Eat Train Prosper
Eat Train Prosper
Training / Fat Loss Camp | ETP#127
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This week on the podcast we are doing a deep dive into both our current training protocols. Aaron in his Fat Loss Camp, and Bryan accumulating lots of cardio volume as he prepares for his 50 mile race in early October. There is a fair degree of new things in this episode that we haven’t previously shared before so this episode should be insightful for those curious. Thanks for listening!
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What is going on guys? Happy Tuesday, welcome back to episode 127 of Eat, Train, Prosper. Today we are going deep on camp. So camp is a little bit of a nickname that we have been calling My Training with my training partners here in Bali and Brian we're gonna dive into a little bit of how he is structuring his training with the increase in obviously the goal of the big race coming up here and I believe a couple weeks if I'm not mistaken, right? So. Before we get into that, as always, Brian, can you kick us off with some updates, please?
[Bryan]:Yeah, the race is October 7th, which is a Saturday in about I don't know little less than five weeks at this point So yeah, everything here is good. I'll get a lot more into my training and stuff in the updates and then into kind of the bulk of the episode. But first and foremost, I am sitting here in my office, not in the basement where we usually podcast because we have my in-laws in town. So Kim's mom and her partner are here and they occupy my podcast room downstairs. And so here we are inside my office. for anyone watching on YouTube. And let's see, what is going on in the world of updates today? Well, this weekend we celebrated Bryson's birthday. He doesn't actually turn six until next weekend, which means he'll be six by the time this episode comes out. But we're celebrating a week early for a couple reasons. One, because his grandma. My wife's mother is in town this weekend. And also because Kim and I are going to a all day concert in downtown Denver at this really cool outdoor venue called Civic Center. It's basically just like a big open space, kind of like the mall area in like DC or whatever where it's just a big grassy open space area. And they set up a stage kind of by the front. And we're going to see Lane 8. and a number of other people from his label, which is kind of melodic house EDM type stuff. But this concert is from three until 10 next Saturday, which is the actual day of Bryson's birthday. And so we had this massive guilt come over us a number of months ago when we found out this concert was on his birthday. And we were like, do we buy it? Do we go? What do we do about his birthday? Do we tell him it's his birthday? Do we lie to him about his birthday? And so we ultimately decided to celebrate the birthday a week early. We told him his birthday is the following week, but we're probably not going to tell him the day we leave for the concert. Like, buddy, it's your birthday. So we're still working through the finer details of that one. I think we're gonna celebrate it next Friday again and be like, hey, this is your actual birthday. And then when we leave Saturday, it won't feel like we're abandoning him. But anyway, it's cool. He's about six. and he's acting every bit of six. So it's been fun and obviously, you know, looking forward to year seven here. So that is my first update. Let's jump over to you and we can come back to me for more like fitness related updates.
[Aaron Straker]:Yeah, so as you were talking about that, I was like, are they, I got six or almost six? Can you just like a week before be like, ah, it's your birthday. Hey dude, it's your birthday.
[Bryan]:Yeah, yeah,
[Aaron Straker]:Just
[Bryan]:yeah.
[Aaron Straker]:like, do you know at that point? I don't know. Does he have like, what is his grip on the calendar? Like.
[Bryan]:So he knows that every year that we go to San Diego that that's his half birthday So
[Aaron Straker]:Okay.
[Bryan]:he gets that like the end of winter is his half birthday And then he knows that his real birthday is shortly after my birthday And so we just celebrated my birthday the week before when I went up to Breck and so he like knows that his birthday is Is on the horizon,
[Aaron Straker]:Yeah.
[Bryan]:but he has he doesn't know the exact date and grandparents have tested him. They've been like buddy when's your birthday? And he goes, soon, you know, like, we've told him so many times, September 9th, and he still is just like, I don't know, you know?
[Aaron Straker]:Yeah.
[Bryan]:Hehehehe.
[Aaron Straker]:Okay. Yeah. I feel like you definitely could have just lied and be like, Hey, birthday, September 3rd this year.
[Bryan]:Well,
[Aaron Straker]:Like, let's party.
[Bryan]:so the old we were going to do that, but the only reason that we didn't is because at his school, apparently they celebrate it like at the actual like, so his birthday is on a Saturday. So the Friday before the Saturday, they they're like, it's your birthday. Let's celebrate your birthday, you know? And so if we told him it was the week prior, then he'd be telling his teacher like, no, Miss Weatherby, it's actually last week. And she'll be like, no, I'm looking at your chart right now and it's not last week.
[Aaron Straker]:Yeah, okay, that's probably... Sounds like you guys have it under control.
[Bryan]:Yeah, thanks for the advice
[Aaron Straker]:Yeah.
[Bryan]:though.
[Aaron Straker]:I mean, that was purely curious, actually.
[Bryan]:Yeah, yeah, no, I know, I know.
[Aaron Straker]:I guess biggest one for me, New Low, New Low on the diet today, 206.9, so that officially marks just over 10 pounds down. What I am most excited about in my kind of note here, my last proper diet, which is essentially two years ago. 2021 last year, I never really went through an off season, quote unquote, and I kind of just fucked around in the winter and then, you know, wasn't too happy about things once I did get lean. But my last like official bulk before this one, I started the diet at 207. And I was looking like quite sloppy comparatively to what I look like at 207 right now. So that has me like very, very excited.
[Bryan]:Yeah, I remember you saying last year in the podcast that you lamented a number of times that you felt like you just wasted a year and for like a variety of reasons. But that's really cool that despite the training age that you have and, and all the experience that you can literally kind of reinvent yourself in this year via like going up properly and then coming down properly. And that 207 ends up looking completely different.
[Aaron Straker]:Yeah, yeah, I've been quite surprised. It's been a lot of surprises of which we'll pretty much get into with today's topic, so.
[Bryan]:Cool. Cool, we'll jump in back over to me real quick. I know we're also gonna get into a lot of my stuff here and kind of the ins and outs of the program design, but lifting's going really well for me right now. I started the full body program a number of weeks ago. I think we're in starting week three or four right now. The Brian's program, the one that people can follow online is actually starting week two right now. So I kind of just jumped onto it a number of weeks before. my actual crew did, but I think I am starting week four right now and it's been nothing short of a revelation for me to cut training frequency down by using this full body approach because it's allowed me to continue to get the frequency of hitting each individual body part area every three days or so while not doing so much work that I feel myself sliding into. recovery debt in any way And so I'll go into the details of the program a bit more as we get going but it's been really nice I feel like whatever Sliding in quotes negative sliding that I was doing in My lifting in the split routine that I was using it seems to have corrected itself or at least stalled The decline by switching to this full-body approach. So I'm really amped on that And then that has allowed me to even put more time and energy into the cardio as we get closer to the race here and kind of work on optimizing my, um, my last few weeks. I don't want to call it a taper because the taper is going to be what I do the last seven to 10 days, but there's certainly a plan that I have in accumulating miles and then having recovery and then accumulating miles and recovery, kind of like this, uh, much, much very similar to. periodization for hypertrophy where you build and then fatigue rises and you take a deload week or whatever and you kind of build again and each time you build you try to end up slightly higher than where you were at the end of the prior build. And so that's been cool and with the cardio I really like starting my weeks on Mondays with my longest ride of the week so that it just sets everything up right and I feel like I'm not cramming or rushing to get the rides in through the remainder of the week. And so yesterday was labor day, but I was able to kind of work it out with Kim that she would give me the time to do my ride that I would usually do when the kids are in school. Um, and in fact, yesterday I did my longest ride yet. So I hit a little over 42 and a half miles. I did all sorts of different terrain. I was all around Boulder, um, mostly dirt and gravel, a bit of pavement. Really tried to emulate what the race is gonna be so the race on October 7th is 50 miles with 2300 feet of vertical and I did 42 miles with 1700 feet of vertical and so I think the equivalence was really close So I think that I should be able to keep a similar pace An effort level along the way to what I did yesterday when I do the race in a couple weeks And so this was really the first one that I did that was both long and had a lot of climbing in it. Uh, whereas usually I'll go long or I'll do climbing. And so, uh, this was kind of cool to, to feel that emulate that and realize that I'm good. Like I could have easily gone another eight miles. And so I feel ready and, uh, just kind of excited with all the kind of adaptations that I've noticed over the last year, but specifically in the last three or four months as I began ramping volume up and actually hit my biggest week yet last week, at 171 total miles, which kind of blows my mind. But anyway, that's my updates. So, toss it back over to you.
[Aaron Straker]:I don't really have any updates before we get in, but I did have a question for you that I thought of. With obviously just the duration of these rides and that sort of thing, have you adjusted any of your like caffeine intake or caffeine supplementation with the longer duration of these rides as that is... I mean, these types of situations of the type of training you're doing is where a lot of the caffeine supplementation research actually comes from.
[Bryan]:Yeah, and the answer is no. I'm quite sensitive to caffeine, as I think you and I have discussed before. You said you're a slow metabolizer of caffeine, but you still will do it up until like noon sometimes? Is that right? Or what's your cutoff?
[Aaron Straker]:Noon or one, now I've been getting a little bit looser with things as training has just gotten as long and I had been sleeping really well anyway so I was kind of like you know breaking into my own rules but um
[Bryan]:Hmm.
[Aaron Straker]:yeah generally
[Bryan]:Yeah,
[Aaron Straker]:12-1.
[Bryan]:I pretty much only do it in the mornings. And I'm like, like really early, like six, seven am when I wake up, I'll take two or 300 milligrams of caffeine, and then I won't touch it the rest of the day. And so I've been really trying to use nutrition as a way to keep me going during the aerobic work on these longer rides, making sure I have enough carbs, a little bit of protein. And I'm also not a huge fan of the sugar bombing the way that a lot of endurance athletes do. I just don't think it's good for health. And I'm not at a point where even if it were to help my performance by a percentage point or whatever, like I'm not going to dump 100 grams of sugar into my body every hour like a lot of these guys are doing. And I've been listening to a lot of work from Tim Noakes and Paul Larson, which are two PhDs that have done a lot of research on fat max and being fat adapted. and they actually are huge fans of not really eating carbs at all. They're much more like keto-ish, paleo-ish type approach. And so on their podcast, on Paul Larson's podcast, he had a guy on who rode in a boat all the way from San Francisco to Hawaii without having a single carb. And so he literally just ate fatty foods and fish and like different nut butters and stuff like that. to keep him going for 45 days. And so their advice on that podcast, which is kind of what I've been using quite successfully, I think, is that, you know, you still, if you're doing a race or you're training for a cardiovascular event, like most people do still need carbs. Like at some point your glycogen tank is gonna empty and the process of gluconeogenesis turning other things into usable glycogen for us is such a, such a... a difficult arduous process
[Aaron Straker]:inefficient.
