How to Gain Strength Faster Using the 4 Percent Solution?

 

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FASTER STRENGTH GAINS USING 4 PERCENT

The Four Percent Solution for Fast Strength Gains

I recently gave a private seminar in Montreal for a small dedicated group of strength coaches led by Eric Falstrault of The Strength Code fame.

Over three days of private teaching, we spent 70% of the time discussing individualization of program design. Even though the trainers were advanced, they had a very deep interest in learning more about making precise and individualized recommendations in terms of loading parameters.

Norwegian powerhouse Kjell Egil Bakkelund deadlifting 337.5 kg at 79.5 kg bodyweight

I recommend variety, of course, but there are some set-rep schemes that I tend to favor over others. I like them because they’re mentally stimulating and physically challenging. Moreover, I like them because they’re effective. One in particular is the aforementioned Four Percent Solution. It’s effective regardless of where you are in the bodybuilding hierarchy. You can be a rank beginner, or master of the universe. In short, it gets your heart rate going and your muscles growing.

A Closer Look…

The Four Percent Solution involves a set pattern of progression. In a nutshell, you’ll increase the amount of resistance by 4 to 5% each workout, while simultaneously reducing the number of reps by one each time. After you recover from the sixth workout, you’ll have increased your strength in each lift by approximately 10%!

People in the know in the field of strength training realize that the number of reps is the loading parameter to which an individual adapts the fastest, and the Four Percent Solution takes advantage of this fact. I’m sure people like Tony Little have no idea what I’m talking about, but no matter. The Four Percent Solution is based on the principle, “success breeds success”.

Whenever people achieve goals, whether it’s in business or athletics, testosterone levels rise. When T levels rise, your recovery ability improves. And, because you recover more quickly, you make more gains. Because you have more gains, you have more success and you make more testosterone, and so on and so on.

Before I give examples of the workout, let’s talk about the loading parameters of the Four Percent Solution.

The Intensity Zone

Select a 3-rep bracket to start the cycle. The number of reps should fall between 3 and 8. For instance, choose to do sets of 3-5 reps, 4-6 reps, 5-7 reps, or 6-8 reps.

The decision is somewhat arbitrary; just make sure you write down the rep bracket you selected and stick with if for the duration of the program.

Tempo

The tempo (the time it takes you to complete one rep) should be the same throughout the 6 workouts of the phase. Depending on your goal, the total time under tension per set determines the chosen tempo. For example, if mass is your goal, the set should last at least 40 seconds. If relative strength is the desired goal, the total length of the set shouldn’t exceed 20 seconds.

Let’s say the rep bracket you selected is 4 to 8 reps and your goal is to build functional hypertrophy. That means that it should take at least 20 seconds to do your 4 to 8 reps. Therefore, a suitable tempo for a set of six might be 3210, where 3 is the number of seconds it takes to lower the weight; 2 is the number of seconds you pause in the bottom position; and 1 is the number of seconds it takes to raise the weight. The 0 stands for not taking a pause at the top.

Therefore, each rep would take about 6 seconds and since you’d be doing 6 reps, 6×7 equals 42. That means your total time under tension would be 42 seconds for that particular set.

Rest Interval

In order to allow the phosphagens to nearly replenish and give the central nervous system enough time to recover and be able to activate the high-threshold fibers again, you need to rest 3 to 4 minutes between sets.

It may be difficult for many of you to take that much rest, but believe me, your discipline will pay big dividends in the long run. In fact, failure to take adequate rest between sets will negate the positive effects of this program. I recommend using a stopwatch that beeps after the rest interval is over.

As a note, strength athletes generally rest between 4 and 5 minutes after sets of the Power Clean or other Olympic lifts. The technical element of these lifts is much greater than that of conventional lifts; thus the demands on the nervous system are much greater.

Number of Exercises

I don’t recommend doing more than 2 exercises per body part because you’ll be doing a high number of total sets

Exercise Selection

I recommend that you select compound exercises that recruit a lot of muscle mass. Therefore, exercises like rows, squats, deadlifts, or presses are the best choices for this method. Hopefully, you can use at least 100 pounds in a given exercise because it makes the math easier. It also makes it easier to change the weight since 1 1/4 pound plates are a rarity. Of course if your strength levels are low, you can always use Eleiko Friction Plates to meet the 4 to 5% weight increase. Eleiko also makes 1 ¼ pound plates which permits you to make even more precise jumps when combined with the Eleiko kilo plates

Frequency

Work every body part once every 4 to 5 days. Here’s one possible split:

• Day 1: Chest and Back
• Day 2: Legs and Abs
• Day 3: Off
• Day 4: Shoulders and Arms
• Day 5: Off

Duration

This program is designed to be used for 6 workouts per body part.

