SECOND EDITION THE MUSCLE & STRENGTH PYRAMID T R A I N I N G Eric Helms, PhD, CSCS Andy Morgan, BS Andrea Valdez, MS This book is not intended for the treatment or prevention of disease, nor as a substitute for medical treatment, nor as an alternative to medical advice. Use of the guidelines herein is at the sole choice and risk of the reader. Copyright: © 2018 by Eric Helms. All rights reserved. This book or any part thereof, may not be reproduced or recorded in any form without permission, except for brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. For information contact: [email protected] CONTENTS FOREWORD BY DR. MICHAEL C. ZOURDOS ................................ 9 PREFACE ............................................................................................13 WHAT’S NEW IN THE SECOND EDITION ......................................18 What’s Changed .........................................................................................19 What’s Added .............................................................................................19 INTRODUCTION TO THE PYRAMID ...............................................21 LEVEL 1: ADHERENCE .................................................................... 29 The Three Important Conditions for Training Adherence ...............30 Realistic: Is Your Training Schedule Sustainable and Practical? .....31 Time Frame ................................................................................................................31 Schedule ......................................................................................................................31 Enjoyable: Can You Enjoy Training This Way for a Long Period of Time? ...............................................................................32 Flexible: Do You Have Flexibility in Your Program to Accommodate the Unexpected and Move Forward? .......................35 Flexibility When Stress is High ..........................................................................35 Flexibility to Adjust Based on Energy Levels ...............................................36 Life Doesn’t Stop for Lifting ...................................................................36 Sport, Outdoor, and Fitness Activities Outside of Lifting .......................38 Injury ...........................................................................................................................40 Summary .....................................................................................................42 LEVEL 2: VOLUME, INTENSITY, FREQUENCY .............................45 VOLUME ......................................................................................................47 The Relationship Between Strength and Hypertrophy ....................48 1. Strength is a Product of Skill Acquisition, Neurological Adaptation, and Hypertrophy .................................................48 2. Volume is Important for Hypertrophy ........................................................48 Counting Volume for Strength and Hypertrophy ..............................49 Strength, Hypertrophy and Volume — A Dose-Response Relationship Up to a Point ....................................50 The Fitness-Fatigue Model ..................................................................................52 Normal Adaptations to Training ........................................................................53 Overreaching and Overtraining .........................................................................54 Increase Volume as Your Fitness Improves ..................................................58 Volume Recommendations .................................................................... 60 INTENSITY ..................................................................................................62 Specificity ..................................................................................................................63 Measuring Intensity ..................................................................................63 1. Percentage of 1RM ..............................................................................................63 2. A Rep Max (RM) ................................................................................................64 3. RPE (Specifically Based on Repetitions Remaining) ..........................64 4. Failure .....................................................................................................................66 Intensity Considerations for Strength ..................................................68 1. Muscle Mass (and Other Structural Adaptations) ..................................68 2. Neuromuscular Adaptations ..........................................................................68 3. Motor Patterns / Skill ........................................................................................68 Extreme Specificity ................................................................................................69 Intensity Considerations for Hypertrophy ...........................................71 How Light is Too Light? .........................................................................................71 Issues with Both Low and High-Intensity Training .....................................72 Intensity Recommendations ...................................................................74 For Hypertrophy .....................................................................................................74 For Strength .............................................................................................................74 FREQUENCY ..............................................................................................76 How Frequency Impacts Training .........................................................76 Learning Through Practice ..................................................................................76 Recovery ....................................................................................................................77 Frequency Recommendations ...............................................................79 VIF SUMMARY RECOMMENDATIONS ..................................................80 Consider Overlap ......................................................................................82 A Starting Point from Which You Will Need to Adjust ....................85 Avoid Black and White Thinking .......................................................................85 These Are Principles and Guidelines, Not Rules .........................................88 EXAMPLE ROUTINES ...............................................................................88 A Simple, Sample Strength Routine .....................................................89 Sample Hypertrophy Routine .................................................................91 How Does This Stack Up with Our Recommendations? ..........................93 LEVEL 3: PROGRESSION ................................................................99 Progressions Based on Training Age ..................................................100 Volume May Need to Increase Over Your Training Career .............101 Progress Versus Progressive Overload ..............................................102 How Quickly Can We Gain Strength? .................................................103 Deloads, Tapers, and Intro Cycles .......................................................103 Introductory Cycles ................................................................................104 How To Deload ........................................................................................105 Deloads for Novices ..................................................................................................106 Deloads After the Novice Stage .....................................................................106 