[Bryan]:that inefficient right that what they were saying is like you know make sure you've eaten enough food leading up to it so that you're not going into the event already depleted but then once you're in the event something like 20 to 30 grams of carbs per hour as long as it's not like an ultra endurance event it should be fine to sustain you and so that's the approach I've been taking about 25 grams of Gatorade powder per hour along with a little bit of whey protein. And that's been great for me. So I don't intend on changing that here at this point. I mean, like I just, this race I'm doing, I'm expecting to be about three and a half hours, maybe four at the most. And I just don't see that my body's gonna completely run out of ability to have supply of nutrition, especially because I'm gonna be riding at a pace that should use some fat. for a bit along with the carbs. So I'm not just gonna be at high intensity for four straight hours where my entire nutrition is gonna, or my energy is gonna need to come from glucose. So anyway, that's the approach there. Yeah, it's not the kind of thing you're always, but I think that's something that, since people talk about, and I know you and I, I won't say that we're necessarily guilty of talking about the things we've talked about. There's often, it oftentimes
[Aaron Straker]:Yeah, and not that kind of derail us, but I think that's something that, since people talk about, and
[Bryan]:looks
[Aaron Straker]:I know you and I, I won't say we're necessarily
[Bryan]:like
[Aaron Straker]:guilty of talking about it, but it's things we've talked about. There's often, it oftentimes gets like,
[Bryan]:this,
[Aaron Straker]:misapplied
[Bryan]:this. or like misapplied
[Aaron Straker]:or extrapolated
[Bryan]:or extrapolated
[Aaron Straker]:to populations
[Bryan]:to populations
[Aaron Straker]:that don't
[Bryan]:that
[Aaron Straker]:need
[Bryan]:don't
[Aaron Straker]:it.
[Bryan]:need
[Aaron Straker]:For
[Bryan]:it.
[Aaron Straker]:example,
[Bryan]:For example,
[Aaron Straker]:I was having
[Bryan]:I was having
[Aaron Straker]:a conversation
[Bryan]:a conversation
[Aaron Straker]:with someone
[Bryan]:with someone
[Aaron Straker]:who was
[Bryan]:who
[Aaron Straker]:like,
[Bryan]:was like,
[Aaron Straker]:what should
[Bryan]:what
[Aaron Straker]:my
[Bryan]:should my
[Aaron Straker]:intra
[Bryan]:intra
[Aaron Straker]:workout
[Bryan]:workout
[Aaron Straker]:be?
[Bryan]:be?
[Aaron Straker]:And I had
[Bryan]:And
[Aaron Straker]:to
[Bryan]:it had
[Aaron Straker]:be
[Bryan]:to
[Aaron Straker]:like,
[Bryan]:be like,
[Aaron Straker]:not
[Bryan]:not
[Aaron Straker]:rude,
[Bryan]:rude,
[Aaron Straker]:but be
[Bryan]:but
[Aaron Straker]:like,
[Bryan]:be like,
[Aaron Straker]:hey,
[Bryan]:hey,
[Aaron Straker]:in
[Bryan]:like
[Aaron Straker]:all
[Bryan]:in
[Aaron Straker]:honesty,
[Bryan]:all honesty,
[Aaron Straker]:we're
[Bryan]:we're
[Aaron Straker]:30%
[Bryan]:30%
[Aaron Straker]:body
[Bryan]:body
[Aaron Straker]:fat.
[Bryan]:fat.
[Aaron Straker]:You don't
[Bryan]:We don't
[Aaron Straker]:need
[Bryan]:need
[Aaron Straker]:fast
[Bryan]:fast
[Aaron Straker]:digesting
[Bryan]:digestive
[Aaron Straker]:carbohydrate.
[Bryan]:health. Right.
[Aaron Straker]:You don't need it whatsoever sort of thing. And then
[Bryan]:and
[Aaron Straker]:I think
[Bryan]:I think
[Aaron Straker]:there's
[Bryan]:there's
[Aaron Straker]:a time
[Bryan]:a time
[Aaron Straker]:and a place,
[Bryan]:and a place, you know, and it's
[Aaron Straker]:but it
[Bryan]:what
[Aaron Straker]:needs
[Bryan]:it needs
[Aaron Straker]:to be
[Bryan]:to be like.
[Aaron Straker]:necessity
[Bryan]:Necessity
[Aaron Straker]:based.
[Bryan]:based
[Aaron Straker]:And
[Bryan]:on
[Aaron Straker]:many
[Bryan]:many
[Aaron Straker]:times,
[Bryan]:times,
[Aaron Straker]:if
[Bryan]:if
[Aaron Straker]:you're
[Bryan]:you're
[Aaron Straker]:training
[Bryan]:training
[Aaron Straker]:30
[Bryan]:30
[Aaron Straker]:minutes
[Bryan]:minutes
[Aaron Straker]:or something like that,
[Bryan]:or
[Aaron Straker]:and
[Bryan]:something
[Aaron Straker]:if
[Bryan]:like
[Aaron Straker]:it's
[Bryan]:that.
[Aaron Straker]:not
[Bryan]:It's not.
[Aaron Straker]:first thing in the morning, or if it's... You know, your body fat is above that threshold. We just want the basics. We need to drill the basics sort of thing before you need pre-workout supplements and intro workout, carbohydrates
[Bryan]:Yeah,
[Aaron Straker]:sort of thing.
[Bryan]:I mean you have plenty of stored caloric base in your body that you can you can free up to use his energy
[Aaron Straker]:Yeah.
[Bryan]:and so yeah I'm in the same place like my goal is go into each ride with a full glycogen tank so I eat a decent amount of food the night before if I'm going to ride in the morning and then uh and then just have like the 25 to 30 grams uh intermittently throughout the ride every hour and that seems to be more than sufficient so One other thing interesting that I noted about the riding is that heart rate and this may relate to the caffeine Well, it probably doesn't relate to the caffeine actually because when I ride now I notice that if I ride in the morning at like 8 a.m Right after I drop the kids off at school It is really hard to get my heart rate up It just wants to stay low and it's like I can do Hard effort work and still be in zone one or like low zone two But if I bike ride after lifting or later in the day when I've had some movement and gotten my heart rate elevated in some other way. Then I go to bike and it's like, I can't keep my heart rate down. And so it's the, yeah, the dichotomy between those is quite interesting to me. It's like with a lot of effort, I can barely get it above 130 in the morning. And then with no effort, I can barely keep it below 140 in the afternoon. And so I don't know, I'm curious about other cardio athletes as well, it seems like it would make sense that it's that way. As I noticed, my resting heart rate also rise throughout the day, like it'll be 38 or 40 in the morning and then 46 or 48 in the evening. So maybe it just follows that pattern. But I thought that was interesting. And also I guess on the topic of the caffeine, it's interesting that I take my caffeine in the morning, but I still can't seem to get my heart rate up in the morning. So anyways, just interesting.
[Aaron Straker]:Yeah, that is interesting. Actually, maybe one of the listeners has some input on that because I
[Bryan]:Yep.
[Aaron Straker]:definitely do not.
[Bryan]:All right, cool. Well, let's jump in. Yeah. So I mean,
[Aaron Straker]:Yeah, so
[Bryan]:kind
[Aaron Straker]:I mean,
[Bryan]:of to tell
[Aaron Straker]:kind of
[Bryan]:the backstory
[Aaron Straker]:to tell the backstory
[Bryan]:a
[Aaron Straker]:a little bit,
[Bryan]:little bit.
[Aaron Straker]:I've been training by myself for years and years and I had settled into it. It's a nice kind of pace. And then in one of my check-ins, I had touched on, you know, my check-ins with my coach, Jackson, who's my coach, business partner, friend, you know, sort of thing, all wrapped up in one. That I wanted to treat my... fat loss phase, like a training camp. And the backstory is kind of like, I think I touched on this last week a little bit. I wouldn't say I'm potentially fearful, maybe not the proper term to use, but like I'm running out of times in my life where I can really dedicate to like actually pretending to be an athlete sort of thing,
[Bryan]:sort
[Aaron Straker]:right?
[Bryan]:of thing.
[Aaron Straker]:With businesses growing, a looming family on the horizon. Like I just, I can't... be like, hey, I'm gonna go disappear for the next five hours at the gym. Like I don't foresee that happening in three years. So I was like, I have maybe one more shot at it. I'm gonna give it everything. I'm literally going to give it everything. I'm gonna run my meal plan into the fucking ground. I'm going to be, you know, adherence seven out of seven days per week because I want to find out what the best is that I can actually produce. I want to find that kind of ceiling, that limit that I've never actually found before. So I had that in one of my check-ins and he was like, I've been thinking kind of a same thing, let's align schedules, start training together sort of thing and we've done that. We did that. And then one of Jackson's IFBB clients, Jordan, was in Bali for about a month and a half or something like that for his going into his bodybuilding prep. So the three of us started training together, camp added one more. And then another guy, Cade, again, he's competing, they're both Jordan and Cade are competing in the, I guess, season B is what I believe it's called in Australia. So they were both in prep
[Bryan]:Thank
[Aaron Straker]:too,
[Bryan]:you.
[Aaron Straker]:so it was like a nice little crew of everyone has, we meet up for camp, train, and that sort of thing. And that's really what kind of kicked it off. And the real structure of it is on training days, we have two plus two to three hour. training session and still on that kind of approximate 12, 13 day training rotation and then post training a little bit of like I might hit the treadmill for 10 minutes something like that 15 to 18 minutes on a session a little bit of chill in the sun sort of thing post workout bring and eat at the gym and then on
[Bryan]:And
[Aaron Straker]:the
[Bryan]:then on
[Aaron Straker]:non
[Bryan]:the non-training
[Aaron Straker]:training days
[Bryan]:days,
[Aaron Straker]:meet up
[Bryan]:meet
[Aaron Straker]:in the
[Bryan]:up
[Aaron Straker]:morning
[Bryan]:in the morning,
[Aaron Straker]:40
[Bryan]:40
[Aaron Straker]:minutes
[Bryan]:minutes
[Aaron Straker]:zone to
[Bryan]:of two-ride,
[Aaron Straker]:ride some stretching
[Bryan]:some stretching,
[Aaron Straker]:which
[Bryan]:which
[Aaron Straker]:I am
[Bryan]:I am
[Aaron Straker]:surprised
[Bryan]:surprised
[Aaron Straker]:and
[Bryan]:in.
[Aaron Straker]:kind
[Bryan]:I'm
[Aaron Straker]:of, I'm not necessarily
[Bryan]:not necessarily
[Aaron Straker]:surprised.
[Bryan]:surprised,
[Aaron Straker]:It's
[Bryan]:but
[Aaron Straker]:more of
[Bryan]:it's
[Aaron Straker]:like
[Bryan]:more
[Aaron Straker]:a,
[Bryan]:like
[Aaron Straker]:I feel like
[Bryan]:I
[Aaron Straker]:a
[Bryan]:feel
[Aaron Straker]:dumb
[Bryan]:like
[Aaron Straker]:ass
[Bryan]:I'm
[Aaron Straker]:how
[Bryan]:asked
[Aaron Straker]:much
[Bryan]:how
[Aaron Straker]:better
[Bryan]:much better
[Aaron Straker]:my joints
[Bryan]:my joints
[Aaron Straker]:and stuff
[Bryan]:and
[Aaron Straker]:feel
[Bryan]:stuff
[Aaron Straker]:from
[Bryan]:feel
[Aaron Straker]:like stretching
[Bryan]:from stretching,
[Aaron Straker]:pretty much like giving like
[Bryan]:given
[Aaron Straker]:a
[Bryan]:this
[Aaron Straker]:dedicated
[Bryan]:dedicated
[Aaron Straker]:stretching
[Bryan]:stretching
[Aaron Straker]:session
[Bryan]:session
[Aaron Straker]:like every like
[Bryan]:every
[Aaron Straker]:three days
[Bryan]:three days,
[Aaron Straker]:sort of.