Overload Mechanism

Do your initial workouts with the chosen number of reps and the predetermined weight. You’ll then increase the load by 4 to 5% every workout for two workouts in a row. Concurrently, you’ll also reduce the target reps by one rep for every weight increase. Then, after the third workout, you’ll reduce the weight 4 to 5% but bring the number of reps back to the original starting point. If you’ve done this correctly, you’ll have increased your strength by 4-5%.

If you’re confused, I don’t blame you, so let me offer an example:

The Four Percent Solution

Let’s say you have a weak brachialis muscle and you want to improve your reverse curl strength. And, for the sake of this example, we’ll say your best performance for the reverse curl is 100 pounds for 7 reps.

This is what your rep/set cycle would look like:

• Workout 1: 4-5 sets x 7 reps at 100 pounds
• Workout 2: Increase the weight from the last workout by 4-5 percent and do 1 rep less per set: 4-5 sets x 6 reps at 104-105 pounds
• Workout 3: Increase the weight from the last workout by 4-5 percent and do 1 rep less per set: 4-5 sets x 5 reps at 108-110 pounds
• Workout 4: Use the load you used in workout #2 for the workout #1 rep target. In this case, you’re shooting for: 4-5 sets x 7 reps at 104-105 pounds
• Workout 5: Use the load used in workout #3 for the workout #2 rep target: 4-5 sets x 6 reps at 108-110 pounds
• Workout 6: Increase the weight from the last workout by 4-5 percent and do 1 rep less per set: 4-5 sets x 5 reps at 115 pounds

NOTE: If you achieve your goal, it means you’re already 4-5% stronger!

By logical extension, if you did workout 7, you’d now be able to do 7 RM (repetitions maximum) with 110 pounds! That’s a 10% percent increase in strength over 6 workouts, and that’s excellent! (I don’t actually map out the seventh workout because it would just be an exercise in vanity-the nervous system typically adapts to any workout program in 6 workouts and after that, it’s time to move on to another type of program.)

Obviously, because of neuromuscular fatigue, you won’t be able to achieve your rep target every set, but as long as you hit your goal on the first set of every workout, you’re doing fine.

The Four Percent Solution Applied to Squats

Biomechanists have determined that when you do a squat, you’re in fact squatting 75% of your bodyweight, plus the load on the barbell (Although it seems like you’re squatting all of your bodyweight, you’re not. After all, the legs are lifting the upper body; they’re not lifting themselves off the ground).

Keep that in mind when you adjust your squat poundages up by 4%. For instance, let’s say you weigh 100 kg and you’re squatting 200 kg for 5 reps.

When increasing the weight four percent from workout to workout, the load increases would look like this:

Weight increase: 4% (load of barbell + (75% x bodyweight)) Weight increase: 4% (200 kg + (75% x 100 kg) Weight increase: 4% (200 kg + 75 kg) Weight increase: 11 kg

So, in this particular case, a 4% increase would bring our hypothetical 100 kg bodybuilder’s load to 211 kg for his sets of 4 in his next workout.

Tips for the Four Percent Solution

In order to perform this program properly, I strongly urge you to keep a detailed journal of the exact number of sets and reps performed, load used, and rest interval taken. Furthermore, only count the reps done in strict form. Go ahead and do forced reps for the last rep of every third workout, but don’t count them as complete reps.

Wrap Up

I hope that the Four Percent Solution isn’t too confusing. I think that you’ll find it well-worth all the head scratches and furrowed brows it took to figure it out, though.

In any event, if there’s such a thing as one singly unifying theory of training as Mike Mentzer claims, it’s that the best system is the one that constantly changes. As your body adapts, it’s recovery ability increases and higher levels of volume and intensity of training are needed to ensure further growth.

To find out how you can gain strength faster, watch this video – The Fastest Way to Get Stronger (WORKS EVERY TIME!)

Written by Charles Poliquin

Author Bio:

Chris Willitts (creator of V3), is the founder and owner of Vegetarian Bodybuilding.

V3 Vegetarian Bodybuilding System is a mixture of science and author’s advice, providing users with optimal diet and exercise. This system is designed for vegans and vegetarians only.

A lot of research has been put in this program. Furthermore, a lot of professional bodybuilders and athletes tried and tested the program, praising its progressiveness and efficiency.

The program is about taking control of your own body and health according to your potential and needs. And worry not; you’ll get plenty of proteins with this system. It will boost you with energy, and you’ll feel just a strong as any carnivore would (perhaps even stronger, depending on how much you invest in your exercise). It avoids vitamins deficiency and provides you with a lot of proteins, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. 

