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NEVER PUT THE CART BEFORE THE HORSE
Your First Priority in Resistance Training
(Part One)
Oh at the countless times I have stood in various gyms
all across the nation, and witnessed the same scene unfold
before my tired eyes. One after another they plod across
my view, all convinced they are working so hard, and yet
nothing is being accomplished. They move almost as a herd,
from one misconstrued idea to another, this, that, and
you name it … totally obsessed and almost to a man,
obsessed about the wrong thing.
Far too many times, the vast majority of the things we
obsess about with training have very little to do with
actual outcomes. The author would be very wealthy if he
had a dime for each time someone he met and talked to about
training who was not obsessed with some silly facet of
training or the other.
The vast majority of this stems from the "search" for
that secret routine, or combination of "just the right
special exercises" or some special supplement or combination
of supplements that he is certain is the answer to all
his problems. If you think "Monk" on TV is strange,
then you should stop and listen to yourself or those you
train with sometime. |
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The specific exercises we perform and their order in a routine,
whether we perform whole body or split routines and how they
administer the "split", the number of repetitions we
do in each exercise, the exact time under load, and even the
frequency of training all have impacts on strength and muscular
hypertrophy, but rarely to the degree that most of us associate
with them. I have often stated, and will state again here, progressive
resistance training is so good in its basic concept, that even
when done less, far less, than correctly, it will still produce
results. Do it correctly, each and every time and the results
will astound most.
So, if one individual is doing squats as his compound leg movements,
another leg presses, and another dead lifts, all will reap results.
Even if all three are not totally downloading to their potential,
results will still be the outcome. That is both the beauty of
this weight training thing, and at the same time a curse too.
When results come from the incorrect, then the incorrect is perceived
as being correct.
Oddly enough, the one variable that likely does impact outcomes
is least discussed or taken into consideration. I am often convinced
that these truly confused and troubled gym rats can't see the
forest for the trees. The obvious answer is right in front of
them. That answer, that variable is:
How you perform each repetition for each exercise?
If you view the cart, as the weight being used, and the horse
as the Performance Factor (how the weight is actually lifted
and applied to the working muscle or muscle groups) then you
can see the analogy of the cart before the horse. The horse can
PULL the cart much more efficiently than it can PUSH the cart.
So if all your emphasis is on the weight lifted, as opposed
to HOW that weight is lifted, then you have your cart before
the horse. The cart will indeed "move" but the work
performed will be sub-par. And if the work is sub-par then the
results are also.
I have often stated to the many individuals that come to me
for help, that when you place the sole emphasis of your training
on the weight lifted as opposed to how the weight is lifted,
it is much like trying to shoot pool with a rope. Try that some
time, and see how you fare in your endeavor
Not just the concept of the "rep", but the performance
of each repetition is the absolute building block of resistance
training. If repetition performance is far from optimal then
you are not maximizing what you can do with each exercise. If
you are looking for something to think about and practice to
improve your training, something that will kick-start the result
process, all you need do is gain a sense of mastery over the
reps you do. If you want results, want a "secret" … then,
repetition performance is "it".
Your first priority for effective resistance training is to
understand that you have to approach each and every rep as the
single most important thing within your training. Reps are like
bricks, and you are the mason building the wall. You have to
take each one, one at a time, making sure all are placed perfectly,
not just close to perfect, but perfect. Without this approach
the wall is doomed to fail, just as your workouts will fail to
reach optimal heights.
In fact, you can't really perform effective progressive resistance
training to the ultimate result capability unless you perfect
your repetition form. And not just perfect performance on the
first, or the first three, or even half of the reps you perform,
but EVERY SINGLE REP, START TO FINISH.
Repetition performance is directly influenced by your ability
to fully focus on each repetition so that there is really nothing
else you are thinking about except performing the repetition.
