Beyond Body Opus - The Depletion Workout – Two Hours, Really?

The Depletion Workout – Two Hours, Really?

The depletion workout can be a deciding factor for many considering Body Opus.  While Dan is vague about sets, reps and even exercises, he was adamant the depletion workout would take up a lot of time in order to be effective.  

Dan writes the goal of the depletion workout is to, “…deplete muscle glycogen, not to make Hamlet-length monologues into the ralphing pail.”  You deplete muscle glycogen to increase your store of glucose to glycogen converting enzymes before you replenish your glycogen stores, or “carb-up.”  Carbing up is a trick bodybuilders stole from endurance athletes.  Endurance athletes did it to extend the amount of time they could compete without “hitting the wall.”  We do it in Body Opus to supercompensate muscle glycogen levels and cause what Dan describes as, “…kinetic anabolic expansion.”

On page 315 Dan states he was unable to, “…finish Friday’s whole body depletion workout in less than two hours…”  during my first attempts at Body Opus, I stuck to that mindset and my depletion workouts clocked in around two hours.  Over the three years I have been doing Body Opus, several things have changed my view and approach to the depletion workout.

Sustainability – Since I plan to do Body Opus over the long term, does carving a two-hour chunk out of my life every week make for something I can do over the long term?  For me the answer is no.  I needed to deplete glycogen, but are there ways that are more efficient?

Goals – The depletion workout and the weekend feeding schedule laid out in the book are aimed at bodybuilders preparing for a contest.  An athlete would do Body Opus over successive weeks leading up to the contest.  I am not competing, so when I come out of the recomposition over the weekend, I’m looking at another week of Body Opus.  My rationale is that I can still deplete, still carb up without being as stringent as the plan in the book.

Workouts – Dan left the actual exercises vague so readers could plug in exercises that worked for them.  The circuit recommendation was innovative for its time; however, myriad exercise protocols emerged since Body Opus.  Of particular note are Charles Staley’s Escalating Density Training (EDT), and Kenneth Jay’s Viking Warrior Conditioning.  More on these later.

In revamping the depletion workout, I used Dan’s dictum of “exploring the limits of slackness” in my approach.  I asked myself, “What exercise protocols can I use to do the most depletion in the shortest amount of time?”

Charles Staley’s Escalating Density Training is a system that pairs antagonistic exercises (exercises that work opposite muscle groups, such as bench press and row) for a 15-minute session.  Charles recommends using a weight that allows you to do 10 reps, but not 12.  In the example of bench press and rows, you would do eight reps of bench press (Exercise A1), then immediately do eight reps of barbell (or dumbbell) rows (Exercise A2).  EDT is about fatigue management, and as Dan says on page 313, the depletion workout is a fatigue training session.  

The goal of the EDT session is to complete as many sets (A1 followed by A2) within 15 minutes.  As you get fatigued, rather than increase your rest between sets, think about decreasing the reps per set.  Charles suggests performing triples (3 reps), doubles (2 reps) and even singles to keep cranking out the reps up to the 15-minute mark.  

EDT is a completely self-regulating system.  When it comes to popular bodybuilding routines (“4 sets of 12,” “8 sets of 8,” “10 sets of 10,” etc.) I am always left with the question of whether I actually accomplished anything.  Another question is “how much do I increase the weight by?” 

With EDT, the goal is to increase the volume of each workout.  Volume, for EDT purposes, is defined by rXw, where r=repetitions and w=weight.  If the total number of reps for bench press is 100 and the weight used is 135 lbs, then the volume is 13,500.  My goal for the next workout would be to perform more repetitions and increase that volume.  Since the time (15 minutes) does not change, performing more repetitions means you are performing more work.  Increased volume over successive sessions confirms you are progressing.

Charles also devised a novel weigh to determine not only when to increase your weight within EDT, but by how much.  When you have increased your volume by 20%, you may increase the weight by 5% or 5 pounds, whichever is less.  Charles’ book “Muscle Logic” lays it all out.  What I like about EDT is the fact that each session is 15 minutes, and you probably need a countdown times like the Gymboss to get strict about that.  

With the 15-minute sessions, you could string two or three together for an intense depletion workout.  I usually work from larger muscles (chest/back) down to smaller muscles (bicep/triceps). “Muscle Logic” has a great section of possible A1/A2 combinations, as well as tips on getting the most out of EDT.  When I used EDT for my depletion workout, I would perform four sessions, two upper body and two lower body pairings.  While that clocks in at an hour of training, once you factor in rest between sessions and equipment set up, most workouts took about 90 minutes.

When I was pressed for time, I would pare it down to three sessions and if I did not tarry, could knock out a depletion workout in an hour.  For the shortened depletion, I would perform two upper body sessions and one (heavy) lower body session.  Instead of the depletion workout being an unknown black whole of time on Friday, EDT imparts a level of precision on that workout.  In addition to strength training, the continuous nature of each session, combined with the fatigue management challenges imparts an aerobic training aspect to the session.

Kenneth Jay’s “Viking Warrior Conditioning” takes precision to another level.  Where EDT sets the length of the session at 15 minutes, Viking Warrior Conditioning gives you 15 seconds to perform a specified number of reps, followed by 15 seconds of rest that equals one set.  Rinse and repeat.  Did I mention there is only ONE exercise for this protocol?  That’s right, kettlebell snatch.  The ultimate goal is to perform 80 sets, which will take you exactly 40 minutes.

With Viking Warrior, Kenneth Jay singled out the kettlebell snatch as an exercise that addresses not only overall strength, but when using his 15-second work/15 second rest protocol, has specific cardiovascular impact.  “The Dane of Pain” as he is known, claims Viking Warrior Conditioning will positively influence ejection fraction.  

I used Viking Warrior Conditioning for my workouts during the week, so using it for my depletion workout was a logical progression.  I like that it is scalable.  If I only have 30 minutes to work out, I know my goal is 60 sets (at 15:15 you’ll do two sets per minute).  The snatch is a whole-body exercise that engages the core.  Of course, Kenneth gives you the complete testing routine that shows how many reps per set for the 15:15 protocol.  

When training for an upcoming 5k, I can fold in treadmill runs with the Viking Warrior Conditioning by doing 10 sets of snatches using the 15:15 protocol, then following that with 10 minutes (or one mile) on the treadmill.  After four sessions of these, I am depleted. 

So, that’s my story on the depletion workout.  I think I have found an alternative to Dan’s recommended two-hour depletion workouts, but your results may vary.  I had specific reasons for the choices I made and you’ll have to factor in your own situation in making decisions about the depletion workout.  

EDT and Viking Warrior Conditioning are great tools to make workouts more efficient.  For me, time is a factor.  I don’t have the time to spend two hours in the gym, or even working out at home.  I also like the precision of both systems, as well as the ability to see and chart gains.  If I ever get to a point where I really want a pumped “after” picture, I probably will revert to the two-hour depletion workout and a variation of the feeding schedule, but only for a weekend.

Stay strong!