Cathe, a training question

[Mariela]

Cathe, could you please share your experience or opinion on this?
Traditionally, it has been said that for strength training, you should do the same program over and over, increasing the resistance progressively, and only change it when it becomes easy, which should happen after several weeks. It has been said that if you constantly change the program, doing something different every week, you will still gain strength but not muscle growth? Is this true? Sometimes I feel like going with the flow and do what I feel like doing that day but I'm afraid I will not get where I wan't to be that way. I have heard (read) newer theories that emphasize constant challenge instead of waiting for a workout to "get easy" to increase resistance or making a more challenging workout. I hope you can help clear up my confusion.
Thanks in advance.

Mariela

 

[jessicah123]

I am wanting to know the exact same thing. I want to plan my strength training workouts which are on Mon., Wed, & Fri. so that my participants-which are doing great-will achieve leaner muscles. I want to know how to give them all the strength training they need in these 3 workouts . Example: Mondays-trisets on every muscle. Wednesdays- Circuit training with light weights for every muscle, Fridays-lower body pyramids (squats & lunges), chest pyramids, and supersets on all other muscles. This is what I have been doing. Does anyone have any suggestions?

 

[Lunacat]

This might help a little with what you're asking. Try using the Weider training principles. They are geared toward making strength gains as quickly as possible while emphasizing safety. I've been trying to incorporate these principles into my Cathe workouts and have been seeing some good gains. You'll also recognize some of the principles in Cathe's workouts, like supersets, partial reps, burns, etc.

This site has a basic overview, but if you google "Weider's Training Principles" you should be able to come up with more in-depth information:

http://www.musclenet.com/weiderbodybuildingsystem.htm

Hope this helps!