He's an idiot.

Tough call on this one to seperate fact from fiction.

The best way I've found to get a general feel for a book when you're not sure is to go to Amazon and read the reviews.

You can usually pick up something that you overlooked.

Now I haven't read his book, but one reviewer that did passes on this gem from Jorge that apparently is in the book:

That should set off your bullshit meter alarms.

Contrast that to a quote by an actual exercise physiologist in a New York Times article by Gina Kolata:

Quite a difference and more in tune with what I've read.

And by the way, Jorge, 10 seconds up - hold for 2 then 10 seconds down, is 22 seconds - not 12 seconds.

Seem to be having a little trouble with numbers there, bud?

he's a celebrity trainer -he's got accountants to count hismoney -that's all he needs

Ok, but it doesn't really matter is what I'm getting from this thread?

I'm always curious about this though when I am lifting.

How important is it the rest (60-90 secs) after a set of reps? I follow a list of weights that I do and I'm "technically" suppose to rest after certain sets, but I tend to skip over it and/or not rest as long so I can get through the workout faster and also keep my heart pumping. I know it's important that your muscles are getting as much oxygen as possible, especially while lifting, but this shouldn't be doing me any harm or hinderance do ya think?

It does IMO. Which is why I said what I said.

Completely depends on what net effect you're looking to get from your weight training. There isn't one way of going about things. There's only a way of going about things that ellicits a specific adaptation (improvment in specific quality).

For instance, if I was training for max strength in 3 lifts... I'm not going to sacrifice the amount of weight I can lift by taking short rest periods. I might rest 3-5 minutes between sets.

If I'm training primarily for caloric expenditure to aid a deficit, I might do a form of circuit training where I'm resting little to none between sets of various exercises.

And if you're lifting for a cardiovascular benefit, that makes sense.

If you're confusing what weight lifting for muscle and strength improvements feels like with what cardio feels like, you're making a mistake.

Depends on your goals and what you're hoping to get from weight lifting. Not all weight lifting is created equal. Also, no way is better than another way without providing context. Which you didn't.

Makes sense.

I might be doing that, I haven't really thought about it like that before. I guess I'm not really educated enough in the strength training aspect of my workout.

The reason why I am doing the strength training is to aid in my weight loss.


I suck? I was trying to ask a question and I can't even do that right!! haha.

Also, I hate context and wish you could just read my mind.

I don't have a clue what this means but adaptation to stress is pretty universal. Might want to do some research on GAS and Hans Seyle.

Well something is better than nothing assuming you're not doing something that's going to hurt you. And you have to start someplace. Trust me, most people are completely confused when it comes to this stuff. And it doesn't surprise me with all the bogus information that's passed around these days.

So I wouldn't beat yourself up at all. Simply work at having a better understanding.

Aid in what sense though? Weight training, like I sad previously, can aid in weight loss by expending a lot of calories using low weight, high rep, short rest types of lifting.

Or weight training can aid in weight loss by promoting muscle maintenance while fat is being loss, thus optimizing body composition. This is where many people miss the boat and it's discussed in detail in that thread I linked for you.

You're doing just fine.

I almost can. I'm just trying to get you to think.

Thank you!

That sounds cool.
That sounds WAY COOLER! That's exactly what I was going for!!

Freak, I knew it you dirty bastard. lol

Read that and if you still have questions feel free to ask them there or here.

that was called - let's make as many inane posts as I possibly can and then I can get enough posts to hit this forum with my lovely spam

yeah i'm on to that trick

I read it all, there's a shit ton of information.

For this you are recommending...

In your example I found myself torn between the two options (1. less weight, more reps 2. more weight, less reps).

I think I'll come back later when I can unscramble some thoughts because I'm having a hard time explaining myself.

Edit: I just want to add... Yes, I want to lose weight (fat) but I want to keep my muscle. So, I DO want to stick to the muscle maintenance side of things, and I think it's safe for me to do that at this point, but how am I to be sure if I should I be doing more of a circuit routine or a maintenence routine, at this time? lol, long question. Should I do more circuit type training until closer to my goal weight or start at maintenance right now?

I don't want to just lose weight, I want to look fit and toned and muscular, not thin and flabby. I rather be 155 and muscular versus 140 and skinny, if that makes sense?

What it comes down to is prioritizing your training based on what you're looking to obtain. There are so many tools that provide you with the various improvements you're looking for, so you have to plan wisely when building a plan.

Let me try and make this a bit more clear for you...

We know you're striving for that toned, atheletic look, right? Of course you're limited by the confines of your genetics. That said however, we can still break it down into how we need the body to change in order to get you looking as close to your goal as your genetics allow. Once it's broken down into these factors, we can match the type of training that best suits each factor and blend them together for a balanced routine.

Make sense?

When it comes to improving body composition, planning is relatively simple. The only factors involved have to do with losing fat and gaining/maintaining muscle.

To lose fat, we know you need a caloric deficit. We need less energy in than out. We establish this deficit by decreasing the amount of food we eat and increasing our activity.

We won't delve into the food side of things as this isn't the thread.

On the activity side of things in the context of calorie wasting stuff, we want to focus in on the things that promote continuous movement. A lot of things can fall into this camp. Swimming, walking, jogging, treadmill, elliptical, hiking, weight lifting, etc.

Notice: Weight lifting can be added to this group. It simply is applied in a way that promotes caloric expenditure rather than strength and muscle. It's important to note too, that an on/off switch does not exist. Think of it as a continuum. If you're weight training is geared more towards higher rep, lower weight, and short rest stuff, you're not going to get much in terms of muscle and strength gains. This holds even more true if you've been lifting weights for any appreciable length of time.

When you're first starting out, you can pretty much improve most qualities pertaining to the muscles with any sort of weight training.

The other factor we're concerned with is muscle maintenance/gain. This is best served by heavier lifting using lower reps and more rest. Your body doesn't need an awful lot of this to promote muscle maintenance. Maybe 2-3 sessions per week.

So a typical week might look something like:

Monday: Strength Training
Tuesday: Interval Cardio
Wednesday: Hiking
Thursday: Strength Training
Friday: Steady State Cardio
Saturday: Body Weight Resistance Training Circuit
Sunday: Off

Notice, resistance training is in the example schedule three times. But two of the sessions are in place for muscle maintenance and strength (Monday & Thursday) and one of the sessions is in place for calorie wasting (Saturday).

Is this starting to make more sense?

It's also important to note that the above hypothetical schedule isn't anything magic nor is it something written in stone. I'm simply trying to paint a picture.

My baseball trainers would tell me to do bicep curls like this...

One second for the curl (arms up)
Two seconds to reset (arms down)
One second pause between reps

I was told to do that for all weight lifting exercises and it worked for me. But, obviously everybody is different.

People keep saying, "everyone is different."

Can someone explain this to me?

I'm not being a jackass either. I sincerely want to hear your thoughts on the subject. From what I can tell... circumstance and context is different. But human muscle and it's response to various stresses? I don't see how that's unique or variable.