Why You're Still Out Of Shape And How To Really Change Things This Year (pt.2)

In my last article, I provided you with a few tips on not driving yourself crazy with dieting as you attempt to stick to your guns and engage in a more healthful lifestyle this year.  I tried to add emphasis to the fact that a relaxed, progressive, wiggly approach to dieting is key, and that resistance training changes practically everything about what your body does with the food you put in it.  Jumping ship from the "Typical American Diet" to "Atkins/Leangains/Warrior/Vegetarianism/Veganism/Pescatarianism/etc." diet with no transitionary period will condemn you to failure unless you're the most resolute individual on the face of the earth...And let's be honest, you wouldn't need a lifestyle change if that were true.  As far as your diet goes, however bad it is right now, you'll get most of the good without the bad (unless of course you're morbidly obese and in that case, you need a doctor.)  if you simply add in some weight training.

NO, watching Dr. Oz does not count as seeking medical advice about your adiposity.

Granted, you probably already knew that you needed to exercise to get the best results from your efforts.  It's not a mind-blowing concept and you've hopefully already obtained a gym membership or have spent the money on some home workout equipment.  What you haven't done (I can almost assure you of this) is any research on the subject of weight training and exercise.  Today, I'm going to write about why you're probably screwing things up in the gym just as bad as (if not worse than) you were with your new diet...and how you can fix it at your next session.

You are training like a bodybuilder without the requisite strength to make any real progress.

You don't care about how strong you are.  Guys that go to the gym to show off how strong they are are just douchebags anyway.  Besides, there's always someone stronger.  You just want to get jacked/cut/toned, build some muscle, and you know EXACTLY how to do it.  You read in a magazine/heard from a friend/a trainer at the gym that the only way to get swole is to pump out the reps, making sure not to max out or overtrain.  Really try to isolate the muscle, really try to FEEL the contraction.  Never jerk the weight around and make sure you wear your lifting gloves, so you don't get callouses.

He's so toned.

While I'm very glad that you're even in the gym, you've been benching 35lb dumbbells (with half the range of motion) for the past six months (OR LONGER) and you look barely any different compared to when you started.  You never break a sweat and you're always talking to someone about being "on creatine and protein." as though they're some kind of drug combination.  You NEVER squat or deadlift in fear of hurting yourself but you bench with a false grip, oblivious to the fact that you could slip and drop the bar on your neck at any moment.  You've never read a book on weight training but you're in the gym every day curling in the squat rack.  I'm sorry, but you're never going to look like Brad Pitt if you don't man up and actually lift something.  

DOUCHEBAG

Like practically every other person in your gym (and in America), you're clueless and you're afraid of working hard unless there's money involved.  The messed up part is that you think that it's okay, that you'll make progress anyway.  Regarding a small percentage of human beings, you are probably right, but you're overweight/underweight/have never picked up a barbell and pretending you're Arnold Schwarzenegger for much longer than a few weeks/months of lifting is going to screw you out of achieving whatever potential you may have.  Allow me to explain why.

First, let's compare three types of strength athletes and how they primarily train by manipulating repetitions/time under tension, sets (volume) and intensity (weight lifted):

