But what about 'controlled' overtraining? What if we could take ourselves
right to the 'edge' of overtraining and then introduce something new to prevent
us from actually reaching the point of overtraining?

Well I can tell you that such an animal exists and it's called Accumulation
and Intensification.

The approach has been around for a very long time and has been used by some
well-known bodybuilding names including Charlies Poliquin and Charlie Francis.
It was also very popular among the world famous bodybuilding coaches in the
former Eastern Bloc nations. There has also been quite a lot of research done
on this approach so there's some sound science behind it.

The entire approach is really pretty simple--for several weeks you pump up
your workload by increasing your training volume while decreasing your rest
period between sets almost until you get to the point of overtraining.

This is what's known as the 'accumulation' phase--you're increasing the
demand on your body every day.

Once you get to the point of overtraining, it's time to back off by reducing the
training volume and increasing the rest periods between sets. While you're
doing this, you also start using heavier weights. This is the 'intensification' part
of the approach. The purpose of the intensification component is to move you
towards 'under training.'

 

There are a variety of different exercise approaches you can use during the
accumulation phase. The important thing to remember is that this is a period
during which you're focusing on doing higher volume and fewer reps with
weights lighter than what you would otherwise be using.

You also need to keep your rest periods shorter during the accumulation phase
than you would in an ordinary training phase. As you move through the accumulation
phase, you can push your body towards overtraining by increasing the number
of reps and reducing the rest periods between sets.

You can increase the weight too but only do so when you've increased the
number of reps you're doing by about 20%-and then only increase your
weight by no more than five percent.

During the next phase, the workouts are going to get a lot more 'intense,'
which is of course where the name 'intensification' comes from. The goal
of this phase is to take a lower-volume, higher-intensity approach to training.

You'll want to do fewer sets, using more weight to really build up your size and
strength. In comparison to the accumulation phase, your rest periods will be longer.

The de-loading or under training phase of accumulation and intensification is
where your body finally gets the break it's been craving. This part is absolutely
essential because your body needs the time to rest and recover.

Depending on each individual, the under-training phase will last two to three
weeks. For most guys, two weeks of de-loading is sufficient but it will vary
from one person to the next. It's important to note that this phase isn't a
'vacation' and it's not a free license to go to the gym and hang around chatting
with your buddies. You still need to work out, but at a significantly lower
intensity than either of the two previous phases.

This is a basic overview of the accumulation and intensification approach to
training. If you're looking for something different that will yield excellent results,
you might want to give this one a try. In fact fellow trainer Nick Nilsson is the
author of a muscle mass building program called Mad Scientist Muscle which
lays out a nice workout schedule for you based on this training principle.