Beyond Brawn - The Insider's Encyclopedia on How to Build Muscle && Might

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. In the context of intensity cycling there is the initial relatively easy stage for a

few weeks, and then comes the hard stage. So long as you keep the poundage

progression very slow, gradual and within your abilities to build strength,

you can sustain hard training for a long time and may never need to go much

into the two higher levels of effort. You could reserve the two highest cat-

egories for the final stretch of a few weeks at the end of a cycle. Alternatively,

mix up your exercises, performing some at one level of intensity one week,

and others at another level.

. You can and probably should do multiple work sets of hard training—up to

three sets—rather than the usual single work set of the very hard or brutally

hard training. is is because, to a point, intensity can be traded for volume.

But if you can do more than three work sets for a given exercise, you are loaf-

ing and need to apply more effort so that you do not want to do more than

three sets.

. Training more intensively does not necessarily produce its benefits only

because of the increased effort. A contributing factor is that harder train-

ing enforces a reduced volume of training an thus a lesser likelihood of

overtraining. Too many sets, even on an abbreviated program, will overtrain

you.

Cumulative-fatigue training

. Additional to the hard, very hard and brutally hard training categories

already described in this chapter, there is a type of training that can combine

all three modalities in a single format. is can provide an excellent variation

that may prevent your training getting in a rut. Abuse it, though, and you

will get nowhere but into a mire of overtraining.

. Cumulative-fatigue work is modified “volume” training—six sets of a fixed

number of reps for an exercise, using a fixed weight for all six sets, and a rigid

one minute rest period between sets. e short rest periods produce a fast

Training more intensively does not necessarily produce its benefits

only because of the increased effort. A contributing factor is that

harder training enforces a reduced volume of training and thus a

lesser likelihood of overtraining. Too many sets, even on an abbre-

viated program, will overtrain you.

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