One of the tenets of high intensity training theory is that with increased experience and strength
          gained in resistance training ever larger stressors are applied during training without much
          commensurate increase in recovery ability. If this is the case, as Arthur Jones, Mike Mentzer
          and others have pointed out, then over time a serious trainer needs to consistently reduce the
          volume and frequency of their training. Although to readers this statement is hardly a
          revelation, the principle and practice are directly the opposite of what most experienced and
          motivated people do. Typically, more and more exercises are added to a routine and to provide
          the time to perform these exercises, training sessions will become longer and more frequent.
          Thus, this state of affairs provides a good illustration of what Ellington Darden has often
          proclaimed - you’re best advised to do the opposite of what most people do particularly
          advanced trainers.

          Many of us, certainly including myself, would see nothing new in the idea of regulating volume
          and frequency and we figure our routines, quite abbreviated by conventional standards, are
          readily providing enough recovery time. As discussed before, however, we may not have
          seriously considered how many of the movements we do are highly overlapping, almost
          duplicating each other, resulting in a level of over-training that can retard progress. As Mentzer
          has pointed out, this is especially true with upper body movements. There are literally
          hundreds of upper body movements that can be performed and the tendency is to do too many
          of them, perhaps even with more abbreviated routines.

          The best proof of this point is to look at how people train their lower body compared to the
          upper body. Lower body training is limited in two major ways. If done correctly, lower body
          training is very difficult and there simply is not a great array of lower body movements. But,
          how virtually everyone trains lower body is most telling. It’s the rare individual regardless of
          training philosophy or routine who will take separate training days to train different parts of the
          quads, hamstrings, calves, or lower back. For example, is there anyone who trains the center
          of the lower back one day and then the side areas of the lower back on other days? Yet, this is
          exactly what those of us who split up our upper-body are doing. We are essentially training the
          center of our upper body by focusing on chest and upper back one day, for example, and then
          the periphery of our upper body by training shoulders and arms another day. Again, the best
          point of comparison is lower body training where such an approach would be considered
          ludicrous.

          If there is so much overlap between upper body movements, this also means that upper-body
          is generally trained twice as frequently as lower body. Thus, lower body training may often be
          low frequency and low volume while in actuality upper body training is higher frequency and
          higher volume. By far, the upper body parts most subject to over-training through such double
          dosing are shoulders and arms. It is simply impossible to do any upper body movement
          without involving shoulders and arms. Moreover, it is obvious that some of the best
          movements presumably for one body part are excellent movements for other body parts.
          Thus, dips "performed for triceps" are excellent for chest and shoulder development and
          pull-downs performed for upper back are excellent for biceps.

          As readers recall, one solution developed by Mike Mentzer for the overlap of upper body
          exercises is to do one group of upper body movements one week (chest/back) and another
          group of movements (shoulders/arms) the next week. While that approach has its merits, it
          also has its shortcomings. One of these is that upper-back which is less involved in the
          overlapping problem then only gets trained about once every two weeks. For some individuals,
          such a frequency may be too low for that body part. For other body parts, there really is not a
          corresponding problem. For example, if in one week I do a decline press I am training chest,
          shoulders, and triceps. If during the next week, I do dips, I am once again training these
          muscle groups in a quite similar way.

          One solution was suggested by Brian Johnston (see this issue) and some directions Mike
          Mentzer is taking. A consolidated upper body routine could be done each week with a simple
          rotation of some movements on a week-by-week basis. In addition, because shoulders and
          arms receive so much work, just one "direct" set for these body parts may be all that is
          necessary. Other advantages to this approach are allowing two to three days between each
          workout while still sticking to a weekly schedule where you train the same days each week. An
          example of this approach, still evolving because the volume in the upper body routine is a bit
          high, is:

          Upper Back: Nautilus Pullover, Hammer Pull-down or Nautilus Row

          Chest: Nautilus 40-degree chest, Hammer Decline Press or Dips

          Traps: Shrugs

          Shoulders: Nautilus Military Press or Hammer Lateral Raise, Rear Delt Raise

          Biceps: Nautilus one-arm curl or two-arm curl

          Triceps: Pushdowns or Nautilus Triceps

          Forearms: Forearm Curls, Reverse Curls, and Gripper

          Neck: Nautilus 4-way Neck

          If this routine or a related one is effective, it would both reinforce the main idea of this piece
          about the problem of overlapping upper body exercises and more generally the notion of
          decreasing the frequency of training throughout a training career.

            A Few of the Questions Answered if you Read the August and October Master Trainer
          Is there any basis to the claim that you lose strength and conditioning in a few days?
          Is there a more optimal way to train upper body?
          Is the usual prescription of lower intensity aerobic training a good way to lose body fat or is it
          actually counterproductive and possibly harmful?
          What does neck training tell us about the best way to train all body parts?
          Can you gain a high level of cardiovascular fitness with only several minutes of training?
          Does your high heart rate during weight training mean you're getting a good cardiovascular
          workout or is this an erroneous idea?
          What is the absolute essence of cardiovascular training?
          How does understanding how biological systems work lead to the best training program?
          Can you really gain with slower repetitions?

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