Do Less - Get Stronger

I've been meaning to write this post for a while, frankly. It's one of those things that seems to be a facet of every question I answer or at least somehow related. I touched on it a little bit in my post about recovery and I've mentioned it elsewhere but I think it's entirely deserving of it's own post...so here it is.

Hey...hey you. All that stuff you're doing...all those plans..all those workouts all those hours.

Staaahp. Stop it.

I have a friend who likes to do all sorts of crazy sh*t all the time. She works out like four hours a day six or seven days a week. Honestly there is an enormous part of me that is impressed by her and totally digs her drive to beat the ever-lovin' shit out of herself on a regular basis. The thing is then she comes to me and asks me questions like, "how do I recover faster? Why am I always sore?" Questions I answer by way of making this face:

Or at least I do in my head. She's fucking scary when she's angry. And she totally lifts, bro. Like...a lot...haven't you been paying attention?

Anyway I think a lot of people have unfortunately fostered a "more-is-better" attitude when it comes to working out, particularly when their main focus is trying to change the shape of their body. Well, I'm trying to get skinnier so I should just try to burn as many fuggin' calories as I possible can in any way possible right? No, dummy, not right. Not completely wrong, but not right either. 

The most common mistake I see with people who don't have a lot of experience with programming workouts is the almost hilarious amount of volume they're doing. Some people show me their workouts and they're in the gym for like an hour and a half, running four miles and then lifting for almost an hour; doing twenty or thirty sets and hundreds of reps all under the paradigm of "more is better." There are a handful of cases where this is the case and we'll get to those later. For right now we need to focus on a simple truth when it comes to strength training: less is more.

Professional bodybuilders train each body part once, maybe twice a week. Professional powerlifters train the main movements 1-2 times a week as well. These are the athletes that occupy the upper echelon of strength sports. If they only train each body part once or twice a week, why are you doing more than that?

I recently finished reading a book, Practical Programming by Mark Rippetoe and Lon Kilgore. I've mentioned Rippetoe before a couple of times, most notably in my post "Superhuman Strength."  He's the author of Starting Strength (what is generally regarded as one of the best introductions to barbell training) and a bit of a pariah in the fitness field because, well, he's f*ckin' EXTREME. He had widely publicized falling outs with both the NSCA and the CrossFit organization. Still, from everything of his I've read, he definitely knows what's up when it comes to lifting a lot of heavy sh*t. I don't want to do Rippetoe and Kilgore a disservice by giving out any of the information in their book for free, but one of the overarching themes in all of their programs was simplicity. Every workout plan was 3-4 workouts a week, 3-5 movements per workout. In certain cases they recommend a fair amount of accessory work (athletes with sport specific needs, for example) but even so the workouts are straight forward. Squat, press, deadlift, pull, push run. 

That's pretty much it.

It's hard for some of us to swallow the less is more pill. I was definitely one of them. When I was in college I would workout six days a week for about two hours a day, sometimes going back to the gym two or more times per day. That sh*t was crazy and stupid and I wish I hadn't done it. While I was in very good shape, I'm also pretty sure all of that overuse is why I have a torn labrum in my hip and likely a torn labrum in my shoulder as well. This is the primary reason why working out too much is no bueno. I've said it before and I'll say it again, overuse injuries got their name for a reason. You don't want one, don't overuse your sh*t.

The second reason and perhaps more important to some is that the beneficial adaptations that occur in your body from working out happen while you're resting, not while you're in the gym cranking out your fourteenth set of burpees or running your twenty third mile. Think about it like this: your body is a construction site with your cells being the work crew. Each workout gives your crew a new biological blueprint of how it needs to improve your body. You need to let the crew finish the alterations from the last blueprint before you interrupt it with new instructions of something else to change. If you are never adequately rested you're turning your body into a poorly maintained construction site full of a bunch of pissed off (read: inflamed) workers who're tired, annoyed and less efficient at following any of the repair plans you give them. 

The great thing about recovery and workload tolerance is that it can be trained. There are some people out there who can work out for four hours a day and get some kind of benefit out of it. If you've been a regular exerciser for two to three years or more then you probably need a longer, more complex program than a newbie could get away with.  For the record when I say longer I' talking the difference between working out for a little more than an hour versus forty five minutes, not justifying your psychotic four hour a day, seven day a week exercise binges. That sh*t, if it's happening, has got to stop. Like, now. 

