Please don't take this as a personal attack. There are many individual variables such as age, present physical condition, self awareness and personal goals. That said, it just seems to me that lifting weight while in such a dramatically fatigued state is a recipe for a disaster. If it works for you, great. I hope you get the results you're looking for.
Me too. I'm big on experimenting with new things, so this is just another test to see what the pros and cons are.
The leg press set is what really got me. This time we did a variation of a Japanese lifting technique. He set the leg press machine to 380 lbs and then had me push the leg press up and then lower it within one inch of the weight stack hitting the 400 lb mark. So in other words, if I would have lowered it one more inch, it would have bottomed out and there would have been no more resistance at all. So my knees were sucked up almost to my chest but not quite. And once I lowered it to almost bottoming out, he tells me to hold it right there for 20 seconds. My legs started shaking uncontrollably because they just aren't used to doing anything like that. It's just a different feeling altogether. Then he tells me, "Ok, now give me eight regular reps, and don't lock your legs out straight at the top." so I did that... barely. And just when I give it everything I've got to push that 8th rep up, he says, "Now lower it back down until the weight stack gets one inch from the bottom, and then hold that for another 20 seconds." That's about the point when I felt like screaming out every cuss word in the book, and I'm not joking. I did scream out a couple of loud grunts at one point, and he actually told me to shut up and focus. But somehow I got the last 20 seconds done. And that, gentlemen, was one proper set of High Intensity Training. I was so wiped out after doing that one set that I just couldn't catch my breath moving instantly into the other exercises.
Good lord Baron. We did not know you were a masochist. I am in pain just reading of this training ordeal.
Just curious. Was that stated to be the starting point, with an ideal frequency to be determined in due course depending on how you recover and respond? Or did Darden pretty much say it's a 2x/week thing and that any deviation would be more of an exception? Also, may I assume that you are engaging in no other workout-related activity apart from these HIT workouts?
The protocol is twice per week. But he told me, "Baron, you're not a beginner, or even intermediate, so I'm going to show you a new technique each week and then you can do the other workout with that technique on your own." But here's the thing. You couldn't do more than two workouts even if you wanted to. My soreness level is absolutely off the charts. I tried to play basketball with my son last night for a few minutes after dinner, and my legs were so weak and sore that I could barely jump off the ground. Now since I only made it about halfway through the workout, I do intend to finish the other part today, which will be: Chest Press: 170 pounds Barbell Curl: 60 pounds Barbell Overhead Press: 60 pounds All those movements will be the same 20 second hold at the bottom followed by 8 regular reps followed by another twenty second hold at the bottom.
Two questions. First, in your first workout with Darden, you were starting and finishing each set with a 30-second negative, whereas in this most recent workout, you started and finished sets with 20-second holds at the bottom. Is this something you will be alternating from workout to workout, along with other techniques that you will be picking up in future sessions? Second, did Darden explain why you had to move from one exercise to another without any rest in between? I know it builds cardio fitness, but what does it do for your muscles as you immediately move to another muscle group? Wouldn't the weak link perhaps become that much more aerobic than anaerobic at the point of failure as the routine progresses from beginning to end?