Escalating Density Training

[HowardRearden]

I've been reading what I can find from fitness guru Charles Staley about his Escalating Density Training (EDT). He's written a book called "Ultimate Guide to Massive Arms" that implements his theories of EDT, as well as a few other publications. I can only find the book on his website where it is marked with a 30 sum dollar price tag. That's a bit steep and I've been burned too many times before on these high priced solutions that promise you you'll be able to shit a brick of gold if you use their products.

Anyone have any info on this? Anyone tried this program? Any results?

 

[TxLonghorn]

I've never heard anything on it.

I will say this, the stronger I've gotten, the denser I've become.

 

[pullinbig]

i can give you in a short the ultimate guide to massive arms. dont overtrain them and focus on the heavy core movements. hows that? its free.

 

[HowardRearden]

I have heard so much about over training. What is it exactly about over training that's so detrimental?

 

[dude]

Over training refers to the fact that you are doing more than your body can handle. You can only workout so much and expect your body to be able to rebuild. If you are over training that catabolism will eat away at your muscle, you will have difficulty sleeping, your desire to work out decreases, and you may be tired often. That is why you need to train right, eat right, and sleep right.

 

[bob marley]

I've never heard anything on it.

I will say this, the stronger I've gotten, the denser I've become.

 

[bensanderson]

I have done some Escalation Density Training.

It is extremely hardcore.

(ie: Leg Workout)

PR set 1:

Squats
Leg Curls

10 minute Break

PR set 2:
Hack Squats
Stiff Legged Deadlifts

Here's how it works:
Choose a weight that you can do 10-12 reps with for each exercise.
Perform PR set 1 for 15 minutes in a continuous superset, only resting for the amount of time it takes to walk from the Squat rack to the leg curl machine and vice-a-versa.
Then take a 10 minute break, and perform PR set 2 in the same fashion.

The idea is to perform more work in the same given time, over a set period. Let's say you are going to train Legs using EDT for 6 weeks. On week one, you are able to complete 6 sets of squats, and Leg curls totalling 52 reps of squats, and 48 reps of leg curls. By week 6, you have become better conditioned and performed 7 sets of squats totalling 70 reps and 7 sets of leg curls totalling 68 reps. You will have become more efficient and will have forced your muscles to do more work over the same period of time.
You can do EDT for any body part. I believe that is is best to do a compound exercise supersetted with an auxillary lift. It is very demanding, and requires alot of aerobic capacity. You are working for 15 minute straight without a break!

There are also some nutritional suggestions including mega doses of tyrosine and Vitamin C ingestion an hour or two before training, followed by 100grams of Protein and at least 100 grams of Carbs post training.

Jay Schroeder(ex. Redskins&Raiders QB) and Adam Archuletta(Rams SS) are both really into this methodology of training.

 

[HowardRearden]

Thanks for the info!
What would a typical EDT arm day look like?
How did this work for you? Did you see mad results?

 

[bensanderson]

Here would be a typical ARM EDT session:

PR set 1: (15min)

BB Curl (Superset)
Lying Tricep Extension

10 minute break

Preacher BB Curl (Superset)
Tricep Pushdown


I just performed this workout last week. I used 125lbs for the BB curls and 120lbs for the lying tricep extensions. On set one of the BB curls i got 13 reps, and 15 reps on the 1st set of lying tricep extensions. I was able to complete 8 sets of each. On my last set of BB curls i got 6 reps, and 5 reps on the lying tricep extensions. You can see the downward linear progression as the muscles are fatiguing.

In my current workout scheme i like to use EDT for one body part, on a rotating basis per week.
It is a tremendous pump. I get an intense burn, and will feel sore for a couple of days after the session.
Considering the amount of volume performed in a PR set, and the way the emphasized area feels both during, and after, the session, i would say this method is effective for me.