Over time and experience, every lifter and athlete will come to certain conclusions about their own training. Over time, they will come back to the same points again and again and again. Ultimately these thing must become part of your training philosophy.
Ultimately every athlete must develop golden rules and a philosophy of training that is unique to them and their experience. I think I read on Magnus ver Magnusson's blog that it takes athletes 3 years of trail and error to find their training system. I know it took me 5.
Just because you have created a training philosophy does not mean you stop learning. All it means is that you now have a foundation on the basis of which you apply what you see and understand how to filter information. Without a training philosophy you will always be confused. Over time even your philosophy will change, but some things always remain constant.
Below I have listed what I consider to be my training philosophy. There is no explanation of these, as they are unique to my experience. Some of them you may find unacceptable, some of it true, some of it might even work for you. If you can take even one point for yourself, that is good. Ultimately the point is that without a training philosophy you will be unable to know how to approach your long term goals. Without it you will not be able to create something that works for you. Over time you must have something that you can call your own, that you can use to make yourself better, something you believe in.
My Training Philosophy For Strength-
Golden Rules of Programming
1. Start too easy, and progress slowly.
2. Always train multiple qualities at a time (conjugate training). You must focus on one, but you must always do multiple things.
3. Back off every 4th week
4. Balance of stressors must be maintained- For every set introduced into your program, a set must be reduced somewhere. If you are increasing the total number of sets, food and sleep must increase to counter it.
Principles of Strength training
1. Always use basic compound movements for strength.
Small isolation movements can always be used for specific purposes, but ultimately strength is built through compound movements.
2. You must stick with the same basic movements for a long long time.
Variety only makes you feel like you are improving. learn to differentiate between when you have truly stalled with a movement and need a change and when you are just over your beginner phase with that movement.
3. You must train heavy (82-85%+) some of the time.
I recommend up to a maximum of 20% of your total volume.
4. You must train fast some of the time.
I recommend a maximum of 20% of total volume.
5. Strength is not built by just heavy and fast lifting however. Strength is built by mastering a certain level of resistance through repetitions, optimizing technique and cultivating good form, and then moving on to higher levels of resistance.
If you do not master the resistance you can currently do, how can you expect to master something you can barely do and then expect to improve from it. You have to rep out with slightly lesser levels of resistance and build proficiency at that level before moving on to the next one. Personally I work best by starting with 6 rep sets and adding reps till I get 12 reps and then add resistance and start over on barbell movements. I like 8-20 on calisthenic movements.
6. Mastery of a weight is built in a single set. Everything else is extra.
Some one who can do 225 for 4 X 5 has not mastered 225 as well as someone who can do 1 X 20 with the same, assuming both use the same form. The point here is that the minimum stimulus required to make progress is only 1 set (work set of course). Not 4 not 3- 1 set only. Now you can (and you should) do more sets depending on your objectives, but if all you want is some progress and all you care about is strength, one set is enough to keep moving- as long as it is truly hard. not to failure, but it should take some of the life out of you and you should have a progression of some sort in place, where you break repetition records and targets.
For the record, I like doing 2-3 light warm up sets, 1 explosive set, 1 heavy-ish set, 1 heavy (82%+ set) for 2 or 3 reps short of getting truly stuck, and 2 work sets of 6-12/9-20 reps, breaking repetition records all the time. A 4 set system, with 2 real work sets.
7. To build muscle you must use volume.
Cut down the reps per set by a couple and do a lot of sets.
8. Never do a certain exercise for more than one workout a week unless there is a real real reason for doing so.
9. You can only bring up one thing at a time- at least radically.
10. You can serve multiple masters at a time, but you can only do justice to one, so you better be clear what you want.
11. Mobility and flexibility work is critical.
These are abilities you lose if you dont use them. The only way to become mobile is to well, move- a lot. Do high reps of easy full ROM movements. Stretch regularly to be flexible. I have a flexibility post on the blog, based on active stretching. however do not underestimate static stretching. It lets you go through the ROM, which is a pleasant side benefit to the real point of passive stretching- you learn how to relax! And its better than nothing. If you enjoy it, do it. Foam rolling is pretty useful too.
12. Eat well and relax.
If you exercise more and want to be great you need to eat. Not supplements not junk- real food! And the more you exercise the more you need to eat, even when losing fat. Learn to relax, stretch and foam roll, calm your mind, get good sleep and dont worry. If you have psychological issues try you best to deal with them. Get therapy if you have to. Try to sleep more, engage in relaxing walks and fun activities. Keep your mind fresh and active.
13. Calisthenics works the extremities, barbell the torso.
The statement is not exactly correct- the more advanced you get the more true this becomes. A one arm push up is all about the triceps, a pushup about the shoulders and chest. A weak bench presser will feel his arms burn, a strong bench presser will feel his shoulders. (of course I am talking raw here). A pistol squat is all quads, a truly heavy barbell squat, hips and abs. Thus unlike what I believed at one time, calisthenics and barbell work are not interchangeable.
