Originally Posted by
GeorgeBMac
Yes, that's part of the trouble listening to experts: "Train Hard", "Moderate Intensity", "High Intensity", "Train to Failure" all seem to mean different things to different people -- yet they are thrown out there rather casually as generalized truisms like "don't eat the yellow snow". Healthy living is always a continuum and it is never black and white. Defining the terms clearly and unambiguously is critical...
I agree.
In the serious powerlifting world, they use periodization in their training - meaning, every now and then you drop the weight on your squat or your bench press or whatever - it's a time tested strategy for avoiding plateaus. They also call it "cycling" but I don't want to confuse anyone here
. Even on the day that the lifter has dropped the weight to begin a new cycling, he's still "training hard" - he's paying strict attention to technique, applying effort, etc.