| NPC Lightweight
Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Lone Tree, Colorado (South Denver) Age: 31 Posts: 148 Rep Power: 3 
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EIGHT IS ENOUGH
Here is a great Routine article I found by Vince Gioranda, A former Mr. America and Mr. Universe, Gironda made his name as a colorful, irrepressible mad genius and “trainer to the stars,” who turned all preconceived notions about fitness on its head from the late 1940s until his death in 1997. He was as famous as he was infamous — irascible, outspoken and rebellious, bucking tradition with his own rogue ideas about how to get nearly anyone into better shape faster. He also had many controversial theories about diet, including advocating the heavy use of eggs as a primary source of protein.
“Bodybuilding is 85 percent nutrition,” he was known to say, a dictum that wasn’t fashionable at the time but has since caught on with many bodybuilding trainers.
Gironda’s legacy continues to grow. A main reason is that his training systems are as effective as they are unique. His idiosyncratic innovations earned him a nickname: Iron Guru.
The 8x8 is pretty much what it says: You do 8 sets of 8 reps of a given exercise. The rest period between each set must be timed, and you gradually decrease these rest periods to generate greater density. Gironda’s intention was to increase the amount of work per unit of time and increase workout intensity.
Here’s a rundown of how to implement the 8x8.
›› A good weekly schedule for 8x8s is five days on, two off.
›› It’s best to start with a one-minute rest between sets. You will need a watch with a second hand or a stopwatch to do this routine correctly.
›› Depending on your level of fitness, you may want to just start the 8x8 with one exercise per body part. But here’s the kicker, and this part is very important: use a very light weight. It is imperative that you use light weight because you are building connective tissue along the way as well as endurance. If you normally do incline dumbbell presses with a 25-lb weight, drop it to 15 lb or maybe even less for the purpose of this program.
›› You can use 8x8s for specific targeted body parts or for large muscle groups, though working the big body parts are truly challenging.
›› Treat the workout like a circuit, moving immediately to the next exercise and series of 8 sets after you finish one sequence.
›› It is also imperative that you keep a workout log, with a preplanned menu of the week’s exercises and rest periods already printed out or written down. After each workout, write down the date, the number of sets and reps completed, and the rest periods. When the next cycle starts, with, let’s say, legs, draw a big line under it so you know it’s time to drop it down another five seconds. If you find you are unable to complete the number of reps and sets you’ve prescribed for yourself, you may need to lower the weight.
›› Each time you begin your next workout cycle, you will decrease your rest period between sets by five seconds. For the first few workouts, the light weights and long rests will seem quite boring. About halfway through your journey toward 30- or even 10-second rests, the workouts will get harder and you will start to feel challenged. Depending on how low you want to go (Gironda had some of his best athletes down to 10-second rests), you will feel a burn and get results like nothing you’ve ever experienced before in the gym.
›› For the first four workouts or so you are going to think this is nuts, and the most useless boring thing in the world, but in all truth, as you continue to drop rest time, gravity will win out and you will feel the Gironda burn. There is a method to this madness and very soon the onus will be on you.
›› You must be very careful that you do not put too much stress on your joints or your cardiovascular system early on. Done incorrectly, the 8x8 can be painful, stressful, and to someone with little common sense, downright dangerous.
There are many varied versions about how to do the 8x8, and the best way is to just figure out what works best for you. Many start with one exercise. Try to assess your own level of fitness and see what works best.
To enter Gironda’s world of calculated sets and reps is to rediscover what weight training is all about. The dinosaur world of 3 sets of 10 reps will fade fast in your rearview mirror, the training wheels will fall of your old physique and you’ll find yourself Googling “Gironda 5x5” with the big boys because now you feel you’re ready to go heavy. And with the 8x8 behind you, you are.
Choose a split, such as this example below.
Legs
Squats (for women)
Seated calf raises
Sissy squats (for men)
Shoulders/triceps
Overhead dumbbell presses
Bent lat raises
Dips
Back
Low-pulley rows
Chin-ups
Cross-bench dumbbell pull-overs
Biceps
Body drag curls
Barbell curls
Incline dumbbell curls
Chest
Bench presses (wide grip)
Incline dumbbell presses
Dumbbell flat-bench flyes
LINK: Muscle & Body Magazine
__________________  "Grab the bull by the horns the old addage goes.
nobody tells you where to go from there.
I see whats greatful in you.
Decisions have to be made.
The worse part is the hardest earned.
Back and forth the struggle consumes us all.
Trying to keep a level head.
In the most unsetteling of times.
Today I'll become the bull"
- Atreyu - Becoming the Bull |
”A man can fail many times, but he isn't a failure until he gives up.”
