THE REAL WAY OF TRAINING

High intensity training and his effects on the body

After months and months of experiments and whole weeks of study and constant research I’m now able to show you what I have found and the consequent results.

Let's start by debunking some myths in the fitness community and especially that of bodybuilding.

1)DIFFERENT TYPES OF TRAINING FOR STRENGTH,ENDURANCE ETC.

  Here it all began thanks to the corruption present in this world and above all thanks to the incredibly wrong methods of training proposed by Arnold and his circle. For money they have made people believe they can gain pounds of muscle with a few magical drink or training like them (which were under immense quantities of steroids and genetically superior to all). Hence the fitness community has "evolved" in the firm idea that to gain muscle you need to train 2 hours a day 5/6 times a week, getting to do even 30 sets per muscle group AT WORKOUT.

As a result it has arrived to think that to train "strength" one should lift large loads for a few reps and the opposite for endurance. Honestly here I do not see not even the need to delve into the effects in the body with each type of training, complicating things unnecessarily.

In this case logic is the master, because a person who lifts 220kg of deadlifts for 5 reps wouldn't be able to lift 140 for 15 reps or more?

Muscle capacity is not only related to strength, endurance or explosiveness,but to everything. the stronger it is, the faster, more resistant and explosive it is.

Just remember that it is not possible to measure maximum force in 1 unique attempt because many other factors come into play. after I will take into account some. speaking instead of high volume for hypertrophy I'll just say, for now,that the body has very limited reserve of energy to recover and OVERCOMPENSATE the damage of a muscle and for this reason, inducing the right stimulus means increasing the intensity and consequently turn down the volume.

Strength growth is related to muscle growth in an ALMOST always identical ratio. Muscle growth instead it is ALWAYS related to an increase in strength. The body works like this.

2) PRINCIPLE OF GROWTH

  Now let's talk in more depth about how to induce the right stimulus.

  Let's start by saying that the muscles recover 50% of their momentary strength within 5 seconds and approximately 100% within 1 minute.

Why did I say momentary? because to induce the best stimulus we must reach a state of maximum momentary muscular failure.

Bodybuilding and strength training are not aerobic forms of training but anaerobic, this is not a competition to see who trains more but who trains more intensely. The body needs nothing but the stimulus necessary to activate the growth mechanism and exploit its reserves of energy to recover and grow the muscle.

A workout where intensity is at the center of everything, as it should be,should be done every 2/3 days and no more than 3 times a week...being very careful not to overtrain. On average a workout should not exceed 20minutes. Between one set and another one you should go as fast as possible, above all when it comes to the same muscle group, in that case maximum 4 seconds can pass.

3) REST DURING SETS AND GROWTH

  If the muscles recover 50% of their momentary strength in 5 seconds

so how should you train and how much rest between sets? over the course of my experiments, on multiple people, I've come to notice how the best stimulus comes from 2 sets per muscle group. 2 sets, of 2 different exercises for most muscle groups, accomplished one after the other with 3 seconds rest between.

That's all? yes, that's all it takes

ONCE A WEEK,for most muscle groups, some don't even need training direct because of the indirect effect.

The indirect effect is about stimulating the smallest muscle groups by itself of the older trained ones. let's take an example, the thighs are the most large muscles of the body and when they are trained they induce a certain level of stimulation too to the closest and smallest muscle groups.

The greater the size of the muscle being trained the greater the indirect effect. Following the principles of this effect the best way of scheduling a workout is by putting the largest muscle groups first.

In order they are: thighs, latissimus dorsi, trapezius, pectoralis major, triceps, biceps,

deltoids, lower leg muscles and finally forearms that will not be trained.

After having induced the right stimulus, the muscle must be completely left alone and allowed to recover and then grow.

The overcompensating effect, if left to act,is 10% per week approximately.

10% more strength per week.

To allow this growth, I recommend sleeping between 8 and 10 hours a day,do not perform other very intense activities during the course of the week, never train 2 days in a row and obviously have adequate nutrition, without unnecessary excesses of protein.

4) PHYSICS BEHIND EXERCISES

  In terms of exercises, the ones I will suggest here are most likely not used because more difficult...but they are the best.

Let's start by explaining why not all exercises are equally good and how to recognize which ones are. Muscle fibers perform maximum or no force, the only difference lies in the amount of fibers recruited to make a certain effort. Muscles possess"3 types" of strength or the positive (weakest), static and negative (strongest) which I will talk about more in the next paragraph.