Progressing as a Novice Trainee .........................................................106 Progressing as an Intermediate Trainee ............................................109 Sample Intermediate Trainee Compound Movement Progression — ‘Linear Periodization’ ...........................................................................................109 Wave Loading Periodization Example ...........................................................110 Sample Intermediate Trainee Isolation Movement Progression — ‘Double Progression’ ..............................................................................................111 Progressing as an Advanced Trainee ..................................................114 Tracking Progress When Training for Strength ..........................................116 Tracking Progress When Training for Hypertrophy ..................................118 Do You Even Need to Test Strength? ............................................................120 What to Do as an Advanced Lifter When You Don’t Progress ............121 On Implementing Deloads ................................................................................123 On Making Volume Decreases .........................................................................124 On Making Volume Increases ...........................................................................125 On Making Training Frequency Increases ...................................................126 Overview of Periodization Models ...................................................... 126 Integrating Models of Periodization ................................................... 129 Integrating Linear Periodization .......................................................... 131 Integrating Block Periodization ...........................................................133 Accumulation Block (~6 weeks) ......................................................................134 Intensification Block (~4 weeks) .....................................................................135 Realization Block (~2 weeks) ...........................................................................135 Integrating Undulating Periodization ................................................ 136 Traditional DUP - HSP .........................................................................................136 Modified DUP - HPS ..............................................................................................137 Example Approach Using Modified DUP ......................................................137 Tapering for Competition ...................................................................... 139 Summary ...................................................................................................140 LEVEL 4: EXERCISE SELECTION .................................................145 Specificity .................................................................................................148 Specific Gains in Specific Movements ..........................................................148 Unfamiliar Movements Are Less Effective for Inducing Hypertrophy .........................................................................................149 A Degree of Variety Can Be Important ........................................................150 Autoregulated Exercise Selection ........................................................152 Efficiency: Compound vs. Isolation .....................................................153 When Training for Strength ..............................................................................153 When Training for Hypertrophy ......................................................................154 Weak Points .............................................................................................154 Hypertrophy............................................................................................................154 Strength ....................................................................................................................156 Movement Weak Points and “Sticking Regions” ............................. 158 A Note on Form.....................................................................................................163 Exercise Order .......................................................................................................164 Range of Motion ....................................................................................................165 Summary ...................................................................................................166 LEVEL 5: REST PERIODS ................................................................171 The Hormone Hypothesis .....................................................................172 Metabolic Fatigue ...................................................................................173 Muscle Damage ........................................................................................175 The Final Word on Short Rest Periods For Hypertrophy .............. 176 A Place for Reduced Rest Periods in Training ........................................... 177 Antagonist Paired Sets ...........................................................................177 So How Do You Implement APS in an Effective Manner? .....................179 Example Programming With APS .......................................................180 Drop Sets and Rest-Pause Sets ............................................................181 So How Does One Implement Rest-pause or Drop Sets in an Effective Manner? .................................................................................................183 Rest Period Recommendations ...........................................................184 LEVEL 6: LIFTING TEMPO .............................................................188 Eccentric Muscle Actions ...................................................................... 189 Strength ....................................................................................................................189 Hypertrophy............................................................................................................190 Time Under Tension? .............................................................................. 192 Magnitude of Tension = Force .........................................................................193 Force Multiplied by Time = Impulse ..............................................................193 Slowed Eccentric, Reduced Load and Volume .........................................195 Slow Training Inferior in Most Studies ..........................................................196 Exceptions to the Rule ........................................................................... 197 Supramaximal Eccentric Training ........................................................ 197 Practical Guidelines ...............................................................................199 QUICK START GUIDE TO PROGRAM BUILDING .......................203 Step 1: Adherence ..................................................................................204 Step 2: Volume, Intensity, Frequency ................................................ 207 Step 3: Progression .................................................................................. 211 Step 4: Exercise Selection .....................................................................213 Step 5 and 6: Rest Periods and Tempo ...............................................215 Customizing Your Program with Autoregulation ............................ 