I sent this to Mark but he has yet to reply (not surprising, it's quite a read...) However, these concepts are pretty fundamental and central to the THT program—and, more specifically, to the reasoning behind it—so I'm hoping that some of you can answer in lieu of Mark himself.
A bit of background...
I'm fairly new to MuscleHack.com, but I've already jumped in headfirst. I was first drawn to it because it reflected some basic principles of working out that I discovered on my own, and had integrated into my workouts despite what some Average Joe trainers at the gym had told me: namely, high-intensity workouts pushing to maximum overload and total failure. In this respect, THT was the gospel I'd been searching for: an organized, methodical guide to working out in a maximal way.
However, there are two aspects in the program that I felt might be an actual drop down from what I'd previously done before on my own.
The first is pre-fatiguing, or drop-setting. In my previous, pre-MuscleHack workout routine, I'd realized the need to squeeze my muscles to the very fullest in every workout in order to stimulate growth. Therefore, almost every set for close to every muscle group was a drop set. I would push myself to the max on every set, and once I reached positive failure, I'd drop the weight down and do as many reps as I could (normally 3-5) until I couldn't anymore. This required, of course, a lot of physical and mental energy and focus, but it resulted in an end-of-workout feeling that I'd truly given it my all (as well as some very pleasantly sore muscles to show for it.)
What I saw when I looked at the Volume Cycles is that there are very few drop-set exercises. And I'm wondering - is there a specific reason for this? I realize that THT is supposed to cater to a wide range of users, of varying physical fitness and experience, so it might have been better to create a program that more people can use. But is there perhaps another reason why Mark might have avoided this? Because, according to the fundamental idea behind THT, pushing to maximum overload on every set is the goal—so in essence, a drop-set at the end of every set would be ideal for this.
To put it more directly: would continuing my habit of drop-setting most of my sets result in higher intensity workouts with better results (in line with the fundamentals of THT), or would there be some adverse or counter-productive effects that I am unaware of? I want to kick my workouts up to the fullest extent possible... So if I could get a green light that these drop-sets go with, and not against, the THT principles, I'd feel greatly reassured.
My second question had to do with rest times between workouts. In my pre-MuscleHack workout, I had divided my workouts into an A-B-C format, hitting the same muscle groups every 3 days. Considering the intensity of my workouts, perhaps this might be insufficient... But the Volume Cycles suggest hitting each muscle group only once a week. Is this really the optimal rest period? I've switched to a Volume 1 Cycle, and I'm feeling somewhat unsatisfied by the pace; I'm itching to get back and hit these groups again, and 7-day rest periods feel too long to me (especially considering the fact that these new, drop-set-less workouts already feel less intense than what I'm used to.) I understand the importance of not over-training, but this is the first time I've seen a 7-day rest period.
Was this also created for the purpose of accommodating a wider audience that can't always handle longer workouts of greater frequency? Or is this really the optimal rest period recommended for everyone—including an active 23-year old male with available time and energy to utilize? Some insight into the logic behind this would be appreciated. I'm able and willing to increase the frequency from 7 days—I just want to know if doing so would actually be counter-productive.
Thanks in advance for reading this, and I apologize for the length. I think it's important to establish whether the bounds set in the different cycles were recommendations, or hard-fast limitations.
Thanks guys!
- Ron
