Dual Factor Hypertrophy Training [A complete breakdown]

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Dual Factor Theory (by Animal Mass) – Fitness Training Routine Guide

The Dual Factor Theory, also called Fitness Fatigue Theory is somewhat more complex than the Supercompensation Theory. The theory is based on the fact that and individual's fitness and fatigue are totally independent of each other. This theory is entirely dependant on one's base conditioning (or physical preparedness or fitness). The thing is, when you have a high level of fitness (or conditioning/ preparedness) this level changes fairly slowly. This is because over the short term fitness does not fluctuate often. (However, fatigue can change (increase or decrease) fairly quickly when compared to fitness).

"The theory works like equilibrium in that training will have an immediate effect on the body (similar to supercompensation). This effect is the combination of fatigue and gain (again, remember the equilibrium thing). So after a workout, because of the stimulus that training provides, preparedness/conditioning/fitness increases (gain) but at the same time will decrease due to fatigue from the training."

"So, the outcome of the training session is the result of both the positive and negative consequences of the training session. These two outcomes depend on time. By striking the correct balance, fatigue should be large in extent but short in how long it lasts. Gain on the other hand should be moderate, however, and is longer in duration. Typically the relationship is 1:3, if fatigue lasts x amount of time then gain lasts 3x amount of time."

"Given the two factor theory, which separates physical fitness or preparedness and fatigue, you see that the timing of individual workouts is unimportant to long term gains (unlike Supercompensation)... in other words regardless of whether or not fatigue is or is not present, fitness can and will still be increased" (which is the goal)...

So what you get concerning the two-factor theory is a period of peaking fatigue (maybe 6 weeks), followed by a period of rest (maybe 2 weeks deloading, then one or two weeks of total rest). You view entire weeks and maybe months, as you would have viewed just one workout with the single factor theory. For example, in the single factor theory, one workout represents a period of fatigue. – But, in the two-factor theory, 6 weeks would represent a period of fatigue. In the single factor theory, a day or two (up to a week) represents a period of rest. But in the two-factor theory, up to four weeks may represent a period rest.

"What is important to note is that there is almost universal agreement among scientists and athletes and coaches in all sports EXCEPT bodybuilding that the two factor theory is correct and the single factor theory is not correct and is in fact suitable only for beginners to follow when planning training."

"It is also important to note that most athletes in most sports are experiencing some level of constant fatigue ALWAYS, except for maybe a couple of weekends a year, when they are peaking. Training takes place daily against a backdrop of fatigue". Therefore, you should be able to see why, concerning the single factor theory; it would be very hard to ever fully recover, unless you sat on your ass for two weeks and did nothing."

Applying it to the real world…

When setting up dual factor periodization for the bodybuilder, it is important to remember to plan for periods of fatigue and periods of rest. During a fatigue period (say, 3 weeks), you slowly build up fatigue, and never fully recover. Then you have a period of recovery (another 1-3 weeks) where you train with reduced frequency, volume, or intensity. (My preference is to keep intensity high, while drastically lowering volume and slightly lowering frequency.) At any rate, the fatiguing and recovery periods most likely won't be as drastic for a bodybuilder as it would for a strength athlete because there will be no peaking phase for performance (at no point are you required as a bodybuilder to perform a competition based on strength). Additionally, bodybuilder’s need less fatigue and more recovery present at any given time (outside of the actual training sessions) when compared to strength athletes.

So here's what I've come up with…

• The general layout of the program will be to train upper body twice per week and lower body twice per week (so, we'll be providing double the training stimulus of typical one body part per day programs). The workouts will be fairly intense, heavy on free weight compound exercises, lower volume (per workout, and drastically lower volume per body part), and higher frequency than normal bodybuilding workouts. (Now, again, this is individual). Some of you won't be able to handle this amount of frequency yet, because your fitness level sucks. Some power lifters, OLY lifters, and other strength athletes train up to 20 or 30 times each week (and most of them a minimum of 10 times per week) because their fitness level is so high. – If you find this level of frequency is too high, shorten the loading period and lengthen the recovery period, at first. Or, reduce the frequency to training three times per week, on a Mon, Wed, Fri, scheme, etc. – until your preparedness is increased, and your body can handle the frequency.)

