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do the exercises "until tired"

Posted: Thu Feb 05, 2009 4:50 am
by emran
This is one phrase used through out the Atlas Course , in addition to 'do not do the exercises till exhausted'

Can the experienced D.Ters shed some light on this topic. What is the sensation one is going through till they reach the point where it is mentioned "until tired" ... e.g should the body feel sore ? What does until exhausted refer to ? How is exhaustion described to the person who is D.Ting

Scenario : Imagine one has to do 10 dips and one the 7th or 8th count ... you feel a bit out of breath and your arms are feeling the pressure ... but only 2 more reps to finish the cycle ... should you stop at that point and relax and reach the point where you are all calm and composed ? or go ahead with the 2 count and finish the cycle. :o

I also noted that D.T is supposed to be a DAILY routine so training strenously like body building or any other physical activity is counter productive ... any advice , suggestions and analysis will be appreciated immensely :)

Cheers :)

Re: do the exercises "until tired"

Posted: Thu Feb 05, 2009 5:36 pm
by curdog
I think its in lesson one that he recommends doing the exercizes 10 or 12 times, and then to go at them again until we are tired. I don't have a good answer to that. I just try to keep bumping the total number up a little more each week, or whenever I feel I can increase them. As you pointed out, it is a daily activity and that requires a different approach than "no pain no gain." Atlas' motto is "don't strain, just train."

I have nothing but anecdtal evidence, but it seems to me that doing exercize the dt way increases the metabolism and helps you get thin. You get a metabolism boost by the morning workout. You walk later in the day. Then you have the evening workout. Three times a day you get the system up and going. This raises the resting metabolism and increases caloric expenditure of the body. In other words, it helps you get the fat off the body.

Re: do the exercises "until tired"

Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2009 10:50 pm
by lch
Go ahead and do them twice a day like the course says,look back at the old timers youve known most of them were stronger than men a lot younger than they were,it was from the hard work they done daily before the digitized age of production today, sales ,meetings,holding down office chairs,even a lot of factory jobs today are classified as LIGHT INDUSTRIAL WORK ,around 1990 my job went from labor intesive to not so hard thanks to machinery,and my weight went up.the DT course will build you in a controlled progressive way day by day like the old guys... but where their bodies started to wear down from a lifetime of hard work the dt course and "train dont strain" will keep you in tip top shape year after year and if you do have a physically demanding job DT and common sense with lifting and heavy types of work will keep you from wearing down,so go for it!

Re: do the exercises "until tired"

Posted: Wed Apr 22, 2009 5:55 pm
by Bridge
Well said Ich and Curdog! The greatest thing that Atlas advocated was "train don't strain", so different from the mantra of "no pain, no gain." With the one, two, three approach of the course, morning workout, walk, evening workout, and maybe a few exercises done during the day, along with eating properly, your body's metabolism is geared for fat loss and muscle gain. If you follow the Atlas course pretty much to the letter, you will get ripped. It took me a few tries at starting the course over, but I finally got the message! ;)

Re: do the exercises "until tired"

Posted: Thu Apr 23, 2009 2:27 pm
by emfermi
I would recommend you to read Lesson 6, exactly the last paragraphs under the title "practical methods to avoid stiffness, soreness and muscle build". In it, Mr. Atlas recommends to train until the fatigue point (train not strain), instead of the exhaustion point (no pain, no gain). I understand exhaustion point as the point at which you cannot complete a rep of whatever exercise you are performing; ie failure point. On the contrary, fatigue point is for me the number of reps adter which your energy or vigor drops off dramatically. For me, the fatigue point is usually 2 reps before the exhaustion point, but you will have to learn to listen to your body. Do not forget to massage the muscular group trained as Mr. Atlas advises. It does an extremenly good job at preventing soreness.