To induce as much stimulus as possible our goal is to go to failure on ALL "force types" of a muscle and apply the greatest resistance during statics, the point of maximum contraction of the muscle. This is essential because the static is the ONLY position where we can recruit as many fibers as possible, nor on the positive and neither on the negative this is possible.

In addition an exercise should have constant resistance and don't reach a “sticking point” and then almost no resistance like in the classic Barbell curl because that it would mean not training strength in most of the movement, basically a useless exercise.

A major rom is always recommended but the most important thing remains the search for constant resistance.

best exercises: Squat, Hip Thrust, Single leg calf raises, tibialis raises, Stiffed leg deadlift, close grip underhand pulldown,shrug,cable flyes,inclined dumbell press,pushdown (never with ropes),dips,spider curls,bicep pull down, behind neck military press.

5) POSITIVE,STATIC AND NEGATIVE

  As mentioned before the body possesses these three different types of force that you must bring to failure before you can say to have done the perfect workout. delving into the effects of each I came to notice how the positive is actually the most "useless" part of all.

Its 2 main benefits are actually that of tiring some of the fibers mainly recruited by the muscle so that you can use more fibers and get a greater stimulus and bring cardiovascular and Vo2max benefits to the athlete (I will elaborate on this later).

We must also consider its negative sides and of these is that the concentric movement is  a much greater expense to the detriment of the body's reserve in the repair of the damage done and the amount of lactate produced in the body.

I am of the opinion that if you train purely for health reasons and not to achieve certain strength levels etc. the positive is to be eliminated almost totally, concentrating purely on statics and negatives.

The statics, as written before, is the most important in the recruitment of the fibers and it is also the one that leads to an increased hemodynamic response from the body,not to mention the strengthening of connective tissues and improvement of the central nervous system...fundamental part to improve in order to increase strength and consequently muscle mass, resistance and so on.

Arriving at the negative, what can be said is that it is certainly the strongest of the three and that it needs a much greater load, or repetitions compared to the previous two to be brought to failure. Together with the statics this is the most important part for muscle growth.

In addition the negative is the only part in which the body improves its elasticity, which is very important in order to allow you to work more comfortably in unfamiliar and unusual positions. Going back to the strength needed to bring negative to failure what I have found is that when the positive is at 5/10% of strength the negative is at 100/105% compared to the positive weight!

In addition, the time required to recover from a negative  workout is approximately 2 hours, an incredibly small amount of time compared to the 3/4 days of a momentary muscular failure training.

Let us remember that the intensity is represented only by the effort and not by the load and therefore it is accurately measurable only when the total muscular failure has been achieved.

6)CARDIOVASCULAR EFFECTS,VO2MAX,AEROBIC EXERCISE AND OXYGEN DISTRIBUTION

  When training at such a high intensity, the body is forced to use all possible energy, not only from the skeletal-muscular system but also cardiovascular, respiratory and metabolic systems.

During a classic workout, following these principles, the Vo2 reaches between 60 and 90%, which is more than enough to stimulate an improvement both in Vo2max and in the cardiovascular system... and together with the density of work also in the metabolic system.

Having said this, we arrive at the conclusion that a short, high-intensity workout is able to stimulate aerobic glycolysis and that therefore there is a link between aerobic metabolism and anaerobic and that the type of exercise is irrelevant to the stimulation of aerobic metabolic pathways.

In 1974 West Point Military Academy bought a whole set of Nautilus training machines and sent their coach, Dan Riley, to Florida to see Arthur Jones,the founder of nautilus (Arthur Jones was the pioneer of high intensity training). When Arthur told Dan to train together he agreed thinking that he was absolutely capable of doing it, this following the true principles of high intensity training. After bringing the first exercise at total failure, Arthur immediately passed to the second as fast as he could and Dan started his own training following what he was told to do.

By the fourth exercise Arthur turned to see where Dan was and he was lying on the floor in his own vomit, having collapsed midway through the third exercise.

When he arrived in Florida Dan thought he knew what hard work meant but it took just some minutes to make him understand what he really meant to train in the best way. In the spring of 1975 Arthur Jones conducted experiments in the military academy using men from their football team that they considered themselves well trained for many years.