The real difference is in failure and periodization (this is so each body part can be trained twice per week as opposed to only once)…

• No exercise should be taken to failure when using sub maximal reps, however, all exercises should be taken to within one or two reps of failure by the final set of the exercise. If muscular failure is reached, there is no way you can train with an increased frequency without overtraining.

• Periodization will be individual to the lifter. However, for the sake of this program a 3-week period of loading followed by one week of recovery is given. (Additionally, if one isn't fully recovered after the one week recovery period, and fatigue still builds, increase the recovery period to two weeks, or have a "recovery month" every 4 or 5 months where you'll have one week of loading and three weeks of recovery during that month to allow your body to fully recover.)

• Progressive Overload is absolutely imperative in every exercise, making sure that load or reps are increased, or that rest periods are decreased to keep intensity high (during loading phases). (Of course, during the recovery phases, if volume is lowered, and frequency reduced slightly, then intensity can and should still be kept high, although the load should be reduced just slightly (approx. 10%) as there is no reason to attempt to set records through progressive overload during this time of recovery.)

• Many different rep ranges will be used. I am partial to the use of rep ranges in the 3-10 range, as it tends to give the lifter a great balance of extreme muscle thickness (like the look of a bodybuilder with a power lifting background) as well as great neural efficiency.

A. Use of Neural Efficiency (as well as some Myofibril Hypertrophy) occurs in rep ranges of 1-3. (Neural Efficiency increases the percentage of motor units that can be activated at any given time. There is little to no effect on size but increases strength will be great. Little to no protein turnover occurs in this rep range as load is too high and mechanical work is too low.)

B. Mostly Myofibril and Sarcomere Hypertrophy and very little Sarcoplasmic Hypertrophy occur with rep ranges of 3-5. (Sarcomere hypertrophy increases contractile proteins in muscle thereby increasing strength directly and also size. Book knowledge suggests that growth here will be mostly myofibril/ sarcomere hypertrophy and will be accompanied with strength gains in other rep ranges and improvements in neural efficiency. Therefore this is perhaps the best rep range for increasing strength. Better balance of load / work done for hypertrophies so no surprises there.)

C. Myofibril, Sarcomere, and Sarcoplasmic Hypertrophy (lots of growth as well strength gain within this rep range with little transfer to 1rm) occur with rep ranges of 5-10. (Sarcoplasmic Hypertrophy does not directly increase strength but can affect it by increasing tendon angle at the attachment - but of course it increases size.)

D. Some Sarcoplasmic with little Myofibril and Sarcomere Hypertrophy occur in rep ranges of 10-15. (More fatigue and a greater extent of waste products are associated with this rep range. Possibly increase in capillary density.)

E. Capillary density increases with little Sarcoplasmic growth with rep ranges above 15. (Muscle endurance begins to become a factor (but who needs that?). Also, waste products are intense – lactic acid buildup to the point of making some individuals sick.)

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• Every eight weeks, the exercises with an asterisk (*) should be performed to their respective 1RM (rotate the weeks that you are maxing out on each exercise so that you don't find yourself maxing out on multiple exercises in one workout.) (The reason for maxing out on certain exercises is to increase neural efficiency as well as myofibril hypertrophy).

• Mild use of eccentrics during loading weeks (one or two reps at the end of the last set, occasionally) can be used for the exercises marked with a (-) (This is because tension is increased with eccentrics due to the fact that fewer MUs are recruited, and therefore more tension is put on each individual recruited MU. With added tension come additional protein degradation and therefore a greater degree of hypertrophy during the recovery period.)

• Exercises with an asterisk (*) should be performed explosively, while exercises WITHOUT an asterisk (*) should be performed in a controlled, comfortable manner, but not super slow.

• Every six weeks, perform squats in session D with 2 sets of 20 reps for increased lactic acid threshold and capillary density. (And it's just a good overall shock to the system.)

• Every six weeks, an entire week will be performed with lower load and higher reps than normal (this is to allow for capillary density to increase, connective tissue strengthening, additional sarcoplasmic hypertrophy, and increased lactic acid threshold) and every six weeks a heavier load and lower reps than normal (for increased neural efficiency and myofibril hypertrophy) will be performed.