[Bryan]:sort of.
[Aaron Straker]:Training
[Bryan]:Training
[Aaron Straker]:abs
[Bryan]:abs
[Aaron Straker]:on those
[Bryan]:on
[Aaron Straker]:days,
[Bryan]:those days,
[Aaron Straker]:five to
[Bryan]:five
[Aaron Straker]:10 minutes
[Bryan]:to 10 minutes
[Aaron Straker]:in the hot
[Bryan]:of a
[Aaron Straker]:bath
[Bryan]:hot bath
[Aaron Straker]:or hot
[Bryan]:or
[Aaron Straker]:tub,
[Bryan]:hot tub,
[Aaron Straker]:which is,
[Bryan]:which
[Aaron Straker]:it's very
[Bryan]:is very
[Aaron Straker]:hot, like
[Bryan]:hot.
[Aaron Straker]:uncomfortably hot. And then again, 10 to 18 minutes in the sauna. depending on how shitty we feel from the hot bath, we may not push the sauna as hard.
[Bryan]:Yeah, great comprehensive overview. So every session that you train, you're meeting up with camp. You don't have any sessions where you're training solo anymore.
[Aaron Straker]:At the end of this week I will so Jordan and in Cade they're close to their show dates So they're heading back to Australia essentially this week Jackson has some work in Singapore this week So I will be training by myself, you know coming up shortly for like a period of a week or something like that But
[Bryan]:Interesting.
[Aaron Straker]:yeah, we essentially aligned schedules, you know moved some things so that we could pretty much meet up almost Almost almost most sessions all of us Yeah
[Bryan]:Cool. So one of the things that I think would be interesting to dive into, and I think I asked this a number of episodes ago, so I believe I know your answer, but I think it would be interesting to kind of go deeper into it, is you guys, you guys change the precise. structure and application of each session week to week, meaning the exercise order may change, the rep scheme may change, something may change. So if one week of legs, you went hack squat, leg extension, leg curl, RDL, you may not do that exact same order with those exact same movements the next week per se, right? Or are you doing everything identically week to week?
[Aaron Straker]:Trying to create things identically week to week. Some things may change. The primary gym that we're at here doesn't allow any kind of recording or camera or videographers, anything like that. So if we're like, okay, we need to get some content for upcoming projects or whatever, we'll go take a day to a gym that will allow us to record in there and then we may need to swap some things of like a. Okay, this gym's hack squat sucks, so we're gonna use the pendulum squat instead, but mostly try and keep things very, like exercise order and stuff all the
[Bryan]:Oh,
[Aaron Straker]:same.
[Bryan]:okay. Well, I feel like that's a deviation from what we discussed prior. Maybe that was just because camp was beginning then and you were just kind of getting in the groove and there were like different people kind of popping in and, you know, trying to emulate or trying to accommodate other people's routines or needs or whatever. But I feel like initially you were saying, you know, one week we might start with leg extension and one week we might start with hack squat or, you know, whatever.
[Aaron Straker]:We, in the first like maybe 10 or so sessions, we kind of dialed some things in. Hey, what happens if we kind of move this here, someone's knees were a little beat up or something like that. We like modified things
[Bryan]:Okay.
[Aaron Straker]:to make them like kind of optimal across
[Bryan]:Okay.
[Aaron Straker]:the board, yeah.
[Bryan]:Interesting. Well, I, where I wanted to take the conversation, assuming that you were going to say that you guys were switching things up a lot is how interesting that is because we have always been so like analytical and data-driven and always trying to make sure that diagnostics are clear in, and when we train. And so I was going to kind of take this route of this theoretical idea of hypertrophy being so forgiving. that there are many roads to Rome type idea. And hey, it doesn't exactly matter if you start with hack squad or start with leg extension or what leg curl machine you use or whatever, because at the end of the day, muscle only knows tension. And thus, as long as you're working hard and you say, go back to that same machine a month or two later, and you can see that in a month or two that you were better than you were a month or two prior. then hey, now you have data and everything's working. So obviously this conversation isn't quite the same given that that's not exactly what you're doing, but I still wanna throw that over to you and kind of get your sentiments or thoughts on this idea of dedicated, precise structure and replication versus a little more freedom with your training set up.
[Aaron Straker]:Yeah, I think that is something where training solo versus with one or more other people, that difference is much more impactful. When you have, when you're training by yourself, right, and you're like, okay, last week I did eight reps. you know, and I want to make sure that I am providing as much if not more of a stimulus so that I can, you know, create the adaptations, et cetera. It's really important to have those settings
[Bryan]:settings
[Aaron Straker]:correct
[Bryan]:correct
[Aaron Straker]:so that
[Bryan]:so
[Aaron Straker]:you
[Bryan]:that
[Aaron Straker]:can
[Bryan]:you
[Aaron Straker]:gauge
[Bryan]:can gauge
[Aaron Straker]:one to
[Bryan]:what to
[Aaron Straker]:one,
[Bryan]:want,
[Aaron Straker]:right? Because
[Bryan]:right? Because
[Aaron Straker]:what might
[Bryan]:what might
[Aaron Straker]:happen
[Bryan]:happen
[Aaron Straker]:is, hey,
[Bryan]:is, hey,
[Aaron Straker]:last
[Bryan]:last
[Aaron Straker]:week I
[Bryan]:week
[Aaron Straker]:did,
[Bryan]:I did,
[Aaron Straker]:let's say,
[Bryan]:let's say
[Aaron Straker]:you know, 90
[Bryan]:90
[Aaron Straker]:reps
[Bryan]:reps
[Aaron Straker]:for 10,
[Bryan]:for 10,
[Aaron Straker]:this week
[Bryan]:this
[Aaron Straker]:I
[Bryan]:week
[Aaron Straker]:come
[Bryan]:I
[Aaron Straker]:in
[Bryan]:come in
[Aaron Straker]:and I'm like,
[Bryan]:and I'm like,
[Aaron Straker]:oh man,
[Bryan]:oh man,
[Aaron Straker]:80 feels,
[Bryan]:80 feels
[Aaron Straker]:80 feels pretty heavy,
[Bryan]:pretty
[Aaron Straker]:I'm
[Bryan]:heavy,
[Aaron Straker]:just gonna
[Bryan]:I'm just
[Aaron Straker]:stick
[Bryan]:gonna
[Aaron Straker]:with
[Bryan]:stick
[Aaron Straker]:80.
[Bryan]:with 80,
[Aaron Straker]:and you do
[Bryan]:and you
[Aaron Straker]:80
[Bryan]:do
[Aaron Straker]:reps
[Bryan]:80 reps
[Aaron Straker]:for 10,
[Bryan]:for 10.
[Aaron Straker]:if you didn't
[Bryan]:If
[Aaron Straker]:have
[Bryan]:you didn't
[Aaron Straker]:that
[Bryan]:have
[Aaron Straker]:log
[Bryan]:that log
[Aaron Straker]:book,
[Bryan]:book,
[Aaron Straker]:you wouldn't
[Bryan]:you
[Aaron Straker]:know
[Bryan]:wouldn't
[Aaron Straker]:that
[Bryan]:know
[Aaron Straker]:you're
[Bryan]:that
[Aaron Straker]:literally
[Bryan]:you're literally
[Aaron Straker]:shortchanging
[Bryan]:shortening
[Aaron Straker]:yourself
[Bryan]:your
[Aaron Straker]:like
[Bryan]:shell
[Aaron Straker]:whatever,
[Bryan]:number
[Aaron Straker]:9%
[Bryan]:at 9%.
[Aaron Straker]:or something like that. Solo,
[Bryan]:So low
[Aaron Straker]:that
[Bryan]:that
[Aaron Straker]:matters
[Bryan]:matters
[Aaron Straker]:a lot.
[Bryan]:a lot.
[Aaron Straker]:Where I
[Bryan]:Where
[Aaron Straker]:think
[Bryan]:I
[Aaron Straker]:it can
[Bryan]:think
[Aaron Straker]:be
[Bryan]:it can be
[Aaron Straker]:different
[Bryan]:different
[Aaron Straker]:with
[Bryan]:with
[Aaron Straker]:training
[Bryan]:training
[Aaron Straker]:partners
[Bryan]:partners
[Aaron Straker]:is because
[Bryan]:is because
[Aaron Straker]:you're going
[Bryan]:you're
[Aaron Straker]:to
[Bryan]:going
[Aaron Straker]:have
[Bryan]:to
[Aaron Straker]:someone
[Bryan]:have someone
[Aaron Straker]:else
[Bryan]:else
[Aaron Straker]:pushing
[Bryan]:pushing
[Aaron Straker]:you.
[Bryan]:you.
[Aaron Straker]:It's
[Bryan]:It is
[Aaron Straker]:very
[Bryan]:very
[Aaron Straker]:infrequent
[Bryan]:infrequent
[Aaron Straker]:in camp
[Bryan]:in camp
[Aaron Straker]:where
[Bryan]:where
[Aaron Straker]:I call
[Bryan]:I call
[Aaron Straker]:my
[Bryan]:my
[Aaron Straker]:own
[Bryan]:own
[Aaron Straker]:final
[Bryan]:final
[Aaron Straker]:rep.
[Bryan]:rep. Like,
[Aaron Straker]:Like...
[Bryan]:when we...
[Aaron Straker]:We kind of have a structure
[Bryan]:a structure
[Aaron Straker]:of like
[Bryan]:of like
[Aaron Straker]:an order.
[Bryan]:a border.
[Aaron Straker]:So I'm always
[Bryan]:So I'm
[Aaron Straker]:going
[Bryan]:always
[Aaron Straker]:first,
[Bryan]:going first,
[Aaron Straker]:right?
[Bryan]:right?
[Aaron Straker]:That might be
[Bryan]:It
[Aaron Straker]:because
[Bryan]:might
[Aaron Straker]:I'm
[Bryan]:be because
[Aaron Straker]:the fucking
[Bryan]:I'm the fucking
[Aaron Straker]:weakest,
[Bryan]:who this,
[Aaron Straker]:but
[Bryan]:but it is the culture
[Aaron Straker]:it is
[Bryan]:of first
[Aaron Straker]:what
[Bryan]:and
[Aaron Straker]:it
[Bryan]:leader.
[Aaron Straker]:is, right? I'm going first in leading. So Jackson
[Bryan]:So Jackson
[Aaron Straker]:is usually
[Bryan]:is usually
[Aaron Straker]:like
[Bryan]:like
[Aaron Straker]:spotting
[Bryan]:spotting
[Aaron Straker]:me.
[Bryan]:me.
