Question for Royce

[tony84]

Hey royce i was going to send you a PM but for some reason mine doesnt work. I prefer HIT training like you and i was wondering if you could help me with a DVR routine. I was hoping you could tell me what type of DVR exercises you do? Do you do the ones in PYPT or are they weightlifting exercises down DVR style? Anything you could tell me would be a big help. Thanks a lot Royce

[Royce]

Hi Tony,
First of all, my training varies quite a lot over the course of a year. For maintaining muscle size and strength, I’m doing a split routine: Upper body on Monday, lower body on Friday.

Without going into all of the specifics here are the DVR exercises, along with one DSR. I do one set of ten repetitions at maximum intensity.

Upper body:
Rows
Military press
Curls
Triceps extension
Prayer press
Side laterals
Hand grip exercise
Flys
Neck DSRs (Front, sides, back.)

I finish off with a three position, isometric bench press against a wall. I put forth about 69% of maximum for a full minute in each position.

Then I do all of the above DVR movements, except the neck exercise, in a power flex mode. In other words, I flex with intention for ten seconds at maximum tension in three positions.

Lower body:

Here are the DVRs:

Squats or Deadlifts
Knee extensions
Leg curls

The DVRs are followed by power flexing for the legs.
I use the same exercises as I do for the DVRs, but I power flex with INTENTION in three positions for ten seconds in each position.

All of the above is combined with fairly intense Qi Gong work on the other days of the week.. All my Qi Gong work fairly intuitive and spontaneous, but, nonetheless, intense. It includes a lot of sparring and high stepping, along with a fair amount of medium tension power flexing.

After a few more weeks, I will probably go to a four day a week split routine. For me, varying my approach to strength and fitness is important.

John Peterson’s book PYTP is excellent, and I highly recommend it. But it isn’t dedicated to HIT. Nonetheless, all of the exercises there can be put into a HIT format.

I have put together a number of HIT routines utilizing various exercises.

Here is the original HIT program:

Pod 1
A month or so ago, I promised to post some hard-gainer programs utilizing the HIT concept—that is, high intensity training. It has taken me a bit longer than I anticipated to publicly post one of these programs, but now we have one ready to go. I guess it’s better late than never!

Unlike the traditional HIT programs, we won’t be using any weights.
I think that hard-gainer training is an area that needs to be extensively explored. Understand that what follows isn’t designed to be the all and end all of HIT style training. It is just one of many possible approaches. Certainly, the Miracle 7 can be nicely applied to HIT training. We will talk about that wonderful series of exercises at a future date.

I’m certainly not knocking high volume training. I encourage those of you who flourish with high volume training to continue doing what you are doing. In fact, everyone should experiment with high volume training in order to determine if it works for them.

My experience in gyms over many years suggests that a significant number of people are hard-gainers who easily overtrain on high volume routines. Hard gainers make their best gains when training only a few days a week while doing brief but intense workouts. I should add that it is possible to overtrain with virtually any method: weights, cables, bodyweight training, DVRs, Isometrics, etc.

If you are regularly training yet find that your strength levels are falling, you are probably overtrained.

Remember that you can never train too hard, but you can train too often.

This routine is a good solid plan that will allow a hard-gainer to pack on plenty of muscle and also develop dynamic strength that will hold him in good stead regardless of his age.

I believe that training should be fun, and in order to make it fun, we need to provide a wide range of exercises. As many of you know, I love DVRs and I have included a heavy mix of them. Here are my rules for doing DVRs in this routine:

ALL DVRs IN THIS ROUTINE ARE TO BE DONE AT MAXIUM TENSION! Do not do negative DVRs. In all cases, do only one set of ten repetitions.

Incidentally, I put this regimen together, in part, for a good friend who wants to experience an increase in pull-up power.

Although anyone can benefit from this routine, it is especially designed for individuals whose pull-up capacity ranges from 0 to 10 repetitions. If you are someone who can knock out super high repetitions, you should work toward doing one-armed pull-ups.

Here’s the plan: Take a full minute to psyche yourself up. You want to feel that you and everyone and everything dear to you will be destroyed if you don’t successfully do one or more pull-ups. Next, visualize yourself doing one or more pull-ups. This mental approach can do wonders for enhancing your workouts.

Now comes the physical part. Go to the bar; take a firm shoulder width grip and then explode into the pull-up movement. If you only move a quarter of an inch, that is O.k.

Do as many repetitions as possible until you reach the point of failure; then, on your final repetition—this is the point at which you can’t complete another pull-up--DO A FIVE SECOND ISOMETIC PULL BEFORE LOWERING YOUSELF TO THE START POSITON.

DO NOT TRY TO DO ANOTHER SET OF CONVENTIONAL PULLUPS. Instead, immediately proceed to do one set of ten repetitions of DVR pull-ups. Do these at maximum tension. And don’t do any DVR negatives.

