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4X10 loading protocol

post #1 of 33
1/2/10 at 6:10pm
Thread Starter 
I'm getting ready to start a new lifting program that's all 4X10s. The author of the program has lots of charts to help estimate your 1RM and various percentages of it, but he doesn't explain anywhere (that I can find, anyway) how you're supposed to use that info to select your load for each exercise.

I plan on easing into the program by first selecting weights that allow me to complete all reps in all sets. But after that I don't know in which set I should be trying to exhaust myself. It seems to me -- just on intuition, mind you -- that the best way to take advantage of 4x10s would be to choose weights that allow me to complete at least two full sets. Then I'd expect not to be able to make it all the way through the next two sets. Does that make sense, or is there reason to believe that going to failure earlier or later than that is preferable?

This isn't for bodybuilding, by the way. It's for strength and overall fitness.
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post #2 of 33
1/3/10 at 5:23am
Reps of 10, exhaust?? 4X10?? Sounds like good old bodybuilding. When you say exhaust, do you mean to lift to failure? I don't think you need to be so precise as to when you reach that, in fact it could be detrimental to train to failure every workout. 4X10 is just a guideline, nothing magical, just like 5X8, 10X10 or any other combinations. There's no need to split hairs, if it were necessary to follow that precisely , why not 4X11 or 5X9? Alot of these programs out there are based on cookie cutter programs, without regards to your goals, schedule, recovery abilities and limitations.

I do 8-10 sets of 3 to 5 reps for strength and I don't really give a shit about my 1RM or translating that % from some other loads done for reps because this is ain't gonna matter much. If the author asserts that 4X10 is the BEST for strength and overall fitness, throw the manual away.
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post #3 of 33
1/3/10 at 5:38am
I don't lift 4x10, so I can't really help, but nice John Brown avatar.
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post #4 of 33
1/3/10 at 5:06pm
Load to exhaustion on each set. If you need to drop weight for the next set that's fine. If you're doing 4x10 you're looking to increase muscle endurance aka hypertrophy, so you want to work to exhaustion on every single set. At first it'll mean dropping weight but eventually you'll be able to do the same weight for all 4 sets.
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post #5 of 33
1/3/10 at 6:53pm
In theory, working at 4x10 and to exhaustion won't maximize your strength gains and will bias towards size gains because you will be stressing the metabolic systems of the muscle instead of the muscle itself --- you will be working the stuff that recharges ATP from your slower systems and gets rid of the waste.

Why not do something like the Starting Strength program instead if you want to increase strength?

--Andre
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post #6 of 33
1/3/10 at 7:52pm
4x10 isn't a "strength" maximizing rep range, that's more like 4x5 or 5,3,2,1 (which is what I currently do) in any case I believe in going to exhaustion on every set no matter what as very, very few people will ever lift enough to overwork their cns by going to exhaustion
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post #7 of 33
1/3/10 at 9:34pm
god, i am so sick of hearing about starting strength.
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post #8 of 33
1/3/10 at 10:09pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mgoose View Post
If you're doing 4x10 you're looking to increase muscle endurance aka hypertrophy,.

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post #9 of 33
1/4/10 at 1:59am
Quote:
Originally Posted by thekunk07 View Post
god, i am so sick of hearing about starting strength.

SS or 5x5 is where noobs should be; if all noobs drank the sweat from rippetoes jock instead of doing routines out of mens fitness there'd be more swole in this world
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post #10 of 33
1/4/10 at 2:32am
I'm intererested in the 5x5 recommendation. ACSMs position on newbs is a target of 8-12 reps. 5 RM, unless I'm missing your point, sounds a little aggressive. The OP didn't say where he's coming from mind you, so 5x5's may not be inappropriate.

as reference: http://journals.lww.com/acsm-msse/Fu...ng_for.26.aspx
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post #11 of 33
1/4/10 at 3:08am
If you are new you should be making great progress. Just try real hard to lift more everytime. Either more reps or a higher weight.
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post #12 of 33
1/4/10 at 3:46am
Quote:
Originally Posted by shiftless_bum View Post

Wow. Nevermind the conclusions or the field, but the reasoning in that paper is awful, like amateur hour. Are all exercise science papers this bad?

--Andre
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post #13 of 33
1/4/10 at 11:44am
honestly it is not a panacea and most people are just hopeless and should take up racketball. i don;t want to read about any more 135 or 165 max benches here.


Quote:
Originally Posted by jarude View Post
SS or 5x5 is where noobs should be; if all noobs drank the sweat from rippetoes jock instead of doing routines out of mens fitness there'd be more swole in this world
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post #14 of 33
1/4/10 at 5:21pm
I'm sure it's annoying, but SF will always resemble the beginner forums on strength websites, never the advanced ones, so you'll probably always be reading about 135 lb benches.
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post #15 of 33
1/4/10 at 5:22pm
bb.com is even worse. 240 lb guys with no-lat spreads. it's all terrible.
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