FT Questions....

[Scott Stevenson]

Hey Scott, quick intro from me then a question for you.

Long time follower, poster on ProMuscle and even longer on IntenseMuscle. Been using Fortitude off and on for years now.
Have had great results doing blocks of FT with a couple JM programs in-between. In the past 2 years I've made the biggest changes in my physique using both of those. Sit at a solid 250 at around 9% bf now. My last stage weight was around 229-232. In a nice little cruise right now using FT but plan to have a progressive offseason using FT.
But I have a question about intensity for you.

I'm actually a former PLer so one of the main reasons I love DC and FT especially is getting into the intensity, "it's this set and only this set! get it!" mind set. With that being said, I HAVE had to pull back...similar to what Jordan did this year...and reassess each movement, leave my ego at the door and lower the weight so that I am really feeeeeling every exercises in the intended muscle. PLing was more of a get hyped, move weight from Point A to Point B no matter how you do it. When developing your physique AND using progressive overload, you have to move the weight while still putting the proper tension on everything you are trying to grow. Basically, make it harder on yourself and check your damn ego.

But my question more goes to the "hyping" mindset before a loading set for example. As a PLer, I had heard 2 separate arguments for getting yourself mentally ready for the set. One was that of finding a way to get your body into fight and flight mode quickly. Hype yourself up. This is life or death so lets do this. This usually in turn allowed me to put up significantly higher numbers, butttt it was something that in order to progress on, you NEED to do this. For instance, you can hype yourself up so much where you bench 405 for 10. But you can only do that with alllll the parts moving at once. Everything needs to be perfect in your environment. You could try this 5 more times....maybe hitting 10 twice out of the 5. You can watch any PLer walking up the platform and see them doing this. Smelling salts, slaps in the face, whatever you need to turn it on.
The OTHER argument was for pushing your strength limits without the crazy stimulus. Basically, don't get hyped all to hell. Build a base...where when you can go into the gym, you KNOW for FACT that you can bench 375 x 10 every single time someone asks you to. You can probably progress a little easier like this and you won't see any insane fluctuations in strength. Chad Wesley Smith, a world famous PLer and creator of the Juggernaut Method, preached this a lot. He talked about never going into a training session overly stimulated. He would be calm cool and collected and squat. Moving his number up progressively each week like clockwork.

I just wanted to hear your viewpoint on this. I know a couple other BBer guys (one I follow on Instagram) who always mentions how intense his sessions are and how insanely crazy he has to get on Loading Sets. One of my main problems last year using FT was being TOO stimulated where I was justttt trying to hit numbers rather than feeling the muscle all while beating my log book. Cool, I could hit 375x10 on incline bench, but I was flailing my body the whole time. I had similar troubles when I was younger running DC blasts and had to stop. And this was when I hit the pause button, checked my ego like Jordan, and slowed everything down.

I know im basically answering my own question, but I feel like this is a major problem that programs focusing on progressive overload run into. Progressive overload seems to be preached to the younger and intermediate lifting crowd (the easiest periodization), but understanding this problem AND finding a solution has come over time, with age and acquired knowledge. Something only the seasoned lifter would understand, ya know? I hope my explanation wasn't too long winded and confusing haha

Just wanted to know your thoughts!

Great topic!

So, a few thoughts here:

There's an inverse U relationship between performance and arousal (at least for most things, it's hypothesized). In short, there is an optimal level of arousal for a given task, such that too much or too little and performance is worse. This is to some degree a function what one is doing, the level of skill required for the task and the skill level of the performer.

If the talk is highly skillful, requiring fine motor skills, enough arousal to be focused, but not bouncing off the walls is appropriate. (Note here that I'm simplifying things in a way that assume some linear level of arousal upon which some tasks lie, but there more to it, which I'll address below).

For Something like a deadlift, where there is actually substantial skill, but a requirement for central disinhibition for maximal performance, a high arousal level is more appropriate for many people.

The thing about bodybuilding is that the skill of training should and does manifest in heavier loads, but ultimately, lies in performing exercises to tax the muscle. The rep and weight goals are simply dangling carrots to drive the horse forward, with the assumption (that gets violated when your are too aroused), that the training is being done such that form and target muscle activation is not compromised for greater reps a/o load.

So, the undesireable outcome from being overly aroused, moving more weight (but in a way that doesn't further the muscular stimulus) is that performance gains are (as you say) a function of arousal level and "Poor" form that requires you use more momentum, accessory muscles, etc. in a way that moves the weight but without further taxing the muscle. This can lead to rapid plateauing and taxing other systems of the body (not the muscular system) relatively more so.

Everyone's a bit different and this is a function of skill, which can be fine-tuned with visualization, verbal anchors, coaching from the outside, etc.

Someone who has a visualization routine (mental practice) focused on seeing, feeling and sensing in as many ways possible how the target muscle will feel during a perfect set, and can keep to that focus under great levels of arousal, will create a really potent stimulus. The visualzation could be (I do this one) actually imagining the set as it proceeds, rep by rep to the goal reps, and what kind of pain and effort will come with that, down to every last detail. This is like a walk-through of the set, such that it is quite obvious when actually doing the training if one has wavered, and is getting sloppy with form or what have you.

So, specific to you and PL'ing, there's also the nuance that different exercises require different level of "neural drive" in the bodybuilding world, but the big 3 all require the entire body is engaged and that one let's loose of the governor as much as possible. Ideally, exercise form (skill) is honed for those three exercises, such that that can be done somewhat safely. (It's like launching an RPG - a highly skilled shooter can fire with precision but without the accuracy that comes with years of practice, letting loose with a grenade like that (getting fully amped up) runs a higher risk of injury.)

Try to train during many bodybuidling exercises with that "big 3 powerlifter" mentality and it's overkill and may not optimize stress on the muscle (vs. other systems).

Back to bodybuidling - the skill isn't in performing just a relatively few number of exercise (big 3), but rather in performing exercises such that the target muscle limits performance and being able to do this will any exercises one chooses (not that exercise selection isn't important). So, the skill set in bodybuilding, when highly tuned, is being able to decimate the target muscle when training it, and of course picking exercises that make that as effective as possible.

The mental "intensity" or intensity of effort can be very high with bodybuidling, but it is of a different nature than full blown powerlifting max efforts, in that one has a differnt objective and relies upon different feedback (internal sensory info as much as proprioceptive info about whether or not the weight is moving).

When someone is highly advanced, then, they can go bonkers and still have optimal activation (like maybe someone you follow on IG), and this comes with time, of course, too. One might learn for instance (this has been my tendency) that rep TEMPO is super important for maintaining the "mind-muscle" connection: Get too amped up for a set and start trying to bang through reps as fast as possible (purely for the sake of being the log book) and this is a recipe for poor training that can shift the relative stress away form the muscle and onto the CNS (and other systems) in a way that can rapidly propel you towards overreaching. So, one thing that I have to plant in to my head for big sets is that I need to keep the rep tempo moderate. (You may have noticed that you can get more reps on most exercsies simply from doing them faster... )

So, those are some thoughts for ya.

-S