For the record my combo of exercises that does it all for me is- Deadlift, barbell squat, bench press, push up, handstand push ups, pull ups, front levers, pistol squats and bridges. Other exercises I like are the military press, dumbell rows, snatch grip deadlift, split snatch, kettlebell snatches, leg curls, bicep curls, back levers, leg raises, sit ups, dips and ham glute raises. I only use 9-12 exercises each week at a time.
About Exercises-
1. Deep Squat= Athleticism on field (think football)
2. Deadlift= Raw Strength and Power (think sprinting and strongman)
3. Bench Press= Upper body Size (Do you know a single guy who can press 300+ pounds and has a small upper body)
4, Military Press and Pull Ups- Upper body strength
5. Abdominal work= Leg Raises, sit ups and side movements. You can twist on a stability ball all you want, but a monstrous midsection needs flexion.
There you have it. I am sure many people will strongly disagree with a lot of my principles. What matters is I have principles. And the point here is to prove how much easier things are when you have one. So what are your principles?
Ultimately every athlete must develop golden rules and a philosophy of training that is unique to them and their experience. I think I read on Magnus ver Magnusson's blog that it takes athletes 3 years of trail and error to find their training system. I know it took me 5.
Just because you have created a training philosophy does not mean you stop learning. All it means is that you now have a foundation on the basis of which you apply what you see and understand how to filter information. Without a training philosophy you will always be confused. Over time even your philosophy will change, but some things always remain constant.
Below I have listed what I consider to be my training philosophy. There is no explanation of these, as they are unique to my experience. Some of them you may find unacceptable, some of it true, some of it might even work for you. If you can take even one point for yourself, that is good. Ultimately the point is that without a training philosophy you will be unable to know how to approach your long term goals. Without it you will not be able to create something that works for you. Over time you must have something that you can call your own, that you can use to make yourself better, something you believe in.
My Training Philosophy For Strength-
Golden Rules of Programming
1. Start too easy, and progress slowly.
2. Always train multiple qualities at a time (conjugate training). You must focus on one, but you must always do multiple things.
3. Back off every 4th week
4. Balance of stressors must be maintained- For every set introduced into your program, a set must be reduced somewhere. If you are increasing the total number of sets, food and sleep must increase to counter it.
Principles of Strength training
1. Always use basic compound movements for strength.
Small isolation movements can always be used for specific purposes, but ultimately strength is built through compound movements.
2. You must stick with the same basic movements for a long long time.
Variety only makes you feel like you are improving. learn to differentiate between when you have truly stalled with a movement and need a change and when you are just over your beginner phase with that movement.
3. You must train heavy (82-85%+) some of the time.
I recommend up to a maximum of 20% of your total volume.
4. You must train fast some of the time.
I recommend a maximum of 20% of total volume.
5. Strength is not built by just heavy and fast lifting however. Strength is built by mastering a certain level of resistance through repetitions, optimizing technique and cultivating good form, and then moving on to higher levels of resistance.
If you do not master the resistance you can currently do, how can you expect to master something you can barely do and then expect to improve from it. You have to rep out with slightly lesser levels of resistance and build proficiency at that level before moving on to the next one. Personally I work best by starting with 6 rep sets and adding reps till I get 12 reps and then add resistance and start over on barbell movements. I like 8-20 on calisthenic movements.
6. Mastery of a weight is built in a single set. Everything else is extra.
Some one who can do 225 for 4 X 5 has not mastered 225 as well as someone who can do 1 X 20 with the same, assuming both use the same form. The point here is that the minimum stimulus required to make progress is only 1 set (work set of course). Not 4 not 3- 1 set only. Now you can (and you should) do more sets depending on your objectives, but if all you want is some progress and all you care about is strength, one set is enough to keep moving- as long as it is truly hard. not to failure, but it should take some of the life out of you and you should have a progression of some sort in place, where you break repetition records and targets.
For the record, I like doing 2-3 light warm up sets, 1 explosive set, 1 heavy-ish set, 1 heavy (82%+ set) for 2 or 3 reps short of getting truly stuck, and 2 work sets of 6-12/9-20 reps, breaking repetition records all the time. A 4 set system, with 2 real work sets.
7. To build muscle you must use volume.
Cut down the reps per set by a couple and do a lot of sets.
8. Never do a certain exercise for more than one workout a week unless there is a real real reason for doing so.
9. You can only bring up one thing at a time- at least radically.
10. You can serve multiple masters at a time, but you can only do justice to one, so you better be clear what you want.
11. Mobility and flexibility work is critical.
These are abilities you lose if you dont use them. The only way to become mobile is to well, move- a lot. Do high reps of easy full ROM movements. Stretch regularly to be flexible. I have a flexibility post on the blog, based on active stretching. however do not underestimate static stretching. It lets you go through the ROM, which is a pleasant side benefit to the real point of passive stretching- you learn how to relax! And its better than nothing. If you enjoy it, do it. Foam rolling is pretty useful too.
