Tuesday 3 June 2014

The 1-6 principle

I've recently come across and tried one of the best protocols for strength and muscle mass in my 4 years + of training! I just had to share it with you. It's called the 1-6 principle and the theory behind why it works is actually quite simple. Take a squat. A very heavy squat. Load it up with 95-100% of your 1 rep max and perform 1 rep. Now strip the weight off and squat with just the bar. It feels light right? It feels as if you could explode through the ceiling! This concept is known as post-tetanic facilitation (PTF). And the 1-6 principle uses it to its full potential. The idea is you'd perform a heavy 1 rep for an exercise to ramp up the central nervous system (CNS), then strip the weight back and perform 6 reps. Because the CNS is switched on, you should be able to handle a heavier weight with your 6 reps than you normally could. Thus having a better training effect. It worked well for all muscle groups, however I particularly liked it for arms (workout shown below), the pump was pretty impressive!....