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Follow the White Rabbit, Part I
Channeling Science and Aggression into a Training Style
by Dr. Lonnie Lowery

—Cypher

Just saw The Matrix again. Few movies offer such a killer blend of science and aggression. I imagine T-mag readers have a special affinity for such things. After all, T-mag itself is a blend of science and aggression, and that's the reason you come back here every Friday. It's what gives you that addictive "rush" in the gym and what drives you to consume biochemistry like a pocket-protector wearin' geek. Indeed, many of you have woven some pretty advanced science into your own personalized styles of training.

Anyway, certain elements of the movie got me to thinking. There's a strange awakening that overcomes select weight-training neophytes. Like Neo, the hero of The Matrix, their transformation is physical, intellectual and — at risk of sounding melodramatic — even spiritual. They may not be dodging bullets or resisting the lure of hotties in red dresses, but their new reality is almost as difficult. They're becoming bodybuilders.

Initially, most can hardly articulate how — or even that — it's happening. Where once they were comfortable putting reasonable weights on the bar and performing three sets of ten reps, they now find themselves inexplicably changed. They need more. They're seduced by feelings of power and start to specialize in the way they obtain it. Exercise evolves into something almost dangerous, increasingly aggressive. Sometimes it's monster weights. Sometimes it's grueling two-hour training sessions. Either way, Kansas goes bye-bye.

But let's examine this phenomenon a little more closely. No one is forcing us to ramp-up our training. In fact, most trainers "take the blue pill." They wake up every morning and go about their normal-sized lives. Their training sessions become routine and even monotonous. For them, enormous effort and specialized tactics are unnecessary. There are a few of us, however, who take the "red pill." We're the ones who get to see how deep the rabbit hole goes.

And so we come to the crux of this article and perhaps one of the toughest questions in all of bodybuilding: How do we choose a training style for obtaining maximum muscle?

"I know what you're thinking, 'cause right now I'm thinking the same thing: Why oh why didn't I take the blue pill?"

—Cypher

As we graduate to true "bodybuilder status," we must satisfy our burgeoning passion for growing muscle. There are two different specializations that fit the bill and neither is safe or easy. As one becomes increasingly advanced, he must by definition tread ever deeper into the realm of destruction. The bodybuilding gods decree that only heroic effort (and a little risk) be rewarded with a powerful physique. Or, put more scientifically, adaptation and super-compensation demand progressive stimuli. In a nutshell, it's going to be either A) focus upon increasingly heavy weights or B) focus on performing more sets and reps.

Personally, despite my efforts to find a balance between the two, I've become prone to nuking body parts in record time. I'm actually out of the gym in 45 minutes. Perhaps my training experience has allowed me to get away with it or perhaps despite reasonable gains in mass I really haven't gotten away with it. I have, admittedly, experienced a loss of "athleticism" that's a bit annoying. And with my intensity dial set at 9.9, I become overtrained with the slightest increase in volume. I have to avoid long flights of stairs and walk at the speed of a glacier to prevent loss of physical reserves.

Okay, that's partly tongue-in-cheek, but in any case, I've continued my self-assault. As I enter the gym, I quickly ramp-up to workout intensity. The treadmill goes from zero to seven percent incline in seven minutes. The headphones start blaring old Ministry tunes. The gym owner decides not to approach me with his daily conversation. By the time I've stepped off the treadmill, I've "gone inside."

Entering an almost meditative state is something common to many of us in the gym. It really helps during brief, high-intensity workouts when every second demands focus. As I mentioned earlier, however, I've noticed that my obsession for strength and size has left me somewhere on the stupid end of the intensity-volume spectrum.

I used to warm up with a low-to-moderate weight; now I more or less begin around 80 percent of my maximal strength. I used to consistently do eight sets for smaller body parts, fourteen for large ones. Nowadays I'm toast by my third set of just three to seven reps. Intensity has almost subconsciously become paramount. This makes me wonder: am I training too heavy for maximum size gains? I occasionally train with powerlifters but our goals aren't the same. With the exception of the squat rack, gym equipment is simply a tool for adding muscle size. Heavy weights are the means, not the end goal.

