos]

I need some advice. My chest press and overhead press have have not shown any improvement over the three or four weeks, even after dropping my training to once every ten days (and even once every fourteen days for the last day). Chest press stayed at 115lbs for the past 5 training sessions, the only difference being my TUL decreased consistently to 45. My overhead press remained at 80 for the past 2 sessions, with TUL dipping as low as 20.

I looked in Body By Science, and the authors recommended that I could simply drop one of the pushing exercises. I think I will do that, on top of reverting back to the last weight I had with a "good" TUL. Any other recommendations are welcome.

Both my pulling exercises continue to improve, so I'll continue with those as-is.

Do you use free weights or machines?

 

[whitecoast]

@Pashalis I use machines that isolate each movement. I'm don't think it's the specific brand McGuff recommended.

 

[Cosmos]

@Pashalis I use machines that isolate each movement. I'm don't think it's the specific brand McGuff recommended.

So those machines likely don't have the cams in them that the Nautilus/MedX have for the specific muscle profiles. How much weight do you use? Are you making sure to not use too much and not too little, aka. the 75% rule he mentions in the book? When your max power on a specific part, is, lets say 100kg (meaning one repetition possible at most, no matter how fast), then the weight should be around 75kg. This Max should theoretically and hopefully increase while the ratio weight increases as well, in the course of the months.

Usually you shouldn't be able to do more then 5 or 6 repetitions with the optimal weight. If you can do easily that number or more, then the weight is probably too light. If you can do only one or two, the weight is probably too much. Both is not optimal according to this program and can have negative consequences, also in terms of improvement.

Are you making sure to keep a good workout journal in which you can check parameters regularly? What I included in my sheet for example is the sum total time of the whole workout including the breaks and exercises (for that I start the time right before the first rep on the first machine and stop right after the last rep in the last machine ) which Guff recommends. On a second clock I count the time for each exercise and then at the end subtract that amount from the total time and divide it through the number of exercises. That is what Guff recommends as well. In that way, you can check if your time between the exercises (the time you walk to the next machine and start the next session) stays the same in each week. He recommends that this time should be between 1 Minute and at most 30 seconds. I'm working to get there, my time in between is at around 85 seconds in the moment, since I still loose to much time in setting the weights and measurements up. This should get better with practise.

Lets say you only have 30 seconds between one exercise and the next, what you will notice is that you can do much less on the second exercise, if you compare it to over 1 minute for example. In other words, as Guff explains, certain muscle fibers recover pretty quickly and when you get over a certain point in time, the next exercise will therefore be much easier. Or in the reverse if the time is very short in between you will be able to do much less.

A couple of ideas why you might not be improving.

 

[trendsetter37]

I need some advice. My chest press and overhead press have have not shown any improvement over the three or four weeks, even after dropping my training to once every ten days (and even once every fourteen days for the last day). Chest press stayed at 115lbs for the past 5 training sessions, the only difference being my TUL decreased consistently to 45. My overhead press remained at 80 for the past 2 sessions, with TUL dipping as low as 20.

I looked in Body By Science, and the authors recommended that I could simply drop one of the pushing exercises. I think I will do that, on top of reverting back to the last weight I had with a "good" TUL. Any other recommendations are welcome.

Both my pulling exercises continue to improve, so I'll continue with those as-is.

One thing you could try is switching to a slightly different chest press exercise for a few workouts. If you make progress with an alternate machine, there is a good chance you will see improvements when switching back to your usual chest press exercise. In some cases the change can be as subtle as altering the grip used but your mileage may vary.

 

[Konstantin]

One thing you could try is switching to a slightly different chest press exercise for a few workouts. If you make progress with an alternate machine, there is a good chance you will see improvements when switching back to your usual chest press exercise. In some cases the change can be as subtle as altering the grip used but your mileage may vary.

In the beginning, the improvements are bigger and they happen in a shorter time. Over time the improvements will be more subtle and you will need more time for them to happen and maybe sometimes you won't be even aware of them.
Can you imagine what will happen if you have constant improvements all the time. I think it is not possible.
You can go until you reach some limit where no more improvements are possible until you reach your body limit.

 

[Altair]

In the beginning, the improvements are bigger and they happen in a shorter time. Over time the improvements will be more subtle and you will need more time for them to happen and maybe sometimes you won't be even aware of them.
Can you imagine what will happen if you have constant improvements all the time. I think it is not possible.
You can go until you reach some limit where no more improvements are possible until you reach your body limit.

Yes, I think that the "law" of diminishing returns can be applied here as well.

 

[Cosmos]

In the beginning, the improvements are bigger and they happen in a shorter time. Over time the improvements will be more subtle and you will need more time for them to happen and maybe sometimes you won't be even aware of them.
Can you imagine what will happen if you have constant improvements all the time. I think it is not possible.
You can go until you reach some limit where no more improvements are possible until you reach your body limit.

Yes that seems to be the case. There is a limit to everything. Especially in this method many things seem to boil down to your own experimentations and adjustments of the protocol so that you can figure out quirks and correct them next time. Which is also subject to change in time and improvement. Which includes a lot of variables. There are many variables at play that can make things better or worse in this protocol, that can only be figured out if you keep good track of all the adjustments and results and tweak them for your needs if needed. You have to become a bit of a scientist there in regards to your own body and how to best adjust the stimulus and make it more productive from workout to workout. Quite an interesting process in itself too.

 

[whitecoast]

Yes, I think that the "law" of diminishing returns can be applied here as well.

Personally I don't think it does. Like I said, progress on my pushing has reversed, not diminished.

One thing you could try is switching to a slightly different chest press exercise for a few workouts.

That's one thing I'm trying out: isolating each muscle group further. I was at a different gym yesterday with different machines and I seemed to do better on some exercises and worse on others, probably because of slight variations in their construction and angles like you are hinting at. My chest press seemed to behave "normally" and I did get an improvement on my weight/TUL relative to my last succesful exercise (which I define by being between 60-90 seconds to failure, going as slow as possible without any jerking movements).

I tried finding my max for vertical press and it came around 95-105lbs, with the 75% weight right around my last successful exercise (75lbs and 70s TUL). I may have overshot with subsequent visits re: weight. I always leave at least 45s between exercises since I know I need some time to recover so I can give 100% to each exercise.

You have to become a bit of a scientist there in regards to your own body and how to best adjust the stimulus and make it more productive from workout to workout. Quite an interesting process in itself too.

Sure is. :) Thanks for the replies.