• Powerlifters focus on developing maximal demonstrable strength (1 rep maximum).  The entire goal is to go to a meet, put up the heaviest weight you possibly can in the bench press, deadlift and squat for 1 repetition, and call it a day.  This is achieved mostly by training with low repetitions/time under tension (1-5 reps) for many sets (3-12) with heavy weight (between 75-95% of a 1 rep maximum).  Because the weight used is so close to the lifter's max, this style of lifting builds neurological adaptations that allow more muscle fibers to engage (and engage harder) in an instant but because the time under tension is lower, it does not stress the tensile and metabolic components of the muscle in the same capacity as it does the nervous system.  The gain in fluidic sarcoplasmic muscle mass (storage of water, sugar and fat within the muscle) does not occur as quickly as it could although there is significant development of the functional part of the muscle, (the myofibril) and connective tissue as well as bone.  Because a larger muscle is a stronger muscle, most lifters will engage in bodybuilding throughout the year as well.  This ensures maximal strength gains.     
• Bodybuilders/physique and fitness models train primarily to increase muscular size and shape.  The goal of their lifting regimen is aesthetic (although classic bodybuilders also performed feats of strength at their competitions).  Typical routines split muscle groups up between workouts (ie. chest, back, legs) and the repetitions/time under tension are higher (8-12+ reps) while the sets are fewer (3-6).  The weight used is lighter (between 60-80% of a 1 rep max) and multiple exercises are performed each workout that engage the musculature from various angles (i.e. flat, incline and decline bench press).  Isolation movements are also common, as well as techniques to increase local muscular fatigue to elicit the greatest hypertrophy response.  This style of lifting is more metabolic than it is neurological.  The depletion of sugar, fat and water within the muscle during the lengthy sets, combined with stretching of the muscle tissue and finally replenishment with food/water post workout, lends to an increase in sarcoplasmic volume, which equates to visible/superficial muscle mass.  Myofibril density barely increases and maximal strength gains come more slowly.  Because a stronger muscle is a larger muscle, most bodybuilders spend a considerable amount of time developing strength in their early careers, allowing them to lift more weight for more reps and maximize sarcoplasmic hypertrophy when they become competitive.
• Olympic weightlifters share many similarities with powerlifters (Olypmic lifting is highly dependent upon being able to engage as much muscle as possible in an instant, just like powerlifting), but their sport is more skill oriented than powerlifting.  The two Olympic lifts, the snatch (where a barbell is brought from the floor to overhead in one movement) and the clean/jerk (where the bar is 'cleaned' to the shoulders and then 'jerked' overhead) require impeccable focus on technique to maximize the weight lifted.  There is also a great potential for injury when executing these lifts, so repetitions are kept at a minimum (1-3) for many sets (10-12) and training sessions can last hours to ensure complete recovery between sets.  Because movement speed and technical perfection dictate whether a lift is successful or not, the weight lifted in training is typically lighter than a powerlifter would work with (between 50-85% of a 1 rep maximum) and maximum attempts are saved for competition or performed rarely.  Since the lifts are usually done and over with in under two seconds, there is little time under tension or sarcoplasmic hypertrophy potential.  Because a stronger muscle is a larger muscle, and a larger muscle is a stronger muscle, as well as the fact that a stronger muscle is a faster muscle, Olympic weightlifters often engage in bodybuilding and powerlifting too.
    

Powerlifter vs. bodybuilder.

Clearly, these guys that make it their priority to "show off how strong they are" are oftentimes just as muscular as the guys who don't give a rat's ass, and as I will explain below, EVERY bodybuilder you look up to is brutally strong and could throw you and your entire family over their heads.  You have to understand that there is no way to separate strength from size.  Additionally, while the manipulation of sets, reps and load is different between each style, there is one more factor each shares that needs to be discussed in isolation:  progressive overload.  To continue to elicit neurological strength or muscular hypertrophy adaptations, the stimulus (reps, sets, weight) must progressively increase. 

Thus, a bodybuilder curling 65lbs for 8 reps and 6 sets must eventually curl:

• 70lbs for 8 reps and 6 sets
• 65lbs for 9 reps and 6 sets
• 65lbs for 8 reps and 7 sets etc.

So while you may not be concerned with how much weight you can lift for one repetition, you must still get stronger within the appropriate repetition and set range, as often as possible, to keep growing.  If your maximum bench press for 1 repetition is 135lbs and you can hit 8 reps for 5 sets at 110lbs, by gradually increasing the number of reps to 12 and sets to 8, you will probably add another 5lbs onto your bench press maximum.  You will have gotten stronger by virtue of adding sarcoplasmic volume and improving the muscles ability to utilize stored carbohydrate.  This could happen over the course of a couple weeks if you're training on a body part split.  You would then take things a step farther and subsequently move up to 115lbs for 8 reps, 5 sets.  Now you're stressing the myofibril and in six weeks, you could increase your max bench to 145lbs, pump out 12 reps for 8 sets at 120lbs, and add a couple lbs of lean mass to your frame.  This is the bodybuilder approach to weightlifting.