Instead of saying things like “I think a plant-based diet is good for athletes and bodybuilders,” the V3 Vegetarian Bodybuilding System claims “I know a plant-based diet is good for athletes and bodybuilders, and I have results to prove it.”

To find out more, visit the website at V3 Bodybuilding – How to Gain Strength Faster

Why Strong Sex Drive is Good for Female Fitness Competition Training?

 

Click HERE to Find Out How You Can Build Muscle & Lose Fat By Eating Plants

SEX DRIVE IS BENEFICIAL FOR FEMALE FITNESS COMPETITORS

It’s common for a woman’s sex drive to become nearly non-existent when she’s training for a fitness competition.

But just because it’s common doesn’t mean it’s normal or healthy. Not only can a low sex drive wreak havoc on your relationship at home, but it actually hinders your competition performance as well.

According to a study about women’s physiological sexual arousal published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine, women are more sexually responsive after twenty minutes of vigorous exercise. But let’s be honest. If you’re training for competition, you’re spending way more than twenty minutes each day at the gym.

Components of Female Fitness Competition Training

• Compound exercises that focus on building and maintaining muscle
• Focus on strength training
• Some cardio to supplement nutrition
• Interval training to burn fat
• Understanding what the judges are looking for
• Tanning, suit selection, quarter turns, posing, and stage presence
• Determination, dedication, and unwavering motivation

Why Competition Prep Lowers Sex Drive

As you ramp up your workout routine to prepare for competition, you’re undoubtedly going to be sweating more – which leads to excessive mineral loss. When you sweat excessively, your body’s magnesium and zinc levels plummet – which leads to lower Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) levels too. DHEA is an important endogenous steroid hormone that is produced in the adrenal glands, the gonads, and the brain.

According to a study published in The Journal of Steroid Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, it’s also the hormone in charge of the female sex drive.

As explained by strength coach, Charles Pollquin, low magnesium levels make the female body more hyper-sensitive to stress, causing an abnormal boost in cortisol.

The hormone, cortisol, is released in response to stress to increase blood sugar, suppress the immune system, and aid metabolism. When your body feels more stress, it takes pregnenolone hormones from DHEA pathways to make more cortisol.

Once again, less DHEA is produced and the female sex drive dips even lower than before.

When women begin exercising more, both estrogen and progesterone hormones become depleted as well. These two hormones are essential in maintaining both sex drive and sexual satisfaction.

Why Sex Drive is Important When Competing

Not only is sex drive important in your relationship, but it can actually enhance your competition performance as well. For athletes who experience pre-competition jitters, engaging in sexual activity the night before can be a relaxing distraction from stress and anxiety. Scientists also discovered that the female orgasm has the power to stop the release of specific pain transmitters for up to 24 hours. This is particularly important for women competitors who have frequent muscle pain and soreness.

You can often judge how your body is responding to a training routine by simply monitoring your sex drive. If your normally heightened sex drive weans after rigorous gym sessions, it could be a sign that you’re overdoing it. Allow your body to get enough rest and re-evaluate how much time you need to spend at the gym so that your body has enough time to repair itself and grow.

These are few other benefits of a healthy and active sex drive, which nicely complement a training-style diet and fitness routine:

• Boosts immune system
• Increases overall energy throughout the day
• Serves as an extra cardio session
• Encourages a healthy heart
• Stimulates brain and hormone production
• Strengthens your core and leg muscles
• Stretches out your tight back hips

Vegetarian Foods to Boost Sex Drive

Since intense competition training essentially lowers DHEA production, it’s important for female fitness competitors to supplement their diets to support more DHEA production. Even if you’re trying to shed some pounds before the competition, natural sources of saturated fat and cholesterol can help fuel the body’s sex hormone production.

Men fitness competitors sometimes think they need to eat meat to boost their testosterone levels, thereby enhancing their sex drive. However, studies have yet to definitively link any positive effects of meat on the male or female sex drive. Processed foods, simple sugars, and alcohol should be avoided entirely.

These are some delicious vegetarian-friendly foods known to help boost your sex drive:

• Avocados
• Olives
• Coconut milk
• Bananas
• Nuts
• Garlic
• Pumpkin
• Chocolate

Vegetarian Supplements to Boost Sex Drive

Your Hydrochloric acid (HCL) levels should be optimized before you start taking any type of supplement to boost your sex drive. If you don’t have an adequate amount of stomach acid, the healthy foods you eat and supplements you take will be ineffective. Some medical experts suggest testing your stomach acid with a kit before starting a new supplement routine.