216 Autoregulating Days Off or Training Days ..................................................217 Autoregulating Load ...........................................................................................217 Autoregulating Deloads .....................................................................................217 Autoregulating Exercise Selection .................................................................218 How to Adjust Training When Cutting ............................................... 219 SAMPLE PROGRAMS.....................................................................220 Warming Up ..............................................................................................221 Overview of Sample Programs ...........................................................224 An Important Note on These Sample Programs .....................................224 The Novice Powerlifting Program Overview .............................................225 The Intermediate Powerlifting Program Overview ..................................227 The Advanced Powerlifting Program Overview .......................................229 The Novice Bodybuilding Program Overview ...........................................231 The Intermediate Bodybuilding Program Overview ..............................232 The Advanced Bodybuilding Program Overview ....................................233 Novice Progression .................................................................................236 Percentage of 1RM Is Used to Set Load on Compound Barbell LIfts ....................................................................................236 Establishing Initial Maxes ..................................................................................236 The First Week of Training ...............................................................................238 Progression Rules (After the First Training Week) .................................240 Intermediate Progression ...................................................................... 241 RPE Based on RIR Is Primarily Used to Set Load .....................................241 Progression Rules ................................................................................................242 When Unable to Progress in Any Given Exercise ....................................244 Modifications to Peak for a Powerlifting Competition ..........................245 Advanced Progression .......................................................................... 246 Using RPE Ranges ...............................................................................................246 Overview .................................................................................................................246 For Powerlifters ....................................................................................................246 For Bodybuilders .................................................................................................248 Accessory Exercises .............................................................................. 248 Vertical and Horizontal Pulls ...........................................................................248 Vertical and Horizontal Pushes ......................................................................249 Squat Variants .......................................................................................................249 Leg Press Variants ...............................................................................................250 Hip Hinge Variants ...............................................................................................250 Deadlift Variants ....................................................................................................251 Bench Press Variants ..........................................................................................252 Dips ...........................................................................................................................252 Single-leg Squat Variants .................................................................................252 Isolation Exercises ...............................................................................................253 Grip Work................................................................................................................253 Why There Are No Shrugs or Direct Abdominal Work in the Bodybuilding Programs .............................................................................254 Substitutions ..........................................................................................................254 Dual Athletes ........................................................................................... 254 For the Bodybuilder Who Competes in Powerlifting ............................255 For the Powerlifter Who Competes in Bodybuilding ............................256 For the True “Powerbuilder” ............................................................................256 Novice Powerlifting Sample Program ...............................................260 Novice Bodybuilding Sample Program..............................................262 Intermediate Powerlifting Sample Program .....................................263 Intermediate Bodybuilding Sample Program ................................. 264 Advanced Powerlifting Sample Program ..........................................265 Advanced Bodybuilding Sample Program ........................................268 RESOURCES ................................................................................... 273 FINAL WORDS FROM THE AUTHORS .........................................281 FOREWORD THE MUSCLE & STRENGTH PYRAMID: TRAINING We have all been through a time during our fitness journeys, whatever our goals may have been, where despite our confidence, in reality, confusion and a lack of knowledge were driving every single training session. To make matters worse, we could not accept our minimal understanding of basic physiology and training principles. In contrast, we believed we knew what was right and that we were above being challenged. How did we know? Well some of us had magazines, or phrases such as, “my buddy said,” and of course the Internet. In the early days of the Internet the ‘fitness’ or ‘exercise’ community was quite limited, with almost all information coming from just a few sources, so it was taken as gold...it had to be. But, soon after reading every article and following every piece of advice word for word, progress began to stall and doubt clouded over the individual as to what to do next. Many of us thought: “Why isn’t there a simple and effective book on the Internet which does not make magical promises, explains physiological adaptations, is easy to read and implement, and is written by an actual expert with academic training and practical experience?” Although that book did not exist then, I am pleased to say that it exists now and congratulations, you are about to read it. Another reason you know this book will guide you in the right direction is the lead author. Now, I do not say this lightly, in fact, it takes a lot for me to praise other people in the fitness industry. Mostly, I view other people in accordance with a wonderful conversation between Elaine Benes and Jerry Seinfeld: Elaine: “I will never understand people.” Jerry: “They’re the worst.” However, when I met Eric in December 2013 (it must have been fate) it didn’t take me long to realize that he wasn’t the worst, in fact, he was one of the best. I traveled to the Sydney area of Australia to present with some other people who are the ‘best’ and I was pleasantly surprised when I was able to spend some time with Eric. In fact, it was the start of us embarking on quite a few endeavors together academically and professionally. It was obvious that his approach to disseminating information in this field was honest, with pure intentions and with humility. Eric qualifies as the ‘best’ for two reasons: 1) He understands life priorities of family, academics, and then training, and 2) Despite FOREWORD 10