In the editor’s blog of MuscularDevelopment.com, I posted a video of Rodney ‘Raw Power’ Roller, who cranked out 200-pound dumbbell presses for several reps. Needless to say, Rodney is a strong fucking dude! Rodney trains like an animal, but knows his limits. He does not go heavy all the time, as he understands there is only so much the nervous system can handle.
Branch Warren, Ronnie Coleman and Eduardo Correa all have amazing size but strangely enough, they all started their careers as powerlifters before entering bodybuilding. If you want to be a ‘size monster,’ you can’t be scared to get under some heavy weight. This does not mean you have to go out and buy a bench shirt and a powerlifting belt. But in order to make gains in size and strength, you must incorporate heavy, basic movements such as squats, deadlifts, and bench presses to make optimal gains. Muscle growth is nothing more than a progressive overload!
Different Hormone and Nervous System Responses to Bodybuilding and Powerlifting Protocols
Bodybuilding protocols are typically short rest periods (60-90 seconds) with a high volume. However, there is some research regarding the acute neuroendocrine response to strength-type resistance exercise, which has included higher intensities (85-90 percent of 1 RM), lower volumes (3-5 sets of 3-5 repetitions) and extended rest periods (3-5 minutes).1,2 It’s good to throw some heavy lifting into a bodybuilding protocol to shock the nervous system into growth, but how does the nervous system recuperate from a powerlifting protocol compared to a bodybuilding protocol?
That’s exactly what Grant McCaulley set out to determine in his latest research paper published in the European Journal of Applied Physiology. Grant conducted a really cool study. He took a powerlifting protocol and a bodybuilding protocol and had research subjects do the exact same volume or total work— but each protocol varied in repetitions and rest periods.
The classic formula used to determine weight-training volume is to multiply sets x reps x weight. This very basic formula allows you to see exactly why high volume is more work. For example, if you lifted 300 pounds for 5 reps and 3 sets, your weight-training volume would be 4,500 pounds. However, you could lift 150 pounds for 10 repetitions for 3 sets and also achieve a volume of 4,500 pounds.
In the study, the hypertrophy or bodybuilding protocol included 4 sets of 10 repetitions of parallel back squats at 75 percent of 1 RM, with 90-second rest periods. The strength or powerlifting protocol included 11 sets of 3 repetitions of parallel back squats at 90 percent of the 1 RM, with 5-minute rest periods. Different sets, reps, and rest periods but the total work volume was the same!
Researchers examined the anabolic hormone response as well as the neuromuscular response (the nervous system). The nervous system response was measured by having subjects perform maximal isometric squats. Subjects stood on a force platform and exerted maximal force by pressing into a fixed bar for 3 seconds. The subjects were encouraged to push as fast and hard as possible during all trials. So what were the results?
Same Volume, Completely Different Hormone and Nervous System Responses
Sergio Olivia used to spend 2 hours or more in the gym. Sergio was a firm believer in high-volume training, while on the other hand, Dorian Yates believed in getting in and out of the gym in less than an hour. Dorian believed in intensity as opposed to training volume. Based on the results of the study, workout intensity was the critical factor for eliciting greater hormone responses— not the volume or total work performed. Both groups performed the same amount of work, but the bodybuilding group that had shorter rest periods had greater anabolic hormone responses.
You May ‘Feel’ Ready to Train, But Is Your Nervous System Ready?
One of the more interesting findings was that the powerlifting protocol resulted in a slower rate of recovery of nervous system capabilities— possibly indicating greater disruption of nervous system function compared to the bodybuilding protocol. Interestingly, the group performing the ‘power’ protocol felt recuperated and had no muscle soreness when they performed the strength test. This means they ‘felt’ like they were ready to lift again but they were not!
On MuscularDevelopment.com, there’s Dorian Yates’s ‘Blood and Guts’ radio section where Dorian talks about training, nutrition, and supplementation. If you examine Dorian’s training style, he trained with moderate reps (6-8), yet he used very heavy weights and said that many times he would rest as long as 5 minutes between sets. Additionally, Dorian trained each body part once a week, giving his nervous system adequate time to recuperate from training. Bodybuilders need to incorporate the basics into their training routine but as demonstrated by the study, they need more time between workouts for nervous system recuperation.
A person performing a bodybuilding protocol may be able to train more frequently, as demonstrated by the study. The men who used bodybuilding protocols had a faster recuperation of the nervous system. So you may be able to hit a body part twice a week when using a bodybuilding protocol, but as you start training with heavier weights, you may want to hit each body part once a week.
In summary, the total volume of resistance exercise completed is not the critical variable in eliciting the acute anabolic hormone response. There is a consensus in the literature that moderate-intensity resistance exercise of significant volume with short rest periods induces lactate accumulation and increases blood hormone concentrations following resistance exercise (i.e., testosterone and growth hormone).3 Furthermore, manipulating intensity and rest periods can either increase the metabolic or neural demand of the resistance exercise.
Don’t be afraid to use some power movements, but just make sure you take adequate time to ‘recover’ your nervous system. Based on the study, just because you ‘feel’ you are ready to train, your nervous system may not be!
Key Points:
• Workout intensity was the critical factor for eliciting greater hormone responses, not the volume or total work performed.
• Subjects lifting heavier weights need more time for the nervous system to recuperate, compared to bodybuilding protocols.
• Just because you ‘feel’ you are ready to train, your nervous system may need longer to recuperate.
source:musculardevelopment.com
