I wanted to make a thread devoted to Mike's training advice and routines. As I find the stuff he wrote me I'll put it up. As some may know Mike has been fighting cancer for the longest time. He sure is a fighter. Here's some of Mike's story: http://skinnyfattransformation.com/pull-ups-mike-joplin/ If You read threw the comments after the article You will find some good advice.

Here is something wrote by Mike:

" Basically, my training method has almost always been based on "effort." In other words, I don't usually limit my sets or (especially) my reps by following a specific number or numbers (like 3 sets of 10). If I'm in the middle of a set and I started the set with the "intention" of doing 10 reps, but realize that I can do more...then I do more and then finish the set with negative partials and static holds. With each muscle group, I like to start with the most difficult exercise, and work my way down to the easiest (with short rest breaks between sets). If I can do more than (let's say) 4 - 6 reps on the first set, the next time I will make the exercise more difficult (to keep it in that rep range). And on the last set, I may do as many as 25 reps...even 50...or more. And then I'll extend my set with short rest periods and additional reps...until I can only do one or two good form reps. And I always feel fresh at the end of my training session. My nutrition has changed drastically over the years. It used to be heavy on the meat and dairy products and light on the veggies. As I have gotten older, that has been completely reversed. And I avoid most dairy products now. Coconut oil, MCT oil, and extra virgin olive oil play a big roll in my diet now. "

And here is a conversation between Mike and I on one of my favorite routines of his:

Me:     I wanted to ask You a question or two about what you wrote here:

Q 1: Example… Lower Body: Heavy Days: Pistols and/or Sissy Squats (Multiple Sets of Low Reps) Light Days: Hindu Squats (3 – 5 Sets of 20 – 100+ Reps) * Legs need a mixture of low rep difficult exercises and easier high rep exercises.

Upper Body: Heavy Days: Overhanded Pull-Ups + Diamond Push-Ups (Alternate Exercises: Grease the Groove) Light Days: Inverted Rows + Regular (Shoulder-Width) Push-Ups * Do one initial set of each exercise, and then do several more sets attempting to complete the same number of reps. Use rest-pause if necessary, and it will be.

Q 2: Staying with a routine for 6 – 8 weeks is usually about right. I’m done less, but only if I seem to hit a plateau or get bored. If I don’t enjoy a particular routine, I’ll change it regardless of how long I’ve been doing it.

I often like to start a new routine with the most difficult exercises and then work into easier exercises. That usually means starting with fewer sets and then working into more sets. I think that that is similar to what you do. However, when my volume increases, my intensity decreases…and (of course) the opposite of that is true, also.

This is what I’ll do sometimes. I’ll type out a string of numbers like this: 5+6+7+8+9+10+11+12. If I’m doing decline push-ups (feet elevated, my favorite), I’ll start by doing 5 reps, and then I’ll rest for 5 seconds. (By keeping my rest periods the same as my rep numbers, I can easily remember my last rep number.) Then I’ll progress down (actually “up”) the string until I get to 12 (if I make it that far). If I’m still feeling rather fresh, I’ll go back to the beginning and start over and go until I’ve had enough.

If the 5 – 12 sequence gets too easy, I’ll start doing 1-1/2 reps, or for each series of numbers I’ll do the same number of partials reps at the top or bottom. Or I can start doing one arm push-ups. The options and variations are almost endless…

I have used the heavy,light, and medium theme in the past with KBs. I noticed you use a heavy and light day. Do you only work upper  and lower body each twice a week?  Also question about the string of numbers. Example liked you used,decline pushups, where do you getting your starting number from? Are these numbers what you always use? Say you could do 25 decline pushups what would you do?

Mike: Anyway to answer your question, my heavy and light routine is only one of many routines that I do. So, "No," I don't "always" use the heavy/light routine.

And I usually like to workout at least six times a week, but my training sessions are brief -- less than 30 minutes. Sometimes I like to work my lower body four times a week and my upper body two times a week. The reason is because my lower body (quads and hams) always need more work. It's easy for me to make gains with my upper body compared to my lower body. Everyone is different. So always structure your training methods and sessions around "your" needs. 

I call my "string of numbers" a "series." Each series of numbers is correlated to a specific exercise. For example, let's take the diamond pushup (where my hands are close together). To begin with, I would set-up my "series" of numbers as follows: 1- 2 - 3 - 4 - 5. Each number represents a single "set." And I would rest double the rep number in seconds, like this: Do 1 rep and rest 2 seconds. Do 2 reps and rest 4 seconds. Do 3 reps and rest 6 seconds. Do 4 reps and rest 8 seconds. Do 5 reps and rest 10 seconds. I would try to repeat this series three times. Once I could do all five sets three times, I would then drop the number "1" and add a "6" at the end of the series for the next session: 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6. And once I could do all of these sets three times, I would drop the number "2" and add a "7" at the end of the series. And (until I changed this exercise strategy), I would keep doing this.

This is Mike and I. Mike is in the parentheses.

(I used to have a book on SS, but I gave it away. I have used SS before, but not as a stand-alone strategy. I mixed it in with other routines. I      was mostly experimenting. I neither lost or gained with SS. It was simply good for a change of pace.)