Intensive Cruise Options?

[Scott Stevenson]

Apologies up front if this is a dumb question. But haven't seen other threads about this specifically. If I say something in an unclear way, let me know and I'll try to explain more clearly.

Scott (and anyone else with input): Have you ever had someone or a situation where you handle the intensive cruise differently? Specifically I am thinking pump sets instead of Muscle Round sets.

Here is why I ask. For me, muscle round sets are done with weight really darn close to my load sets. I'll use the hack squat for example since it is my most brutal exercise. On my most recent times using this exercise, I did a muscle round with 5 plates each side failing on the 6th set. The other night I did my heavy loading set on the hack squat using 5 plates+25 on each side. Got 6 reps.

So from my perspective when I hit the end of a blast (which I have been pushing really hard) I start hurting in general, joints aching, sleep affected, etc. And for me this usually comes on very quickly. Often times 1/2 way through the week. When I hit this point hard (such as this current blast), the last thing I want to do is cruise with Muscle Round sets that are (for me) heavy and continue to beat and batter me.

All that said, Scott, I'm still loving FT. I stay on Tier 1 with only modification of adding shrugs as a 3rd exercise on back loading day. I also add a second set for arms on bi/tri pump set & bicep pump on Leg MR day.

I started FT with my squats stuck at 275x5. In 10 months I hit 345x9. Took about 3 months away from FT. Now back at it again for the last 6-7 months and just squatted 385x6. Pushing super hard trying to get a good loading set of 4 plates on squats. (and you have seen videos of my squats and saw they are good depth ) But, FT is definitely tough!

Hey Bud!

I must have missed this thread when you posted it. (I've been having some computer issues with the latest mac OS update.)

So, a few thoughts:

IT sounds like you should go into your cruise a bit earlier and start anticipating your need to cruise. You might be able to do this pretty reliably now after this many Blasts simply by how long you've been blasting. (If you've been blasting 5-6 weeks each time with this same kind of problem, then you might want to go with 4-5 weeks and starting being very cognizant of the need for an IC at 4 weeks. )

You could even cut it short (potentially) on you next blast and just see what happens. You'll still be training hard during the IC and at most, you've simply set yourself back a bit. At best, you'll come back Very, very refreshed, and rebound strongly.

As far as loads for the MR's vs. loading sets, I'd like to see a vid of a MR to see how you're managing the inter-set rest intervals. (These can get to be a bit long with some folks.) Also, being sure to doo the reps continuously can make a difference (even slight pauses between the reps of each set of an MR can add a few reps and thus push you from failure in the 5th to failure in the 6th set).

So you're blasting with Tier II and cruising with Tier I?... (Just want to be sure...)

IF blasting with Tier I, then there's nowhere to go with workout volume (but you can interject an extra day of rest to reduce weekly volume).

It sounds like you're wanting to use Pump sets exclusively in place of MR's but add a (pump) set where you noted?... Whether this would be a reduction in training stress would depend on how you do the Pump sets. I intentionaly set up the IC to include MR's b/c that roughly quantifies the training stress (and MR is an MR), whereas Pump sets can take on all sorts of configuration some of which could be tougher than an MR, given the exercise and how the pump set is performed.

I'm all for auto-regulating - as you're trying to do here - but there could be some things we figure out in examining why this pattern has evolved for you. And there are other solutions, too, of course, that I don't think I've mentioned here on the forum. [E.g., someone could constrain the IC to only certain kinds of pumps sets or do MR's that only got to a failure point, regardless of what set it occurs in, or otherwise stops the MR short before failing if one reaches the 4th reps of the 6th sets. This last option would be OK as long as one doesn't pick weights such that the MR is relatively easy up to that point, as one key aspect of the IC is that it's an "intensive" cruise - meaning loading and effort are high (but volume lower).]

-S