Although you shouldn’t think of supplements as a quick fix, they can get your hormones back in check if diet and exercise simply aren’t cutting it. These are a few of the supplements known to boost women’s sex drives:

• Arginine
• Yohimbe
• Ginseng
• Zinc

Yoga Practice to Boost Sex Drive

If you’re feeling the effects of a low sex drive, yoga may be able to help you more than anything else. Yoga helps you get in tune with your body’s natural movements, it triggers untapped sensations in the libido, and it stretches out those muscles you keep forgetting about.

Few things kill a sex drive quicker than stress. Although a full yoga session is most effective, you can alleviate the effects of stress by simple controlled breathing exercises or even going for a brisk walk in the outdoors.

These are some of the best yoga positions to boost the female sex drive:

• Kneeling core plank – works the pelvic floor muscles, glutes, waist, and hips
• Wide-legged straddle pose – encourages blood flow to the pelvic area
• Pigeon pose – releases tension in the hips and increases flexibility

To boost your sex drive before a competition, you should focus on greater intensity and less volume. Try doing only one or two really long workouts each week so you can focus on high intensity interval training on the other days.

Summary

Fitness competition preparation involves a great deal of endurance training, and unlike power and speed training, it depletes the hormones that promote sexual health. Seasoned athletes who optimize their recovery and eat a healthy diet of fruits and vegetables are less likely to experience sexual dysfunction while training. A vegetarian diet and regular yoga practice are great places to start finding your libido again.

However, the correlation between endurance exercise and sex drive is wholly dependent upon the individual. Some women’s sex hormones dip so low that they develop irregular menstrual periods or stop having them altogether. But above all, be accepting of fluctuations in your libido and patient with your body as you transform it into a masterpiece. Sexual dysfunction from training can be worsened by a variety of underlying issues, so learn to love your body and feel confidence in each physical stage you go through.

For topics related to why strong sex drive is good for female fitness competition training, watch this video – Sex Drive Changes BULKING vs CUTTING | Increase Libido (EASILY)

Author Bio:

Chris Willitts (creator of V3), is the founder and owner of Vegetarian Bodybuilding.

V3 Vegetarian Bodybuilding System is a mixture of science and author’s advice, providing users with optimal diet and exercise. This system is designed for vegans and vegetarians only.

A lot of research has been put in this program. Furthermore, a lot of professional bodybuilders and athletes tried and tested the program, praising its progressiveness and efficiency.

The program is about taking control of your own body and health according to your potential and needs. And worry not; you’ll get plenty of proteins with this system. It will boost you with energy, and you’ll feel just a strong as any carnivore would (perhaps even stronger, depending on how much you invest in your exercise). It avoids vitamins deficiency and provides you with a lot of proteins, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. 

Instead of saying things like “I think a plant-based diet is good for athletes and bodybuilders,” the V3 Vegetarian Bodybuilding System claims “I know a plant-based diet is good for athletes and bodybuilders, and I have results to prove it.” To find out more, visit the website at V3 Bodybuilding – Why Strong Sex Drive is Good for Female Fitness Competition Training

What is the Best Way to Slow the Progression of Alzheimer’s Disease?

 

Click Here for Help with Alzheimer’s, Other Types of Dementia and General Memory Loss

Slow the Progression of Alzheimer’s Disease – This Food Causes Alzheimer’s

A study in the latest edition of Scientific Reports, written by researchers at the University of Bath and King’s College London, now proposes a mechanism through which one specific type of food causes Alzheimer’s disease.

Unfortunately, it’s a food that is everywhere as an additive or by itself. It’s known by many names, as attempts to disguise its presence in ingredient lists are crafty.

Sugar molecules inside your body have this nasty habit of binding to protein and fat molecules. When this binding is controlled by enzymes, it’s normal and harmless.

But when this binding happens without the involvement of enzymes, scientists call it glycation, which can be harmful.

During the process of glycation, protein and fat cells can be damaged, and harmful advanced glycation end products can be released that can damage other cells even further.

None of this is new knowledge, but researchers never quite understood how glycation led to Alzheimer’s.

The Bath and London scientists studied brain samples of people with and without Alzheimer’s. They discovered that at the beginning of the disease, glycation damaged an enzyme called MIF (macrophage migration inhibitory factor).

This MIF enzyme is part of your immune system. When proteins start building up in your brain, as happens at the beginning of Alzheimer’s, MIF is supposed to stimulate other brain cells, called glia, to deal with this abnormal protein buildup.

But because glycation suppresses MIF, this process cannot get going, thereby allowing Alzheimer’s to proceed undisturbed.

In other words, your immune system has a mechanism to combat the changes that lead to this disease, but excessive sugar intake kills this mechanism.

