silles
08-15-2003, 01:19 AM
What are your guys' thoughts on alternating higher rep phases for Strength and Power athletes? We are told to avoid high rep, low intensity, high volume work like the plauge, fearing that we will lose our power production, convert our coveted IIB fibers into puny endurance fibers, and that before we know it, we'll be running through the park, flailing skin and bone, wearing a T-Shirt that says something like "Greater Orlando 225K Grapefruit Extravaganza Race".
But what about seriously alternating blocks of higher rep, lower intensity, higher volume work, with intense bouts of heavy weights? Listen to what Charles Poliquin has to say about this:
As a rule of thumb, I would say that the musculature grows best when both high volume phases (known as accumulation phases) are alternated with high intensity phases (known as intensification phases). The respective length of each phase will be affected by a variety of factors such as nutrient intake, serotonin and dopamine ratios, hormonal make-up, and fiber-type make-up.
Accumulation phases are normally characterized by the following:
• High number of exercises (2-4 per body part)
• Higher reps (7 reps or more)
• Lower sets (2-4 sets per exercise)
• Higher volumes (number of total sets times total reps)
• Lower intensities (below 80%)
• Shorter rest intervals (30 to 90 seconds)
So, for instance, a typical accumulation phase may consist of 3 exercises of 3 sets of 12-15 reps, resting an average of 75 seconds between sets.
Intensification phases are characterized by:
• Low number of exercises (1-2 per body part)
• Lower reps (1-6)
• Higher sets (10-12 total sets per body part)
• Lower volumes (total number of sets times total number of reps,
e.g. 6 sets of 3 reps=18 reps of volume)
• Higher intensities (80% and above)
• Longer rest intervals (3-5 minutes)
So, for instance, a typical intensification phase may consist of 2 exercises of 5 sets of 4-6 reps, resting an average of 3-5 minutes seconds between sets.
Keep in mind there are plenty of ways to undulate the training loads, but the way given above is the one I prefer to prescribe to my clients. To put this into practice, you might try alternating intensification and accumulation phases about every 3 weeks, or every six workouts. In other words, do an accumulation phase for 6 workouts, and then switch to a intensification program for 6 workouts.
I would especially like to hear what the gurus have to say about this. Perhaps we can avoid burnout, and increase strength and power in the long haul by incorporating these accumulation and instensification phases?
But what about seriously alternating blocks of higher rep, lower intensity, higher volume work, with intense bouts of heavy weights? Listen to what Charles Poliquin has to say about this:
As a rule of thumb, I would say that the musculature grows best when both high volume phases (known as accumulation phases) are alternated with high intensity phases (known as intensification phases). The respective length of each phase will be affected by a variety of factors such as nutrient intake, serotonin and dopamine ratios, hormonal make-up, and fiber-type make-up.
Accumulation phases are normally characterized by the following:
• High number of exercises (2-4 per body part)
• Higher reps (7 reps or more)
• Lower sets (2-4 sets per exercise)
• Higher volumes (number of total sets times total reps)
• Lower intensities (below 80%)
• Shorter rest intervals (30 to 90 seconds)
So, for instance, a typical accumulation phase may consist of 3 exercises of 3 sets of 12-15 reps, resting an average of 75 seconds between sets.
Intensification phases are characterized by:
• Low number of exercises (1-2 per body part)
• Lower reps (1-6)
• Higher sets (10-12 total sets per body part)
• Lower volumes (total number of sets times total number of reps,
e.g. 6 sets of 3 reps=18 reps of volume)
• Higher intensities (80% and above)
• Longer rest intervals (3-5 minutes)
So, for instance, a typical intensification phase may consist of 2 exercises of 5 sets of 4-6 reps, resting an average of 3-5 minutes seconds between sets.
Keep in mind there are plenty of ways to undulate the training loads, but the way given above is the one I prefer to prescribe to my clients. To put this into practice, you might try alternating intensification and accumulation phases about every 3 weeks, or every six workouts. In other words, do an accumulation phase for 6 workouts, and then switch to a intensification program for 6 workouts.
I would especially like to hear what the gurus have to say about this. Perhaps we can avoid burnout, and increase strength and power in the long haul by incorporating these accumulation and instensification phases?