Thing is you can build a lot of complexity in by lengthening your work periods and altering your schedule; you don't have to build unnecessary complexity into each individual workout that will lead to it taking an eternity. Let me explain. A brand-spankin'-new, just off the couch from lazyland exerciser may be able to see progress by using the same workout three days a week. Someone who's been working out out for a month or two on the other hand might benefit from using two workouts and alternating them: workout A-Mon, B-Wed, A, Fri and so on. As your training requirements increase in complexity you can use three or four different workouts over the course of a week, or widen the particular interval to two weeks and use 5-6 different workouts. For example:

Workout A (Monday)

Back Squat

Overhead Press

Deadlift

Pull Up

Workout B(Wed)

Power Clean

Bench Press 

Front Squat

Chin Up

Workout C (Friday)

Back Squat

Overhead Press

Power Clean

Chin Up

Workout D (M Week 2)

Deadlift

Bench Press

Front Squat

Pull Up

Workout E (W Week 2)

Front Squat

Overhead Press

Power Clean

Chin Up

Workout F (F Week 2)

Deadlift

Bench Press

Back Squat

Pull Up

So right there we've got a two week workout schedule that only uses eight movements in six workouts and doesn't repeat a single identical workout...and that's doing a full body workout each day. If we split it into two days, either upper body/lower body or push/pull and do four days a week (day 1/push-day 2/pull, repeat) then making a multiple-week cycle becomes even more simpler=. 

For most people interested in general fitness you probably wont need a perfectly periodized six week at at a time strength training program. My point was more to highlight that you can keep your workouts fresh and varied enough to stimulate progress fairly easily. This actually brings me to my next point. Since we're on the subject of factors that contribute to progress you guys need to know something. You absolutely can not make up for lack of training intensity with increased duration. Quality wins over quantity every single time. If you didn't leave it all out their on the gym floor you can't make up for it by doing an extra set or running another semi-slow mile. If you half assed it your first time out, do you really think half ass-ing it some more is going to make a significant difference?

At the risk of repeating myself I'm not saying everyone needs to go balls out meth-monkey style, running wind sprints and doing power snatches until they paint the wall with the semi digested remains of last nights lasagna. I'm just saying that if you're not putting in a real effort during your workout then putting in extra time with the same level of effort isn't going to change anything. On the flip side, if you are putting in a serious effort then you don't need to be in the gym for hours. Not to mention the fact that your muscles and joints probably can't handle the repetitive, high-intensity loads that you're subjecting them to if you do that.

There are cases where this kind of training has its purpose. The military, for one. Soldiers need to be strong, fast and capable of enduring the extreme. On top of the physical demands of their profession there is an enormous mental aspect to this type of brutally repetitive physical punishment. Building mental toughness in soldiers is just as important as fostering physical integrity. To that end, if you are preparing for any type of competition or event that involves hours upon hours of physically demanding activity then you're probably going to need to train for hours and hours. One of the oldest and most accurate fitness aphorisms is that the best way to prepare your body for something is to do it.

Which brings us full circle. If your main goal is to get bigger and stronger or to create some type of physical change in the way you look, frequently a higher intensity, well designed program is significantly more effective than a lower intensity program of higher volume or even a program of similar intensity with higher volume. In terms of your body serious change means growth (muscle growth, specifically) and your body needs rest to grow (and food. Preferably meat. Muscles love meat.) Every type of exercise is a different tool for the toolkit and there are situations where extreme duration programs may have a valid use. Shit, if you f*cking love working out and as far as you can tell you're happy and healthy because you spend most of your time in the gym, running or at yoga then I'm not gonna be the guy to tell you to spend more time on your couch. 

Becoming Invincible is all about setting goals and working hard to accomplish them. Self improvement takes time, effort, and a well designed plan. My point is not to dissuade people from engaging in a surplus of physical activity. There are few things that drive me crazier than the couch jockeys that talk down to fitness enthusiasts about how their bodies are going to fall apart and they're going to get hurt if they keep doing so much. Shaddap. That's not what I'm saying. All I'm saying is that if your specific goal is to get bigger or stronger, your programming should stay simple, intense and err on the side of rest. 

Take home message? If you're training mainly for strength: 3-4 large compound movements per workout/ 3-5 sets per movement/3-5 repetitions for set. Rest should be 1-5 minutes between sets depending on the overall workload. If you are looking for some hypertrophy you can go up to 8-12 reps per set, but I would stay at 4 sets or fewer. As always, the weight should be high enough that you can complete each set with perfect form but could not do any additional reps per set. Failure on the final set is not necessary but acceptable. 

Now get out there and go kick some ass. Good luck and good lifting.

Cheers. 

Training to Failure - Why it's exactly what it sounds like

I remember reading an article back in school. There was some up and coming fitness guru who ran a facility that was half strength training and half research. Granted, the types of research they did usually involved slapping electrodes to people and shocking the f*ck out of them while they were working out to elicit increased motor recruitment or something along those lines. In hindsight, I can tell you several things that are wrong with this picture but at the time when I was 19 it seemed edgy, new and scientific. I totally fell into the trap.

