— to perform full chins is to use the pulldown until about over bodyweight
can be used in good form for reps.)Three categories of effort
. To help you understand the practical application of hard work, here are
three categories of effort. All of them can be productive, depending on the
application.a. First category of effort: Here, a set is continued till one or two reps short
of the absolute last rep you could do in good form. is is “hard” train-
ing. Of course, if you have never trained to failure consistently, you will
not know where one or two reps short of failure is. Still, so long as you
keep adding weight to the bar, you will progress.
b. Second category of effort: Here, a set is continued until no further full
rep can be done in good form, i.e., to one or two reps more than in the
first category. is is “very hard” training, and hardly anyone does it on
a consistent basis. It takes quite some experience to know when another
rep is truly impossible.
c. ird category of effort: Here, a set does not stop merely because no addi-
tional full rep can be performed. It continues into the next rep during
which you will become stuck. Once you get stuck mid-rep you hold the
isometric (or static) contraction as long as you can and then resist the
negative phase as much as possible. is prolongs the set and leaves the
muscles concerned almost totally spent. is is “brutally hard” train-
ing.. ere is a fourth category of effort—to eccentric failure, i.e., “paralytic”
training. is is not recommended other than in exceptional circumstances
for very robust trainees. e shortcomings of paralytic training (discussed
earlier) are considerable, and this level of effort takes training intensity to
overkill for most people.. e harder you train, the less training (volume and frequency) you need to
stimulate strength increase and muscular growth.. As you gain experience of training hard you will learn to tolerate more
discomfort. What you may perceive as being full-bore now may appear rela-
tively comfortable in a year’s time. And with experience you should develop