10 Team Taurus Commandments
Onboarding Information Pack.
Index.
1. Optimise Sleep & Recovery 💤
2. Understand Tempo & Exercise Pairing.
3. Enforce Progressive Overload.
4. Explore Intensity Techniques.
5. Prepare, Organise, Optimise.
6. Fuel for Performance (refeeds)
7. Adhere to the Check-In Obligations.
8. Supercharge Your Check-Ins.
9. Level-Up Your Physique Updates 📸
10. Enhance Health & Hormones Status.
1. Optimise Sleep & Recovery 💤
The first key commandment is to optimise your recovery, primarily by improving our body’s natural restorative process: sleep. Having a good night’s sleep has been attributed to a host of benefits, including but not limited to:
Improved body composition.
Reduced risk of illness, injury, dementia, heart disease.
Reduced mortality risk.
Ensuring you nasal breathe during sleep is pivotal to optimising the quality of your sleep.
Nasal breathing increases blood flow and circulation by increasing nitric oxide (ENOS-3) production.
Increases oxygenation of bodily tissues, allowing you to recover better.
❗️If you have difficulty with nasal breathing, try:
Nose strips and/or mouth tape.
i. Nasal Breathe!
Cutting out blue light exposure at night is one of the MOST IMPORTANT ways to improve your sleep and overall recovery.
Blue light reduces melatonin production at the pineal gland by signalling to the suprachiasmatic nucleus that it is “day time”.
Increases oxygenation of bodily tissues, allowing you to recover better.
Ways to Minimise Exposure to Blue Light: https://www.blockbluelight.com.au/blogs/news/ways-to-minimise-blue-light
Wear Blue Light Blocking Glasses: I recommend BonCharge.
Use Screen Filters on your Phone.
Apple/iPhone: Settings > General > Accessibility > Text & Size > Colour Filters > Color tint (set intensity to max, set hue to Red).
Create a triple-click shortcut under: Accessibility > Accessibility Shortcut (at the very bottom).
Android/Samsung: Settings > Accessibility > Vision Enhancements > Colour Filter (set intensity to desired, set hue to Red).
Install Blue Light blocking software to Laptops/PC’s. I recommend f.lux (Mac) or Iris (PC)
Switch bedside lamp’s to hold blue light blocking bulbs. 💡
ii. Minimise Blue Light before bed.
Set up your sleep environment to mimic a cave…
Dark (dark enough so that you can not see your hand extended in front of your face).
Cool (around 17-18 degrees is ideal).
Bonus points for the utilisation of white/pink noise.
iii. Sleep “in a cave”.
iv. Solar Charge each day with a minimum of 1hr per day 🌞.
Get a minimum of 1 hour of daylight per day.
Ideally, the first thing your eyes should see when you wake up is the sunrise (or natural light).
Syntheise more Vitamin D, reduce stress and cortisol, improve cellular energy.
Bonus points for pairing solar charging with grounding (ideally at the beach or in the forest) 🌲🌿
2. Understand Tempo & Exercise Pairing
Having total understanding of your training is the second commandment. You MUST familiarise yourself with Exercise Tempo and Exericse Pairing to be able to perform our elite-calibre training sessions to the BEST of your ability.
For a deep-dive into Exercise Tempo and Exericse Pairing, see our blog “Understanding Your Training Programme”.
3. Enforce Progressive Overload
Progressive Overload has been defined as “the gradual increase of stress placed upon the body during exercise training” (Bompa & Buzzichelli, 2018). This principle states that the level of stimulus must be overloaded over time in a progressive fashion.
Progressive Overload is ESSENTIAL for creating a long-term growth stimulus, because it determines the magnitude of mechanical growth-stimulus in each workout. Without progressive overload, long-term muscle growth adaptations will be significantly diminised… even to a point of zero net growth over time. For this reason, enforcing Progressive Overload in each session is the third Team Taurus Commandment.
What is Progressive Overload?
Video Demonstration
iii. Cluster Sets.
Cluster Set: An advanced training method where the total repetition number of a working set is broken into a distinct number of clusters (usually two or three clusters). During a cluster set, each “cluster” of reps will be immediately followed by a partial rest period (usually 15-20 seconds). Once you complete the final cluster, you will then rest the full allocated time before performing another set. It is important to note the load/weight of each cluster must remain the same. Example: Hack Squat: 60kg per side x 9 total reps. In this example, you would likely break this up into 3 clusters (of three reps each), resting 15-20s between clusters, using a weight you could typically do for 7-8 reps (7-8RM). It is important to note you may not always be able to complete the final cluster e.g., 3 reps, 3 reps, 2 reps (failing the 3rd rep on the third set). You would then track this as 8 total reps performed in your programme (3 + 3 + 2 = 8). In your programme, you will usually see a cluster set expressed as numbers and forward slashes e.g., Hack Squat: Cluster Set 1: 3 / 3 / 3.
Video Demonstration
Advanced Dropset Techniques.
iv. Mechanical Dropsets.