[Aaron Straker]:He will
[Bryan]:He
[Aaron Straker]:call
[Bryan]:will call
[Aaron Straker]:most of
[Bryan]:most
[Aaron Straker]:the times
[Bryan]:of the times
[Aaron Straker]:when my
[Bryan]:when
[Aaron Straker]:sets
[Bryan]:my sets
[Aaron Straker]:end based
[Bryan]:end based
[Aaron Straker]:off of
[Bryan]:off
[Aaron Straker]:his,
[Bryan]:of his
[Aaron Straker]:you know, assistance
[Bryan]:assistance
[Aaron Straker]:on my
[Bryan]:on my
[Aaron Straker]:assisted
[Bryan]:assisted
[Aaron Straker]:reps
[Bryan]:reps
[Aaron Straker]:past
[Bryan]:as
[Aaron Straker]:my
[Bryan]:my
[Aaron Straker]:own
[Bryan]:bio-centric
[Aaron Straker]:concentric failure
[Bryan]:failure.
[Aaron Straker]:of, you know, my own under my own volition sort of thing.
[Bryan]:Yeah, yeah. Very interesting. So
[Aaron Straker]:Thanks for watching!
[Bryan]:another thing I wanted to kind of bring to the table here is. The idea of fatigue in hypertrophy training and specifically as it relates to our reps and reserve. So it wasn't so long ago, maybe two years ago or so, where the evidence based space was in this place. where volume was the main driver of hypertrophy. And using RIR, being two to three rep shy of failure was seen as being pretty equivalent to going to failure. Or even if it wasn't equivalent, it was equivalent on a, not a per set basis, but on a total volume basis where, you know, five sets of two to three RIR might be the same as three sets to failure. something along those lines, but the general sentiment in the industry was along the lines of, Hey, you should use RIR because you can do more volume that way. And then obviously the pendulum has begun to swing the other way, with the meta regression from Robinson and colleagues and just kind of general swaying of the influencer scene across social media, I think has been pushing more and more to the idea of failure being something that's beneficial and probably not as fatiguing as we thought that it originally was on a set by set basis. And so you now are, well, backtrack a little bit. Two years ago, you were very much in that RIR camp. You were doing high volumes of four sets of different leg movements to, you know, three, four, two RIR, whatever it is. And you've gradually shifted your way. to doing more stuff to failure before camp, you know, before Jackson was your coach, you had already started lowering volume and an increasing intensity. But now it seems like with camp, you guys are taking this thing to an entirely different extreme. I mean, it looks like every set you do on Instagram has forced reps now, somebody spotting you to help you get additional range of motion or push through sticking points and stuff like that. And so What have you noticed? Like you're in a caloric deficit. What have you noticed about this? And what can you share with everybody about that?
[Aaron Straker]:This has been, I would say, one of the biggest eye-opening things. Your you are so much more capable than what you think If you are managing other factors in your life wisely, right and I'll list some of these off There is no alcohol in my life. There is no You know, oh I was up till 2 a.m And I only slept three hours sort of thing. My nutrition is absolutely dialed day in and day out I don't miss meals. I don't have off days like that is dialed sort of thing Those are big important ones because if you have a day of like, hey, I trained legs really hard, then I went and drank and only slept like three hours or something like that and missed three meals or two meals, like you're going to wake up in a world of fucking pain with Dom's sort of thing. But
[Bryan]:But
[Aaron Straker]:what I
[Bryan]:what
[Aaron Straker]:found
[Bryan]:I found
[Aaron Straker]:is
[Bryan]:is
[Aaron Straker]:I've adapted
[Bryan]:I've adapted. Mm-hmm.
[Aaron Straker]:very, very adequately to taking every single set to failure. past failure with four strep sort of thing, I am recovering very, very well. And I do have to say that this is purely my conjecture and anecdote. I do think the sauna has improved recovery capacity. I am in the sauna at least 15 minutes every single day. It is a very, very hot sauna at 85 degrees Celsius, which is about like... 175, 180 Fahrenheit, like it's very uncomfortable. 15 minutes, 15 to 18 minutes every single day.
[Bryan]:Yeah,
[Aaron Straker]:And
[Bryan]:that's
[Aaron Straker]:I
[Bryan]:185
[Aaron Straker]:think,
[Bryan]:degrees. I just Googled
[Aaron Straker]:yeah,
[Bryan]:it. It's hot.
[Aaron Straker]:it's hot. It like burns your nose and you have to start breathing out of your mouth, which is like one of my least favorite things in the world, but you have to do it sort of
[Bryan]:Yeah.
[Aaron Straker]:thing. Yeah.
[Bryan]:Well, while we're on this topic, I think it would be interesting to me and probably helpful for the listeners. If you could take us through, let's take one upper body movement and one lower body movement and go through what your progression looks like from your first warmup set all the way to your last work set. And so let's take a lat pull down and a hack squat or an RDL, your choice. But let's take like an upper body cable movement and a lower body like lengthened compound movement and take us through what your kind of progression up looks like sets reps things like that
[Aaron Straker]:Yeah, yeah, really, really good example. So on one of the pull days, the very first exercise is a bilateral chest supported pull down, right? So like CAS is a staple exercise. It's supposed to be like a high row, but we don't have any way to replicate
[Bryan]:Yep.
[Aaron Straker]:like the hammer strength sort of high row. So that's kind of a decent substitution sort of thing. Because it's the first exercise, we're going to warm up slowly. We will probably hit like four or five warm up. feeder sets and that's gonna be like
[Bryan]:that's gonna
[Aaron Straker]:first
[Bryan]:be like first
[Aaron Straker]:one maybe
[Bryan]:one
[Aaron Straker]:about
[Bryan]:maybe about
[Aaron Straker]:40%
[Bryan]:40%
[Aaron Straker]:50%
[Bryan]:50%
[Aaron Straker]:of
[Bryan]:of the
[Aaron Straker]:the working
[Bryan]:working
[Aaron Straker]:weight
[Bryan]:weight
[Aaron Straker]:I'm gonna
[Bryan]:I'm
[Aaron Straker]:do like
[Bryan]:gonna
[Aaron Straker]:a
[Bryan]:do
[Aaron Straker]:set
[Bryan]:like
[Aaron Straker]:of
[Bryan]:a
[Aaron Straker]:12
[Bryan]:set of 12
[Aaron Straker]:and then
[Bryan]:and
[Aaron Straker]:I'll
[Bryan]:then
[Aaron Straker]:maybe
[Bryan]:I'll
[Aaron Straker]:do
[Bryan]:maybe
[Aaron Straker]:like a
[Bryan]:do
[Aaron Straker]:set
[Bryan]:a
[Aaron Straker]:of
[Bryan]:set
[Aaron Straker]:8
[Bryan]:of 8
[Aaron Straker]:and then
[Bryan]:and then
[Aaron Straker]:once I get
[Bryan]:once
[Aaron Straker]:into
[Bryan]:I get it
[Aaron Straker]:like
[Bryan]:to like
[Aaron Straker]:past
[Bryan]:past
[Aaron Straker]:two
[Bryan]:two
[Aaron Straker]:working
[Bryan]:working
[Aaron Straker]:sets I'm
[Bryan]:sets
[Aaron Straker]:generally
[Bryan]:in general
[Aaron Straker]:only completing
[Bryan]:I'm
[Aaron Straker]:like
[Bryan]:gonna
[Aaron Straker]:sets
[Bryan]:do like
[Aaron Straker]:of
[Bryan]:sets
[Aaron Straker]:four
[Bryan]:of 4.
[Aaron Straker]:for
[Bryan]:Warm
[Aaron Straker]:my
[Bryan]:upsets
[Aaron Straker]:feeders
[Bryan]:you mean past two warm upsets?
[Aaron Straker]:past two
[Bryan]:Past
[Aaron Straker]:warm-up
[Bryan]:two warm
[Aaron Straker]:sets
[Bryan]:upsets
[Aaron Straker]:yeah and into
[Bryan]:yeah.
[Aaron Straker]:like my
[Bryan]:So like
[Aaron Straker]:third
[Bryan]:my third,
[Aaron Straker]:and fourth
[Bryan]:fourth,
[Aaron Straker]:maybe fifth
[Bryan]:maybe
[Aaron Straker]:warm-up
[Bryan]:fifth warm
[Aaron Straker]:set I'm
[Bryan]:up
[Aaron Straker]:only
[Bryan]:set
[Aaron Straker]:doing
[Bryan]:I'm gonna
[Aaron Straker]:like
[Bryan]:do
[Aaron Straker]:four
[Bryan]:with
[Aaron Straker]:reps
[Bryan]:four reps. Yeah.
[Aaron Straker]:And then for
[Bryan]:And
[Aaron Straker]:that
[Bryan]:then
[Aaron Straker]:exercise
[Bryan]:for that exercise
[Aaron Straker]:we have
[Bryan]:we have the
[Aaron Straker]:or that
[Bryan]:work...
[Aaron Straker]:particular structure on that day of the program, we have a top set in the 5 to 9 rep range, a back off set in the 10 to 15 rep range, and then we have a third set of that exercise that is a rest pause set with a 12 rep, you know, buy in or fatigue to get into
[Bryan]:Hmm.
[Aaron Straker]:the, you know, actual awfulness parts. So the premises in the top set, five to nine reps, you get to whatever you can get on your own. And then as your spotter is, the spotter is very, very intently paying attention, right? As they notice the short range is getting very, very slow, you start adding pressure in there to help complete that rep. And then maybe about two extra reps with assistance on the top set. Now, why it's probably only two is when you fail that lat pulldown in the short range, your spotter's working very hard to try and help you complete it. And it's kind of not worth it because the spotter's
[Bryan]:spotter
[Aaron Straker]:putting
[Bryan]:putting
[Aaron Straker]:everything
[Bryan]:everything
[Aaron Straker]:they have
[Bryan]:they have into
[Aaron Straker]:into
[Bryan]:it. It's
[Aaron Straker]:it. They're essentially
[Bryan]:essentially
[Aaron Straker]:doing the
[Bryan]:doing
[Aaron Straker]:rep
[Bryan]:the
[Aaron Straker]:then.
[Bryan]:rep then.
[Aaron Straker]:Back offset
[Bryan]:Back offset
[Aaron Straker]:is less
[Bryan]:is less
[Aaron Straker]:load,
[Bryan]:load,
[Aaron Straker]:so you can
[Bryan]:so
[Aaron Straker]:maybe
[Bryan]:you can
[Aaron Straker]:get
[Bryan]:maybe get
[Aaron Straker]:three
[Bryan]:three
[Aaron Straker]:assisted
[Bryan]:assisted
[Aaron Straker]:reps
[Bryan]:reps
[Aaron Straker]:sort of thing
[Bryan]:sort of
[Aaron Straker]:where
[Bryan]:thing where
[Aaron Straker]:you still
[Bryan]:you
[Aaron Straker]:feel
[Bryan]:still
[Aaron Straker]:strong
[Bryan]:feel strong.
[Aaron Straker]:through
[Bryan]:You can
[Aaron Straker]:the
[Bryan]:do this
[Aaron Straker]:lengthened
[Bryan]:length
[Aaron Straker]:position.
[Bryan]:of position.
