In 1977, a docudrama focused on the 1975 Mr.Olympia and Mr.

Universe competitions
became available to the viewing public. This film, appropriately titled Pumping
Iron,
introduced many to the world of Bodybuilding and training for the purpose of mu
scular
development, myself included.
The science behind training for muscular development, referred to as hypertrophy
, is
simply captivating. Five years ago as I first watched the namesake of this site
training,
I couldn t help but let my mind wander why was he using this rep range, why was he
using momentum on his barbell curls, what is the purpose of his training progra
m being laid out the way that it is?
These questions drew me towards the science of bodybuilding, and more importantl
y,
the science behind writing programs for maximal muscular development - and those
techniques
that were seen during Pumping Iron? I later found out that they were referred to
as The Weider
Training Principles; created by a Canadian gentleman named Joe Weider. Since th
en, my fellow coaches at
The Strength Guys and I have studied, practiced, and created hundreds of periodi
zed training programs with the goal of maximizing muscular development. During t
his process we have learned how to manipulate the usage of these techniques to m
aximize positive outcomes, and minimize the negative outcomes. The purpose of th
is article is to share the theory, supporting research, pros, cons and practical
implications of three popular intensity techniques with you
so that you can imp
lement them into your own training as well.