GTG Light. Doer it work?

[palomayombe]

I found this article with a GTG variation I call GTG Light:

http://www.strength-nutrition-qigong-kettlebells-martial-articles.com/articler/mode3/220/

Basically, the author states: "Begin the program by doing one set of pullups per day. The number of reps to start off with should be between 2/3 and 3/4 of your max. Add 1 pull-up to your daily set about once every 2 weeks. Adding reps too soon may lead to burnout. Use your intuition to determine what's best for you. The volume will increase gradually and allow your body to adapt.."

I suppose this system could be applied to any BW exercise.

Do you think this system, albeit slowly, would increase your numbers as claimed?

[divebomber]

palomayombe, I really enjoyed reading the article. Thanks for the great link!

The proposed system may not sound like much, but I think for most recreational trainees it will lead to the desired outcome. The weakness of GTG is that it's very easy to overdo it and burn out (happened to me several times already, just like to the author of the article). "GTG light" largely avoids this pitfall, unless you increase reps too fast or start too high.

On the other hand, there may be the danger of not doing enough. For a very advanced trainee who thrives on volume workouts (think JP), that may be a realistic concern. But I think most of us would be surprised at how little volume is actually necessary to maintain our current condition, and even improve it.

I wonder what would happen if you added a daily set of pushups and tried this as an exclusive maintenance workout (with some lower body cardio activity added) for several weeks/months... might very well be the most efficient routine there is.

[vegetus25]

I believe Powerhouse used a version of this routine. He called it Medium Intensity High Frequency Training. If I remember right he would train two or three times a day using one set per exercise. He said he added twelve pounds of muscle training in this fashion. He did not train to failure.

I have been playing w/ the idea of trying this for a while. A few sets of a few different exercises performed throughout the day, but I have a hard time giving up performing lots of push-ups. If I do change my training I will keep some records and post my results.

God bless,

Veg