[Aaron Straker]:and you need
[Bryan]:You
[Aaron Straker]:that
[Bryan]:need
[Aaron Straker]:assistance
[Bryan]:that assistance
[Aaron Straker]:reaching
[Bryan]:reaching
[Aaron Straker]:that
[Bryan]:that length
[Aaron Straker]:final
[Bryan]:by
[Aaron Straker]:shortened
[Bryan]:a shorter
[Aaron Straker]:position.
[Bryan]:position.
[Aaron Straker]:And then for the rest pause set, you have the 12 reps is unassisted. And that's just a fatigue or activation set if you're familiar with the myorep terminology or wordage of it to essentially get you into a pre-fatigued state. And then we take three deep breaths, which is probably about like 12, 15 seconds, go to failure. Get two to three assisted reps, generally around the like six, maybe seven total rep range. And then we'll do that for four more efforts, or sorry, four efforts in total, three more efforts. So take another three deep breaths, 10 to 12 seconds, go to failure again, maybe three to four reps, and then the spotter will pretty much keep you at least three reps through the four efforts to failure. And that is. Back, everything's blown up. Like insane pump immediate first exercise of the day.
[Bryan]:Yeah. So that. To me sounds like you have two straight sets Two failure and past failure Then you have another set that's 12 reps to failure and then you have these like mini Myo rep less or close to failure then you have these mini myo rep sets that are Also past failure because you're doing some assisted reps on each one of the myo rep sets So in this sequence where you're doing the two main working sets plus the feeder set plus the rest pause sets, you're getting something like 10 plus or minus four straps in there. That's a lot of four straps. I don't expect there to be any significant recovery debt on a movement like that that's short overloaded. Like, I just don't I don't believe at this point that short overload movements really cause all that much fatigue or damage. So it's probably it's probably fine. Like repeated bout effect comes in, takes care of that for you. It's all good. Any reason that you guys opted to do four straps and actually get short? versus just stopping at the point where you can't get short.
[Aaron Straker]:pretty much not to over simplify or over complicate things. And then it's a very easy, especially
[Bryan]:Especially
[Aaron Straker]:in the
[Bryan]:in the
[Aaron Straker]:heat
[Bryan]:heat
[Aaron Straker]:of the training
[Bryan]:of the training
[Aaron Straker]:where
[Bryan]:where
[Aaron Straker]:you as
[Bryan]:you
[Aaron Straker]:a
[Bryan]:as a
[Aaron Straker]:person
[Bryan]:person
[Aaron Straker]:performing
[Bryan]:perform
[Aaron Straker]:the reps,
[Bryan]:more
[Aaron Straker]:you're
[Bryan]:reps,
[Aaron Straker]:trying
[Bryan]:you're trying
[Aaron Straker]:as hard
[Bryan]:as
[Aaron Straker]:as
[Bryan]:hard
[Aaron Straker]:you can.
[Bryan]:as you can.
[Aaron Straker]:You don't
[Bryan]:You
[Aaron Straker]:want
[Bryan]:don't want
[Aaron Straker]:to try
[Bryan]:to
[Aaron Straker]:and have
[Bryan]:try and
[Aaron Straker]:dialogue
[Bryan]:have dialogue
[Aaron Straker]:there.
[Bryan]:there.
[Aaron Straker]:It's
[Bryan]:It's
[Aaron Straker]:pretty,
[Bryan]:pretty...
[Aaron Straker]:you have a spotter who's essentially calling your progressions and then one thing's stop in that sort of thing.
[Bryan]:thing. We're
[Aaron Straker]:pretty much
[Bryan]:pretty
[Aaron Straker]:just to
[Bryan]:much
[Aaron Straker]:keep
[Bryan]:just
[Aaron Straker]:things
[Bryan]:doing
[Aaron Straker]:simple.
[Bryan]:this. Got
[Aaron Straker]:Instead
[Bryan]:it.
[Aaron Straker]:of being like, okay, lengthen partials. I mean, we will, for example, we have like bent over lateral raises. Those are a lot of like partials
[Bryan]:those are
[Aaron Straker]:and
[Bryan]:a lot
[Aaron Straker]:stuff.
[Bryan]:of things. Yeah.
[Aaron Straker]:But for something like a pull down, we're pretty much just
[Bryan]:Okay.
[Aaron Straker]:always trying to get full range of motion.
[Bryan]:Yeah. So we can definitely separate the back into different portions, as I think you should, but just for simplicity, let's call it upper back and lats. So we have two different regions of the back that we're training. If we assume that first movement you did was mostly lats, given the vertical nature of it, what other pull movements are you doing on that day after you've done all these working sets of that one movement plus all these four straps and your back is fried, what comes next?
[Aaron Straker]:uh, the, like the, the hammer row plate loaded machine, unilateral, like lumbar row
[Bryan]:Yeah,
[Aaron Straker]:sort of thing.
[Bryan]:so that's your second pull movement. Do you have another one after that?
[Aaron Straker]:Yes, there
[Bryan]:there
[Aaron Straker]:is
[Bryan]:is
[Aaron Straker]:bent
[Bryan]:Van
[Aaron Straker]:over
[Bryan]:Gogh
[Aaron Straker]:rows.
[Bryan]:Rose.
[Aaron Straker]:Like a bent over
[Bryan]:Van
[Aaron Straker]:barbell
[Bryan]:Gogh Barbell
[Aaron Straker]:row, kind of
[Bryan]:Rose,
[Aaron Straker]:like a
[Bryan]:kind
[Aaron Straker]:Dorian
[Bryan]:of a Dorian-style
[Aaron Straker]:Yates style row, which is
[Bryan]:roach.
[Aaron Straker]:going to be more like upper back focused, trap, rhomboid
[Bryan]:torso at
[Aaron Straker]:sort
[Bryan]:like
[Aaron Straker]:of
[Bryan]:45
[Aaron Straker]:thing.
[Bryan]:degrees
[Aaron Straker]:Yeah, like 45, maybe a little bit more north of
[Bryan]:And
[Aaron Straker]:that.
[Bryan]:you're rowing
[Aaron Straker]:So,
[Bryan]:into the waistline
[Aaron Straker]:exactly.
[Bryan]:Yeah, so it's a pretty short range of motion, but it's pretty lat driven for the most part
[Aaron Straker]:Yes.
[Bryan]:Interesting. Okay. Wow, that's a lot This is both high volume and high intensity
[Aaron Straker]:It is.
[Bryan]:Yeah, so it's so interesting to me because in many ways this like flies in the face of I think what science has elucidated for us over the last four or five years or you know the typical model that people tend to follow.
[Aaron Straker]:I think it's people, right? I think that that's the case and it is what people tend to follow, but like what people? And I, and where I don't know if I talked about this or not. I think maybe I put it on my stories, but we didn't talk about it on the podcast. I am in this, you
[Bryan]:this,
[Aaron Straker]:know,
[Bryan]:you know,
[Aaron Straker]:what I'm
[Bryan]:what
[Aaron Straker]:calling
[Bryan]:I'm
[Aaron Straker]:this,
[Bryan]:calling
[Aaron Straker]:this particular
[Bryan]:this particular
[Aaron Straker]:season
[Bryan]:season
[Aaron Straker]:of my
[Bryan]:of
[Aaron Straker]:life,
[Bryan]:my
[Aaron Straker]:like
[Bryan]:life.
[Aaron Straker]:spending
[Bryan]:Spending
[Aaron Straker]:time
[Bryan]:time
[Aaron Straker]:playing
[Bryan]:playing
[Aaron Straker]:kind of
[Bryan]:kind
[Aaron Straker]:devil's
[Bryan]:of devil's
[Aaron Straker]:advocate
[Bryan]:advocate
[Aaron Straker]:on things
[Bryan]:on things
[Aaron Straker]:that I
[Bryan]:that
[Aaron Straker]:know.
[Bryan]:I know.
[Aaron Straker]:or I believe to be true and then seeing
[Bryan]:and then
[Aaron Straker]:what
[Bryan]:see
[Aaron Straker]:happens. Because
[Bryan]:what happens. Because
[Aaron Straker]:the worst
[Bryan]:the
[Aaron Straker]:case
[Bryan]:worst
[Aaron Straker]:scenario
[Bryan]:case scenario
[Aaron Straker]:is like,
[Bryan]:is like,
[Aaron Straker]:oh,
[Bryan]:oh,
[Aaron Straker]:what I
[Bryan]:what
[Aaron Straker]:knew
[Bryan]:I knew
[Aaron Straker]:or know
[Bryan]:or know
[Aaron Straker]:is right,
[Bryan]:is right,
[Aaron Straker]:this is
[Bryan]:this
[Aaron Straker]:all
[Bryan]:is
[Aaron Straker]:superfluous,
[Bryan]:all superfluous,
[Aaron Straker]:it's not
[Bryan]:it's
[Aaron Straker]:worth
[Bryan]:not
[Aaron Straker]:the
[Bryan]:worth
[Aaron Straker]:extra
[Bryan]:the extra
[Aaron Straker]:time
[Bryan]:time
[Aaron Straker]:and effort,
[Bryan]:and effort,
[Aaron Straker]:it's
[Bryan]:it's
[Aaron Straker]:pure junk
[Bryan]:pure
[Aaron Straker]:volume,
[Bryan]:junk volume, et
[Aaron Straker]:et
[Bryan]:cetera,
[Aaron Straker]:cetera,
[Bryan]:et cetera.
[Aaron Straker]:et cetera. That's
[Bryan]:That's
[Aaron Straker]:my worst
[Bryan]:my
[Aaron Straker]:case
[Bryan]:worst
[Aaron Straker]:scenario.
[Bryan]:case scenario.
[Aaron Straker]:Or the
[Bryan]:Where
[Aaron Straker]:best
[Bryan]:the
[Aaron Straker]:case
[Bryan]:best
[Aaron Straker]:scenario
[Bryan]:case scenario
[Aaron Straker]:is like,
[Bryan]:is like,
[Aaron Straker]:holy shit,
[Bryan]:holy shit,
[Aaron Straker]:I've never
[Bryan]:I've
[Aaron Straker]:looked
[Bryan]:never
[Aaron Straker]:like
[Bryan]:looked
[Aaron Straker]:this
[Bryan]:at this
[Aaron Straker]:at 200
[Bryan]:at 200
[Aaron Straker]:pounds
[Bryan]:pounds
[Aaron Straker]:before,
[Bryan]:before,
[Aaron Straker]:I can recover
[Bryan]:I can recover
[Aaron Straker]:from all
[Bryan]:from
[Aaron Straker]:of these
[Bryan]:all of
[Aaron Straker]:things,
[Bryan]:these things,
[Aaron Straker]:I have
[Bryan]:I have
[Aaron Straker]:noticeable
[Bryan]:noticeable
[Aaron Straker]:improvements.
[Bryan]:improvements,
[Aaron Straker]:maybe
[Bryan]:maybe, you know.
[Aaron Straker]:this is
[Bryan]:this is
[Aaron Straker]:a new
[Bryan]:a
[Aaron Straker]:truth
[Bryan]:new truth
[Aaron Straker]:for me of
[Bryan]:for
[Aaron Straker]:sorts
[Bryan]:me, a
[Aaron Straker]:sort of
[Bryan]:sort
[Aaron Straker]:thing.
