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After a few tests I′m yet convinced that different muscles need different training dose. It can make an huge difference not simply a little difference in efficiency.

Low frequency/volume and very heavy weights lead to regression for my chest/shoulders but work very well for back and biceps.

high frequency/volume and submaximum weights lead to regression for my back/biceps but work great for chest/shoulders and maybe triceps.

So I decided to try this routine :

Chins (+ Deadlift alternated with Curl) :

1/7 days : 1x1RM (a little bitunder 1RM for deadlift). I already tested that (1×1) with good sucess on chins and it should work on deadlift too. I may have to decrease frequency in the future.

Dips :

1/2 days (or even everyday if I psychologicaly need to train very often) : 5x1x95%. I hope that 5×1 will allow me to do the same gain than with 20×1. If not I′ll increase volume to 20×1.

I believe that the Athlete routine can work good for people who respond well to low frequency/volume for all their muscles. It′s not my case. My dips definitively regress if I wait too long !

I′ll tell you every weeks how it goes !
Performances :

Chins : 1xBW+58kg
(full range) Dips : 1xBW+61kg
Strict Curl : 1x53kg
Deadlift : 1×146 (I already did 1×159 5 month ago)

I′ll start Dips at 53kg and try 1x59kg on chins next week !

OK, keep us posted! Your like a mad scientist trying all this stuff, very interesting! 🙂

Hey Vincent, thanks for the update. I′m not surprised at all, since Arthur Jones discovered this years ago. That′s why it′s so important to test your fiber types for your muscles.

I discovered almost ALL my muscles were fast twitch, except for maybe biceps! Which incidentally, are one of my worst body parts!

Maybe Ferrari can weigh in on this one, since he′s been doing similar tests.

Darrell

Yesterday I remember something Mike said : decompensation cannot happend before reocvery or surcompensation. So maybe I never took enough rest for chest/shoulders and it′s why I regressed with heavy weights and low frequency (a frequency which was still too high)…

But even if lower frequency could allow gains I know that more frequency and lighter workouts allow me to gain ~1kg every 11 days so I had to gain at least the same with heavy weights / low frequency.

So… I′m curious to see how it could work with a real LOW frequency.

"Your like a mad scientist trying all this stuff, very interesting"

I like you love to try to understand things and test. I also like the idea of minimal workouts for maximum gains. I don′t like to do 3×10 or 5×10 without reasons. Why 3 sets why 5 sets… why not 2 or 1 … ?

The problem is that often my ideas are wrong and thus I don′t make good progress sometimes it works well ! we will see what happend this time ! 🙂

Darrell,

Judging by the pictures you posted a while back, I′d have to say that you are mostly slow-twitch throughout. Not trying to cut you here Dafortae, but if you were mostly fast-twitch you would have a lot more muscle than you do now.