• Stretch following each exercise session to help aid in recovery and possibly induce hyperplasia (the exception is to stretch each body part immediately after its last exercise in Upper Body Session A).

• Intense rest and recovery techniques should be utilized on a daily basis (10 min. cardio blasts, ultra-light load high rep work for flooding an area with blood 24 hours after working that area, contrast showers, massage, water consumption, stretching, etc. – although, occasionally these should be avoided to allow the body to respond to a higher state of fatigue.)

• Concentric-Only work should also be utilized for increases in preparedness, general recovery, and additional means of quality training and weight gain without fatigue – good choices would be sled dragging, medicine ball throws, wheel-barrow walking, etc. These extra workouts should be performed approximately 6-12 hours following training and according to the preparedness of the individual lifter. (However, these are great ways to build preparedness/fitness with very little fatigue buildup.)

• Do the required sets and reps even if you are still a little sore from the previous workout. (Now, if you have a horrible case of DOMS, this is a different story – but that most likely means you are training much too close to muscular failure than needed).

• First of all, change up this program so it works best for you. The one thing I hate about most programs is that the author says to follow his program to a tee or you won't gain a pound. Everyone is different with different needs; so as long as you are following the two factor theory, and know what you are doing; adapt this program to fit your needs. (In saying that, don't bastardize the program. It is well put together and will put solid mass on your body in a relatively short amount of time. The exercises have been carefully chosen, so if you change the exercises at all, make damn sure you know exactly what you are doing; i.e. - don't substitute an anterior deltoid exercise for a medial deltoid exercise just "because they both work the shoulders." This would be a major mistake. Keep the balance there.

• Workouts should be kept brief (about 1 hour). Get in there and get out. Additionally, working smaller, antagonistic body parts together can be beneficial. (i.e. – during barbell curls, instead of resting for a couple minutes between sets, do sets of triceps pushdowns.)

• You must continually adapt your workout by changing rep schemes, rest periods, volume, intensity, etc. (occasionally changing an exercise or two) in order to avoid accommodation by the body.

• Chest and Tricep exercises can be left to the discretion of the lifter. Pick exercises you like, but make sure you pick compound exercises, as well as exercises that work your weak areas. (In saying that, I have come up with a very well-rounded chest and triceps routine)

• Incline Barbell press should be performed with a wide grip, elbows out. Closegrip and 5 Board should be performed with close grip and elbows in. (5 board press is where you glue or nail 5 2"x6" boards together (about 18" long) and bench press with someone holding the boards on your chest. The range of motion is short (3-4 inches probably), but the strength of the triceps and elbow joint explode!)

• I view Incline Barbell Press, Close-grip bench, and 5 Board press as one exercise that basically works both the chest and the triceps simultaneously. The lifter starts with 3 sets of Inclines, and then finishes off with a set of close-grips and a set of 5 boards.

• Chest Dips and Tricep Dips are also viewed as one exercise that works both the chest and triceps. Start with 2 sets of deep chest dips, and finish with a set of triceps dips, where you only perform the upper part of the dip.

• You can substitute pull-through for reverse hypers if you don't have access to a reverse hyper machine. (If you don't know what a pull-through is, go to www.elitefts.com and check the "ask Dave" section. You'll find a description there.

• Glute/ Ham raises are a must. (If you don't have access to a glute ham machine, go to t-mag.com and there are several description of how to perform these there by Coach Francis or Davies, I believe.)

• Work forearms any way you want to. The given set and rep scheme is what I use more for prehab because I struggle with tendonitis.

• Barbell Rows are best by "starting with the bar on the floor every single rep. Your middle back will have slight bend to it. You pull the bar off the floor quickly with the arms, and by a powerful arch of your middle back. You finish by touching the bar to your upper stomach or middle stomach. At no time is there any movement of the hips or knees, no hip extension at all, all that bends is the middle back and the shoulders and elbows. This is hard to do and you have to have good muscular control to do it, or you'll end up straightening up at the hips along with the arching of the back. But if you can master doing them this way you will get a big back. This works because the lats actually extend (arch) the middle back in addition to other functions, just like with glute-ham extensions compared to leg curls…you always get a stronger contraction when you move both the origin and insertion of a muscle, flexing it from both ends so to speak. The bar returns to the floor after each rep. The bent row is actually best done as an explosive movement and the bar is moved fast."

