I am near the end of a training cycle and I wanted to put down some ideas while they are fresh in my head.
Some of you have heard of "Dual Factor" theory. Or maybe heard of the "Fitness/Fatigue Model". basically it is an update on the older "single factor" or "supercompensation" theory.
Single factor, or "supercompensation" say this. You workout, you allow time for recovery. You get stronger. You workout again etc etc.
Dual Factor says - You workout and you recover from that workout and you build strength ("fitness"), BUT you also build a little fatigue. Eventually the fatigue builds up and even though you have gained good strength you need a break or deload due to the built up fatigue. If you continue on you just get into overtraining and a lot of aches and pains.
I wrote a little about some of the concepts and definitions in another thread.
Overtraining/overreaching
The "trick" is that the "fitness" (strength gained) is thought to last around 3x as long as the fatigue. So you can deload or take a short break and the fatigue will go away and most of your gains will remain. That very process is part and parcel of modern athletic training because almost all athletes that train for specific competitions will take a deload or taper week or two before a big meet.
So some of you have heard about fitness/fatigue but you dont know how it works or how it affects you. Well, I want to give a couple examples.
I just finished a long cycle of workouts that started around 3-12-07. Today is 7-21-07. So we are talking 'round about 19 weeks.
During that time I didnt have any "weeks off" but I did do a "deload week" the week of 6-16-07. And certain days in certain other weeks were more or less deloaded days where I just took it easy for that day. Sometimes it would be the day before a max or whatever.
I am assuming the deload week of 6-16 was due to me feeling a little tired and run down, lol. So I gave it a deload week. Looking back though I didnt go easy EVERY day of that week. I sort of split it and did some deload days the week before and then other days that week.
So let me show what this has to do with the fitness/fatigue model.
When I started back in March I felt fresh and ready to go. I probably was coming off of a week off. So I started refreshed. I started off with decently high volume and wasnt pushing anything close to failure at first. I feel that is absolutely the correct way to start off a new routine. At first you dont NEED great intensity to make gains and there will be plenty of time to push things as the cycle continues.
I think at the time I was coming off a phase where I (mistakingly) did like 6 weeks of all dumbells on chest and delts, lol. I found out that my BB bench and all pushing etc was in the toilet.
Here are some of the numbers I started off the cycle with in that first few weeks in March:
bench 225 for 2x5. In my notes it says "hard". So my bench was weak from doing only db's.
incline 3x5@175. not real great either
seated mil 3x5@ 135. Like I said. I wasnt pushing these super hard. I just did multiple sets and started building up slowly.
on 4-7 I wanted to "see what I could do" on militaries. I put on 175 and got 1 rep and failed on the second, lol.
dips 3x6@ 215 bw. Ive never been a big dipper and Im sure these killed my front delts, lol.
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So we will fast forward some to see some of the lifts I got as the cycle progressed
bench maxed 315@212. last time I benched that high I got 322.5@242. That was in like oct/nov 05. So I was pleased to get my bench back up to 315. Id guess my bench max was probably 285-290 when I started this a in March.
seated military 175x5. That was done after not doing militaries since 5-11. I did militaries 'till 5-11 then I went to push presses, then I went to seated partial rack presses. On my last delt day I just went back and tested on seated mil to see where it was and I got 175x5 after not mil pressing for 2 months. Got 165x6 on a second set
decline bench maxed 335. PR.
Incline maxed 265 and that was early in the cycle. Pretty sure I could beat that right now.
floor pressed 320 (using leg drive)
dips bwx12,12,10 after doing decline close grips and overhead cable extensions
there were numerous other PRs along the way: Seated db presses. Incline db presses. Good Mornings. SLDL. Rear jerks. Push presses. Db curls. etc
So I made some good gains.
So you ask "whats that got to do with dual factor? So you lifted and you gained...so what?"
What it has to do is that IM TIRED NOW. lol. The fatigue has finally built up to a significant degree. Im achey. There is a good dull ache in my delts, tris, etc. I can go ahead and warm up and workout but the aches are still there.
So even though today I did the dips for what was im sure a PR, they werent very comfortable, lol. Same for close grip declines for tris. The whole pushing mechanism is tired. Delts, wrists. My calves have been wrecked for 3 weeks. My left ham is really tight. My mind is a little wrecked.
So this is basically what single factor theory overlooks. It overlooks that fatigue build up. I rested enough to make strength gains but the fatigue built up anyway.
Well, thats how it goes, no big deal because as I said, the "fitness" I have built will last on well past whatever time I allow for the fatigue to dissipate. So I have taken 5 steps forward...I may take 1 step back when I take a week off or whatever, but thats still 4 steps forward. Obviously a week or even two weeks off will refresh me but I wont go all the way back to those same low numbers I started with back in march.
Interestingly. The Russians discovered a time period concerning your "current adaptive reserves". (CAR) Your "CAR" is the adaptive reserves your body has. Once you tap them out you need a break, lol. They determined that the CAR would be exhausted after about 18-22 weeks of training. Here I am about 19 weeks into a program and I feel worn out, lol. There are notes all thru my last 2 weeks of lifting like "burned out", "not into it today" etc.
Even though I deloaded some and cut volume some etc, I may have delayed and stretched out the process somewhat, but I still have to pay the piper.
I suppose the Russians knew what they were talking about.
Looking back, one mistake I probably did make was not deloading every 4th week. That is sort of what I preach but I dont always practice it, lol. I sometimes let enthusiasm get the best of me.
More or less what I did was just make it one big long cycle where I just gradually built the intensity until I just ran out of gas. I probably would have been better off to maybe push a litle harder on some weeks up front, but then make that 4th week easier for recovery.
The Russians had 3 "limits" they adhered to. If you are using concentrated loading the limit is around 3-4 weeks. Thus they generally used 4 week cycles with the last week being a slight deload. If one used distributed loading that period could be stretched to 5-6 weeks before a deload is needed. And then, using either method, youd still need a little longer break after that 18-22 week 'CAR' period. For most sports the Russians split the year into two halves and theyd build up to a peak in each half for competitions. So basically they had those 2 "CAR" periods, one in each half of the year, to work with. There was a break in the middle of the year, then at the end of their year they took a longer break.
BTW, I experienced the same thing before when I did the Sheiko routines. At the end of 3-4 weeks of those you will be achey, lol. Its probably the same with Smolov. Those are considered more of "shock" routines where the fatigue by-products can build up rather quickly. But then when you cut the volume you get strong gains (see the other thread I linked to)
You can also see the infamous
Russian Thread for the definitions to some of the terms
Linear Mode
