A mass building question

[vlad]

I have been working on building mass and strength since the end of May09. I am 6ft tall and went from 175 to 215(all natural)in 4 months. I previously cut to 175 for a reason. I was pretty lean at 215 but wanted to give myself a break from heavy weights and do a quick cut. I did a 3 week cut and now I am down to 205(all natural) and I know I cut mostly water. I have an amazing diet and training. So here is my question. I used to do 4 sets per exercise with reps of 8,6,4,2 however a buddy (who is juicing) suggested doing 4 sets with reps of 10,8,6,4. Since I have been doing that, everything has been going well except my deadlifts. I used to do 275 for 8, 315 for 6, 365 for 4 and 405 for 1 or 2 and now I do 275 for 10, 315 for 8, 365 for 3 to 4 and I am beat. It takes me about 10 minutes to regain my strength back after that. I did the same thing with my squats and I am doing 405 for 4 reps on my 4th set while doing 10,8,6,4 starting at 275 for 10. This is really frustrating for me. Should I go back to 8,6,4,2 or should I stick with 10,8,6,4 and fight through it? Any other suggestions?

Thanks alot,
Vlad

[JonnyO]

Id go with what works for YOU and stick with it.

[GYMBRAT]

x2, and eat/train like it's going outa style

[vlad]

So 8,6,4,2 is not too little for building? Should I maybe add another lighter set of 10 at the beginning?

[RagingRandy]

The high rep sets are not for building muscle but for warm up. When doing warmup sets you should not be fatiguing the muscle. Try doing 2 warmup sets of 10 reps to get the muscles full of blood. I would then do 3 sets @ 5-6 reps to failure. Wait 2 minutes between sets. If you can do more than 6 reps add weight.

This works for me....YMMV

[hiramabiff]

Not every body part responds the same. What works for Bi's may not work for deads. I'd say go back to your old dead reps/sets.

[Praetorian]

RagingRandy is correct...warmups are to get blood flowing and to get the body used to the weight...not to tire you out. Here is an example of how to warm up and do 3 working sets on the deadlift...for a max of approx 405lbs for a few reps.

warm up 135lbs for 8
warm up 225lbs for 6
warm up 275lbs for 4
warm up 315lbs for 3
warm up 365lbs for 1
first working set 405 for as many as possible (approx 1-4)
second working set 365 for as many as possible (approx 3-6)
third working set 315lbs as many as possible (approx 5-8)

P

[vlad]

RagingRandy is correct...warmups are to get blood flowing and to get the body used to the weight...not to tire you out. Here is an example of how to warm up and do 3 working sets on the deadlift...for a max of approx 405lbs for a few reps.

warm up 135lbs for 8
warm up 225lbs for 6
warm up 275lbs for 4
warm up 315lbs for 3
warm up 365lbs for 1
first working set 405 for as many as possible (approx 1-4)
second working set 365 for as many as possible (approx 3-6)
third working set 315lbs as many as possible (approx 5-8)

P

Thanks for the input. I have never tried anything like this and we'll be sure to try it out. I am doing back on Wed. and will let you know how it goes.

[Timbo89]

if you are getting stronger, you are getting bigger. No doubt about it. So if all the other lifts are going well, stick with you new routiune for those lifts and stick with the other routine for your deadlfits. You dont have to stick with one routine for all exercises. Its completely normal to do different ammount of sets or reps for different exercises.

[trevorbc]

Yeah great advice above, you dont really need to do one thing or another..you can meet in the middle if need be even, listen to your body when in recovery and with your diet supps and just see how you feel. I have had similar situations over the years and I always go back to the basics and they tell me what I am doing wrong through muscle memory or other aspects or if I am ignoring a area or training it improperly and my strength on any movement or exercise is starting to fade or get rusty it sure can be frustrating trying to figure it all out sometimes so I know how you feel. Wishing you all the best and big gains! Stay Strong!