[Bryan]:of thing.
[Aaron Straker]:And I think
[Bryan]:And I think
[Aaron Straker]:ultimately
[Bryan]:ultimately
[Aaron Straker]:why
[Bryan]:why
[Aaron Straker]:we have
[Bryan]:we have
[Aaron Straker]:gone down
[Bryan]:come
[Aaron Straker]:this
[Bryan]:down
[Aaron Straker]:road
[Bryan]:this road
[Aaron Straker]:is
[Bryan]:is
[Aaron Straker]:Jackson
[Bryan]:Jackson
[Aaron Straker]:has a coach
[Bryan]:has a coach
[Aaron Straker]:assisting
[Bryan]:assisting
[Aaron Straker]:him
[Bryan]:him
[Aaron Straker]:with his
[Bryan]:with his
[Aaron Straker]:very
[Bryan]:very
[Aaron Straker]:lofty
[Bryan]:lofty
[Aaron Straker]:goals
[Bryan]:goals
[Aaron Straker]:of
[Bryan]:of
[Aaron Straker]:earning
[Bryan]:becoming
[Aaron Straker]:an IFBB
[Bryan]:an IFB
[Aaron Straker]:Pro Card.
[Bryan]:co-pilot.
[Aaron Straker]:This
[Bryan]:this
[Aaron Straker]:coach
[Bryan]:coach
[Aaron Straker]:very
[Bryan]:very
[Aaron Straker]:consistently
[Bryan]:consistently
[Aaron Straker]:puts people on the Olympia
[Bryan]:puts
[Aaron Straker]:stage
[Bryan]:people on
[Aaron Straker]:each year.
[Bryan]:the workplace
[Aaron Straker]:And it was like, this is your
[Bryan]:stage
[Aaron Straker]:training
[Bryan]:each year.
[Aaron Straker]:sort
[Bryan]:And
[Aaron Straker]:of
[Bryan]:it
[Aaron Straker]:thing.
[Bryan]:is on the
[Aaron Straker]:And I think like
[Bryan]:basis
[Aaron Straker]:you said, it
[Bryan]:of
[Aaron Straker]:flies in the
[Bryan]:this
[Aaron Straker]:face
[Bryan]:coach.
[Aaron Straker]:of what
[Bryan]:And
[Aaron Straker]:people
[Bryan]:I think
[Aaron Straker]:do,
[Bryan]:like
[Aaron Straker]:who is
[Bryan]:you
[Aaron Straker]:people,
[Bryan]:said, it's
[Aaron Straker]:right?
[Bryan]:wise to base it on what people are doing,
[Aaron Straker]:Because
[Bryan]:who is right. No, I mean,
[Aaron Straker]:for,
[Bryan]:yeah, it's people following science or evidence-based practice or whatever.
[Aaron Straker]:yeah.
[Bryan]:Has there been any discussion amongst you and Jackson at all or? any semblance of this idea that training maybe should be different between those that are enhanced and those that aren't.
[Aaron Straker]:It's always been a thought of mine, you know? And... It was a fear that I had going into it. Like, am I even, am I going to be able to handle this or am I just going to be in shambles? You know what I mean? I, which we briefly alluded to, I'm recovering pretty much no differently. Like that first week was pretty rough. Like my back was really sore for the first time. And like, as long as I could remember, like my traps, my, you know, my rhomboids, my lats, like my, I was sore from training back. And I was like, holy shit, this has been. I don't remember the last time my back felt like this. Now it's just another pull day. You know, I'm two days, you know,
[Bryan]:I
[Aaron Straker]:I
[Bryan]:could
[Aaron Straker]:can train and
[Bryan]:train
[Aaron Straker]:train
[Bryan]:and
[Aaron Straker]:that
[Bryan]:train
[Aaron Straker]:again
[Bryan]:that again
[Aaron Straker]:from a
[Bryan]:from
[Aaron Straker]:localized
[Bryan]:a localized
[Aaron Straker]:state.
[Bryan]:state.
[Aaron Straker]:Also,
[Bryan]:Also,
[Aaron Straker]:what
[Bryan]:what I
[Aaron Straker]:I was very
[Bryan]:was
[Aaron Straker]:fortunate
[Bryan]:very fortunate
[Aaron Straker]:for
[Bryan]:for
[Aaron Straker]:was
[Bryan]:was
[Aaron Straker]:to train
[Bryan]:to train
[Aaron Straker]:with
[Bryan]:with
[Aaron Straker]:Brandon
[Bryan]:Brandon
[Aaron Straker]:Kempter,
[Bryan]:Kempter,
[Aaron Straker]:who we had on the podcast
[Bryan]:who I've been
[Aaron Straker]:a
[Bryan]:protesting
[Aaron Straker]:couple weeks
[Bryan]:for
[Aaron Straker]:ago.
[Bryan]:weeks now.
[Aaron Straker]:Brandon
[Bryan]:Brandon
[Aaron Straker]:is a
[Bryan]:is
[Aaron Straker]:natural
[Bryan]:a natural
[Aaron Straker]:athlete
[Bryan]:athlete
[Aaron Straker]:at the top.
[Bryan]:at the top of
[Aaron Straker]:of his
[Bryan]:his
[Aaron Straker]:respective
[Bryan]:respective
[Aaron Straker]:sport.
[Bryan]:sport.
[Aaron Straker]:That's how Brandon
[Bryan]:That's how Brandon
[Aaron Straker]:trains.
[Bryan]:trains.
[Aaron Straker]:And what we kind of, Jackson and I alluded to, is the people at the top, I think, of both respective games that are probably doing the exact same things minus PEDs. some people.
[Bryan]:And what we find over Jackson, I alluded to, is that people at the top, I think, of those respected games that are probably doing the exact same things as the minus. He's probably, he's not on Brandon Kempter's level quite. Like he doesn't have the genetic makeup for that. Maybe the bone structure and things like that.
[Aaron Straker]:Mm-hmm.
[Bryan]:But you see Nunez and everything Nunez has done over the last two years has been trimming, less volume, more intensity, less volume, more intensity, cutting days out, cutting exercises out, focusing effort on one specific top set of specific movements, you know? So it's interesting that there's these kind of two. I mean, there's multiple ways in which you can train, but when you look at the, these two binary approaches, you know, the high volume, high intensity, high effort, Brandon Kempter, Aaron Straker style, and then the kind of new Niaz, uh, AJ Morris, um, type style. So anyway, that's interesting. And then my, my last question on this, we didn't actually get yet to you describing how you would build up for your hack squat. So maybe we can quickly get to that before we get to my stuff.
[Aaron Straker]:Mm-hmm.
[Bryan]:Um, But my last question is, you've been doing this for a few months now, and the results have obviously been phenomenal. You've noted that you are probably seeing great benefit from this partially because of the way you're prioritizing recovery through your sauna, your cardio, your sleep, your nutrition, all of these things. Has this experience changed your perspective on how you feel like your clients? should be training.
[Aaron Straker]:The people who show a very... an increased interest in really kind of finding their limits or pushing themselves. So for example, I have one of my female clients, Andrea, right? She is someone who expressed like she wants to kind of find some of those limits and stuff. We're testing them a bit. I'm having her training closer to failure in those sorts of things. And we're discovering. And she like this week, she's like, hey. Just so you know, like I'm a little beat up. I'm like, perfect, let's deload. But I would say not across the board, but I am people who are expressing a greater interest or even want to do this, right? Because not everyone wants to take like press sets to concentric failure and past failure. It feels absolutely horrendous. It's disgusting feeling. Some people want nothing to do with that. You know what I mean? And I'm like, we don't have to do that. Let's take it to a 3RAR, right? But for some people who express interest in it, I have been pushing them a little bit harder, yes.
[Bryan]:Yeah, cool. Very cool. And then quickly, can you just take us through what your hack squat progression looks like to the top set?
[Aaron Straker]:Yeah, I mean, very, very similar with the with the lap pulldown. You know, empty, empty hack squat. I want to find my positions, make sure my settings are correct. I'm going to load one plate on. In since the hack squat is never the first exercise, I'm not going to do like a set of 12. I'm pretty much doing sets of six and fours for my warm up sets. I'll do a set of six,
[Bryan]:6,
[Aaron Straker]:maybe
[Bryan]:maybe
[Aaron Straker]:eight
[Bryan]:8
[Aaron Straker]:with one
[Bryan]:with
[Aaron Straker]:plate
[Bryan]:one plate
[Aaron Straker]:on
[Bryan]:on,
[Aaron Straker]:a set of six
[Bryan]:set of
[Aaron Straker]:with
[Bryan]:6
[Aaron Straker]:two
[Bryan]:with
[Aaron Straker]:plates
[Bryan]:two plates
[Aaron Straker]:on.
[Bryan]:on,
[Aaron Straker]:and then
[Bryan]:and then
[Aaron Straker]:three
[Bryan]:with
[Aaron Straker]:plates,
[Bryan]:three plates
[Aaron Straker]:I go to
[Bryan]:I go to
[Aaron Straker]:a set of
[Bryan]:a
[Aaron Straker]:four
[Bryan]:set of four.
[Aaron Straker]:plates.
[Bryan]:Four plates
[Aaron Straker]:I might do
[Bryan]:I might
[Aaron Straker]:like
[Bryan]:do like
[Aaron Straker]:two
[Bryan]:two
[Aaron Straker]:reps,
[Bryan]:reps,
[Aaron Straker]:and then
[Bryan]:and then
[Aaron Straker]:my top
[Bryan]:my
[Aaron Straker]:set
[Bryan]:top
[Aaron Straker]:has
[Bryan]:set
[Aaron Straker]:been at
[Bryan]:of
[Aaron Straker]:five
[Bryan]:like
[Aaron Straker]:plates
[Bryan]:five
[Aaron Straker]:per
[Bryan]:plates
[Aaron Straker]:side
[Bryan]:to the side.
[Aaron Straker]:on the hack squat.
[Bryan]:And you guys do four strips on that as well, or one
[Aaron Straker]:but
[Bryan]:four strip?
[Aaron Straker]:not
[Bryan]:Not
[Aaron Straker]:nearly,
[Bryan]:nearly.
[Aaron Straker]:pretty much
[Bryan]:Pretty much like...
[Aaron Straker]:like one, pretty much, because
[Bryan]:because
[Aaron Straker]:it's
[Bryan]:it's
[Aaron Straker]:heavier,
[Bryan]:heavier,
[Aaron Straker]:the injury
[Bryan]:the injury
[Aaron Straker]:risk is
[Bryan]:risk
[Aaron Straker]:higher,
[Bryan]:is higher,
[Aaron Straker]:the person
[Bryan]:person
[Aaron Straker]:who's spotting
[Bryan]:who's spotting
[Aaron Straker]:has to
[Bryan]:has
[Aaron Straker]:move
[Bryan]:to move
[Aaron Straker]:a lot
[Bryan]:a lot
[Aaron Straker]:more weight,
[Bryan]:more
[Aaron Straker]:you
[Bryan]:when
[Aaron Straker]:know,
[Bryan]:you try
[Aaron Straker]:like a pull
[Bryan]:to
[Aaron Straker]:down
[Bryan]:pull
[Aaron Straker]:versus
[Bryan]:down versus.
