FT Questions....

[Scott Stevenson]

Sorry if this has been asked already, 31 pages of questions is quite a lot to go through on my mobile....

Just wanted to say that I'm loving the program so far Scott- as per everyone else here, it's a breathe of fresh air...(not really, as it has me gasping really...but anyway..) great program.

Just wanted to check that I have understood the various set types with regards to exercise choice and rotation etc

Loading sets- stick with the same exercises for a cycle (3-6 weeks) and switch up in new cycle?

Pump sets- these can be switched up each week?

MR- same as above?

Sorry if I have this completely wrong, I hope I'm not bastardising the plan- just want to be sure I'm using it to its fullest effect.

Thanks again Scott

Great question, actually (regardless of whether asked before), because you bring up an important point about Loading sets.

(I'm glad your digging the program and finding it challenging, too. Someone just noted on another board that its designed in such a way that you simply must train hard, relative to the individual's ability, to execute the sets. )

So, yes, you can switch up the Pump sets and MR's, but I'd suggest logging the MR's (MR pool) so you can progress on those in general (but not if you're sacrificing form and connecting with the targeted muscle).

Loading set exercises are those you'd want to hang on to for as many blasts as possible. Some blasts might only be 4 weeks, so dropping the Loading set exercises would mean that you never even got around to a progression week on the 2 out of 3 of the groupings of Loading sets. (If calling them A, B and C, then your weekly progression would be A, B, C, A, and then done before even getting back to B and C.)

So, with Loading sets, you want to hang on those exercises, eeking out progression month after month as long as possible.

BIG TIP here: If you don't want to drop a compound exercise (lets say you love incline bench press) for loading sets, but have plateaued in terms of weight, you can keep the exercise in your rotation by:

***Adding in your Isolation exercise before (vs. after) the Compound exercise . (Or change this around.) You might go 3 mo. with the Compound exercise first and then 3 months the other way and then back to putting the compound exercise first.

***Change your rep range, too, e.g., start off with a higher reps and keep the weight the same. Let's say you're using Tier III and for Chest you set up the Incline such that you go (for the incline press - there would be an isolation set in between):

1st set: 11 reps
2nd set (probably the same weight): 7 reps

Both of these are in the 6-12 rep range. (You can set your rep range for Loading sets where you feel comfortable, but I made the suggested range somewhat wide for this reason, as well as for older guys who want to keep things above 10 reps / set).

If you plateau with the above set up, you might then do the following :

1st Set: 6-8 reps (pretty heavy weight)
2nd Set: 11-12 reps (you've dropped the weight considerably here, b/c of fatigue as well as the higher rep range).

You would then try to progress one or both of these sets in terms of weight, keeping with the pattern of a heavier weight 1st, and then a lighter one.

-S

[Apexpf]

Awesome response Scott- thanks so much man.

So I though when I bought the book, 'meh, I'm a high frequency guy anyway, I'll jump in at Turbo Tier 2.......

HUMBLED...and feeling royally stupid.

Even after 10+ years of good training, my work capacity was tested to the max, simply couldn't give my all through the whole session.


Needless to say, I'll be going back to the Basic Version and taking that one more seriously, much like others have said.

Re- the losing sets. I get ya!! Fantastic, I think I have a good rotation nailed in.
To begin with I've placed the ISO movement before the compound for chest and Delts as I genuinely struggle to really
Stimulate the target muscle with these two- so placed low cable
Flys ahead of DB incline press and Seated laterals ahead of Standing Klokov press....felt fantastic, in a very masochistic way

Again, thanks for taking the time out Scott- you're a credit to our industry [emoji106]

[Scott Stevenson]

Awesome response Scott- thanks so much man.

So I though when I bought the book, 'meh, I'm a high frequency guy anyway, I'll jump in at Turbo Tier 2.......

HUMBLED...and feeling royally stupid.

I think that also goes to show how HARD you train, too! So, I'd not feel so stupid, really.

Even after 10+ years of good training, my work capacity was tested to the max, simply couldn't give my all through the whole session.

I bet your work capacity is pretty decent.

It WILL get better, for sure.

Needless to say, I'll be going back to the Basic Version and taking that one more seriously, much like others have said.

Good call, I think, for now.

Re- the losing sets. I get ya!! Fantastic, I think I have a good rotation nailed in.
To begin with I've placed the ISO movement before the compound for chest and Delts as I genuinely struggle to really
Stimulate the target muscle with these two- so placed low cable
Flys ahead of DB incline press and Seated laterals ahead of Standing Klokov press....felt fantastic, in a very masochistic way

Sounds like a good plan there.