I can't point to any data showing that this kind of extreme concentration
will make a difference in actual strength and muscular hypertrophy
outcomes although I have searched high and low for it. However,
when you consider other physical tasks, both simple and complex,
the ability to maximize concentration should literally jump out
at you as a way to maximize results.
For example, try reading a page in a book or an article in a
newspaper while thinking about something else or letting your
concentration wander. Better still try to carry on a conversation
while reading it. How much do you understand and how many details
do you remember after a few minutes and a couple of hours?
Now read a similar article or page and just focus on your reading
and picking up details. Do not allow any distractions to enter
into the process. How much do you understand and how many details
do you now remember after a few minutes and a couple of hours?
Next take this experience into the gym. Try performing an exercise
in your usual way and with your usual distractions, e.g., people
talking around you. And how about all the times while performing
an exercise do you catch yourself watching someone else's training
or that cute little girl on the stair master. And that door swings
both ways ladies, if you're the least bit honest.
Rest for five minutes and now perform the same exercise and
intensely focus on the movement blocking everything else out,
its exact range of motion and speed, and the fatigue and tension
in a specific muscle group, train like you are the only person
in the room, and like each rep was the only one you had to do
correctly to see results.. If you can, try to focus - cognitively
and physically - on the targeted muscle group performing the
movement. Lift the weight up, and lift it back down, never letting
the muscle rest, you are so "into" this that a bomb
could go off and you wouldn't even flinch.
The difference in the two ways of performing repetitions can
be accurately described as "just going through the motions" and "really
training." I know a vast amount of people who exercise,
and a few, just a handful that actually "train" and
the difference between the two is like night and day.
I often ask my clients, as they enter the gym on a given morning,
what the date is. Oddly enough, some have no idea. Then, after
informing them of the current date, I point out a key point.
Let's say the date is Jan 1st. I inform them, that this is the
only Jan 1st of this year, there will NEVER be another day with
the same date. Never in all history will this day be in existence
again, it is a one-time occurrence. Likewise, the exercise routine
that they are about to do, is the only one for that day, there
won't be any "instant replays", once it is completed.
They can either make this day and this training session count
for something or they can waste it, that's the only two choices
they have.
The same thing applies to each and every exercise, each and
every set done, and YES each and every rep. If you do say ten
reps in a given movement, then while you are doing the first
one, it is the only first rep that can possibly be done in that
set, and likewise the second and the third and so on. If you
approach it like this, and give every rep the importance it rightfully
deserves, then you will be on the road to making this training
session THE TRAINING SESSION, and not simply just another day
at the gym. But like building a wall, you have to take it one
brick at a time.
With great attention to each repetition, you likely will find
a few other important points that will improve your training.
When your entire focus is limited to the rep you are doing, and
the process takes on a life of its own, then the training takes
on a life of its own… now that's a man who is "in
the office, taking care of business" and that business is
the business of making results. Humor an old fellow -- tell me
that's why you're there.
Somewhat longer duration repetitions may enhance your ability
to correctly focus on each repetition. You have to dissect each
rep into its smallest part, and make sure that all the parts
fit together to form perfection.
You may find in the process you are improving not just your
form but your range of motion and in turn making much smoother
turnarounds at the completion of the concentric and eccentric
part of each repetition. You are becoming a perfection machine,
and it all starts with concentration on one rep at a time.
You then may see that to correctly perform each repetition and
progress in your training, you may first have to reduce resistance
rather than increase it. No big deal kiddies. If you can't lift
it with perfect form, then you weren't lifting it before, you
were, in fact, most likely indulged in the all too common practice
of weight throwing that most call weight lifting.
Learning how to perform the perfect rep is at the least challenging.
It takes a great deal of self discipline, concentration, self
resolve, and practice. But once mastered, you will clearly be
able to see the difference between the performance of perfect
form and their old technique, as they experience each and every
successive rep becoming more difficult, challenging and productive.
All this, with the ultimate goal, being able to continue in perfect
form until full muscle download has been reached.
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