Edited by: Francesco Currò
Let's be clear, how many of you apply the methods (in my opinion, exaggeratedly) infrequently advertised ...:
- ... then were the muscles constantly (or almost) emptied?
- ... have you lost confidence with that "pumping" feeling so common when workouts were more frequent?
- ... have lost the meaning of muscular endurance ... in the sense that the first series, good or bad, can do it, but then there is a real vertical collapse in performance?
If you have encountered the above, and am convinced that you are many, have you ever thought that perhaps the methods you were applying were "missing" something?
Well, if on the one hand it is true that the workouts must be particularly intense to "trigger" the processes of muscle growth and that it takes several days to repair the damaged muscle tissue ... on the other it is necessary to realize that the excessive infrequency of training may not agree (Zaccone, 2001) with muscle growth.
Why is this statement so in contrast with certain current "fads"? For example, because a short period of inactivity according to studies carried out by Tidball et al. (1988) could significantly reduce the production of nitrogen monoxide (NO), a neurotransmitter of muscle important for the activation of its sarcomeres (Koh and Tidball 1999). According to Anderson (2000), in fact, hypertrophy could be delayed by an experimental inhibition of nitrogen monoxide produced in muscle.
This should suggest that the placement of a major stimulus (load of the working session) should be inserted when the previous supercompensation can be considered completely occurred, taking care however not to fall into decompensation.
It must be underlined, however, that the times of manifestation of biological adaptations are different depending on the type of adaptation that we are going to consider.
Some have quite short supercompensation times, others, on the other hand, manifest themselves in significant form even after many days. This dynamic is called HETEROCRONISM and its knowledge is fundamental for training planning.
It follows that workloads between the various sessions must be increased gradually and gradually, but alternated by precise regeneration phases, in which the load must decrease. It is in these periods that organic adaptation takes place, that is to say the establishment of those mechanisms that compensate for the work carried out by increasing the functional reserves and preparing the biological system for a harder commitment.
This type of distribution of the stimulus-adaptation binomial must therefore take place through a cyclical organization to guarantee repetition of the stimulus in times useful to exploit supercompensation.
This is done by linking the workload of each session, in a rational manner with that of the next session, so as to rationalize as much as possible the construction process of what is known as the training microcycle, that is, that relatively short period (usually lasting 5-10 days) in which training sessions are organized.
A really productive way of structuring a training prospectus is what I personally called " cross-intensity disposition ".
In practice it is a question of training the same section of muscle in the same table in two ways: one heavy and one light. A table "twin" will then correspond to this table, in which the muscle sections will be trained in inverted mode.
| Monday | Risc. | Series actual | Reps. | Intensity techniques | Rest between i sets min.) | |
| A1 | Low pulley | 2-3 x 5 | 4 | 6 + 6 + 6 | Stripping | 2.5 |
| A2 | Pullover with outstretched arms | 1 x 5 | 3 | 8-12 | 2 | |
| Pectoral machine | 1 x 5 | 2 | 8-12 | light mode | 1 | |
| Biceps, with 2 dumbbells, sitting on bench 60 ° inclined | 1 x 5 | 2-3 | 6 + 6 + 6 | Stripping | 1.5 | |
| Triceps on the cables | 1 x 5 | 2 | 8-12 | light mode | 1 | |
| Crunch | - | 3 | 20 | Almost to the limit | 1 |
| Tuesday | Risc. | Series actual | Reps. | Intensity techniques | Rest between i sets (min.) | |