Again, thanks for taking the time out Scott- you're a credit to our industry [emoji106]

THANK YOU, Sir! Just trying to give back!!!

-S

[bigla2004]

Does anyone have any suggestions for customization to bring up lagging body parts? Other than different tiers or training the lagging muscle as turbo vs regular, I was thinking on pump sets you could use a bit more intensity and volume like drop sets or a giant set counting as 1 set so much as recovery stays in tact.

[Scott Stevenson]

Does anyone have any suggestions for customization to bring up lagging body parts? Other than different tiers or training the lagging muscle as turbo vs regular, I was thinking on pump sets you could use a bit more intensity and volume like drop sets or a giant set counting as 1 set so much as recovery stays in tact.

I've covered this one a a bit before, my man. (Here are the results of a search for "Lagging.")

FT Questions....

Few questions before i start

FT Questions....

--------

I've to the No Show No Go Daily Trainer available, to show a full customization of FT (like I might do with a client) to bring things up (Chest calves and abs, in this case).

Fortitude Training Products for Sale - Integrative Bodybuilding

Basically, it would depend on your muscle group, but strategies already built into FT would be:

Loading sets:
-Isolation exercises first (e.g., flies before presses)

Muscle Rounds:
-Pick these wisely and use new exercises you've not before. Find new angles, stimulate at either end of the range of motion, and create resistance curves that are novel with different positions, and even bands and chains.

-If progression (progressive overload) works well for you, then pound away at the same exercises here.

-Order of operations here, too: Isolation before compound e.g., knee extensions before leg presses to bring up quad.

-Perform these exercises unilaterally if you've not before - this adds a whole dimension.

Pump Sets:
-As you said, make these brutal. 5's into the Hole is one I suggest folks try out, as these focus on occlusion d/t the partial reps perhaps moreso than you might if you just did a continuous rep style pump set.

-Be very creative here with exercises, too and feel free to "create the set" as you move through it. Doing a lat pulldown and not feeling it deep in the lower lat - simply start adding pulsing reps near the bottom of the range of motion when you've got a shortened muscle and can most easily activate and feel that part of the muscle.

And yes, you're right in that Turbo hits with even greater frequency, so that's an option, too.

-S

[bigla2004]

I've covered this one a a bit before, my man. (Here are the results of a search for "Lagging.")

FT Questions....

Few questions before i start

FT Questions....

--------

I've to the No Show No Go Daily Trainer available, to show a full customization of FT (like I might do with a client) to bring things up (Chest calves and abs, in this case).

Fortitude Training Products for Sale - Integrative Bodybuilding

Basically, it would depend on your muscle group, but strategies already built into FT would be:

Loading sets:
-Isolation exercises first (e.g., flies before presses)

Muscle Rounds:
-Pick these wisely and use new exercises you've not before. Find new angles, stimulate at either end of the range of motion, and create resistance curves that are novel with different positions, and even bands and chains.

-If progression (progressive overload) works well for you, then pound away at the same exercises here.

-Order of operations here, too: Isolation before compound e.g., knee extensions before leg presses to bring up quad.

-Perform these exercises unilaterally if you've not before - this adds a whole dimension.

Pump Sets:
-As you said, make these brutal. 5's into the Hole is one I suggest folks try out, as these focus on occlusion d/t the partial reps perhaps moreso than you might if you just did a continuous rep style pump set.

-Be very creative here with exercises, too and feel free to "create the set" as you move through it. Doing a lat pulldown and not feeling it deep in the lower lat - simply start adding pulsing reps near the bottom of the range of motion when you've got a shortened muscle and can most easily activate and feel that part of the muscle.

And yes, you're right in that Turbo hits with even greater frequency, so that's an option, too.

-S

Thanks for this Scott, I forgot what I searched, I believe it was "weak body part" so I didn't find the above. All that is very helpful!

[Scott Stevenson]

Thanks for this Scott, I forgot what I searched, I believe it was "weak body part" so I didn't find the above. All that is very helpful!

You got it!

-S

[Con]

This is my first week of ever doing tier 1.
Yes I know it goes against what is written in the book but I have always done tier 3.
This week I have decided to be smart and appreciate the fact that I am very lean, not on a ton of food and over worked in my normal life.
Thus I am doing the lowest amount of volume

My question is regarding warm ups.
Is it OK in your eyes Scott to warm up with very minimal reps?
I literally did a couple of low rep sets to warm up (I am used to this approach coming from many years of powerlifting).
I feel fully ready to do the work set BUT I have accumulated pretty much no volume in the run up sets.
Thus I am relying only on the one work set to break down the tissue.
Should I look at doing perhaps sets of 10 instead of 1-3 reps for my warm ups instead?