One of the things this guy was advocating at the time was training to muscular failure; working out until your body is quite literally not capable of going any more. His argument was that it's the easiest predictor of the proper intensity. You should be able to do x number of sets and x number of reps, and if you don't reach failure, you didn't use enough weight. Basically what he's saying is that if you can complete every rep of every set with perfect form, you need to increase your intensity in some way which I don't totally disagree with. The problem was that his theory was not, in his mind, open to any kind of interpretation. If you were lifting, you should be training to failure.

So I did. I trained to failure on every exercise and initially I saw some great improvements. I tried to tell all my workout buddies about it, tried to push them into my mode of thinking but they mostly shrugged it off. I told myself it was because they weren't hardcore enough to train to failure. Maybe they were just smarter than I was at the time. The reality, as usual, probably falls somewhere in between.

Training to failure is just like any other modality, it's a tool for your tool belt but you can't use a hammer for every task. Training to failure on every set, every time you go into the gym is a great way to get overuse injuries by overtaxing your body and not giving it a proper rest interval. It's also a great way to short circuit your progress. Now, don't get me wrong, I think I've made it pretty clear that when it comes to fitness intensity really matters. I'm not saying otherwise. What I'm saying is that you can keep your metabolic engine at a really high rpm without redlining the damn thing for an hour straight. Would you do that to your car?  No, you wouldn't, so why would you do it to something you can't replace every couple of years?

It's list time ladies and gents.

Why Training to Failure is BAD:
1)CNS fatigue - If your goal is to become as strong as possible, you need your nervous system in tip top shape in addition to your muscles and joints. Maximal lifts or max effort exercises fatigue the nervous system in a way that takes several days to recover. Most strength gurus do not advocate going for a max on any big lift more than once a week. That doesn't mean if you maxed your deadlift monday you can max your bench on wednesday. It means you get one max per week, and a lot of these guys would say even doing one per week might be too much.
I understand that if your main goal is strength this may seem discouraging or frustrating but you can increase your 1RM by doing sub maximal lifts. In fact, in a lot of ways it's more effective in addition to being less dangerous. Going for a max lift when your body doesn't have the energy is a great way to shred your joints and put yourself out of the gym for months, not just a few days.

2) Reinforcing improper motor patterns - I addressed this a little bit with my article on form. Every exercise has an ideal movement pattern. Now, these movement patterns are somewhat different person to person because all of our bodies are unique, but I am a firm believer that there is an optimal, if not ideal movement pattern for every exercise for every body. If you are constantly lifting to failure, you are constantly in a state of fatigue. In addition to the primary movers being fatigued, the secondary stabilizers required for any of the big lifts are going to be fatigued as well. I don't really care if you can get all the way down on a squat and then re rack the bar with 300lbs. If you can't maintain good posture, your lower back is rounded and your chest is pointing at the ground the whole time you are using too much weight. No, I don't care that your legs are strong enough to lift it and that going down in weight won't "stress" them adequately. Don't be a meathead. You can only make up for poor form with raw strength for so long before you either stop making progress, hurt yourself or both.

3) Overtraining - Overtraining is one of those things that, to be completely honest, I'm not really sure the scientific community has pinned down. There are several different modes of thought on the subject and a lot of them are pretty different. On top of this there's also people who just seem to disprove all the scientific "knowledge" we have about it by training more than should be humanly possible and still making gains.
All I would say is that you need to listen to your body to know if you are overtrained or not. If you are always waking up sore and your joints never seem to stop hurting, stop working out or lower your intensity. If you aren't making the progress you used to but you're still doing two a days and sprinting until you vomit every time you go in, seriously, chill the f*ck out. It's easy to get carried away with all the fitness crazies out there yelling at you to go harder and faster but take my word for it, that's not always better. If you are training to failure on every set of every exercise of every workout, you are probably over training. Stop. Stop it right now. You are working too hard to be short circuiting your own progress. A little rest goes a long way.

So I've gotten to this point and realized that a lot of this seems like a re-hash of my entry on proper technique. In a way it is, but it's coming from a different angle. Muscular failure compromises technique, compromising technique compromises your progress and can ultimately compromise your health. The reality is that a lot of this fitness stuff really isn't that complex and it's all extremely interrelated.

So what's the take home? Killing yourself in the gym is good from time to time, but don't do it every workout. Strength and power are only two of the facets of what defines fitness. Mobility, flexibility, coordination and agility are all just as important and if you're training as hard as you possibly can sprinting and jumping and lifting weights, you're probably missing out on some of the finer points. Take it down a notch. Go stretch or maybe even swap out a workout for a sport. Your joints will thank you, and so will your gains.

As always, good luck and good lifting.

Cheers.

Today's Workout:

Dynamic Warm-up/Jump Rope - 15 min

Clean and Jerk 5x3
Front Squat 5x5
Parallel Grip Chin Up 5x5
Dips 5xAMRAP

Metcon:
FRISBEE. Frisbeefrisbeefrisbee. Today my metcon is pretending to be a dog and playing fetch until i fall over. Fetching to failure....wait...wait a minute...what was I just saying?