[Aaron Straker]:loading up the leg press or the hack squat is a world's different in, you know, how much load there is on it. So
[Bryan]:So,
[Aaron Straker]:mostly
[Bryan]:mostly
[Aaron Straker]:like
[Bryan]:like,
[Aaron Straker]:maybe one
[Bryan]:maybe
[Aaron Straker]:extra,
[Bryan]:one extra.
[Aaron Straker]:you know, there.
[Bryan]:Okay, cool. And then you don't do like the rest pause sequence or anything like that. It's really just one top set. Top
[Aaron Straker]:Top set back
[Bryan]:set
[Aaron Straker]:off on
[Bryan]:back
[Aaron Straker]:the hack
[Bryan]:on the
[Aaron Straker]:squat
[Bryan]:hack squad
[Aaron Straker]:on
[Bryan]:on one
[Aaron Straker]:one day,
[Bryan]:day.
[Aaron Straker]:the other
[Bryan]:The
[Aaron Straker]:day
[Bryan]:other
[Aaron Straker]:on
[Bryan]:day
[Aaron Straker]:the hack
[Bryan]:on the
[Aaron Straker]:squat,
[Bryan]:hack squad
[Aaron Straker]:we
[Bryan]:we
[Aaron Straker]:have
[Bryan]:have
[Aaron Straker]:just
[Bryan]:just...
[Aaron Straker]:the rest pause. So it's like you have one effect, you have one set.
[Bryan]:one set.
[Aaron Straker]:So like
[Bryan]:So
[Aaron Straker]:you
[Bryan]:like
[Aaron Straker]:build
[Bryan]:you
[Aaron Straker]:up
[Bryan]:build
[Aaron Straker]:and wait,
[Bryan]:up a weight,
[Aaron Straker]:okay,
[Bryan]:okay,
[Aaron Straker]:this is
[Bryan]:this
[Aaron Straker]:my
[Bryan]:is my, you know,
[Aaron Straker]:pre-fatigue
[Bryan]:free fatigue,
[Aaron Straker]:12
[Bryan]:12
[Aaron Straker]:rep
[Bryan]:rep, you
[Aaron Straker]:buy-in,
[Bryan]:know, buy it,
[Aaron Straker]:and then
[Bryan]:and
[Aaron Straker]:you go
[Bryan]:then you
[Aaron Straker]:right
[Bryan]:go
[Aaron Straker]:into
[Bryan]:right into
[Aaron Straker]:it. So
[Bryan]:it.
[Aaron Straker]:it's
[Bryan]:So it's...
[Aaron Straker]:obviously significantly less total. volume accumulation because it's lengthened overload actually loaded in so much more systemically fatiguing
[Bryan]:Yep. And I assume the RDL kind of follows a similar pattern to the hack squat.
[Aaron Straker]:The RDL we only ever do top set back off.
[Bryan]:Cool, sweet. All right, cool. Well, that is, I think, all of the questions I have for you on your training. I can do a quick overview of mine and then have you ask questions, or if you have any questions right off the bat, we can do that too.
[Aaron Straker]:Let's go with the overview and then I'm sure things will pop
[Bryan]:Cool.
[Aaron Straker]:up for me.
[Bryan]:Yep. So, uh, as I mentioned, as many of you guys probably know from prior episodes, I'm doing this kind of full body approach. Now I was training four or five times a week on a more split routine where it was, uh, you know, back with some triceps chest with some biceps, um, quad day with a one hamstring exercise and a hamstring day with one quad exercise and then, uh, another kind of upper body day in there. And that was, I think it was the frequency more than anything that was leaving me feeling fatigued four or five times a week. Just trying to fit as many sessions as I was doing between biking and lifting into a calendar week was just too much. And so by switching to the full body routine, I am lowering volume slightly when you look at it across a micro cycle or a week or whatever. The volume is definitely a little bit lower. But the main thing that I think is helping me is the frequency more than the volume. Because what I'm doing right now is I'm allowing myself the freedom to train pretty much every two to three days. So it would it I don't often find myself actually doing Monday, Wednesday, Friday. It usually ends up being something more like Monday, Thursday. Sunday type thing and then I'll start again on Tuesday or Wednesday. So I'm most in most cases I'm training every three days. Sometimes it's every two Really depends what I'm doing with my biking and How my recovery is feeling like for example, I have one day on the full body program that has safety bar or back rack reverse lunges and I've only done that for two weeks now. I'll be doing my third session of that today And that one tends to get me pretty messed up in my glutes for a few days that follow. And that's the only exercise in the entire full body program that is actually causing me to get sore or feel any fatigue at all. Because the structure by which I'm using to kind of build up and get to my weight is that I'm doing about four sets per exercise. But that is the entirety of the amount of sets that I'm doing. So taking an example of, I'll use similar examples to what you did, like we have a lap pulldown, and the first set might be 12 reps with eight or 10 RIR. I mean, I could have done 20 plus reps, but I do 12. It's a warmup set, nice and easy. Second set might be like six to eight reps at five or six RIR. So it's just starting to kind of... stimulate the nervous system and get it ready to go. The third set probably would be two to three RIR for six to eight reps again. And then the final set is to the house basically to failure with partials, et cetera, et cetera. And so that is one top set, but when you actually look at those four sets from like what would be an effective reps model. The second to last set also probably has like a few effective reps in there as well if you're going to two to three RIR And then you know the same model extrapolates out to something like a hack squat as well The difference would be that on those bigger movements I don't ever touch like a 12 rep set pretty much every warm-up set is gonna be between Five and eight six and eight something like that and it'll just go something like 12 RIR 7 RIR 4 RIR and then failure So in that case, you know, it's probably less effective reps, but it's much more demanding. You get one top set to really leave it all out there. And the structure has one exercise per muscle group per day. So, you know, one for the quads slash glutes, one for the hams slash glutes, depending on what the setup is, one for the back musculature, whether it's lats or upper back focus, one for the chest. One for the delts and usually one for either the biceps or the triceps. I don't usually do biceps and triceps both on the same day. If I did biceps on one day, then the next day would be triceps at the end. And then the next day would be biceps and kind of alternate back and forth like that. Um, and, uh, yeah, I think that's enough kind of basic information on the lifting side of things. Anything to kind of question there, add in?
[Aaron Straker]:I do, and this is something that I think could be really, really helpful for the listeners. With like using that example with the lap pull down, like, hey, I have four sets effectively that you're doing, but really the final set is a hard set. Some of the third warmup could be like a hard set. I feel this is the question I really, really commonly get from clients, especially people who are a bit newer. Like how do you... how do you really kind of like differentiate or how would you recommend to others to differentiate? Because something like I'll give, hey, in a program, I want you to do, you know, whatever, three sets, eight to 12 sort of thing. And they're like, well, how many warmup sets should I do? And they're like, does this include warmups? And I'm like, no, these are hard training sets. And they're like, well, how many warmups? Well, that depends, you know, like probably two to four ish. You know, like, well, how many
[Bryan]:and
[Aaron Straker]:reps
[Bryan]:how many
[Aaron Straker]:do
[Bryan]:reps
[Aaron Straker]:I do
[Bryan]:do
[Aaron Straker]:on the
[Bryan]:I do
[Aaron Straker]:warm-up
[Bryan]:on the warm-up
[Aaron Straker]:sets? I'm
[Bryan]:set?
[Aaron Straker]:like, enough to get you warm, probably not more than
[Bryan]:I
[Aaron Straker]:20,
[Bryan]:would not
[Aaron Straker]:no less
[Bryan]:know
[Aaron Straker]:than
[Bryan]:the
[Aaron Straker]:two
[Bryan]:20, no less than two.
[Aaron Straker]:sort of thing. And so I guess with
[Bryan]:I
[Aaron Straker]:that, like,
[Bryan]:guess
[Aaron Straker]:how
[Bryan]:with
[Aaron Straker]:would you
[Bryan]:that,
[Aaron Straker]:kind
[Bryan]:how
[Aaron Straker]:of recommend
[Bryan]:would
[Aaron Straker]:that verbiage or recommend
[Bryan]:you recommend
[Aaron Straker]:people to kind of step through
[Bryan]:that,
[Aaron Straker]:that if their programs, they're
[Bryan]:that furniture,
[Aaron Straker]:building
[Bryan]:recommend
[Aaron Straker]:themselves
[Bryan]:you to step through that in your
[Aaron Straker]:or
[Bryan]:programs
[Aaron Straker]:if
[Bryan]:for
[Aaron Straker]:they're
[Bryan]:yourselves
[Aaron Straker]:following,
[Bryan]:or Brian's programs
[Aaron Straker]:you
[Bryan]:as
[Aaron Straker]:know,
[Bryan]:he specifically
[Aaron Straker]:Brian's program?
[Bryan]:said?
[Aaron Straker]:Does it explicitly say?
[Bryan]:Yeah, so when I write in the programming, I'll usually write. what I want the approximate reps from failure to be on each set. And so, granted, when you're looking at something and you say eight are something like that, I mean, that's an ambiguous umbrella term for. Hey, just don't work too hard. But like it shouldn't be a walk in the park either.
[Aaron Straker]:Mm-hmm.
[Bryan]:I mean, eight are on a hack squat is like like, ah, I mean, if you if you do, if you do eight reps of hack squat and you could have done 16, it's not like those eight reps are. going through the motions doing nothing, but they're also not challenging to the point that you have to like really focus and turn on your like heavy metal music or anything like that.
[Aaron Straker]:Mm-hmm.
[Bryan]:So for something like a hack squat, I usually will write, it would go like 8530, R-I-R, or 8531,
[Aaron Straker]:Mm.
[Bryan]:or something along those lines. And so that's really just a general. example of an ascent of effort across. And so as far as this actually works as application, you mentioned in your build up that you would start at 40 to 50% of your working weight. And I love using working weight instead of one rep max because who cares what your one rep max is? No one even really ever knows
[Aaron Straker]:Yeah,
[Bryan]:what your
[Aaron Straker]:who
[Bryan]:one rep
[Aaron Straker]:knows?
[Bryan]:max is.
[Aaron Straker]:Yeah.
[Bryan]:Yeah.
[Aaron Straker]:Every time I've ever used those things, it's completely fucked me. Hasn't,
[Bryan]:Yeah.
[Aaron Straker]:like, not even close.
[Bryan]:No, I'm, I'm a huge anti percentage person. This may actually be a topic episode that we can go into. Cause I get this
[Aaron Straker]:We
[Bryan]:question
[Aaron Straker]:should.
[Bryan]:a lot in the Paragon group about why we don't use percentages in training.
[Aaron Straker]:Yeah.