A technique where you perform a working set of an exercise (taken to close proximity of failure), then immediately adjust the exercise to make it mechanically easier, allowing you to continue working the same muscle group without rest. Unlike a traditional Dropset which involves reducing the weight/load of the exercise, a Mechanical Dropset his usually involves modifying an exercise’s resistance profile over time to make it more mechanically favourable (e.g., Step Back Tricep Extension into Step Forward Tricep Extension).
v. Tempo Dropsets.
A technique where you perform a working set of an exercise at a given prescribed tempo. Then, once task failure is achieved at that prescribed tempo, immediately adjust the tempo of the exercise to allow you to continue working the same muscle group in the same exercise without rest. Example: Leg Extension: 65kg x 7 reps @2012 tempo (2-sec iso hold at top), once you fail to hold the 2s iso-hold at top, immediately continue the set @2010 tempo (remove 2-sec iso-hold) until task failure is achieved again.
A technique where you perform a working set of an exercise with full range of motion. Then, once task failure is achieved with full ROM, immediately increase the load by 10-20% and continue to work the same muscle group in the same exercise using a partial range of motion (whatever ROM you can achieve with the heavier load). Example: Pronated Upper Back Pulldown: 75kg x 7 reps @0RIR (at full ROM), immediately followed by 85kg x 4 reps (at partial ROM until muscular failure is achieved).
Video Demonstration
Video Demonstration
vi. Reverse Dropsets.
Video Demonstration
Advanced Superset Techniques.
vii. Supersets.
A pairing of two exercises (e.g. A1 and A2), where the first exercise in the sequence is immediately followed by a secondary exercise with little to no rest. Example: Flat Dumbbell Press immediately followed by a Dumbbell Bicep Curl.
viii. Alternating Supersets.
A pairing of two exercises (e.g. B1 and B2), where the first exercise in the sequence is followed by a secondary exercise with a prescribed rest period e.g., “2m 0s before performing B2". Once the secondary exercise is completed, this is followed by a secondary rest period e.g., “2m 0s before repeating B1”, before repeating the first exercise. In this fashion, you rest after both the first AND the second exercise (in an alternating fashion). Example: EZ Bar Preacher Curl and Long Rope Tricep Extension, resting 2m 0s after each exercise before performing the other.
ix. Giant Sets.
A pairing of three (or more) exercises (e.g. C1, C2, C3, C4...), where the first exercise in the sequence is immediately followed by a secondary exercise with little to no rest. Once the secondary exercise is complete, this is immediately followed by a third (or more) exercise. Example: Incline Prone Butterflies, Incline Prone I Raise, Incline Prone Y Raise, Incline Prone T Raise. Once you complete the final exercise in the sequence, rest the allocated time period before repeating (unless your programme prescribed only "1 giant set").
x. Pre-Exhause Supersets.
A paring of two exercises where the first exercise in the sequence overloads a distinct portion of the range of motion (typically the shortened position), and the second exercise closely matches the strength profile of the muscle, or at least overloads a portion of the range of motion not overloaded during the first exercise. For example, a Machine Pec Flye overloads the mid-shortened position, which could be followed by a Low Incline Sternal Dumbbell Press (which overloads the lengthened position of the range of motion).
Video Demonstration
Video Demonstration
xi. Post-Exhaust Supersets.
A paring of two exercises where the first exercise in the sequence closely matches the strength profile of the muscle (usually overloading the mid-range), and the second exercise overloads a specific portion of the range of motion that isn’t overloaded by the first exercise (typically the shortened range). For example, a Overhead Dumbbell Shoulder Press closely matches the strength profile of the deltoids, which could be followed by a Chest Supported Dumbbell Y-Raise (which overloads the shortened position of the range of motion).
Video Demonstration
Exercise/Training induces a stress on the body which creates a temporary reduction in performance.
When the correct amount of stress is imposed in Part 1, the body recovers to a level that superseeds the baseline performance (called Supercompensation).
Following Supercompensation some negative adaptation may occur. Note: your programme has been designed in a way to minimise any negative adaptation and promote positive adaptation.
Over time, performance increases (only if progressive overload is enforced).
Methods of Applying Progressive Overload for Muscle Hypertrophy.
i. Increase Load (Microloading).
Increasing the load from session-to-session when performed with the same number of repetitions is the first method of ensuring Progressive Overload is occurring. An example here is if you performed 120kg on the Hack Squat for 7 repetitions in Week 1 of your training phase, the next time you perform this session, you may aim to hit 122.5kg for 7 repetitions. While this may not seem like a lot, after eight weeks of following this progression model, you would be able to perform 140kg for 7 repetitions (an increase of 20kg over 8 weeks).
ii. Increase Number of Repetitions.
Increasing the number of repetitions performed with the same given load is also another method of ensuring Progressive Overload is occurring. An example here is if you performed 40kg Dumbbells for 7 repetitions in Week 1 of your training phase, the next time you perform this session, if you hit 40kg for 8 or more repetitions, you can be sure the progressive overload is occurring.
