A question about recovery

[spudnutsncoffee]

I am curious about the topic of recovery.

As a natural athlete, I have found that I make astonishing gains in strength if I give my muscles lots of time between workouts. Now, what I need to tell you is that when I train I train heavy and train to failure.

Mike Mentzer discovered that his training subjects.

He noticed that his subjects best gains took place with workouts where one to two sets for a bodypart were done to failure and then a long period of rest for that muscle group was prescribed...in some cases up to as much as 3 weeks.

This was particularly true as an athlete go stronger. The more weight they lifted in a movement, the more recovery time they needed.

Now, what I want to know is this: If one were NOT to train to failure, and instead train at 50-70% max. intensity, could one conceivable train every single day, hitting the same muscles, as long as they did not train to the point of straining, and still make gains?

Herchel Walker did nothing but pushups, situps and chinups every single day prior to college. He made great gains too.

Just wondered what other people think about this.

 

[matt182]

having a resy period of 3 weeks seems rediculous, in this time the muscles would get smaller.

And i assume you mean 50_70% repetition maximum For me, training without a rest day is an absolute no no. Not only has it been proven to show better results, the muscles need time to grow, and the growing process wouldnt get all the nutrients it would normally get because it is diverted to the added weight session.

 

[Karky]

that would be a bit low intensity to gain strenght, better to take 3 days a week with one-two days rest between and work the entire body.

 

[NBS 4life]

3 weeks sounds like a crock of **** to me. Mikes subjects had been cheating the experiment.

 

[Whiplash]

My 2 cents. . .

It depends on the intensity level of the workout. If one were to do a high intensity workout (1 set of 3-6 reps per exercise) then only then would it make sense to allow up to 5-10 days (IMO, 3 weeks=too much) of recovery time for the muscles that were worked out. That is, if you were to do high intensity. But, this does not apply to high volume training. High volume training requires less recovery time and more time at the gym.

So:
-The more intensity, the more recovery time needed
-The less intense, the less recovery time needed

Here's an article that you may want to read if you're interested in it:

 

[spudnutsncoffee]

It depends on the intensity level of the workout. If one were to do a high intensity workout (1 set of 3-6 reps per exercise) then only then would it make sense to allow up to 5-10 days (IMO, 3 weeks=too much) of recovery time for the muscles that were worked out. That is, if you were to do high intensity. But, this does not apply to high volume training. High volume training requires less recovery time and more time at the gym.

So:
-The more intensity, the more recovery time needed
-The less intense, the less recovery time needed

Here's an article that you may want to read if you're interested in it:

Thanks for all these replies!

The fact is that 3 weeks was in fact what some of these guys were doing, and they were getting stronger and adding size.

I did an experiment with a few exercises, resting between 2-3 weeks between sessions for that exercise. Here is an example.

I use a hip belt to squat with, and it had been 2-3 weeks since my last hip belt work out. During that 2-3 week period I had one day where I did light DB lunges and 2 heavy sets of stiff legged deadlifts. Other than that, during that 2-3 week period my quads got no other stimulation.

2-3 weeks ago I had between 122 lbs and 125 lbs strapped up high, close to my pelvis. I was able to get low, but not too low. I would say I was doing almost a full squat, but not quite. I got 20 reps the first set, 15 the second set and 15 the third set with about 1 minute between sets.

Today, I had the same weight, and I banged out 30 reps the first set and 21 the second set, only this time I was ass to floor. I could not go any lower. Huge strength gain.

My body weight has gone from 151 solid pounds at 5'6" tall, to 165 in less than 6 weeks. This is even more astonishing when you factor in the fact that I have Cystic Fibrosis.

I am doing some supplements, and they are helping (Metabolic Diet) immensely. But I am also giving myself more recovery time because the weights I am lifting are getting so much heavier.

In another example, I experienced a similar strength gain with weighted crunches. App. 6-8 weeks ago I was doing sets of 20 reps with 32 lbs behind my head. 10 Days of rest later I used 45lbs and got 5 sets of 20. Yet again, 10 days later I performed 5 sets of 40 reps each with 45 lbs, less than a minute between sets. Same range of motion, same speed.

So, I think if you are training intensely, you may in fact do better to rest more, and train less. I know it is counter intuitive, but I think its true.

That said, the gentleman is correct, if you do not train with much intensity then you will recover much more quickly.