Colorado Experiment Results

I can hardly believe its been 3 months since my first post about the Colorado Experiment – but its true!

Thanks for all the emails & comments I’ve received badgering me to add a status report… I needed it!

Ok… So, how did it all go?

In my original post I said that the first few sessions made my muscles the sorest they’ve been for a long time. This effect didn’t last very long. Our routine for 3 months had us hitting the gym 2 times a week (because I’ve got a raging fast metabolism and the Colorado experiment guidelines say to keep the frequency low), but even though we were pushing ourselves hard, we quickly adapted & muscle soreness returned to the usual I get the day after a workout.

The routine we were doing was simple – start out with the exercise I needed the most (because I believe my body produces better results on muscles I work first) and finish with the exercise I needed the least (definitely chest!).

Each exercise was a large muscle group, and each session included every major muscle group via compound movements (these are exercises that involve more than one joint or muscle group), so it was certainly a “whole body” work out.

For me, I started with cable rows.  I’ve got a bung neck, and I feel that the stronger my back is, the better I’ll cope with my day to day hunching over a computer. So one BIG, full on set of back was performed, following the parameters of a Colorado style workout… 5 seconds concentric, 5 seconds eccentric. Each workout usually took around 45 minutes (1 min rest between sets).

And just for the sake of completion, I’d vary my workouts. So one day I’d do bench for chest. One day flys. One day I’d do cable rows for back, the next I’d do upright rows. The only thing I didn’t vary much was pull ups, which I do on an assisted weight machine to offset any chance of hurting my neck.

We followed most of the parameters of the Colorado experiment, but like I said in my first post, we didn’t use nautilus machines.

So what are the results? Are I HUGE?

No… sorry… I’m not now 10 pounds of muscle heavier after 3 months… I’m the same weight.

HOWEVER, I’m not eating to bulk right now… When I get a more convenient gym, I will absolutely let everyone know how I go with this routine while I try & bulk.

Update: I’ve been researching more about the whole “bulking” thing, and came across a guy called Tom Venuto. He’s done a book, “Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle“, and the guy reckons “bulking” is a bunch of nonsense. I might grab a copy & review it, and see what he’s got to say about the “feed the muscle” half of the title!

Got any questions? Have you tried a Colorado style routine? Just punch in your details below & let us all know how you went.

Cheers!