You may ask then, "What's wrong with that?" Well, consider this:

• Most of the bodybuilders/models you aspire to look like can bench 300-500lbs for 6-12 repetitions.  You're about at a minimum 200lbs off from being able to come even CLOSE to the muscularity they possess.  For example, watch the video on the left where Ronnie Coleman (eight-time Mr. Olympia) benches 495 for 6 reps.  
• Many of them (including Arnold Schwarzenegger) were successful powerliters and Olympic lifters before they became bodybuilders.  Through years of developing maximal strength, they had a great base of dense myofibril muscle tissue upon which they could now build sarcoplasmic hypertrophy.
• Most novice weightlifters following a basic strength template can add 20-40lbs onto their lifts each month for a period of 6-12 months or longer.  It could initially take you up to TWO YEARS to achieve the same strength training with high reps, if you ever get there at all.  You won't look too shabby, you may appear toned (as long as you aren't too fat) but you will be small and weak. 

What it comes down to is this: a guy @ 5'10" benching 225 (a 250lb 1RM) for 3 reps will have a more developed upper body than a guy @ 5'10" benching 155x8 (a 200lb 1RM).  No matter how many sets the second guy pops off with 155, no matter how much fluid he stores in his muscles, he will never achieve the density and size of the stronger fellow.  If you are weak for your height and weight, you will look weak and there's no way to hide it.  Focusing on high repetitions without developing your maximal strength is only going to take you so far.  Putting strength first will take you 90% of the way and then you can worry about the details.

Typical "bodybuilder".

"Okay.  So what do I do then?"

After all of that, the answer should seem pretty obvious.  It's REALLY simple:  Stop acting like a bodybuilder for now, because it's just an act, fool.  We can all tell that you're new.  That Greg Plitt physique is a couple years off but you'll probably have a decent shot at getting there if you can change your mindset (for now).  First thing's first: No more chest/biceps/triceps/whatever day.  That kind of routine will work much better when you're strong, for reasons I have already elaborated upon.  That isn't to say that you should drop isolation movements and bodybuilding entirely, but the bread and butter of your early lifting should involve your entire body and be comprised of compound movements that utilize multiple joints like:

• Bench press
• Squat
• Leg press
• Deadlift
• Overhead press
• Row
• Chin ups
• Pull ups
• Pull downs      

Next time you go to the gym, pick an upper body and lower body movement (i.e. overhead press and leg press) and do just those two exercises plus a triceps pushdown and a leg curl (or whatever you feel like!)  As far as repetitions and sets go, a great place to start is with 5 sets of 5 ala StrongLifts.  Just hit up the gym, work up to a challenging weight that you can perform 5 times, do it 4 more times, move onto the next exercise, do the same, pop out a few isolation movements utilizing a higher rep range to get a pump, get out of the gym in less than an hour, BOOM.  It may not sound glamorous, but it's as simple as that.  If you don't walk out of the gym feeling thrashed, that's great:  there is no reason your workouts should become a psychological stressor and soreness does not always indicate a good workout.  PROGRESSING TO A HEAVIER WEIGHT SHOULD BE YOUR NUMBER ONE CONCERN.  If you can leave the gym feeling fresh as a daisy and still add 5lbs to the bar your next workout, you're doing it right.
     

SURPRISE MOTHERFUCKER.  It's as simple as that.

Now that I've touched on diet and training, for the next installment we'll talk about setting realistic goals and the veritable avalanche of problems you'll face (and have to overcome) as you start to get your act together.  Until then, I'm starving.