So why do I do it? Damned if I know. I fully realize that some degree of volume (sheer number of sets and reps) is necessary for optimal growth. Intellectually, I know this to be true, yet part of me says "Hey, I've gotten pretty big over the years doing this. Besides, I get really sore virtually every workout and I just plain dig it." Maybe it's genetic; maybe I've slowly induced the preference myself.

—Trinity

What 's your preference? Are you a power bodybuilder or a high-volume fanatic? You can't be both, at least not for very long, without over-reaching and overtraining. Take a look at both ends of the proposed intensity-volume spectrum and decide where you lie when performing your major lifts (e.g. squat, bench press).

This little model isn't perfect (the intensity-volume connection isn't this linear), but it'll serve its purpose. It's an arbitrary scale, so pretend that you only have 100 "points" to spend (i.e. upper and lower numbers are "connected" and contingent upon one another):

Example: 300 pound max bench or squat:

Lifting Heavy: 90% (270 lb.) = about 10 total reps (3 sets of 3-4 reps)

Lifting Substantial Weight: 80% (240 lb.) = about 20 total reps (3 sets of 6-7 reps)

Lifting Moderate Weight: 70% (210 lb.) = about 30-40 total reps (3 sets of 10-13 reps)

(In our example, less than 70 % intensity isn't considered enough stimulus for optimal hypertrophy training, other than preparatory speed work.)

To help you visualize the trade-off between intensity and volume, recall the percentage of your one-rep maximum (1 RM) at which you typically train. If you don't know the percentage, you should. Also, try to remember the total number of repetitions you perform in a major lift for a given body part (not accessory for finishing work).

For example, a moderate-intensity, higher-volume bodybuilder might average three sets of ten in the bench (= 30 total reps) whereas a power-bodybuilder might perform three sets of three (= just 9 total reps). Assuming maximal effort, the latter, low-rep scenario would necessarily be at a higher intensity.

(Again, this is just an exercise to help you get a handle on your training preference in case you haven't given it much thought. The scale is not to be confused with the longstanding inverse relationship between intensity and reps per set. There are coefficients and whole tables to help calculate such things.)

After coming up with a custom number for intensity and volume, ask yourself: Am I thriving on this? Am I getting the results I want? Am I going way beyond these values (e.g. spending 150-200 points) and overtraining? Never write checks your butt can't cash!

I personally have been trying to move toward a 70 on the intensity scale and a 30 on the volume scale (about three sets of ten reps in primary movements). By doing so, I'm actually finding better hypertrophy than with my habitual "80/20" or my recently ingrained "90/10." My compound movement maximums are high enough to get away with this (450 pound squat x 70% = 315 pounds for three sets of ten). Although it goes without saying that periodization of training style is a way to get the best of both worlds, I typically don't meticulously plan such rotating micro, meso, and macro cycles.

Before finishing, let's expand on one little thing regarding this self-awareness framework we're developing: novice to intermediate trainers who've yet to get their maximal weights up to 300+ pounds in compound lifts (bench, squat, etc.) may need higher intensity numbers than I describe here.

Think about it. Eighty percent of a 200-pound max bench press (novice to intermediate weight) isn't as damaging as 80 percent of an "advanced" 400 pound max bench press, regardless of the fact that they're both at the same relative intensity. Eighty percent of 200 pounds equals just 160 pounds of stimulus. That simply doesn't provide the same kind of structural stress as the advanced lifter would endure (80% x 400 pounds = 320 pounds). Make sense? I hope so.

And so ends part one of our little odyssey into bodybuilding self-awareness. Some personal reflection and use of the training model provided should help many grasp their often subconscious training preferences while avoiding overtraining. Whether you can sneak in more volume (for a while) than I've suggested at each given intensity is beside the point. Making sense of the longstanding "heavy weight versus higher volume" debate is our goal.

Tune in next time when Morpheus will reveal the hard science behind these musings.

Lonnie Lowery, Ph.D., is dually trained in exercise physiology and nutrition and has competed regionally in bodybuilding as a light heavyweight. He can be reached at lonman7@hotmail.com and is often found degreasing engines on the Nebuchadnezzar.

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