Beyond-Brawn-2nd-Edition

BEYOND BRAWN
7.108 An extension of this approach is to have each exercise running in its own
cycle independent of the other movements. Rich Rydin and Dave Maurice
recommended an interpretation of this approach in their article in
HARDGAINER issue #34:
Eventually you will reach the point where no progress is being made, or is forthcoming.
is represents the end of the cycle for that exercise. As a general rule,
the “smaller” the exercise the earlier this will occur. As an example, we would
expect a trainee to peak on curls well before peaking on deadlifts. When this
happens, drop the exercise you have reached a plateau on. Select another movement
which works the same muscle functions, though perhaps in a different
way, and start it at an 80–90% effort level.
Let’s look at some likely examples… When progress is halted on overhead
presses, our trainee should, on his next [press workout], simply perform
another pressing movement of his choice. is might be another variant of
overhead pressing, or a dumbbell bench exercise, for example. If he feels that
his progress is nearing an end on his larger exercises, he can of course continue
his program without the presses. Likewise, if he stalls on pullups, he might try
some dumbbell rows, or some shrugs, or again, drop the exercise.
What if he stalls on a “big” exercise? It really shouldn’t change the procedure.
If squats stall and progress is still being made on deadlifts, he should do front
squats in place of squats, or “restart” his squat cycle, perhaps with a different rep
target. As long as progress is being made on just one major movement, then a
lack of progress on the other movements should not be considered indicative
of anything more profound than just that—a lack of progress on those movements.
If you are still progressing on either squats or deadlifts, then gross overtraining
should not be a concern. If you think about this philosophy, you will
see that it is quite conceivable to finish a cycle performing an entirely different
set of exercises than those used at the start of the cycle.
7.109 A possible advantage of these interpretations of intensity cycling is that
every workout is likely to have some challenge in it but not necessarily from
a core movement. New-ground challenges every workout are necessary to
keep some people motivated.
7.110 e drawback with these variations of intensity cycling is that you may
never have a break because you will always be pushing very hard in at least
one exercise. us both your body and mind may never get the chance to
restore themselves. If you apply one of these interpretations you need to
take a precautionary measure to avoid total systemic overtraining. Take a
complete break from training for at least a week when progress has ceased
158