Upon completing the DVRs, go to the pull-up bar and step up onto a stool that will allow you to assume the completed pull-up position. Now slowly lower yourself to the start position. Try to take ten seconds on the downward movement. Don’t try to do a second negative style pull-up. If this proves to be very easy for you, switch to a one arm negative movement during your next workout.

And that is it for pull-up training!

Next do pushups between chairs:

Do one set of as many of these pushups that you can. Upon completion, do one set of ten repetitions of DVR bench presses. All this amounts to is standing up and pushing your arms straight out from your body. These should be done at maximum tension.


Next do a set of DVR, side, laterals. Once again, do only 10 repetitions. These should be followed by a set of DVR, front, laterals.

I like to add various isometrics as the spirit moves me. But in order to carefully define our procedures for this specific routine, let’s make the decision to use isometric holds after our DVR biceps curls, French curls, laterals and hand squeezes.

Here is the summary of our upper body workout, which should be done on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Pull-ups (Conventional)
Pull-ups (DVR)
Pull-ups (Negatives)
Pushups (Do one set of as many repetitions as possible between two chairs.)
Pushups (DVR)

Side Laterals ( DVR)
Side Laterals (Isometric, in doorway, 70% of maximum for sixty seconds)
Front Laterals (DVR)
Front Laterals (Isometric. Use opposite hand for resistance. Make it a sixty second hold.)


Curls (DVR, palms up)
Curls (Isometric, one position, 70% of maximum for sixty seconds)
French Curls (DVR)
Wrist Windups (DVR)
Hand squeeze (DVR)


Now, we will turn to the lower body. For this particular routine, you will only work the legs once a week. Don’t gasp in horror. Once a week is all right, at least for an interim period. I’m going to assume that you will add a significant amount of walking to this routine, and I don’t want anyone exhausting his or her energy reserves. How much walking should you do? I suggest a half-hour a day. Now let’s focus on the lower body:

Legs (Work out on Saturday.)

One-legged squats are a key exercise in this part of the routine. Go as far down as you can. You are only to do one set of as many reps as possible. You may hold your non-exercising leg in a curl position. But to make the exercise tougher, try doing “pistols.” That means putting your non-exercising leg straight out in front of you as you do the squat. These squats will really put a “burn” on your thighs!


Now do DVR Squats—the two-legged variety. As with all DVRs, do one set of ten reps at full tension.

Continue by doing DVR knee extensions and leg curls. Finish off with isometric holds with both of those exercises.

And that does it! Give this program at least eight weeks, preferably 12. .
Let me know how you do!

Summary:


One Legged Squats (Do one set of as many repetitions as you can manage.)
DVR Squats (Do one set of DVR style squats.)
DVR Leg curls (Do one set of DVR style leg curls.)
DVR Knee extensions (Do one set of DVR style knee extensions.)
Isometric Leg Curls (Do these at 70% of maximum for sixty seconds.)
Isometric Knee

[tony84]

Thanks a lot Royce. I really like the DVR routine in the beginning. That was just what i was looking for. Now you said for the DVRs not to do negatives, was that just for the pull ups or for all DVRs, and if so how come you dont do negatives? Thanks again Royce lots of good info.

Tony

[Royce]

Tony,

Thanks very much for you thoughtful questions.
Here is a recent post of mine that addresses your query.

I usually advise using tension in only one direction. But there is no harm in applying DVR resistance in both directions. It just isn’t part of this routine. But let me add a bit of additional information that may prove useful to you in the future:

There are some people who seem to believe that doing a DVR exercise in both directions is similar to doing so-called negative contractions with a barbell. Such is not the case. And here is why I say that:

Consider an overhead press with a barbell. The act of lifting the weight overhead is a concentric contraction.

After the weight is lifted overhead, your muscles must perform a “breaking action” in order to control the return of the weight to the starting position. As you do that you are performing an eccentric contraction.

But after a person does a DVR overhead press, there is no braking action involved as he lowers the arms to the start position; consequently, no legitimate eccentric contractions are possible. If you were to apply tension—DVR style-- as you returned to the starting position, you would really be doing a kind of pull-up. And it would be a concentric contraction, rather than an eccentric contraction.

You would, in fact, be doing what is called “super setting.” Certainly, super setting with DVRs. has a place. But we need to distinguish that from training with negatives.

[tony84]

I see what you mean Royce. You definitly know your stuff. Thanks again for helping me. I just ordered Johns IPV book and i cant wait to get. Ive never done isos but i really like the concept. Until then ill be doing your DVR HIT routine and then mix in some of those isos. Cannot wait. Thanks again Royce.


Tony

[MikeNY]

Royce fantastic post! Thank you from all of us, I am sure many will read this. Been awhile since you wrote about your HIT Routine (lost with the old forum) and I am sure the newer folks will want this.

[Royce]

Royce fantastic post! Thank you from all of us, I am sure many will read this. Been awhile since you wrote about your HIT Routine (lost with the old forum) and I am sure the newer folks will want this.


Thanks for your kind words, Mike. I never get tired of talking about HIT, DVRs, power flexing and isometrics.