[blackax]

Well if you just want to get "bigger" with out getting that much stronger there is this Russian's" Push-Up Regime that really works

Here's what the workout looks like. I'll post it - it's a bit long so be prepared. Interesting reading though. I've got a few questions so scroll down to the bottom, after reading it, and respond to them, if you get a moment.

Here we go:



Before the bench press was a twinkle in some early powerlifter's eye, the push up was the true measure of a person. A hundred separated the men from the boys; the women from the girls. Still does. How will you rate?

Pretty good if you follow my program.

All right, so you're not planning to join the marines- your loss, their gain- so why should you bother giving me a hundred? Because, if you train the right way, this push-up drill will fill out your pecs, delts & tri's faster than a jarhead recruit can clean a latrine with his toothbrush.

Where heavy resistance training builds the contractile proteins, high-volume, low intensity loading, such as push-ups, kick other wheels of the muscles machinery into growth. The volume of sacroplasm goes up. Mitochondria, the muscle cells' energy plants, get buff. Capillaries spread their tentacles throughout the muscle.

Even though capillaries make up but a fraction of a muscle's girth they serve a VIP function in bulking your myofibrils, or "real muscle", when you get back to heavy training. Here's how it works:

A 1995 British study by Schott et al., concluded that greater exposure of muscle cells to various metabolites, or "muscle engine exhaust fumes", leads to greater gains in strength & mass. It has been suggested by some experts that the more extensive a muscle's vascularity, the more the muscle will be soaked in intra-muscular metabolites & growth factors, & the more it will grow.

At least up to a point. According to Soviet research (Zalesskiy & Burkhanov, 1981), vascular network development generally can not keep up with muscle growth. So if you want to keep on growing beyond the easy first gains, you must find a way of developing your vascular network.

This is where super high reps come in. In 1986, Luthi et al., discovered that heavy training has no effect on capillarization. In 1984, Tesch et al., added that Olympic weightlifters & other athletes who favour low-rep training with long rest periods display capillary density that is even lower than that of untrained subjects! The same year, Sjoogard stated that enhanced capillarization is the result of endurance training. (Could explain why your legs gain mass so much easier than your arms?)



The evil Russian’s “hit the deck” program


WEEK 1

Mon: 100% test, relative intensity (RI) 30% Set frequency (SF) 60 min
Tues: RI 50% SF 60 min
Wed: RI 60% SF 45 min
Thurs: RI 25% SF 60 min
Fri: RI 45% SF 30 min
Sat: RI 40% SF 60 min
Sun: RI 20% SF 90 min

WEEK 2

Mon: 100% test RI 35% SF 45min
Tues: RI 55% SF 20 min
Wed: RI 30% SF 15 min
Thurs: RI 65% SF 60min
Fri: RI 35% SF 45 min
Sat: RI 45% SF 60 min
Sun: RI 25% SF120 min

WEEK 3

Mon: 100% test


The program outlined in the chart above is self-explanatory. Just drop & give me a specified percentage of your last personal best at given time intervals throughout the day. For instance, if you managed 50 push-ups on your test, do 25 on the day that calls for 50% relative intensity. On Mondays, test yourself for one set & do east sets for the rest of the day. You are going to love the constant pump!

Time the breaks between your sets, but you do not have a fit if you missed your date with the concrete here & there. Make it up if you can; do not sweat it if you cannot. Do your sets from the time you get up until an hour before you go to bed. Naturally, most comrades with a real job will have a couple of gaps in their day when they cannot drop & pump out push-ups. Do not worry about it; just gets back on schedule when the boss looks the other way.

Note that you are only supposed to go to the limit once a week. High rep sets to exhaustion are a lot more dangerous than they look. Tension in the stabilising muscles is inadequate to protect the joints & the connective tissues; the latter really get it in the shorts. So do not mess with the outline; stay well within your ability except on test days! Do not worry, you’ll make great gains without collapsing on the last rep, dripping in sweat & making macho faces.

The prescribes regimen requires that you say no to any other upper-body work with the exception of pull-ups or chin-ups. Either of these military favourites will hit the muscles missed by the push-ups & balance out your deltoids.

A word on push-ups for reasons other than getting buff or becoming one of the few good men. Push-ups are no good for strength unless you can merely manage a couple. The time-honoured push-up, however, is useful for developing shoulder endurance for sports such as boxing.