TUT:Where does volume fit in?

[Josh Schmitter]

I was away all weekend camping, but printed this out to re-digest it there. So much good info. Thanks again everyone. I had a question going along with % of rep max. I understand that this becomes inaccurate in certain situations, but I was just looking into all the 1 rep max calculators and charts online and wondering what time duration they used for rep calculation. For instance with the 5 reps = 90ish% of your 1RM. Is this calculated with a certain rep speed in mind, or just when a weight starts to slow you down as slizzardman said?

http://www.timinvermont.com/fitness/orm.htm

http://www.exrx.net/Calculators/OneRepMax.html

[Nic Branson]

Easy. They do not use time. A true 1rm is just that, how much can you lift once...period. I would disregard the calculators and not use them. Years (wow 10 years now) of working with powerlifters and strongman competitors who absolutely care about 1rm strength and I do not use them...ever. Too many variables for them to be reliable or even a "good" guideline imo.

[Joshua Naterman]

Canthar's right.

The closest you could get would be to perform the reps used for calculation with the same pace you perform your max with. Usually that tends to be pretty explosive, at least in theory. The eccentric is usually as fast as safely possible with the fastest possible concentric immediately performed. I am not suggesting that you lift like that if you are not conditioned to do so, please do not lift like that if your body is not prepared. If you aren't sure, you aren't prepared.

Powerlifters have to maintain a pause on the chest for a certain amount of time, right?

[Nic Branson]

Yes the rules for bench require a pause at the chest, timing of it vary based on federation.

[Josh Schmitter]

That makes sense. And as of now this is purely an intellectual exercise so no worries about doing something I would regret lifting-wise. I also have learned enough on this board from you, Slizzardman, to know about the dangers of plyo/explosive movements if not prepared. Thanks canthar for keeping the answers swift, solid, and smooth as a buttered fox.

I was reading this over again(among other things) last night and noticed I misspoke earlier...concerning a 10x3 template. If you used the same 3reps of 6RM, but used a 5 minute rest time, would this produce less growth as you would not hit glycolysis/stay completely in the strength system(I understand some growth goes hand in hand with strength/CSA).

[Joshua Naterman]

Taans, that's probably correct. It's not all about glycolysis really, you just won't be exposing the muscle to as much tension per minute, so to speak.

The sets are short enough to where glycolysis is never taxed anyways, so this sort of thing isn't going to develop the glycolytic system very well. Some, but not a lot.

The longer something is exposed to a given level of tension in a given time period, the bigger it has to be.

[Josh Schmitter]

The longer something is exposed to a given level of tension in a given time period, the bigger it has to be.

Ok, so the growth involved in this type of scheme would be almost all strength/myofibrillar hypertrophy since the glycolysis system is out? I guess I'm getting confused with the 1min. rest time. What is the difference between this same template(10x3 with 6RM) using 1min. vs. 5min. rest times? Since the ATP/CP won't be regenerated with the 1min., technically you are working with your strength system at sub par, but does this even matter as you are using 50% your max for sets?

Thanks for putting up with my unending quest, and lack, of knowledge.

[Joshua Naterman]

Yes, much of the growth will be myofibrillar. This is the growth a strength/speed athlete wants. That's pretty much every athlete.

You are missing something important: 3 reps takes something like 5 seconds unless you're going very, very slowly. On top of that, this is NOT a max effort. It's heavy, yes, but not maximal. You are not draining your CP system fully. There is plenty of recovery time for it with this kind of a set up. When you hit a set where you can't complete the 3 reps you have finally drained the CP system and your glycolytic fibers aren't strong enough yet to do the work, so you increase the rest enough to recover sufficient CP to do the next set.

In an elite athlete the CP system can power movement for 8-9 seconds. That's 8-9 seconds of actual work, not time on the clock. That's part of why 200m times aren't much more than double 100m times. CP system still contributes a lot to that though there is some glycolysis in the end. You have to remember that more than half of that running time is spent floating in the air, where there is fairly low energy expenditure by comparison to the actual ground contact time. 400m splits are longer, especially the last split, but they are still pretty fast. That's the glycolysis at work, and it is very powerful. Not quite up there with the creatine system but not terribly far off. I'm going to stop the explanation there because A) I am tired and B) I am going off into a tangent.

[Josh Schmitter]

Thank you much Slizz. That definitely ties some things together, closing up another fair sized brain gulf. As soon as your business is off the ground, sign me up, as all you've done with this forum alone merits much repayment...and, although I believe anyone can only ever speak for themselves, I think many other members would also encourage you to go off on a tangent whenever possible .