During their first training their heart rates went over 210 and they were unable to complete the whole workout...after 6 weeks the exact type of exercises were done again with incredible improvements.

average heart rate was between 150 and 180 with only one person above 190, they managed to complete all of the training and their 2 mile time was improved by 80 seconds, precisely, you read that right, 80 seconds. This without forgetting the enormous improvements in strength by all of them, almost doubled.

In addition, this training modality led to improvements in local oxygen distribution and vascular remodeling at the peripheral muscle level.

As this is also an extremely stimulating metabolic workout, there are FURTHER benefits over a more conventional high intensity workout.

These benefits are: increased recruitment of muscle fibers, increased production of myokines and hormones, increased protein synthesis, increased cell proliferation satellite muscles, a greater activation of the ROS (reactive oxygen species) which triggers cellular signals useful for activating the processes of muscle growth, better cellular hydration state leading to an anabolic environment capable of even more protein synthesis and satellite muscle cell proliferation, increase in basal metabolic rate.

Finally, training performed in this way was found to lead to an increase in resting ATP, which suggests an improvement in aerobic atp production.

7)ACUTE RESPONSE AND CHRONIC ADAPTATION

8) DIFFERENT TYPES OF FIBERS AND NEUROLOGICAL ADAPTATIONS

  As is well known, there are 2 main types of fibers which are then divided into various other types. The most important are Type 1 fibers, red and slow fibers, suitable for aerobic work and which mainly take energy from fat... and then there are type 2 fibers, white and fast fibers, the main ones are type 2x and 2a fibers.

These fibers are suitable for extremely intense and short-term work, they derive their energy mainly from sugars and that is why a workout at high intensity should always be preceded by a certain dose of carbohydrates and rapidly assimilated sugars. the presence of a certain percentage of white fibers or red in a muscle also determines which stimulus will be better for making it grow and it is from the study of these fibers that I have had the best results from training legs and the entire lower body.

Although almost all upper body muscle groups have a prevalence of fast fibers and therefore a workout where the intensity is, obviously, high but we keep the reps low doesn’t lead to training the legs in the same way which, despite an equality between white fibers and red (in the quadriceps and hamstrings), have been used to, all their live,to be utilized for a high volume,when walking for example,and therefore some of the fibers have predisposed to make less effort but for longer.

After months of training on multiple people I have come to notice that the best improvement in legs is with just one set of Squats in a 60 to 100 rep range.

femorals between 40 and 60,calves and tibialis between 20 and 30 per leg, 40-60 total.

All anticipated by a set of Leg Extentions to pre-exhaust the muscle and be able to reach as many fibers as possible during the set of squats...which is concluded not when it becomes impossible to perform a repetition with good form but with static until failure, the position should be hold at about 100 degrees or slightly more.

Holding a 90 degree position will be virtually impossible if you get to true failure during the previous series. Legs will only be trained once every 2 weeks and it will be the longest workout of all with a duration of approximately 23min.

Speaking instead of neurological abilities, it must be said that they are mainly the result of genetics and that we cannot do much to improve it a lot,despite with time you can partially improve it, if you train properly. An able-bodied person has a neurological capacity that allows him to activate about 30% of its muscle fibers, those who get to compete at high levels in powerlifting have a capacity between 40 and 50%. There are also people with far less capabilities which can get to have 20 or even 10% activation of the fibers during a lift. But this should not be a reason to discourage, unless the goal is to be a powerlifter, because neurological capacity is very important in maximum attempts and not so much if we are talking about pure bodybuilding or strength.

The statics brought to total failure,and high intensity training in general, still lead to an improvement over time.

9)WARMING UP,STRETCHING AND RIGHT POSITIONING

  Warming up is essential even though most of the time we tend to skip it (I was the first used to not do it). before a workout our goal is not that of completely preserving energy but warming up the muscle and the various connective tissues so as to allow us to be able to recruit as many muscle fibers as possible.

Given that, if we started directly with the training set suddenly, the muscle would only recruit 30% of what it can really recruit. It is not necessary to worry about possible minimal losses of energy, is the only way to be able to induce the best stimulus later...this contrary to what it should do a powerlifter, especially before a competition, to lift as much weight as possible. In that case one should be concerned with warming up mainly to avoid injuries and prepare the connective tissues for work.

What I recommend doing for the upper body is to warm up the major joints and do a set of the training exercise with a much lower load and extremely slowly especially in the positive which is the part where you are most at risk of injury.

