Interesting. Can you elaborate?
Great point. Bodyweight is another good option. Drew Baye wrote a book called Project Kratos, which is a bodyweight HIT workout he’s been refining for the last decade or so.
One of my favorite HIT trainers , Skyler Tanner, is an exercise physiologist in Austin TX. He spent a year doing Kratos and had good things to say. Drew Baye isn’t polished, but he’s been an HIT trainer for several decades and really knows his stuff.
You can also get elastic straps (aka bands) of various tensions and use them. Dr Ben has some videos on this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FadGW8n0oQ&t=37s
The video quality is not great but you can get an idea of how this would work.
It sounds like the bands above were purchased for the arms. Which BFR bands did you buy for the legs?
Yeah, the leg bands are listed below in the “Also Bought”. Bigger bands, cost a little more. But the same MODEL if you will: https://www.amazon.com/Occlusion-Training-Restriction-without-Lifting/dp/B06XS3JWKS/ref=pd_bxgy_200_2/146-9696166-3849659?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B06XS3JWKS&pd_rd_r=03626494-0e00-4dff-8aab-9e0848a85b51&pd_rd_w=PjDaZ&pd_rd_wg=PUEj9&pf_rd_p=09627863-9889-4290-b90a-5e9f86682449&pf_rd_r=CHXNFA4CY26DMRT14XCA&psc=1&refRID=CHXNFA4CY26DMRT14XCA
NEITHER of these bands are ELASTIC! They are “rigid”. But if you are “Strong” with decently dense muscle… You will start here. If you were flabby, then the elastic will do better, although I felt they sucked, and were a pain to keep wrapping around.
I like these. Ratchet them up, and you can use the #s to maintain symmetry! (Understanding that we are not PERFECTLY Symmetric)
Did 4 lower-body exercises today. I can’t do leg presses so I do inner, outer thigh seated leg curl and seated leg extension. My last rep was more like 80% and I held it 10 seconds. On 3 of the 4, my left leg was shaking violently through most of the 10-second hold.
TUT 45 seconds on 2
TUT 80 seconds on 2
Felt nauseous in the sauna after the hot tub and I never feel nauseous. I think this might be from BBS workout but not sure. I will have to see how I feel on days without failure training.
Sounds like your legs got a pretty intense workout. That 10 second hold is really a doozy during leg day. Shaking is pretty normal for me, but not “violent” shaking. I’ll be curious how the DOMS is on that leg in 36 hrs… 
Exercise induced nausea is not uncommon after really intense workouts. I used to get it sometimes at the end of races (5k). It can have as much to do with what you ate, and when you ate it as it does the workout though. I don’t usually get it these days, but I usually fast for 86 hours prior to lifting. Here is an interesting article on the subject.
Also, what was your breathing like during the hold? I have a bad tendency to hold my breath at the end of a really painful set, so I do something a bit like “Lamaze” breathing when that burning sensation/panic reaction sets in so I don’t forget lol. I can only imagine how ridiculous I look with my pregnant lady breathing during single set workouts…
I just wanted to see more improvement, sooner. That’s all (I’m impatient by nature, rolleyes.) I am DEFINITELY stronger than when I began in August of 2018.
My doc at the time wanted me to do Stronglifts 5x5 also. Nope! Nothing doing…
Not enough time and I don’t need the injuries. It’s pretty hard to sustain a significant injury with the McGuff protocol. 
You would have to be out and out careless, methinks…
Thats me right there…by the time im done one BBS… thats it…i feel nausiated and feel like i rode a horse for several hours, then someoen filled my quads up with cement before making me run a 10 miler. Basically… i cant walk…my legs are jelly.
Make sure to drink extra lytes.
Dinner the night before. Mostly pot roast.
My lower body doesn’t normally get sore so this will be interesting if I do.
Upper-body tomorrow AM. I’m going to push as hard and see what my reaction is. Will likely do the hot tub and sauna post exercise like today.
I find myself holding my breath and then do what you do when I realize I’m holding it.
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I can only imagine how ridiculous I look with my pregnant lady breathing during single set workouts…
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That was me after my last BBS workout on Sunday night…
One of the leg press stations at my gym has an adjustable safety stop (solid .5" steel pin). It’s usually occupied because for some reason, most folks prefer it to the one that puts 600lbs of crushing weight above your body with no safety stop in the event of a mid-rep failure (go figure!). I went late at night just before bedtime so I had no problem getting the good station.
When I get the “safety” machine it lets me do the post-failure 10 second hold, and then do a 10 second slow eccentric all the way down to wreck the muscles all way back down to where the knees are bent to 90 degrees. Wow, does that slow drop make a difference.
It’s now 2 days later and I’ve got DOMs in a big way. I know I had a good workout when I need to use the arms of my office chair to sit down for a few days…
haha lol… yes my co-workers used to look at me trying to stand up and sit down after a workout… In order to sit down on the toilet, i had to brace my arms against either wall to slowly lower my body down. Ohh the burn!!
Lmao! This is the classic “sink brace” or “stall brace” technique. I think Dr. McGuff should have included that technique in the Body by Science book and called the basic workout “the big 6” not the “big 5”.
I guess I still have the capacity to push more reps. I am not worthy!
Is this rationale?
As my strength and bulk grows I gain more slow to fast twitch muscle units. That seems obvious. But is the metabolic effect greater with greater strength and bulk? Is this some sort of power curve and not linear?
Said another way, benefits begets benefits.
Interesting question. I’m not sure I totally follow though. What metabolic effects do you mean?
Dr. McGuff talks about the release of cytokines and other metabolites that are reason that we can improved immune responses, strength, bulk, and other benefits. It is the stimulus that generates these chemicals and the downstream benefits, more than the physical damage to the muscle fibers. I need to go back and watch some of the the videos again where Dr. McGuff talks about this.
