JOHN, tendonitis and GTG

[vegetus25]

John,

I took your advice about using GTG to minimize tendonitis. I have been doing one set of push-ups every hour instead of doing them every minute for one hour. This has really helped reduce the pain in my elbows.

I do miss the condensed workouts, though. Do you have any suggestions for doing one workout per day, but still minimizing the chances of tendonitis flaring up? I was thinking of just resting longer between sets or doing a shorter workout (say 20 or 30 minutes of every minute push-ups) instead of an hour. (I know I will have to find out what is best for me, but I would like to get your take)

Finally do you think a condensed workout offers any physical advantages in terms of size/strength/conditioning that GTG does not?

God bless,

Veg

P.S. Of course, if anyone else has any adivce I would appreciate you posting it.

[John Peterson]

Hey Friends,


Vegetus25, is making a great point. Personally, I think there are many people that would prefer to perform all of their exercise in one condensed workout each day. And I do understand that the vast majority of people simply cannot perform GTG during their workday. So the question is, what is the best way to accomplish a great workout without over taxing the tendons and causing tendinitis? I think that George's answer is right on the mark. Pre-exhaust with DVR/VRT. In fact, if you are currently suffering from tendinitis I know from experience that DVR/VRT will speed healing better than any form of exercise that one can do. For me it has been the ultimate therapy for healing my tendinitis on the hurry up.

Now as far as whether a condensed workout is better for size and strength, my answer, based only on my own experience is 'no'. (And again, please note that I am talking only about me.) I believe G-T-G delivers far better results simply because the muscles are fresh for every set. As a result it allows us to put more intensity into every set because in effect, every set is a 'first ' set. But I am curious to read about what my other friends have experienced.

----John Peterson

[Bruno]

The escalating density training theory is that time is reduced between sets.

When time is condensed, I believe you will improve cardio and can do less reps while realizing a good effort. The less reps part may keep injuries as bay.

[John Peterson]

Interesting perspective Bruno. One other factor that I failed to mention earlier is that the ratio of 'fast twitch' to 'slow twitch' muscle fibers also makes a difference as to which training method may work best for any given individual. In my case taking Pull-Ups as an example I was using G-T-G to build my foundation for sets of 25 or more and then I switched to performing 5 to 8 sets at one time. But it was G-T-G that made it possible.

---John Peterson

[gruntbrain]

Take advantage of accommodating resistance & perform DVR pushing moves before AND after a set of pushups. More generally, apply this idea to other Power Cals.

[vegetus25]

Thanks for the replies.

I have two more questions:

Since high reps in Power Cals are recommended when training for size would it be better not to pre-exhaust the muscles w/ DVR's, so that a higher number of reps could be performed in the Power Cals?

Which fiber type does G-T-G train?

I probably will switch back and forth between G-T-G and all in one workouts, but I am going to only do the workouts that do not cause pain.

God bless,

Veg

[gruntbrain]

DVRs also serve as warmup & rehearsal for intense Power Cals; used as such, DVRs would enhance Power Cals