| A1 | Slow with two dumbbells | 2-3 x 5 | 3 | 8-12 | 1.5 | |
| A2 | Turn up alterals | 1 x 5 | 3 | 6 + 6 + 6 | Stripping | 1 |
| Press | 1-2 x 5 | 2 | 12-15 | light mode | 1.5 | |
| Raise at 90 ° | 1 x 5 | 2-3 | 6 + 6 + 6 | Stripping | 1 | |
| Leg curl | 1-2 x 5 | 2 | 12-15 | light mode | 1 | |
| Calf machine | 1 x 5 | 3 | 6 + 6 + 6 | Stripping | 1 |
| Thursday | Risc. | Series actual | Reps. | Intensity techniques | Rest between i sets (min.) | |
| A1 | Crosses on a flat bench | 2-3 x 5 | 4 | 6 + 6 + 6 | Stripping | 2 |
| A2 | Distensions with 2 dumbbells on a bench at 30 ° | 1 x 5 | 3 | 8-12 | 2.5 | |
| Low pulley | 1-2 x 5 | 2 | 8-12 | light mode | 1.5 | |
| French press with kambered, su slightly sloping bench | 1-2 x 5 | 2-3 | 6 + 6 + 6 | Stripping | 1.5 | |
| Biceps with barbell | 1 x 5 | 2 | 8-12 | light mode | 1 | |
| Hiperextension | - | 3 | 20 | Almost to the limit | 1 |
| Saturday | Risc. | Series actual | Reps. | Intensity techniques | Rest between i sets (min.) | |
| A1 | Press | 2-3 x 5 | 3 | 8-12 | 2.5 | |
| A2 | Leg extension | 1 x 5 | 3 | 6 + 6 + 6 | Stripping | 2 |
| Side stands | 1-2 x 5 | 2 | 12-15 | light mode | 1 | |
| Leg curl | 1-2 x 5 | 2-3 | 6 + 6 + 6 | Stripping | 1.5 | |
| Raise at 90 ° | 1-2 x 5 | 2 | 12-15 | light mode | 1 | |
| Calf sitting | 1 x 5 | 3 | 6 + 6 + 6 | Stripping | 1 |
| THE | M | M | G | V | S | D | Weekly organization of training units; to obtain the mesocycle repeat for 3-5 weeks |
| D | S | P | Q | ||||
| P | Q | D | S | ||||
| B | Sd | T | F | ||||
| T | F | B | Sd | ||||
| To | Little | THE | Little | ||||
Note:
- The consecutive exercises, denoted by the same letter (A1 and A2) must be performed in a cycle (like a superset, but with rest in between);
- On some days the exercises will be performed heavily (pushing to imitate and inserting intensity techniques), while on other days the exercises will be performed lightly with medium-high repetitions and not bringing the series to the limit.
- Stripping (6 + 6 + 6), to be adopted only in the last series of the exercise, is achieved by scaling - without rest between sets - each time the weight of 20%
- Explosive execution in contraction (about 2 seconds) and slow in negative (about 4 seconds).
- The indicated rest times are related to the training series; for those of heating - between a series and the other - one can rest less.
- In the training series it is necessary to perform the maximum number of possible repetitions: those reported are only indicative.
- Apply the principle of progressive loading: when in the first series of a given exercise, you can perform more repetitions than indicated in the corresponding interval, in the following training increase the weight by 5-10%
The structure of the cross-intensity tables can - at a not too sharp look - seem elementary, but it is extremely productive. I wanted to clarify it because some time ago, one of my students whose technical training (is ... um ... an instructor ...) originates from a vein that I would personally define " more than sensationalist smoke than roast ...", analyzing (so to speak ...) the scheme, did not know how to externalize other (of the series: "it is preferable to be silent and to give the impression of being stupid that to open his mouth and give the certainty ...") that the following words : "but this is an old table with stripping ...", not even remotely guessing the background behind it ... but I don't pretend that in certain corporations they understand such subtleties ...
 |  Francesco Currò, teacher of ASI / CONI, teacher of the Accademia del Fitness, athletic trainer and personal trainer, is the author of the new book " Full Body ", of the e-book " The Training " and of the book on "Multiple Frequency Systems" . For more information, write to the email address, visit the websites //web.infinito.it/utenti/x/x_shadow/ or //digilander.libero.it/francescocurro/ or call the following number: 349 /23.333.23. |
