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Originally Posted by hackskii I see that.
What if you stretched it out and didnt go to failure?
Like lest say do 16 weeks instead but with not as much intensity, would you end up higher than lets say two 8 week sessions?
I mean at some point you will be at a plateau somewhere right? |
Generally it depends in many factors. For a newbie lifter with the right amount of protein in their diet and the right single factor training routine, they can generally gain strength each session for several months before plateauing. However, look at an advanced lifter, and they probably won't be able to do that, which is why they should generally turn to the dual factor program.
For a dual factor program, the gains come with the rebound from the loading phase and the ramping up of the intensity phase. Therefore we need to load up quite aggressively (as we don't want to spend too much time merely building up to our limits), and for most trainees, 4 weeks is about right to do this.
On a single factor program, most people find about 8 weeks before they hit a plateau if they've calculated their starting weights correctly. This gives about 4 weeks of ramping up to previous maxes and another 4 weeks of gaining (generally, if the ramping is done at 2.5kg/week, that's 10kg net gains per 8 week period).
There is no reason why, if using a single factor program, you couldn't load slower and aim to hit a plateau later. The slower you load, the longer you will be able to load for. That said, it isn't always desirable to load slowly, as you would be spending more weeks at sub-maximal weights.