12. Eat well and relax.
If you exercise more and want to be great you need to eat. Not supplements not junk- real food! And the more you exercise the more you need to eat, even when losing fat. Learn to relax, stretch and foam roll, calm your mind, get good sleep and dont worry. If you have psychological issues try you best to deal with them. Get therapy if you have to. Try to sleep more, engage in relaxing walks and fun activities. Keep your mind fresh and active.
13. Calisthenics works the extremities, barbell the torso.
The statement is not exactly correct- the more advanced you get the more true this becomes. A one arm push up is all about the triceps, a pushup about the shoulders and chest. A weak bench presser will feel his arms burn, a strong bench presser will feel his shoulders. (of course I am talking raw here). A pistol squat is all quads, a truly heavy barbell squat, hips and abs. Thus unlike what I believed at one time, calisthenics and barbell work are not interchangeable.
For the record my combo of exercises that does it all for me is- Deadlift, barbell squat, bench press, push up, handstand push ups, pull ups, front levers, pistol squats and bridges. Other exercises I like are the military press, dumbell rows, snatch grip deadlift, split snatch, kettlebell snatches, leg curls, bicep curls, back levers, leg raises, sit ups, dips and ham glute raises. I only use 9-12 exercises each week at a time.
About Exercises-
1. Deep Squat= Athleticism on field (think football)
2. Deadlift= Raw Strength and Power (think sprinting and strongman)
3. Bench Press= Upper body Size (Do you know a single guy who can press 300+ pounds and has a small upper body)
4, Military Press and Pull Ups- Upper body strength
5. Abdominal work= Leg Raises, sit ups and side movements. You can twist on a stability ball all you want, but a monstrous midsection needs flexion.
There you have it. I am sure many people will strongly disagree with a lot of my principles. What matters is I have principles. And the point here is to prove how much easier things are when you have one. So what are your principles?
I got confussed at 8. You mean doing a certain exercise only once per week? For example pullups 1x week?
ReplyDeleteYes. In fact I realized that with pull ups. Almost everyone recommends doing pull ups all the time in order to get good at them. I tried that for a long time but it would only work for 2-3 weeks at best. Ultimately I decided to treat pull ups like any other strength training exercise, and tried once a week training with 2 work sets, 1 heavy set and one assistance set. and week after week I broke rep records and added weight. This happened some 3 years ago.
DeleteAfter that I have seen this happen to me over and over again with a variety of exercises- limiting frequency and manipulating volume and intensity per session always works. My reasoning for it is simple- if you do the least amount of work required to make progress, you can continue to progress for a longer time.
This approach required patience but is both simple and effective.
There are a few exceptions to this rule-
1. A specialization phase- This is when you are building technical proficiency with a certain exercise and building the ability of your nervous system to generate force in that movement. This should last no more than 3 weeks. You can train up to 8 times a week. Limit the total number of heavy reps (80%+) for that exercise per week to 140. That number comes from pure trial and error.
2. You are a new to training in general or that exercise- in this case you have 6-9 months where you can make straight progress on the exercise. You can train upto 3 times a week on that exercise. Use the heavy light medium concept. Do not do more than 5 work sets per session. Simply add weight every week. This allows you to learn the exercise and get intimate with it. You also build a solid base of muscle and strength in this phase. When you cannot add atleast 1 kg to your lift every week, this phase is over.
Btw, a lot of experienced guys think they are very advanced, but in reality have atleast 3-4 months of straight strength gain in them. You can try that 3 times a week training template until you stop responding. It also gives you an indication of how advanced you really are. if you are able to add weight for anything more than 2 months straight, you are not all that advanced.
other than these two scenarios, I really do not think there is any need to train an exercise more than once a week.
What's your opinion on John Broz and Jamie Lewis and the Bulgarian style training, all of them use very high frequency to achieve strength in the lifts they practice.
ReplyDeleteI think they are great in the sense they definitely work. I have tried many of their variations on myself and my students and we have all seen great results from them- for sometime.
DeleteThe real problem with such training is not that there is something wrong with it but that it requires a lot of time and effort and total commitment to one activity. In my experience even full time athletes cannot do this for long periods of time. The best I have ever managed is 4 weeks straight.
In my experience any frequency beyond three times a week and more than 40 reps over 80% a week requires dedicated efforts towards recovery. You need to take regular salts baths, use herbal therapy, sleep a LOT, relax in general, take leisurely walks and engage in refreshing activities. Unless you are a college student who likes to bunk all his classes and does not give a rat's ass about academics, its pretty hard to maintain this kind of lifestyle.
Now you could do the programs without the extra recovery and you would get gains. But in my experience you will be burnt out within 3 months unless you take your recovery seriously. This is the reason why I think high frequency programs are just not practical for most people.
I do use a lot of 3 day per week programs for guys in the first 2 years of training, using the heavy- medium-light concept. Some people really respond to it. But I am very wary of frequencies higher than that, specially on an on going basis.
As for once a week training, I find it works best for me. I recover well, my joints feel great and periodization does not have to be complicated. Its simple and it works so I love it.
I see, thank you very much for your detailed answer! :) And congratz on the Strongest Man of India event! :)
ReplyDeleteThank you so much! Good luck with your training. :-)
Delete