After which you go IMMEDIATELY to do the training set which will have every part of the movement extremely controlled and performed to the maximum of your momentary abilities.

For the lower part I strongly suggest to warm up longer, without using any weight. Take your time to warm up the joints well and to warm up the back and all the muscles of the lower body as well. Open your hips and take some time to warm up at each height level, from lower than a squat to the middle position near 100 degrees…remembering to take care of your ankles and to stretch all the muscles. The position of the squat is also crucial and I will mainly talk about this since the other exercises are much easier to do without getting injured. Each of us has small differences that "force" us to squat differently and these are the length of the femur, width of the hips and flexibility of internal and external rotation of the hips.

On average, those with a long femur will not be able to squat to the ground completely for too long without bringing the lower back into play excessively,for this reason he should perform the squat with something under the feet or simply a pair of shoes that give him a lift on the heel, especially with a sole solid enough to be able to release more force. In addition, the width of the feet should be considered and whether to keep them straighter or facing the outside and this mainly depends on the intro-rotation and extra-rotation of the hips. With an external rotation greater than the internal rotation, the best position is that with feet wider and facing outwards, the opposite for those with more internal rotation where the best position is where the feet are in a narrow position and facing forwards.

Knowing this, in addition to preventing injuries, helps to perform the squat more effectively and in doing so bringing more results.

10) BETTER NUTRION (RAY PEAT INSPIRED)

  As many well know,Ray Peat was an absolute genius in the field of human biology, nutrition and psychophysical well-being in general (although this goes well beyond mental and physical health). The knowledge of him though not meant for bodybuilding, strength training or intense training in general are of extreme help because they lead our body to produce the maximum amount of energy possible, making us recover in the right way and eliminating all possible health problems, even the most subtle ones, which would lead to inferior results despite all the effort. Starting from one of the cornerstones of Ray's research.

I would start by talking about the thyroid and its effects in the field of training mainly. The proper functioning of the thyroid increases and activates satellite cells in muscle, increases myogenic factors, lowers myostatin, converts type 1 slow fibers to type 2 fast fibers, increases steroidogenesis, increases follistatin, increases levels of IGF-1 (protein required for increased muscle growth, increased transport of glucose and amino acids into muscles and the lowering of inflammation) and increases metabolism.

It is essential to have a healthy thyroid in order to maximize your results and this is possible by following what Ray has said and written over the years, paying particular attention to the amount of sugars that it must be high to support the pentose phosphate pathway,necessary for growth. The pentose phosphate pathway is also the source of NADPH which is a fundamental molecule for the regeneration of glutathione, thanks to its dropped electrons which are transferred onto oxidative glutathione regenerating reduced glutathione in a ratio of 9:1 to oxidative, a decrease is considered an index of oxidative stress.

NADPH is also essential for anabolic processes. A high intake of sugars as well as being the primary source of energy of the body, especially for an extremely intense and short workout, it is also essential to decrease the levels of AMPK which, if high, decrease the levels of mTOR, enzyme needed for muscle growth. I won't write here everything that is known about a "peaty" diet because it would be useless and extremely long but there are profiles that I can recommend where you will find all the information you need to learn more.

@ProjectImpero @LandsharkRides @JoshRainerGold @Haidut @natelawrence_

Another thing to absolutely keep in mind to maximize your growth are cortisol and estrogen levels.

Cortisol rises sharply when blood sugar levels are low, we are in a state of overworking , we run too long distances, low intake of carbohydrates, inflammation, stress, etc. Avoiding all of these things and taking glycine, taurine and magnesium will lower your cortisol levels by a lot. without considering vitamin D and sunbathing in general, I don't think I need to list its benefits.

Excess estrogen can also be eliminated with Ray's famous carrot salad. Coconut oil, vinegar, salt and of course the carrot, cut into thin slices,it will remove all the excess estrogen, also taking care of the endotoxins present in the body...endotoxins that hinder the protein synthesis of the skeletal muscle system,decreases follistatin levels, increases myostatin levels and decreases IGFBP-3 levels (IGFBP-3 which serves to prolong circulation and the biological action of IGF-1).

Iosine supplementation also lowers cortisol and estrogen levels, both by about 60%.

