FT Questions....

[Scott Stevenson]

I have another questions for you guys

1/
Currently dieting, I ve just finished my 5th week of Blasting Period.

I'm becoming more and more tired, even when I wake up, so I think it's for me to start my first Cruise period !

So this morning I've reread religiously the chapter Simplified, Progressive Periodization Blast'n Cruise p80-84

So I'm all good with reducing volume, frequency and "TAPER"

But, my question is, can I keep my cardio sessions ?
Currently I m doing it 2x / week
Inclined walk on treadmill for 20 min / 5km/h / 7% inclined

Right after the upper loading and upper body sessions.

I've reread also the
Q: What about Cardio with Fortitude Training p123-124 but nothing special about the cruising phase.

So can I keep it after my upper body focus ? It's not very intensive but it helps recovering (in my mind) and it burn some extra calories.

I don't see any reason why you couldn't, but without knowing what your overall goal is (a number of folks are dieting to drop body fat this time of the years), it's hard to say. I would imagine that you "can" continue your cardio, but whether doing so fosters progress towards your goal(s) is probably the better question.

What you're doing doesn't sound terribly stressful, but without knowing a heart rate (and your age), a rating of perceived exertion, etc., it's hard to say.

2/
Regarding the pump sets, Scott you recommend to go for 50% 1RM, easy to handle 30 times, but when I look at the training sessions of Dave Henry (thanks to internet), his reps range are closer to 12-15 than 25+
So whats your mind about this ? Should i go lighter and burn them or heavier ? (maybe should I add extra reps with dropset ?)

Thanks again, I hope I'll be able to see you one day at Bodypower, Fibo or something else

Couple thoughts:

The load here Pump sets woudl be one that you could do 30+ reps with ONLY if you paused between reps, i.e., did the widowmaker style which is NOT an easy set. (I.e., we'd use a load that would be an ALL OUT 30 plus rep discontinuous set the FRESH, i.e., if you went into the gym and did that right off the bat as your first effort).

I'd not pay attention to what Dave's doing per se, as I have him doing some different things. (I try to keep those off the internet as much as possible to avoid these questions.) Now if you were to wake up one morning and find that you are indeed Dave Henry or his clone, we could address this...

I'd suggest using the book as your guide to do FT and if you find that you get better results from something else, based on how YOUR body adapts, then I'd use that.

(The formal talk I have at Body Power had as a final conclusion to consider the genetics of the individual you are perhaps emulating in the context of your own to figure out whether it makes sense to try to do what that person does. Dave can do things that others simply cannot, with the primary piece of evidence being that he has been one of the top IFBB pro's on the planet for a decade or so now. )

-S