This begs the question, how does your typical gym rat improve execution? Do we all need coaches? Does it happen naturally over time?
Paul -
Do you think a lot of trainees over think the whole programming aspect? Why do you think that is?
I swear once I started saying "OK, I can do squats at 385 for 5 sets of 3, let me keep working at 385 until I can do 385 for 5 sets of 5 with no grind (maybe 2 months) and then add 10lbs and start again, I swear my progress started to SKY ROCKET.
Why do you think keeping it simple falls out of style even though for recreational lifters (non competitive lifters) this is probably the best long term approach?
No it doesn’t naturally happen over time. Someone either has to learn it from somewhere or someone teaches it to them.
When I walk into a gym I would venture to say that 99% of the people I see training have really atrocious mechanics. Add on to the fact that few people train really hard and it’s no wonder they need so much volume. It’s inefficiency on top of inefficiency.
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Because people are impatient. It’s really that simple. No one wants to believe it’s years and years on end of doing this to gain an appreciable amount of muscle. So people hop and skip around for years believing that there’s going to be one routine that will create a short cut.
It’s why so many noobs on here are obsessed with routines rather than principles. They just don’t have the association that principles win out over and over again.
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I agree 100%!!!
If you had to list your top 5 principles when it comes to strength training and getting bigger/stronger, what would you say they are?
When it comes to newbies in there 30s or later or ppl returning from long periods off how do you approach them out of curiosity? Do you hammer the biomechanics way more because their movement often times if way worse?
My thoughts have come far the other way now. 3 to 4 sessions tops and maybe the fourth session should be yoga.
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I’ve built 90% of my body and strength doing full body routines for like 5 years. Maybe my leverages and genetics helped a bit not needing a lot of isolation but 3 days a week of heavy lifting + 2-3 hard conditioning seemed to be the PERFECT fit overall.
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Objectively looking at CT’s latest post it’s about:
“Different people are stimulated by different types of training:”
Yes they are. But people are going to naturally do what they enjoy. And often times, that’s not what they need to be doing in order to continue progressing.
Take a guy that LIKES doing heavy triples, but has been stuck for a long time. He’s really more or less tapped out all of the adaptability associated with that kind of training. So what he needs to stop doing…is heavy triples.
I agree that people need to enjoy training, but if you’re truly after progress then there will be times where you have to do things you don’t enjoy in order to break through a plateau. Because the stimulus is so new, it will force and create adaption.
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He also points this out, the higher volume is not better for people who like volume. Its just better for people who lose motivation from low volume, high intensity.
“The most important element when it comes to making gains is training hard with laser-like focus. And to do that over weeks and months you need to keep your motivation high. As such, if your program doesn’t fit what you like to do in the gym, even if it’s the absolute best way to train, you’ll get subpar results.
If you’re a volume person, the theoretical best approach (lower volume, higher intensity, higher frequency) will give you the worse results in the long run. But that doesn’t make traditional high volume better.”
Overload plus frequency
Right. And others seem to be training rather leisurely.
High volume I think is only good for a short time to get thru a plateau. Otherwise I found low volume higher frequency is better but not everyone is the same. As you age low volume is better for joints and your sets are better quality. Harder to do 7 quality sets than 2-3.
This reminds me of some advice from the Iron Radio Podcast guys (Lonnie Lowery and Charles Staley in particular) who have espoused stuff like
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You only have so many reps in you before your cartilage and joints give out.
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Everything you do in the gym has a cost, but does it have a benefit?
Those two things have always gone through my head when I think I need to do MOAR WEIGHTS!@!@! … These reps and sets are going to have a cost, but are they going to have a benefit? And not only that, they are wearing down my body, so the benefit I gain from that better be worth it.
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That’s a really good way to look at it. Are your sets and reps creating all the benefits that lifting weights are supposed to? Or damage and dysfunction? Without good mechanics, you’re doing the the latter rather than the former.
So for the guys who espouse volume, and a lot of it, it’s really all because those guys don’t know how to get the most out of what they could be. Seriously, think about it. Do you honestly believe you need 20 sets to get your legs to grow? Does that even make sense?
Or do you think that 6-8 sets, done with a high degree of effort, with appropriate loading, and proper mechanics would create that need for adaptation?
I swear it even feels like that’s the truth, despite the fact that studies tend to back this up over and over again.
Yeah the more I think about the more it seems like you just need one hard set to tell the body “Adapt to THIS and make it a little easier next time” and do it from a few different exercises and youre done.
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I’m sold on low volume. 8 to 10 quality sets works for me.
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I’m a big believer in less is more. More is just more sometimes lol.
A typical workout for me will be
Squat - 5 sets
RDL - 5 sets
*Quads, Hamstrings/Glutes, Core Work - 1-3 sets each
*Farmers Walk - 1-3 sets
By this point I am DONE. I’m ready to get out of the gym. No way I can do more work than that. Depending on the week and the load, I might only have the energy to do some abs after Squats & RDLs.
I budget 1 hour a day for gym time. So I gotta make it count!
I’ve heard from seasoned cardiologists that the same logic applies to your heart - it only has so many beats in it before it gives out. That’s why some advise against lots of strenuous exercise as you are shortening your life cycle.
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