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Ivan's Newsletter
July 1, 2006 -- Issue 009
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Hi,

This issue includes...

1) A Message from Ivan

2) "Questions and Answers" Series:
Should I go to failure in each set
or I should not?

3) What's New About IvanNikolov.com
There is a lot new. Check this out

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1) A Message from Ivan
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Superbody'06 is behind my back already. I took the 4th place
in a weight class with not too many competitors...

This placement is a bit of disappointment for me, as I couldn't
improve in all the four categories - size, symmetry, condition
and posing presentation.

I was bigger than before, my posing presentation was better
than ever too, but I wasn't as conditioned as in my
last competition. I think that's the reason why I took the
4th place.

I can go on and start blaming the judges for tolerating
excessive muscle mass as in non-tested shows, or even
some of the competitors, who were clearly not natural,
but this is not my style.

If I didn't place according to my earlier expectations
I prefer to think that the reason is entirely in me.
That is the only fair thing to do and that is what will help me
stay focused so that I keep working on improving my
weak points.

It's a different question if I would compete for Musclemania
again in the future. This decision I will make after doing
some good thinking...

The reason for me to be faced with this dilemma is the fact that
Musclemania shows are getting more and more about the
excessive muscle mass and NOT about the esthetic, natural,
eye-pleasing physique.

Not to mention that the drug tests are really easy to pass.
I'd prefer a urinalysis test, done according to the rules,
and a polygraph test, even if we - the competitors have to
pay for it...

Any way, that was it about my recent show in Miami.

Check out the "What's New About IvanNikolov.com"
section below for info on photos and video from
the contest. 

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2) Should I go to failure in each set
or I should not?
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Q. Hey Ivan, this question has always bothered me
ever since I've been training. Should I go to failure in each set
or I should not? That's something that was never mentioned
a lot when I read training articles. Thanks.

A. You are right. I haven’t seen too much literature on this
important issue either.

Not too long ago I re-posted a recent study in my blog, which
was exactly about how your body reacts on training to failure
in each set compared to non-failure training.

Scientists examined the body’s hormonal responses, strength,
and muscle power gains. What they found was indeed
very interesting: The group of athletes, who trained to failure
for 11 weeks showed reduction in the resting IGF-1 concentrations
(this is a growth factor) and elevations in the IGFBP-3,
which is the binding protein for IGF-1.  More of this protein
will ensure longer life for IGF-1 but that doesn’t necessarily
mean that IGF-1 is more bioavailable.

On the other hand the non-failure group of athletes showed
some different results: the resting concentrations of cortisol decrease
(a stress hormone that has catabolic properties –
not good for bodybuilding) and the resting serum total
testosterone increase (you know it: an anabolic hormone).

Scientists concluded that NOT training to failure is beneficial
for improving strength and power whereas training to failure
results in local muscular endurance improvement.

Based on the facts above you can decide for yourself
whether you want to train to failure or not. It will all depend on
what your goals are: endurance or strength and power
(last two consequently lead to muscle growth).

Should you decide in favor of the training to failure,
keep in mind that training this way all the time can easily lead to
overtraining. And that’s something I strongly recommend you avoid!

My personal opinion is you should train to failure only in one
or two sets when you feel the strongest (before you start
feeling fatigued from the workout) WHILE doing basic,
compound exercises – bench press, squats, etc. 

And don’t forget that you need a partner for security reasons!

The rest of the time stop when you can still do another repetition
on your own. That means not going to failure.

Hope this helps.

Yours,

Ivan

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3) What's New About IvanNikolov.com
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The only thing I’ve done after I came back from Miami was
to post photos from the contest as well as a video with my
posing routine.

If you are curious to see the photos go here:

Follow this link for the video:

http://www.ivannikolov.com/videos/myvideos.htm

 

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Copyright 2006 by IvanNikolov.com.
All rights reserved.
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