Cutting and Splits

[Fazc]

There is a very long answer to those questions Soldier, which I'm not sure I have time to answer or how useful it would be to this discussion.

The shortened version is that no, my strength did not decrease and in the long-term went saw a significant increase.

I'm speaking from experience.

[LtL]

I ran a condensed version of this for the past two months. I have lifted bench, squat and dead (or variations thereof) and doing 6 sets of 3 with 1 minute between sets. Using bench as an example I couldn't get more than 3 sets of 3 @ 122.5kgs and failed the 3rd rep on set 4. The next week I benched 145kgs for a relatively easy single. High bar back squats I failed to get the volume in at 145kgs, again on the fourth set but got 180kgs for a hard but max single. By dropping the rest periods you get to strain without heavy weight and you will get stronger as well as improving your work capacity.

[Soldier]

Awesome. I'm very interested in submaximal training with an emphasis on volume, especially now that I mostly train at home. That gives me a chance to experiment with both volume and frequency much more than in the past.

I'm currently training with an upper/lower split, training almost every day and simply alternating upper body and lower body. It's a fun way of doing things, because I can emphasize different muscles and lifts on different days. One upper body day will be focussed on bench, but still include shoulder and back work, while another upper body day will be focussed on pullups. It's allowed me to keep my frequency high without burning out or getting bored, but it's really hard on recovery, and I almost always train while already sore.

[fenrisulfr]

Originally Posted by Soldier

Awesome. I'm very interested in submaximal training with an emphasis on volume, especially now that I mostly train at home. That gives me a chance to experiment with both volume and frequency much more than in the past.

I'm currently training with an upper/lower split, training almost every day and simply alternating upper body and lower body. It's a fun way of doing things, because I can emphasize different muscles and lifts on different days. One upper body day will be focussed on bench, but still include shoulder and back work, while another upper body day will be focussed on pullups. It's allowed me to keep my frequency high without burning out or getting bored, but it's really hard on recovery, and I almost always train while already sore.

Have you looked into neural charge or neural recharge method? Basically its what you're after but recovery is really good.

[Soldier]

Originally Posted by fenrisulfr

Have you looked into neural charge or neural recharge method? Basically its what you're after but recovery is really good.

I'll check it out. Always down for learning new things.

[BigJosh]

I'm confused. I have seen it proclaimed all along that if one was wanting to cut, they wouldn't need to change there routine, only there diet. And that heavy low reps actually prevent muscle loss.
I know this is a simplified statement that I made(sorry), in light of such a cerberal discussion, but is this not true?

[BendtheBar]

Originally Posted by BigJosh

I'm confused. I have seen it proclaimed all along that if one was wanting to cut, they wouldn't need to change there routine, only there diet. And that heavy low reps actually prevent muscle loss.
I know this is a simplified statement that I made(sorry), in light of such a cerberal discussion, but is this not true?

Yes that's a good general rule for muscle builders. My program has one exercise and generally one set/rep per day.

I haven't been building muscle the last 4 years. I've been powerlifting with no assistance work. I don't want to attempt a cut doing only two working reps per week on squats, etc. because I do not believe that is the best way to maintain muscle tissue. Understand that I have been losing arm size from lack of arm work, and probably some size on other muscle groups as well from lack of focus. My arms dipped from 19.25" to 18.5" during the last 18-24 months on my simplified strength program.

Quite frankly I simply haven't cared about maintaining size the last 4 years. Now, during my cut, I want to.

The style of training I do is rather extreme. I wasn't worried about maintaining muscle mass on the smaller muscle groups in the least.

[Hunterace]

Originally Posted by BendtheBar

Yes that's a good general rule for muscle builders.

I haven't been building muscle the last 4 years. I've been powerlifting with no assistance work. I don't want to attempt a cut doing only two working reps per week on squats, etc. I have been losing arm size from lack of arm work, and probably some size on other muscle groups as well from lack of focus.

You did lots of assistance work at my house! DB presses, dips, leg press, suitcase bends or pulls(can't remember what you called them) know there were others yep I'm a jerk!

[BendtheBar]

^ I edited my post.

[BigJosh]

Originally Posted by BendtheBar

Yes that's a good general rule for muscle builders. My program has one exercise and generally one set/rep per day.

I haven't been building muscle the last 4 years. I've been powerlifting with no assistance work. I don't want to attempt a cut doing only two working reps per week on squats, etc. because I do not believe that is the best way to maintain muscle tissue. Understand that I have been losing arm size from lack of arm work, and probably some size on other muscle groups as well from lack of focus. My arms dipped from 19.25" to 18.5" during the last 18-24 months on my simplified strength program.

Quite frankly I simply haven't cared about maintaining size the last 4 years. Now, during my cut, I want to.

The style of training I do is rather extreme. It's not worried about maintaining muscle mass on the smaller muscle groups in the least.

What I am getting from this:
You have been doing a specialized strength program, with low working volume. And a program this specialized toward strength and increasin 1rm is not conducive to your goals while cutting.
This makes sense to me. Thank you for addressing my question.

Myself not being an advanced/elite lifter and not understanding what it is to do or need such a specialized program, I couldn't understand why the change was necessary.