Posted by TimD --Previous Message--
on December 18, 2005, 10:23 am, in reply to "muscle failure"
63.235.57.229
Hi Diane. Scott gave you some very good insight on rest periods among other things, so I'll go off on a different tangent, but still applicable. Secondly, you are to be commended for doing this at your age. I'm just a young wet-behind the ears whippersnapper at age 56.
As to ATP, no, this is not abnormal. Working in those rep ranges at that % 1RM for you, you need to take about 2-3 mins or more for both the CNS and ATP recovery to occur, as Scott stated. I'll go a bit further, I think that 1-2 top worksets are all that are needed, and then take a page out of Phillip's Body for Life, approach. For each exercise (you say you pick about 4 per session for your split, that's great) start with a compound move, say for example Bench Press, and do your current thing, 2 progressively heavier warmups in the 10-12 rep range, say 12,10 then hit 1-2 worksets in the heavier 6 rep range with appropriate poundage, then finish it off with a more iloslation type of move, say DB incline fly with all the weight you can handle in the 10 rep range quickly after your last top weight bench press. You can do this with all your major exercises. Might want to look up the Body for Life on the net. Your current program looks very similar, and it might give you some insight.
Good training Diane.
Tim
: I have been working out for a number of years, sometimes more
: faithfully than other times. I have run into a situation for
: which I need some advice.
:
: Currently, I am doing a three day split as follows: Monday upper
: body (chest, upper back, biceps, triceps), Tuesday interval
: cardio, Wednesday abs and core (erector spinae), Thursday
: interval cardio, Friday lower body (quads, hams, calves) and
: shoulders, Weekend moderate cardio; 4 exercises each workout,
: although sometimes I will add a set from a second exercise for
: one or two muscle groups. I am doing 2 warmup sets and 2-4
: intensity sets. For example the dumbbell bicep curl... 12 reps
: at 8 lbs, 12 reps at 10 lbs, then up to 6 reps at 12.5 lbs for
: 2-4 sets. I can do 5 reps at 12.5 the first time, wait a
: minute, but then only do 3-4 reps for the second set. I then
: wait 2 minutes, thinking I still might be able to match the 5
: reps, but it turns out I can only do 3. My arm just quits; it
: doesn't hurt, but stops in the middle of a rep and I can't lift
: any higher without assisting that arm. This also happens with
: the triceps, shoulders, pecs. (I separated the shoulders from
: upper body work because they get worn out if worked on the same
: day.)
:
: Is this normal? Note, I am a 63 year old female and my goals
: are to develop some muscle and strength and lose body fat. I
: have decided that maybe genetically, I cannot produce ATP
: quickly or in sufficient quantity. Or maybe it's just age, but
: I seem to progress very slowly.
:
:
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