The sugar intake should be at least 200g per day and a diet consisting of Dairy products, fruit, sugar, meat, coffee, honey, ice cream, organs and a good amount of salt should be the basis for everyone. I advise you to read more about it from the pages I wrote earlier.

Another supplement I can recommend is Leucine, an essential amino acid, which is a huge help in muscle protein synthesis.

11) WHAT RESULTS TO EXPECT?

  Said without too many words? between 450 and 500% annual increase in strength in the first year and at least 200-230% in subsequent years, perhaps more with the right supplements and genetic. A muscle gain that must be seen to be believed, frightening for most people. The body has an incredible growth mechanism which, however, acts at its maximum capacity only when left undisturbed. Overtraining is very easy to induce and it must always be remembered that in case of lesser results during the following training, the solution is not to increase the volume but to decrease it and remove work by increasing the intensity. Only this is the true method capable of guaranteeing results out of the ordinary and continue over time, remember that genetic potential is never been touched by ANYONE yet. I would like to know your results and be able to help you increase them so don't worry about writing me in dm, indeed, you are welcome. For any doubts just ask.

The information written in this small research is much less of those that I have collected and obtained from my experiments because otherwise I would go much further than what I have already done ... and it does not seem the case. If you want to try to search for information on the subject by yourself, I advise you to study what Arthur Jones, Mike Mentzer, Casey Viator, Dorian Yates, Sergio Oliva and a few others bodybuilders have applied to their careers.

12)TYPICAL WORKOUT

  This is how I manage my workouts more accurately:

MONDAY-BACK AND BICEPS

*closegrip underhand pulldown:

1 warm-up set x 10 reps control the weight and establish the right mind-muscle connection

1 training set. Fast positive, 8s Static, 6s Negative and reached the end, when even with the help of your training partner you can’t complete the positive, hold the static as much as you can, until even pulling towards you the weight will go away.

*Barbell Shrug:

1 training set /s Positive, 5s Static, 3s Negative

*Deadlifts:

1 training set 3s Positive,/ static, 3s Negative

*Spider Curl

1 training set fast Positive, 6s Static, 6s Negative

A workout like this should be accomplished in under 15 minutes or so.

THURSDAY-CHEST AND TRICEPS (Wednesday instead of Thursday if the legs are also trained that week)

*Cable flyes chest

1 warm-up set x 10 reps control the weight and establish the right mind-muscle connection

1  training set positive as fast as possible, 4s Static, 6s Negative (at the end keep the static as long as possible)

* Inclined dumbbell press

1 training set fast Positive, 2s Static (slightly under maximum extension so as to maintain tension), 6s Negative

*Dip or Skull crashers

1 training set 6s Negative, no statics, positive going up as fast as possible (when you can't even do a positive anymore, do only the negatives)

This workout is the least time consuming, about 12 minutes.

FRIDAY-LEGS AND SHOULDERS (every 2 weeks)

Pre-fatigue with leg extension x 20 reps as fast as possible the Positive, 5s Static, 3s Negative (10sec at last rep). Add weight as every exercise when you reach the rep target.

*Squats:

1 training set x 60-100rep the first 10 reps will be done much more slowly than what is possible and the subsequent ones by very much controlling the negative.

prepare a safety support for static failure, position yourself at about 100 degrees (similar to horse stance) and stay there for as long as possible.

*behind neck Military press:

1 training set fast positive after 2nd rep,3sStatic (slightly under max extension),6sNegative.

*Single leg calf raises (if you are intermediate to advance don’t do it)

1 training set x 25 positive and controlled negative, 5s Static. first with one leg and then with the other. at the last hold as much as possible

*tibialis raises (optional)

1 training set x 50 positive and controlled negative, 5s Static. both legs together. At the last hold as much as possible.

*neck raises

1 training set x 20 3s Positive, 2s Static, 3s Negative.

Once you reach 60/70 reps on the squat increase the weight.

in the upper body, increase the weight once you reach 8 reps, 10 on the deadlift.

This leg workout should take between 25 and 30 minutes total.

During the week in which the lower body is also trained the total duration of the 3 workouts is approximately 55-58 minutes and should never exceed one hour and 20 minutes.

Little volume doesn't mean little work, this will be the hardest workout you'll ever do. between one set and another there should be a maximum of 40s if it’s the same muscle group, otherwise don't despair if you take a few minutes longer but remember to always move quickly.

Good luck!