The 4-Hour Body_ An Uncommon Guide to Ra - Timothy Ferriss [93]
If you’re a sprinter or marathoner, can you prepare with weight training alone? Of course not. But, if you’re a noncompetitive athlete looking to avoid cardiovascular disease, do you need to spend hours spinning your wheels, literally or figuratively? No. The artificial separation of aerobic and anaerobic (without oxygen) metabolism might be useful for selling aerobics, a marketing term popularized by Dr. Kenneth Cooper in 1968, but it’s not a reflection of reality.
Occam’s Protocol develops both anaerobic and aerobic systems.
WHAT IF I’M AN ATHLETE?
Though it depends on the sport, if you are a competitive athlete with frequent sports training, I would suggest a protocol designed for maximal strength gain and minimal weight gain. See “Effortless Superhuman.”
WON’T THIS SPEED OF LIFTING MAKE ME SLOW?
Though this program is not designed for athletes (again, see “Effortless Superhuman” for that), there is no evidence that a 5/5 lifting cadence will make you slow. Let’s take a look at one counterexample in a sport where speed is paramount: Olympic lifting.
In 1973, an Olympic weight lifting team with no prior experience was formed at DeLand High School in Florida. Their main training protocol was slow, mostly eccentric (lowering) lifting. The team went on to amass more than 100 consecutive competitive wins and remained undefeated and untied for seven years.
Letting weight training displace skill training is what makes athletes slower. A focus on muscles shouldn’t replace a focus on sport. For competitors outside of the iron game, lifting is a means to an end. It shouldn’t interfere with other sport-specific training.
WHAT ABOUT WARM-UPS?
Take 60% of your work weight for each exercise in a given workout and perform three reps at a 1/2 cadence (1 second up, 2 seconds down). This is done to spot joint problems that could cause injuries at higher weights, not to “warm up” per se. Prep sets for all exercises should be performed prior to your first real set at 5/5.
In practical terms, the first few repetitions of each work set act as the warm-up. I have never had a trainee injured using this protocol.
HOW SHOULD I WORK OUT WITH A PARTNER?
If you work out with a partner, ensure that your rest intervals remain consistent. Three minutes should not bleed into three and a half because your partner is socializing or slow in changing weights. This is nonnegotiable. I have always lifted alone and use training time as near-meditative “me” time, which the counting of cadence reinforces. Many people benefit tremendously from workout partners, but I don’t appear to be one of them.
The exercises are chosen to be safe when performed alone. Even if you elect to train with partners, do not let partners help you. It will lead to them lifting the weight while shouting “All you!” This makes it impossible to know how much weight you actually lifted.
Feel free to lift together, but fail alone.
WHAT ABOUT DROP SETS, REST-PAUSE, AND OTHERWISE EXTENDING FAILURE?
This isn’t needed and screws up your ability to control variables. Keep it simple and follow the rules.
Most advanced trainers who use one-set-to-failure methodologies have observed better results from not extending failure. If you cannot move the resistance, it means you have failed. Extending it just consumes resources that could be applied to growth.
ISN’T X BETTER THAN Y? CAN I [INSERT CHANGE TO PROTOCOL]?
If you want to be a competitive powerlifter, you will need another program.
If you want to be outstanding in other lifts, you need another program.
For the purposes of gaining 10+ pounds of fat-free mass in four weeks, however, this program does not require any modification whatsoever.
If you want something else, choose something else.