Q: A lot of trainers and coaches these days say not to use forced reps, drop sets, and other intensity-boosting methods unless you’re on drugs or have great genetics or both. But do these techniques have a place in the training program of a natural, normal guy?
A: Well, so called «intensity boosting methods» don’t actually increase intensity; they increase time under tension.
Don’t confuse pain with intensity.
Those methods are indeed more painful, but they’re not more intense. Intensity, when talking about strength training, is defined straight percentage of the one repetition maximum. The maximum load you can lift for a single rep.
Now, these methods do work for hypertrophy. I think there’s two ways a natural trainee can use them:
- once every third workout,
- For three weeks out of twelve. During those three weeks, expect to lose six to eight pounds of lean tissue. Then go on a recovery cycle where you just do a few sets per body part for two weeks. You’ll gain that weight back plus interest — another four pounds.
The problem is I’ve seen a lot of guys who are very motivated, so motivated they abuse those methods. And that’s why they’re skinny. They think pain equals growth. True sometimes, but not all the time. Look at weightlifters who have thighs the size of tree trunks, and they never train to utter muscular failure.
Still, I don’t agree that you should never do drop sets, forced reps, etc. Think of training as a recipe. An omelet tastes better if there’s heavy cream in it. But if you put half a liter of heavy cream in the omelet, then it’s not an omelet anymore — it’s something else. The point is that people have to use the right ingredients with the right ratios in their training.
