Anyone have any first-hand experience with this program? If so, please list your results, exercises that you utilized and any suggestions that you might have. I'm thinking of giving this a try for the prescribed three-week period.
Any tips or suggestions would be appreciated.
Peace.
-Savage
What is it?!?!?!
Anythinggoes, what kind of mixing are you doing? Any success?
Angryinch, it's a workout program by Chad Waterbury. Go to T-Nation and do a search and you'll find an article on it. I'm looking for anyone who has actually trained it and what kind of results they achieved.
just read it, I swear the fecker's reading my mind. Yesterday I wrote up a new routine of my own based on training the body 4 times over a period of 8 days, (1 on 1 off) using 4 different lifting protocols. I even intended to use it for the same length of time, ( 3 weeks). Weird.
I guess I must have been onto something.
Juninho, any thoughts on a substitute exercise for the lat pulldown? I work out in my basement pit and don't have a pulldown machine.
Thanks
-Savage
it's difficult to do an alternative vertical pulling movement, unless you have a chin bar. I'd do barbell or dumbell rows probably.
Can you get one of those pullup bars you hang from a door frame? I have a lat pulldown but lately I have been doing pullups instead. They seem a little more effective to me.
Thanks for the suggestions. I don't have a chin bar, but I can always get outside and find something to hang on (pipes, playground stuff, etc.).
ttt for any more personal experiences with this program.
What's up with the day 6 set / rep scheme? Is it really intended to be 6 sets of 3 reps using my "18 RM"? Seems like very light weight to be only doing sets of 3 reps. Any clarification would be appreciated.
Peace.
-Savage
the 6 x 3 scheme roughly equates to a westside 'dynamic effort' day. Go to www.elitefts.com and check the articles as to why this is used.
Thanks Juninho. I did find an article describing a similar set / rep scheme.
Any other experiences on this program?
Did the Day 1 workout today. Supersets primarily; 5 sets of 3 reps using the 5 RM. Felt GREAT. Tomorrow is going to be hell. 2 sets of 25 rep squats...ouch...
cool, keep us updated, think I'll be trying it in a few weeks once I've exhausted my German Volume training stuff...
I like the variety of exercises and set / rep schemes. It does seem to incorporate a fair amount of the conjugate-style training that the Westside program utilizes. Trouble for me is getting the prescribed 10 hours of sleep every night. I'm lucky to get 7 hours.
From a theoretical standpoint, it looks like a good program. As long as you aren't training hard on MMA, you should see good results. However, due to the fact that you didn't understand the speed/dynamic effort set/rep scheme, this doesn't sound like the program for you. My guess, is that if you haven't heard of CAT training before, you are probably not a very advanced trainee, and would probably be better of choosing a program geared more toward beginner's (or people who aren't used to hard/productive training methods). Perhaps Chads ABBH program would be a better place to start.
Days 2 of Quatro Dynamo is in the books.
Holy chit...2 sets of 25 rep squats kicked my azz. I'm also subbing pull-ups for lat pull downs (don't have access to a pull-down machine). Behind-the-back press wasn't too terrible. The supersetting concept keeps the pace brisk (90 secs rest between sets of 25 reps on 'Endurance Day'). One of the more brutal workouts I've had the pleasure of enduring within recent memory.
natrondaninja, I checked out the ABBH program; I like the frequency of QD better; also the shorter duration (3 weeks). FYI - I've been in the gym for many years. I'm not a walking biology encyclopedia and I'm not a professional trainer, but I'm damn far from being a beginner. I'm currently training muay thai and boxing - roughly 3 times per week. If QD turns into over-training, I'm sure I'll feel it and I'll switch-up to something else.
I would be interested in getting your take on CAT training. You sound as though you speak from some experience.
I think CAT training is great. I think it has contributed to my power and I also feel that doing the CAT workouts helps with restoration after hard workouts. Judging from the succes of the Westside powerlifting team and people like Dr. Fred Hatfield, I would imagine this is true.
However, there are critics. Joe McGowen, for example, is a former powerlifter and lecturer at the University of Dayton (where I graduated from), who has made claims that CAT training is terrible and is the reason for his blowing out his knee. I seriously doubt he has anything even resembling scientific data to back up this opinion (I also expect he was doing something wrong), but he still holds to it.
Most will suggest using between 50-60% of your 1rm for CAT and doing between 8-12 sets of 2-4 repetitions. In my experience, the more advanced a trainee is, the lower the percentage of his/her 1rm he/she should use, in order to keep bar speed high. Don't qoute me, but I believe Louie Simmons makes the same recommendations.
Days 3 and 4 (training days; not counting the light-cardio days in between - which is when I go the Thai gym & doesn't exactly fit the "light cardio" profile - too bad).
Day 3 was "Hypertrophy Range" (3 sets of 8 reps using 10 RM). Nice mix of exercises: Good Mornings; Skull Crushers; Hanging Leg Raises; Incline Dbell press; etc.) Decent workout.
Day 4 (today) was CAT Day. Good stuff. Basically speed lunges (6 sets of 3 using 18 RM); speed bench; "explosive" pull-ups (had to sub these for lat pull downs as I don't have a pull down machine); "explosive" knee raises; "explosive" sit-ups; I added in speed TB deads (I hate to ignore my trap bar - I think it gets lonely).
So far, I really like the way this program offers a different feel / different scheme to each training day. The variety of exercises helps to keep it fresh as well (my old routine was getting stale). I've not been getting as much sleep as I should (typically in the 6-7 hour range) but I'm doing the best I can on that front. I'm looking forward to Saturday and another max strength day.
All-in-all, after one week I'm pleased with the feel of the program. I'll know better three more weeks.
Peace.
-Savage
Kick ass, Xen. What did you think of "Endurance Day"? 25 rep squats?!? Jeebus...
Inch,
there is a link to a company that does Doorframe
Pullup bars from SCRAPPER's site (
www.trainforstrength.com )