We often wonder why our immune systems are so feeble and cannot protect us against cancer, Alzheimer’s, cardiovascular disease, and other widespread 21st-century ailments.

But this study shows that our immune systems are a lot better than we think—but they need a bit of help from us in the form of a reasonably healthy diet.

Be on the lookout for added sugar in your foods: sucrose, high fructose corn syrup, and other names. Checking the carbohydrate content is the best way to see whether you’re eating excessive amounts of sugar.

Slow the Progression of Alzheimer’s Disease – There is, however, one thing more important to your brain than avoiding sugars and obesity—and that’s to load your brain with the one ingredient it needs the most. The good news is that it’s free and available everywhere, as I’ll explain here…

Slow the Progression of Alzheimer’s Disease – Dementia NOT Prevented with These Dangerous Drugs

There are common drugs that everyone takes at some point.

And for a long time, doctors have been recommending them to fight off dementia and prevent stroke.

However, the journal Neurology has just issued a stark warning – this drug does not act against dementia and may actually cause stroke.

Previous medical advice about Aspirin was it was good for our hearts. Some scientists had claimed that it benefited brain health by reducing inflammation and dissolving small blood clots by keeping blood vessels open.

But using Aspirin for this purpose comes with a huge risk.

It can also cause unnecessary dangerous bleeding in the brain because of the thinning of our blood and the preventing blood clotting.

Researchers identified 19,114 people who had neither dementia nor heart disease at the beginning of the study. They followed and observed them for 7 years.

They gave half the participants a low dose of 100 milligrams of Aspirin per day, while the other half were given placebos.

At the beginning of and throughout the study participants were given tests to measure their thinking and memory.

By the end of the study, they had found no difference between the Aspirin and placebo takers in developing dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. They also found no difference in the rate of cognitive decline between the two groups.

People around age 70 have weaker blood vessels than younger people, which is presumably true of the blood vessels in their brains too.

This makes it all the more important that their blood can clot effectively when there are small ruptures in tiny blood vessels in their brains. If this cannot happen, the chances of them suffering from a catastrophic stroke is far greater.

Slow the Progression of Alzheimer’s Disease – It’s essential to increase blood flow to your brain if you want to fend off dementia. And here is a much safer, easier and more effective way to do that…

Slow the Progression of Alzheimer’s Disease – This Cholesterol Combats Alzheimer’s

An excess of cholesterol wreaks havoc in our blood vessels, and researchers have now discovered it causes Alzheimer’s disease as well.

Canadian researchers examined the brains of patients who had died of Alzheimer’s disease, finding that Alzheimer’s brains contained significantly more cholesterol than non-Alzheimer’s brains.

But that’s only half the story… They also discovered that Alzheimer’s brains and healthy brains do very different things with cholesterol.

And this may hold the key to finally cure Alzheimer’s.

The Canadian team found that Alzheimer’s brains retained cholesterol while healthy brains metabolized it. This study appeared in the journal Neurobiology of Disease.

A few years later, a different team published a study in Molecular Neurodegeneration in which they actually demonstrated what happened to neurons when they loaded cholesterol into their membranes.

These neurons immediately started resembling and behaving like neurons in Alzheimer’s brains.

Compared to non-Alzheimer’s neurons, Different genes were turned on and off, the transport of proteins in those neurons were blocked, and they secreted a lot more amyloid-beta42, a protein that appears in large amounts in Alzheimer’s brains.

But at present researchers still don’t understand the exact role that cholesterol plays in the development of the disease.

Until exact cause and effect relationships can be proven, it’s best to drop cholesterol to healthy levels.

To find out how you can slow the progression of Alzheimer’s Disease, watch this video – Alzheimers and Exercise (Doing THIS Can Slow Progression)

Unfortunately, traditional cholesterol diets are almost useless to improve cholesterol and heart health. Here is the one ingredient I cut out to clear up my 93% clogged arteries…

Slow the Progression of Alzheimer’s Disease – The great news about this study for Alzheimer’s is that it proves your brain is lacking one ingredient to function properly. And it’s completely free and available everywhere. Learn how to capture it here…

This post is from the Brain Booster Exercise Program created for the purpose of helping to reverse Alzheimer’s, boost memory. It was made by Christian Goodman Blue Heron health news that has been recognized as one of the top-quality national health information websites.  This is an all-natural system that utilizes the power of exercises to slow down, prevent, or even reverse memory loss and boost your brain with energy and power. These exercises work to deliver as much nutrition and oxygen to your starving brain as possible and begin the restoring of the damaged brain cells.

To find out more about this program, click on Slow the Progression of Alzheimer’s Disease