Beyond Bodybuilding by Pavel Tsatsouline

Author:Pavel Tsatsouline
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Dragon Door Publications
Published: 2005-11-15T00:00:00+00:00

The board press: a basic with a twist.

EXAMPLE#2

Jane wants to cut up her ‘lower quads’. She is not happy with the squat-based routine she has been doing as it has bulked up her legs. She follows the gym standard operating procedure and switches to leg extensions. A month later Jane’s strength is down; she can tell during her softball games. Her quads have started cutting up but her knees have started aching.

Jane meets a trainer who has been around the block. She explains to Jane that many folks’ knees cannot take leg extensions and nothing beats squat type exercises. Jane argues that squats have bulked her up. That is because the loading parameters were wrong for her goals, points out the trainer. To avoid hypertrophy while strengthening and toning the muscles the reps and the sets must be kept low. Furthermore, de-emphasizing the negative will help prevent the unwanted muscle growth.

The trainer tells Jane to do behind the back deadlifts. This cross between the SQ and the DL targets the ‘tear drop’ vastus medialis muscle and makes it safe to de-emphasize the negative. 3x3 twice a week is the trainer’s recommendation. A month later Jane’s quads got defined without getting bigger, her knees stopped hurting, and she was faster than ever on the softball diamond.

As you can see from the above examples, a highly abbreviated basic routine can be customized to your individual strength and physique goals, weaknesses, and injuries. Well thought through variations of the basic ‘big’ exercises is the way to go. Stick with one variation for six weeks or so, then go back to the ‘basic-basic’ or find another variation to address another weakness. This is the essence of the ‘minimalist variety’ approach to strength and muscle training.

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