I'm just starting to follow the programs in Chad Waterbury's Huge in a Hurry. I'm only on the second week of the "Get Ready" program, so I can't comment too much about the effectiveness of the program. (Though I will later.) But what I am going to comment on is emphasis on total reps done in varying "chunks" (my term) versus the usual sets and reps prescription.
In short: I like it.
Okay, you probably want a bit more details out of me.
Waterbury's method feels like it will enable faster progression or, at least, more fluid progression. Let me explain with an example. Right now, using the standard sets/reps specifications, I am using 2 70 lbs dumbbells on the incline chest press (that's not me!) when doing 5x5. But, problem is, I can't do 5x5. I can do 5, 4, and then I drop to 65 lbs for the last 3 sets of 5. That's not bad, but doing this I have been stuck at 70 for 6 months. I can do 5x5 of 65 lbs without much problem but I haven't been able to get even 2 sets of 5. Not good. I haven't been able to figure out how to progress.
Let's see how Waterbury's method would work. I am supposed to choose a weight that I can normally do from 4-6 times and get 25 reps in. That would be 70 lbs. So I do 4, and then 4, and then 3, and then 3 (that's 14 so far), and then a couple sets of 2, and then drop to 65 to finish up. That allowed me to do 18 reps at 70 which has simply got to allow me to progress faster than I would otherwise. I'm a big believer in stress making the body adapt, so this just feels right.
I'll report back on how this actually turns out, but I'm hopeful.
No comments:
Post a Comment