By Jade Teta ND, CSCS and Keoni
Teta ND, LAc, CSCS
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Escalating Density Training
is the newest and perhaps one of the most effective weight
training regimes the resistance-training world has ever seen.
The fitness industry is one where marketing hype and gimmicky
ideas are the norm and dominate every corner of the market.
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Likewise, it is a place where good
ideas that generate real results are severely lacking. For every
ten fruitless and ineffective fitness trends, there may be one standout
program. Escalating Density Training, also known by its acronym
EDT, is most certainly one of those special systems of training
that will seriously change the way you approach weight training
forever.
Work and Volume
When it comes to weight training,
building size and building strength, there is only one principle
to know: progressive overload. This idea is illustrated nicely by
a story our Italian grandfather used to tell us. In this story,
a young Italian boy had a baby calf as a pet. He would go out everyday
to play with this calf and would test his strength by hoisting the
animal into the air.
As the calf grew bigger and heavier,
the boy continued to lift the animal, and he too got stronger and
more built. Even after the calf grew into a fully matured cow, the
boy was still able to pick the cow up and carry it around the yard.
This story demonstrates an undeniable truth about the nature of
muscle growth and building strength. The human body must be challenged
with ever-greater intensity for it to continually respond, adapt,
and improve.
Perhaps the oldest and most popular
protocol in weight training is the 3 sets of 10-repetition format.
Personal trainers have lived and died by this protocol for decades.
Though this program does have merit, once a client moves beyond
the beginning phase of weight training, this type of approach quickly
becomes only marginally effective. The common belief in training
is that the amount of weight lifted makes the difference, when in
reality it is more accurately the intensity with which you lift
that induces the biggest changes.
Intensity in weight training can be
measured in several ways, but the most common measure is in the
poundage one lifts. However, it is really the volume of work done
that makes the difference. What we mean by volume is the amount
of work that is accomplished per unit time. You can lift 50 pounds
10 times or you can lift 100 pounds 5 times, but the volume of work
is the same. This is one of the hardest concepts for devotees of
the set vs. rep scheme to understand. But is this the most optimal
measure of intensity?
Density and Tension
Volume by itself is useful, but it
is the amount of volume completed in a given time that is the real
secret to generating intensity. This is the concept of density.
A dense workout is one where your trainee is doing the maximal amount
of work possible within a given time frame. If I can complete 3
sets of 10 repetitions in 15 minutes, then my goal for my next workout
should be 3 sets of 10 reps in 14 minutes or 4 sets of 10 reps in
15 minutes. The point is to do more work per unit time and to continually
progress to more dense workouts each time.
Another important factor is the amount
of tension the muscle is exposed to during exercise. If you have
your client do 3 sets of a 10 rep max (10 RM) with 135 pounds on
bench press, will they achieve the same average muscle tension they
would have if they instead did 10 sets of 3 reps with the same weight?
It sounds like a trick question, right? However, despite the total
volume or work done being equal, more average muscle tension will
be achieved in the latter scenario. In the 10 sets of 3 reps, the
muscle exerts greater tension because fatigue has not yet set in.
A 10 RM means that the client can
lift the weight 10 times, but not 11. This means that with each
rep, the amount of tension the muscle generates becomes less and
less until it can no longer overcome the weight of the bar. In other
words the amount of tension the muscle can generate goes down with
each successive rep until the weight can no longer be lifted.
By turning the protocol into a '10
sets of 3 repetitions' format, you effectively increase the average
tension imposed on the muscle per rep, even though the total volume
of work remains the same. This is an important concept that usually
causes some confusion for trainers. But if you can do the same work
in less time with more average muscle tension per rep, you will
be able to greatly increase not only the intensity of your workout,
but the subsequent results.
The Magic of EDT
Escalating density training has done
for weight training what interval training has done for aerobic
exercise. Just as interval training has made aerobic training more
efficient and productive, so has EDT made resistance training more
effective with less time invested. The inventor of escalating density
training is a strength and conditioning specialist named Charles
Staley.
Like most brilliant ideas, the EDT
system takes complicated mechanisms and breaks them down into a
simple, easy to use format. Coach Staley has been able to distill
results-based weight training down to its essence by creating a
system that will generate volume, density, and tension all in one
easy format. He has made the system very simple and created a built-in
mechanism that ensures progressive overload is accomplished in each
workout. For more specifics on his work and training protocols www.staleytraining.com
is a great resource.
Here is how it works:
EDT uses between one and three 15-minute
segments for a workout that can last between 15 and 45 minutes.
In each of the segments you will choose two exercises. These exercises
are to be antagonists (i.e., if you choose a back exercise you need
to choose a chest exercise; if you choose biceps you need to pair
it with an exercise for triceps). It is also appropriate to do unilateral
antagonists, meaning you could do a one-leg squat on the left leg
paired with a one leg squat on the right side. Use a 10 rep max
for each exercise. This is a weight you could lift 10 times, but
not 11.
Once you choose your exercises, start
your stopwatch and begin. Do 5 reps on one exercise and immediately
do 5 reps on the other side. After each set, make a note of how
many reps you did for each exercise (i.e., a number between 1 and
5 reps). Continue to progress this way resting as you need to. As
the weight gets heavier, you will reach a point where five reps
is no longer possible and you will only be able to get 3 or 4 reps.
That is fine, record it and move on. DO NOT REDUCE THE WEIGHT.
The most common mistake in the EDT
system is to reduce the amount of weight lifted so that you are
always able to complete five reps. This is wrong. As a segment progresses
five reps may no longer be possible. When this happens, just complete
as many reps as you can. If you can only do two or three reps that
is fine and is exactly how it works. As you approach the end of
a 15-minute segment you may only be completing 1 rep at a time for
each exercise. Don't worry; you are right where you want to be.
Just record the reps and keep going switching back and forth between
exercises until time is up. That is one segment
For the next segment or segments,
pick another two antagonistic exercises (i.e., leg extension and
leg curl). Set your stopwatch again and proceed as you did in the
first segment. Each round, record how many reps you did (a number
between 1 and 5). Continue on working as hard as you can until the
15 minutes have elapsed. Now look at the sheet where you recorded
your reps for each segment and count up the total reps you completed
for each exercise. The total reps for each exercise that you were
able to achieve represent your "work load" for that exercise.
This is the number that you must work to beat next time.
The next workout you do will have
you using the exact same weight you used the previous workout except
this time you are working to improve on your performance by doing
more reps the next workout. This ensures you are always working
towards progressive overload. The weight stays the same until you
increase your total reps 20% over your starting reps. At that point
add 5-10 pounds to the exercise and proceed the same way.
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The
EDT system is super simple but devastatingly effective.
For those trainers
willing to try this system, you will see clients who have
been stuck with no progress for long periods of time begin
to achieve significant changes in strength, body composition,
and muscular development.
We can say without
reservation that this system of resistance training is by
far the greatest advancement in the practice of weight lifting
we have ever seen. You will be amazed at what you can achieve
with your clients. You now have a whole new system of weight
training that far surpasses the old paradigm. We will see
you at the gym.
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