[Bryan]:Um, so that might actually be like a really cool topic to kind of go deeper into, but, um, so what I like to do generally is start with 50% of. 50 to 60% of my working weight. And so on my hack squad example, I working weight above 500 pounds. And so my first warmup set is usually somewhere between 250 and 300, around that like 50 to 60% number. And so yeah, I'll do, you know, eight reps, 10 reps, something like that, just kind of go through the motions until it feels like it burns a little, but I know I have plenty of reps left in the tank. And then I like my next set on the hack. to probably be 75 to 80% of working weight, but I'll cater the reps so that I'm still not working hard. I'll get to that point where it burns a little. I feel like I have to exert a little effort, but I know I have plenty of reps left in the tank. And then the final working set is usually about 90%, 85 to 90% of working weight. So if I'm doing my working set at 510, then maybe I do my last warmup set at 410, 420, something like that. And that would just be for like three or four reps, much like you, you know, that final warmup set is heavy enough weight that even though you're not going to failure, you still have to really focus and feel like you're engaged in the experience. And then that prepares the central nervous system so that when you go to that working weight next, it doesn't feel like this massive surprise or shock to your body. You just want that working set to be as optimized as possible, which requires you to have prepared in the proper manner. Um, so that's the way that it would go for some big movement, like a hack squat. And, and I did say that each exercise gets four sets, but the truth of the matter is that big exercises get four sets, but something smaller, like a dual cable lateral raise, which is one of the movements in my program or like a cross cable tricep push down or something like that, there's no use for me to do four total sets there. it will be three and it'll be 50% of max, 75% of max or not max of working weight. So 50% of working weight, 75% of working weight and then working weight. And I just don't feel like on those smaller kind of more single joint cably exercises or even dumbbell, it doesn't really matter, single joint movements, they just don't need four total sets. I still get those kind of two. sort of effective sets, like the second set is still semi-effective and then the final set is to failure. And so yeah, that's been the approach in pretty much all of the movements that I do. And then the other one small caveat in the setup of this full body routine that I'm doing, and I don't know that everyone in Brian's program can do this because a lot of them are working out in commercial gyms, but I try to do at least. antagonistic movements. So I would either pair like hack squat with leg curl and just alternate those sets back and forth so that I'm not resting five minutes between hack squat. It would be like two and a half and then leg curl and then two and a half and then back to hack squat. And if I can, if I can arrange it in a manner, I'll do a four exercise circuit where it might go hack squat, leg curl, chest press pull down. And so now I have four movements and now I can take even less rest between each. So it might be like hack squat, one and a half minutes leg curl, one and a half minutes pull down, one and a half minutes chest press, and then back to hack squat again. And I would not have been able to do that last year. So this is one of the most interesting things about instituting cardio into my program is that structure, I tried to do a full body routine, I think either last year or the year before, and I could not get through it because I felt so fatigued and crushed from. training that much of the body at the same time. And now via the cardio and the increased work capacity, it literally doesn't bother me. It doesn't phase me. I'm able to go from movement to movement, not feel like I'm dying. I'm recovering quickly between exercises. And it's allowed me to be much more efficient in my training. So this full body routine that would have taken me 90 to 120 minutes a couple of years ago, I'm now getting through in 60 to 70 minutes most days. So that's been really, really nice as well.
[Aaron Straker]:That's something that I've noticed from the additional cardio that I'm incorporating three to four times per week. I'm just okay. I'll do this disgusting set and my heart rate's obviously super, super high, but I'm ready to spot someone, the next person within 15 seconds. And that's... That's been one of the very positive adaptations I've noticed of the cardio is like, I'm just, while I still feel highly fatigued from a cardiovascular standpoint, like I am okay.
[Bryan]:Yep, no, and it feels great too.
[Aaron Straker]:Yeah.
[Bryan]:I feel like the SFR of daily life has gone down. So every single thing that I do requires less energy from me because my body is just more cardiovascularly fit and has more work capacity. So even something as small as like walking the kids to school, walking them back, driving to school, driving back, like sometimes in the past I'd be like, oh, I'm so tired from that hour of. driving the kids around or whatever it is, you know, and now I get back and I'm good to go. And I think I've used this example before, but Bryson would get home from school at 4 p.m. And most cases in the past, I just, he'd be like, let's go do this or do that. And I'd be like, oh man, I'm so tired. It's been a long day. And now he's like at 4 p.m. he gets home and wants to go do something. And I'm 90% of the time I'm game. I have the energy to do it and I'm ready to go. So that has been the biggest revelation for me when it comes to actual things that I've seen impact the quality of my life from the cardio. And so that kind of just brings me quickly to wrap up into the cardio stuff. And obviously I'm taking it to extremes right now because I have this race coming up in October. But man, it's been really cool figuring out how to fit the cardio in around the weights so that I can. To say optimize both would be the wrong way of saying that because I'm definitely not optimizing Lifting and possibly not optimizing cardio but I'm doing the best that I can to optimize the cardio along the lifting at the moment and so it's been it's been really cool to fit this structure in and I have found a rotation of Three or four different cardio sessions that I that I'll rotate through over the course of a mini micro cycle where I'll have one long ride that's usually not extremely intense. It's much more about like zone two and just sustaining, building the aerobic base. And that's sort of what I did yesterday, although I had some intervals in there as well. Usually that long ride is just steady so that it doesn't cause a ton of fatigue. And then the next day after that, assuming it's not a lifting day, will be some sort of higher intensity interval work where I'm climbing some hills or doing something to get the heart rate up into zone four, zone five. for extended periods of time. What I've found on these interval days is that the studies have shown that time in zone is the most key metric. And so between zone four and zone five, that's your time in zone, which is gonna be above your second lactate threshold. And for those that don't know, we can talk about lactate thresholds another time. But basically you become very anaerobic when you're above the second lactate threshold. And so generally I'll wanna accumulate 30 to 40 minutes time in zone above lactate threshold when I'm doing an interval session. So that could be like four 10 minute intervals, it could be six five minute intervals, it could be 10 three minute intervals. I mean, there's a number of different ways that you can kind of arrange that with the idea being that you spend about 30 to 40 minutes time in zone for those interval workouts. And then those are really hard. I mean, they're hard in the moment, but they also have a bit of recovery. debt accrued as well Specifically in the legs, but just the system as a whole so then the day after the hard interval workout is almost always a Low slow and relatively short Zone one kind of recovery workout. So I'm just kind of spinning the legs out getting some recovery in Flushing lactate out of the legs, etc, etc. And then the day after that will either be a repeat. So we'll start kind of back at the beginning, or I'll take like a rest day, maybe lift, and then start that micro cycle over again. So each micro cycle of cardio has one like really long day that works on the aerobic base, one more intense interval or hill climb day, and then one kind of shorter, like 45 to 60 minute, slower recovery style workout where my heart rate doesn't get above 130 and I just kind of. focus on that. And so those are kind of the three workouts I've been doing. Um, and then sometimes I'll throw in a fourth that's more of like a high end zone to threshold workout. So still below the first lactate turn point where I'm still mostly aerobic. Um, but it's kind of pushing that limit of aerobic and those workouts usually end up in that like 60 to 75 minute range. Um, so yeah, that's kind of the rotation there. And I feel like that's mostly going to stay. over the course of these next few weeks. My plan as the race approaches is to build volume and intensity up until about 10 days out. And then in late September or the first week of October, essentially taper like a power lifter would do. But a taper for a cardio event is a little bit different because... If you're tapering for a sprint, then you don't really need an aerobic base. You're more just tapering fatigue so that you can sprint as hard as you can go. When you're doing an event that's three and a half or four hours long or even longer, you need to keep volume up. You need to, you need to taper intensity, but you can't stop doing volume. Uh, if you go one week where you're not getting significant volume on the legs, you're going to show up to that race after. five to seven days of not really pushing yourself too hard and your legs are gonna feel heavy, they're gonna cramp really quickly, and it's just not gonna be super smooth. And so the general approach to taper week on a more endurance style event is you dial back all intensity, so you're not doing anything where your heart rate is getting into like zone four, zone five, but you are continuing to do kind of higher volume, slower rides in the like 60 to 90 minute range where you're just kind of spinning the legs out. Maybe some zone two, maybe some zone one, but kind of just a mix of being on the bike, getting the work in, but not really causing a ton of fatigue. And then when you show up on the day of the race, I mean, you're talking about a four hour race, no one's going gung ho 100% off the starting line. Like you realize that you have four hours to go, you're gonna start at a steady, consistent pace. And so it's not really like you need to prepare a whole ton, like it's just kind of another day out riding, and that's the way I've been trying to approach it.
[Aaron Straker]:That is really cool. I don't think we've ever fully covered it at length, like you just explained it, and the different types of rides and that sort of thing. So it was definitely eye-opening for me listening to it, and I never would have expected, again, because I'm just purely ignorant into these things, that taper would be of that specific approach. But as you were explaining it, I was like, yeah, it makes total sense.
[Bryan]:Yeah, it's just a different type of event than a sprint
[Aaron Straker]:Yeah,
[Bryan]:or a weightlifting
[Aaron Straker]:exactly.
[Bryan]:competition or something like that, different energy systems.
[Aaron Straker]:Yeah.
[Bryan]:So yeah, that's pretty much it. And then I guess the last thing to say on my program overall is, as I mentioned last week, we have a code. You can get 20% off Brian's program if you enter Eat, Train, Prosper at checkout. And then I did make a note in Brian's program. Given that I understand that most people following my program are probably not going to be doing the cardio in the manner that I'm doing it at the volume that I'm doing it. I made a note in the write up at the top that if you're following Brian's program and you're not doing this intense cardio and you have kind of more recovery capacity that you may consider adding a second set, a second top set to a lot of the movements. So that effectively almost doubles your effective volume. in the program if you were to add a second set to all movements. So maybe you don't add a second set to all movements. Maybe you add it to the movements that are less damaging for you or the ones that you want to prioritize more, et cetera. But I do think that there is room for manipulating volume and effort within the framework of this full body program. For those that want to follow what I'm doing, but aren't necessarily doing the total volume of cardio work, they still want to get more out of the lifting portion. I think you would have no problem recovering fine if you added a second set to many of the movements in the program. And so that's part of the write-up and I think something that you would consider if you're following that program as well.
[Aaron Straker]:great additional context there. Brian, do you have anything on the back end of this one?
[Bryan]:No, that's fun. I like learning about your training program a little more.
[Aaron Straker]:Yeah, it's been cool. Like I said, I'm enjoying it. I'm just, I'm being, like I've turned off the coach brain and you know, Aaron brain, which I normally am doing, and I'm just like along for the ride and just lifting weights and seeing what happens. So I am enjoying it in that regard and the camaraderie
[Bryan]:Yep,
[Aaron Straker]:part of it for sure.
[Bryan]:yeah absolutely. I haven't had a training partner consistently for lifting for a really long time. And part of that is because I love training alone and having my headphones in and focusing, but I do think with the right training partners in the right environment, that could be hugely productive.
[Aaron Straker]:Definitely, definitely.
[Bryan]:Yep. Well, I'm excited to see where you end up and to continue watching fat loss camp, uh, kind of culminate here. You know, it's, it's good times.
[Aaron Straker]:Yeah. All right, as always, thank you guys for listening. Brian and
[Bryan]:Brian
[Aaron Straker]:I will
[Bryan]:and
[Aaron Straker]:talk
[Bryan]:I will
[Aaron Straker]:to you
[Bryan]:talk to
[Aaron Straker]:next
[Bryan]:you
[Aaron Straker]:week.
[Bryan]:next week. Yep.