[dens228]

I'm not Scott but my warm ups are usually 10-15 reps with just the bar for free weight stuff.......after that initial set 99% of my warm up sets are 3 reps or so.
I'm an old man and have never had issues doing it this way. It goes back to my powerlifting days when three reps were high reps! LOL

This is my first week of ever doing tier 1.
Yes I know it goes against what is written in the book but I have always done tier 3.
This week I have decided to be smart and appreciate the fact that I am very lean, not on a ton of food and over worked in my normal life.
Thus I am doing the lowest amount of volume

My question is regarding warm ups.
Is it OK in your eyes Scott to warm up with very minimal reps?
I literally did a couple of low rep sets to warm up (I am used to this approach coming from many years of powerlifting).
I feel fully ready to do the work set BUT I have accumulated pretty much no volume in the run up sets.
Thus I am relying only on the one work set to break down the tissue.
Should I look at doing perhaps sets of 10 instead of 1-3 reps for my warm ups instead?

[Scott Stevenson]

This is my first week of ever doing tier 1.
Yes I know it goes against what is written in the book but I have always done tier 3.
This week I have decided to be smart and appreciate the fact that I am very lean, not on a ton of food and over worked in my normal life.
Thus I am doing the lowest amount of volume

My question is regarding warm ups.
Is it OK in your eyes Scott to warm up with very minimal reps?
I literally did a couple of low rep sets to warm up (I am used to this approach coming from many years of powerlifting).
I feel fully ready to do the work set BUT I have accumulated pretty much no volume in the run up sets.
Thus I am relying only on the one work set to break down the tissue.
Should I look at doing perhaps sets of 10 instead of 1-3 reps for my warm ups instead?

I'm for warming up in whatever way you feel gets you read to rock n' roll. This seems to be very individual and can depend on the day for many folk, too.

I think what you're doing is fine, Con.

I think what you've kind of included in this question is to what degree making gains in the program includes the stimulus brought on by the preceding warm-up sets. (As you know, this is a topic brought up wrt DC training and plans like Dorians, etc. where someone might only do one all out "working set" but there could be multiple "warm-up" sets that are not far from failure that add a high quality stimulus and volume to the workout.)

The above is part of why I created the volume Tiers, too - so that is someone does tend to do a lot warm-ups that create a substantial stimulus, the would work with a lower volume Tier (and vice versa).

I think in your case, for the reasons you cite and the fact that you train REALLY hard, Volume Tier I with warm-up like you do them makes perfect sense.

I generally warm-up in the way you're talking about, too. This comes from my days of DC training, when making sure not to cause any fatigue that would cut into performance of the working sets was a priority. Keeping the warm-ups to a minimum was a way to standardize that part of the program so the progression was based on working set performance per se and no diluted by variable amount of warm-ups (or perhaps if someone interrupted a warm-up regimen and thus reduced fatigue on that day).

The only caveat would be if one finds that they tend to get injured in this way and in retrospect, should have warmed up more. Sometimes a nagging or untested injury (something was tweaked on a previous workout) might mean it's a good time to do a warm-up that's closer to your working weight.

ALso, too, I've found now n' again (on squats in particular) that doing a warm-up that's pretty close to my working weight seems to really do a nice job of waking up the nervous system. I might even do a set of 1-3 with the actual working weight to do the same (and test the weight if it's an exercise I've not used before). I still would keep these sets to a minimum in terms of reps, though.

That being said, if you noticed when doing multiple sets (when using higher volume Tiers) that zig-zagging back to a compound exercise you felt (literally felt, even if the fatigue was there and reps were lower) a bit stronger, this might tell you that a little more warm-up could be warranted. This is just another piece that might fit into your personal decision to warm-up in one particular way vs. another.

--------

On a related note, when I was training with Dave Henry, we'd sometimes not be able to train together regularly (his shift would change at the Air Force). We got back together to shoot one if his videos so he had fallen into his own preferred pattern of warming up (vs. mine). We were doing a HS chest press and were both using several plates / side (Dave was always stronger than me on chest presses, but it was may.be 4 vs. 5 plates or something like that.)

While were juggling the photo-shoot, I do my regular warm-up, which is 1, 2, and then 3 for like 10, 8, and 4 reps (Something like that) with stretching, shoulder rotations, etc. but Dave just goes right to two plates, does like 20 reps in a row and he's ready to roll with 5 plates.

I'd not suggest that kind of approach, but that's kind of what he'd settled into when going it alone and had been doing that for a few months, I recall.

-S