— . e perceived fatigue from this type of training is different from that which
the other types of hard work described in this chapter produce, because of
the accumulation of fatigue.. e first few times you do this type of training, assuming you start out
training hard, you could experience soreness during the days following each
workout. If you get sore easily, carefully break into this type of training over
a few weeks.. A single warmup set for a non-core exercise should be adequate prior to a
series of six sets of six reps performed as described. Two warmup sets are
probably only required in a core exercise.. Why take six sets to reach almost total muscular failure with a moderate
weight when you could reach failure in just a single set using more pound-
age? Answer: To stimulate the muscles in a different way.. You have now been given four different ways to work your sets—hard,
very hard, brutally hard, and through cumulative fatigue. (And there is a
fifth way if you include training to eccentric failure.) All can work, but not
equally well for all trainees. Over time you can prosper from all four formats,
and use all four to keep productive variety in your training. rough experi-
ence you will find which styles work best for you. You may find that different
body parts or exercises respond better than others to the same style of train-
ing.. Cumulative-fatigue training is primarily geared for short-term muscular
growth rather than absolute strength gain. To translate the strength gains
from cumulative-fatigue training into absolute strength increase, return to
your regular training for long enough to build up to new poundage bests.. When recording sets of cumulative-fatigue training in your log book, you
do not need to record each set individually as you would with other types of
training. What matters is the entire series. e only set in which you should
possibly be at risk of not making all the target reps, is the sixth one. If the
fifth set is seriously at risk, you are using too much weight. As an example,
record “, × ” in your log. If you do not complete the final set, then
record it, for example, “, × + ,” i.e., five sets of six reps and a final set
of five reps. en next time give your absolute all in order to make the entire
series of × .