In some instances it may be practical to adopt one of the method of progressive overload over the other.
When Method i. may be more applicable:
Exercises that use a lot of absolute load/weight e.g., Trap Bar Deadlift may benefit more from microloading as a method of enforcing Progressive Overload.
If you performed 185kg for 4 reps in your previous session, it may be difficult to get an additional rep in the next session, as this equates to a 185kg increase in volume-load (+1 rep x 185kg).
Instead, if we adopt Method i., we can instead progressively overload via increasing the load on the bar. Performing this exercise at match repetitions with an additional 2.5kg loaded (187.5kg x 4 repetitions) is now enforcing progressive overload, however the additional volume-load is a more realistic 10kg (+2.5kg x 4 reps).
Compared to the 185kg of volume-load increase using Method ii. (which may be unviable in the long-term), Method i. may be more practical for sustainable progress when using heavily loaded exercises.
When Method ii. may be more applicable:
Dumbbell exercises and low absolute-load exercises e.g. Dumbbell Lateral Raises may benefit more from increasing the number of repetitions performed as primary method of enforcing Progressive Overload.
If you perform an Incline Dumbbell Press @ 12.5kg x 7 reps, it is likely not viable to microload the following session to 13kg x 7 reps (as the weight of dumbbells at most gym’s usually increase at 2kg or 2.5kg increments). In this instance, it may make more sense to adopt Method ii. and aim for 12.5kg’s for 8 or 9 repetitions (1-2 repetitions gained).
In this instance, you may increase repetitions up until a point (likely until you reach the top of the rep range). E.g., if your programme says 6-12 reps, you may continue to Progressively Overload via increasing reps up at 12.5kg until you get 12 reps. Then, you may adopt Method i. the following session and aim for 15kg dumbbells for 6-7 reps, and repeat this process.
4. Understanding Set Intensifiers
Working Sets, Rest-Pause, Clusters.
i. Working Sets.
A set that is usually taken to close proximity of failure, typically within the 5-30 rep range, however may be lower or higher than this depending on the goal of the stimulus/phase.
ii. Rest-Pause Sets.
A working set (taken to close proximity of failure), which is immediately followed by a rest-pause period usually lasting ~15-20 seconds. Using the same load, your goal is to get as many additional reps as possible after this 15-20s rest-pause period. Example: Smith Machine Incline Press: 90kg x 6 reps, 20s rest-pause, 90kg x 2 reps. You would then track this as 8 total reps performed in your programme (6 + 2 = 8).
5. Prepare, Organise, Optimise
6. Fuel for Performance
The importance of fuelling.
It is crucial that when eating outside the framework of your usual nutrition guidance, whether following structured nutrition plans or flexible dieting strategies such as macro tracking or intuitive eating, you prioritise fueling your body in a way that optimises performance and recovery.
Depending on where you are at in your body-composition and bio-optimisation journey, your coach may recommend you to have one (or more) “refeed meals” or “off-plan meals” during your formal check-in updates.
Refeed Meals vs Off-Plan Meals vs. Off-Plan Days.
First we need to understand the differences and similarities between Refeed Meals and Off-Plan Meals. While there are some similarities and shared elements, there are also a host of differences.
G-Flux, D-Flux & N-Flux Protocols
For athletes in a contest preparation or improvement season phase, your coach may include a G-Flux, D-Flux or N-Flux refeed strategy. Find out more about the differences below:
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This is the most common type of refeeding strategy, and is targetted towards increasing and restoring bodily glycogen stores. The key reason to prescribe a G-Flux refeed is to restore and potentiate training performance. During a G-Flux refeed, you can expect to ingest anywhere up to 800kcal above the meal that you are replacing, and is typically comprised of no less than 60-70% dietary carbohydrates.
E.g., 150g Sirloin Steak + 150g Basmati Rice (raw weight) + 1x Banana + 200g Pineapple.
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Of all the refeed protocols, the D-Flux protocol yields the most similar effects to consuming a typical off-plan meal. This type of refeed is targetted towards driving dopaminergic pathways, and seeks to attenuate any psychological or diet-related fatigue that is typically induced during an extensive period of caloric restriction. It is characteristically low in protein, and typically has a semi-balanced composition of dietary fats/lipids and carbohydrates.
E.g., BurgerFuel Burger + Sweet Potato Fries.
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An N-Flux refeed protocol is the least common type of refeeding strategy, and involves ingesting a bolus dose of protein and amino-acid rich food sources in times of elevated mechanical damage or oxidative stress. Notably, the goal of an N-Flux refeed is drive tissue repair cascades by shifting the body into a highly nitrogen-positive state.
E.g., 300g Sirloin Steak, 4x Egg Whites, 25g Hydrolyzed Isolate Whey Protein.
But…
What are Refeed Meals, Off-Plan Meals, and Off-Plan Days?
And…
How can best utilise them to our advantage..?
But what about High Days & Diet Breaks?
High Days Diet Breaks.