• Pullups are to be done to failure, but not absolute muscular failure. At 260 pounds I can't do very many, so I just do them until I can't complete another full rep, and then I stop.

• Rotator work is given purely as prehab for me. I use what is called a shoulder horn for this work, so I don't tear my rotator cuff up when handling heavy weight during bench press.

• For squats, I squat with a wide stance, and sit way back, which tends to put the emphasis on my glutes and hamstrings more so than my quads. I find that greater overall leg development is achieved by squatting in this manner. If you are purely a quad squatter, you most likely won't need an additional quad exercise.

[Phreezer]

* (-)Low Incline Barbell Press/ Closegrip/ 5 Board Closegrip
Dips (Low Chest Dips Followed by one set of Tricep Dips)
Dumbell Extensions
(-)Seated Military Press
Dumbell Overhead Press
Barbell Rows
(-)Pulldowns
Upright Rows
(-)Barbell Curls
Dumbell Curls
Forearms (one superset of wrist curls, reverse wrist curls, and twists)

Session B (Thursday):

(-)Decline Dumbell Press
Flat Flys
*Push Press
(-)Pullups
Low Cable Rows
Lateral Raises (rear, followed by side), Rotator Work (front, side, and rear)
Skull Crushers
(-)Barbell Curls
(-)Pushdowns
Hammer Curls
Forearms (one superset)

Lower Body:

Glutes
Hamstrings
Quads
Calves
Lower Back
Traps
Abs, Obliques

Session C (Tuesday):

*Squats
*Goodmornings
*Cleans
Hack Squats (Old school barbell style are my favorite)
Straight Leg Deadlifts
Calves
Reverse Hypers
Abdominals
Obliques

Session D (Friday):

Squats (lighter)
*Deadlifts/ Trap Shrugs
Front Squats
Glute/Ham/Calf Raises
Donkey Calves
Reverse Hypers
Abdominals
Obliques

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Glute Ham raise ....

[Phreezer]

If you don't have a glute ham raise machine...You can do them on the floor like this...

Exercise: Ham/Glute Raises

· Position yourself on the floor with your knees on a pad and your heels stabilized.

· Hips forward and keeping the body perfectly straight. Pivot forward with the body coming in contact with the ground.

· Keep your hands at your chest and push yourself up in one motion. The decision is yours to limit the assistance you provide.

[Phreezer]

Reverse Hypers...

Use enough to weight to make it worth your effort. Some people I see will get on it and put two ten pound plates on there. You will not get enough front swing that way. You need enough weight to have it pull you forward to stretch and open the spine up for the desired effect.

I have also seen people go too crazy on the back swing and bring their legs way up above their body. You only need to bring the legs up so that they are sticking straight out along the same line as your body.

Lean Over the flat pad. Grasp both handles, Then hook your feet in the stirup straps and swing the weight back using your hips to move the bar...

[Phreezer]

Good Mornings..

Carry the bar lower on your back when you unrack it...like a power squat, now, as you start to bend at the waist, keep the arch in your back....dont round, stay tight.....now as your head is dropping, shove your ass back...like this symbol here " < ". Reverse it when you come back up.

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Here is another pic of doing good mornings...This is without any weight but this girls form is top notch!

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Five, Four and Three board Presses

· Lie on a bench.

· With your back flat on the bench, grip the barbell with palms facing up.

· Lift the barbell off the rack to the starting position, which is straight above your upper chest, arms extended fully

· You lower the bar to the boards (nailed or glued together) [while your partner holds the boards in place] You can let the bar sink into the boards and then fire up.

[Phreezer]

Bent over Barbell rows

Bend your knees slightly, Lean over the barbell at about a 40 degree angle, With your back straight (do not round your back) Grasp the bar with your hands at about shoulder width apart. Using your lats (similar to a seated Row) pull the weight up untill the bar touches your chest.