Consolidation training .mike mentzer ,a personal story .
Ok this is my first post so easy on me guys ! So the question is it enough ? 2sets every 4-7+ days between workouts .I can only speak for myself here as I am not a natural or an easy gainer ,although I have been repeatedly told I have the bone structure for a natural BB broad shoulders narrow hips only too short ha (5ft 7 ) and 6.5 inch wrists ,I have to accept that genetically this is my lot ! And to expect to reach 180lb is just a pipe dream !
I have tried EVERYTHING aside from drugs ,from high volume to HIT ,and that is where I am at the moment 2/3 exercises every 7/10 days and getting stronger bit by bit ,experience has demonstrated that that if I train more frequently I put some weight on via muscular inflammation and a constant feeling of stiffness and fatigue ,but I don't get any stronger ,sometimes quite the opposite .
A good question to ask might be to say how many hours do I need to get a great tan ! For albinos no sun is too much ,most Caucasians with caution a half hour or so .I Have a friend from Ghana and she can lie in the full sun all day no problem .so to some degree I have found that BB is more about stress tolerance to exercise and the recovery and over compensation of the same .
The easy way to find out is if you have stopped all progress ,is to take a break of say two weeks and start with the consolidation routine of two exercises ,with the exercises you are familiar with ( new exercises will require some skill learning and will give you a false reading ) then start at 4 days between A & B workout squat/chin then dead lift + dip .If you get stronger and inevitably bigger that's the right volume and frequency if not stick a day off in ,and so on .
I accidentally came across this in 1991 when job issues prevented me from working out more than once a week ,in 6 weeks my squat went from 300llb for 6 to 400lb for 4 ! No one was more surprised than me! Fortunately I habitually keep records and quickly saw why ( other than adding extra days off ) I didn't fully understand like Mike Mentzer imploring trainees to respect the concept of proper recovery ,as even then the BB world minimum workout frequency was twice a week .I applied the logic to the rest of my routine although I still had 5/6 exercises which when I look back was still overdoing it . In the mid 2000s I dropped to 3 each workout then to 2. And that's where I am at the moment ,with micromanaging the increases in weight.
I have heard and seen people complain over the "you'll get a power lifters physique" but really genetically it's what they would have got on any routine .I will never get a powerlifters build yet I use all powerlifting movements ! It's really down to how your genes will express themselves not to the routine that they follow . If you are still not growing ( and this is the touch one to accept ! ) you may have reached your limit ! It has to happen sometime ! But don't stop training because there are so many benefits to resistance training ,for instance, got a few strange double takes in manchester over the weekend folks seeing this grey haired guy running at full pelt up the railway station staircase with a full rucksack (60litres) ! I hadn't trained on squats for 10 days ,to be honest if I had squatted 4 days previously I would have crawled up like any one else! So the extra days off helped me to use what I had built ,quite often less can let you do more .
Hope that helps .
Dave (smiffy)