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Changing programs and body adaptation

ovidnine

So from reading stuff on lifting (lots of what Greg Nuckols posts on strengtheory) I get the idea that your body gets "used" to what you're doing. Its why eventually (and that could be a long long time) you plateau and need to change up your approach, add volume, etc. to advance even doing a solid well rounded program.

I'm not talking silly daily muscle confusion stuff, just that your body is pretty elastic in its response to stressors.

I personally had no experience with this as I'd been running a fairly standard program steadily since last August (and previously). In November I switch to a high frequency/high intensity program for a couple months for something different and to deal with the holiday chaos.

HF/HI means you lift pretty much daily for a good % of your 1 rep max. I eased into the program without much issue and it helped me a lot with my bench and squat and was a fun change of pace for a bit.

Fast forward to this Monday. I get back in the gym after a week of vacation (including far more mixed drinks than healthy) and get back into my old program on a new track.

I about died.

Ok, maybe a bit hyperbolic, but holy crap, I tapped out halfway through my accessory work and waddled to the treadmill to do some walking. I was wiped.

My body was wondering "WTF dude? I'm not used to this many reps at a time. What are you doing?" I was battling the vestiges of a cold and the creatine had flushed from my system last week, but to a large degree my muscles were not used to the rep load, especially 2 or 3 exercises targeting the same muscle groups. It was also weird waking up Tues & Wednesday having muscle soreness. Something I didn't really have the past couple months.

Anyway, just felt like rambling, er sharing about it.

Anyone else have a similar experience where you completely changed up your approach and were surprised by your body's reaction?

Replies

jimmmer

You became deconditioned to volume.

I had a similar thing a few years back where I was running a minimal lifting programme at fairly high intensity (3x3 3 days a week) and sprinting for a summer.

I went back to a more traditional moderate intensity 3 day a week full body affair and almost died. Happily, I didn't actually die, 'cause I'm still here to type this, but I was surprised at the difference. Total tonnage in one session, and big jumps up in it, can be a gut check. And death-by-DOMS...

reisbaron

Transitioning back into regularly-scheduled intensity can be brutal. For the week I come back to my gym from travel or vacation (I normally train Crossfit 4x a week) I keep the loads light and just focus on movement. Without reinforcing movement patterns your CNS will blow out if you expose it to immediate volume and intensity after any kind of break in your routine. And it never hurts to take the occasional week to just rest and move around without loads...running, bike rides, etc. Your body will never reject a break from training.

rainbowbow

I actually move between strength training, balance/endurance training, power, and then back through again. All with varying rep ranges/cardio regimens.

I find this works best for me and i'm able to progress each time i go back to that method of training. I last about 4 weeks on each method.

For me, I think i would personally burn out only lifting for hypertrophy or strength, forever. Also, I was having the issue of poor recovery when i was lifting that way. It was like i was living a life of soreness and poor strength gains.

In any case, you'd be suprised how quickly your body also starts to atrophy when taking a break. Just a two week break is enough to take 5-6 weeks to get back into things (the same weight/intensity) safely.

giantrobot_powerlifting

ovidnine wrote: »

Anyone else have a similar experience where you completely changed up your approach and were surprised by your body's reaction?

Yep, @jimmmer and I were just discussing this a few days ago if not last week.

I had began a taper in the middle of December because of two meets back to back three weeks apart. My goal in that taper was to maintain strength, not lose my mind not lifting, and work on flexibility. My last meet was Feb 6th and my new program began on Tuesday and it wasn't until yesterday's training that I felt that I had finally had a decent training session again. I did spend last week -- the following week after my last meet -- running the program only up to 80% of TM to preflight and ramp up for the increased intensity that this program demands.

But, yeah, homeostasis is a beeotch.

ovidnine

reisdbr wrote: »

Transitioning back into regularly-scheduled intensity can be brutal. For the week I come back to my gym from travel or vacation (I normally train Crossfit 4x a week) I keep the loads light and just focus on movement. Without reinforcing movement patterns your CNS will blow out if you expose it to immediate volume and intensity after any kind of break in your routine. And it never hurts to take the occasional week to just rest and move around without loads...running, bike rides, etc. Your body will never reject a break from training.

Ya know, I hadn't even realized that, but considering now, that's 100% what it was. I mean, yeah, my muscles were tired but it was definitely my CNS shutting me down saying "Nope nope nope, I don't like this at all!" lol

The body is a strange and wonderful thing.

Two meets 3 weeks apart @nakedraygun that was quite the undertaking!

CasperNaegle

I've been doing Hypertrophy for about 6 months and seen steady gains. I do shift up the lifts I do every 10 weeks or so. I'm very pleased with the results! I do agree any break really seems to pull things back.