Sometimes, it’s best to be a little lazy
Today we live in such a lazy, quick fix society. But some how when it comes to our training, we are still under the adage that more is better. Being the lazy society that we are, I am surprised that it has taken this path.
Yes there are some who want to be able to sit on the couch, pop and pill and ‘wulla’, instant abs. But with our training, people still believe that more is better. You know, if 5 sets are doing the job on my biceps, then if I double the sets then I will double the results. I wish it was that simple, but unfortunately its not. What is true is that if you want to amplify your results in the gym, do what the lazy folk do, and spend some more time on the couch.
As most people realise, weight training is just the stimulus for muscular growth. You do not grow in the gym during the session, but in the time away from the gym. It is this time (your recovery time) which is most vital to success. The more you cut into your recovery, the more adverse effects (no results) that can arise.
Weight training is simply a means to an end. By placing the body under stress, the body will adapt to be better able to handle the same situation again. If you stress your body hard enough (intense, overload training) your body will go about recovering from the session, and then some. If you have an effective session, you body will overcompensate (becoming bigger and stronger). If you train too often, your body will never get the chance to fully recover, therefore overcompensate. If you never overcompensate, you will never get any better. Does this make sense, that training too much can actually reduce your results!
So how do we solve this? How do we construct a program, which focuses on overload and maximally taxing the muscle, yet gives us amble time to recover and overcompensate?
Easy as! A lot of people know the basic formula, yet still for some reason, have this love affair with the idea of ‘more is better’ when it comes to training. The very first thing is to let go of that dependence, and listen to your body. If you are training as hard as you can, your diet is good, but you never seem to gain, then you are simply training too much. Cut back on the sets and total volume, and watch what happens:
Here is a basic guideline when establishing your training protocol:
· Train with intensity
· Train each muscle group only once a week
· Don’t do any more then 8 work sets for any muscle group
· Your work out should last NO more then one hour
· Focus on compound exercises
· Base your program on overload training – ideal rep range being 4 to 6 reps to positive failure
· Follow a good nutrition plan designed to optimise your efforts in the gym
· Follow a good supplementation plan designed to optimise your efforts in the gym
· If ever in doubt, DO LESS
Stick to these basic requirements and new muscle will be yours in no time.
Now, there should be no one that this will not benefit for. I’m the first to admit that I love training, but I love relaxing just as much. Now when was the last time you read a fitness article and it told you to be lazy? In your down time only folks. Remember, when its time to work, its time to work.
It’s the quality of training, not volume, that’s most influential to muscle growth