This is the eleventh installment of an extended series of articles on training for hardgainers. In the last article, the importance of training thresholds was discussed. Training thresholds promote the use of enough training intensity without overdoing it on intensity or volume. One type of training threshold revolves around marker rep training. When using marker rep training, the goal is to repeat workouts with the same weight and reps until enough strength is gained for the reps to become easier. This is in direct contrast to the way that many lifters think about weight training, as many lifters have a perpetual focus on making workouts harder. While it is true that there is a time to make workouts harder, you must allow them to become easier first, then harder. This is discussed in the second part of chapter 11 of the book, Individualized Training Strategies for Hardgainers, which makes up the rest of this article.
Chapter 11 Part 2
Harder Is Not Always Better
I am aware of a mindset that some bodybuilders have that the only way to keep gaining is to keep finding ways to train harder. In other words, if you are a beginner and you stop your sets three reps short of failure, it will eventually quit working after a period of time. You will have no choice but to push your sets to two reps short of failure, then one rep short of failure, and then all the way to failure in order to keep making gains. Continuing with this type of thinking, it is assumed that you will eventually stop making gains by pushing to failure and will need to do rest-pause reps, forced reps, and negatives in order to keep gaining. I do not believe in this training philosophy at all. If you are a true hardgainer, trying to push harder and harder will lead to a dead-end road. In fact, instead of always trying to push harder, you will need to learn to make progress by allowing the same weight and reps to become easier for a substantial amount of time before you make it harder. More explanation is needed.
Why Your Body Gains Strength
The main goal that your body is trying to accomplish when it gains strength is to make it easier for you to lift the same amount of weight and reps. If you are smart, you will learn to allow your body to accomplish this goal. For example, if you are starting a weight training program and it is hard to lift 100 pounds for ten reps, your body wants to gain strength so that it will become easier to lift 100 pounds for ten reps. In fact, every time you get stronger, it will become easier for you to lift 100 pounds for ten reps, which is exactly what your body wants.
Many people believe that they will immediately stop gaining as soon as the weight starts to become easier to lift. They firmly believe that the only way they can gain is to immediately add weight or reps as soon as they gain a little strength. For example, if they can lift 100 pounds for ten reps and they gain enough strength to push themselves to do eleven reps, they do eleven reps in the first workout where it becomes possible to do so. As soon as they are able to squeeze out eleven reps, they add weight in the very next workout and use 105 or 110 pounds which will usually limit them to ten reps again. The process starts over and they shoot for eleven reps or added weight whenever possible. The workouts never get easier because the training strategy is based on always pushing as hard as possible in order to add weight or reps whenever possible. This type of training violates the goal that your body is trying to accomplish when it gains strength as your body is trying to make it easier for you to lift a given weight. A misguided strategy is to do the opposite of what your body is trying to accomplish by immediately adding weight whenever possible and making the weight harder to lift instead of allowing the same amount of weight and reps to become easier to lift for a time.
Add Weight When Your Body Is Ready
Obviously, weight or reps must be added if you are going to make progress, but weight should not always be immediately added at the first hint of a strength gain. You can get stronger for a substantial amount of time by simply using the same amount of weight and reps from workout to workout. You can’t get stronger forever by using the same amount of weight and reps, but you won’t be using the same weight and reps forever, you will be using it until you gain enough strength to add weight without surpassing your capacity to stop at your marker rep. An example will help to explain this.
Let us imagine that when you bench press 135 pounds for six reps, the sixth rep is your marker rep. This means that you can only do five reps using a steady even rep pace, but fatigue causes your rep speed to start slowing down on your sixth rep. In order to make progress, your goal should be to keep repeating workouts with six reps until the sixth rep becomes easy enough to lift at the same rep speed as the first five reps. When you find that you can consistently make it to your sixth rep without slowing down your rep speed, you will be able to add five pounds without surpassing your marker rep, which is right at a threshold. When five pounds are added, repeat the process by doing enough workouts for six reps to become easier again.
By progressing in the manner discussed, you will be able to add weight from time to time without your workouts getting harder and harder to the point where your training intensity becomes too severe to make consistent gains. Instead, you will stay within the sweet spot of optimum training intensity which is right at the threshold between strong reps and weak reps. Using this method will allow you to make gradual but consistent gains instead of trying to make quick gains which are usually followed by no gains and a training plateau.
The bottom line is that one the biggest keys to successful training is to zero in on an effective training intensity. If you don’t train hard enough, you won’t gain size or strength. On the other hand, if you train too hard, your will over train and you won’t gain size and strength. Part of training with the right level of intensity is dependent upon progressing at the right rate. This shall be discussed more in the next article. Best of training to you.
Note:
Refer back to the previous ten articles if you want to read the series of chapters from Individual Training Strategies For Hardgainers that are lead up articles to this article.
Hardgainers Part 1: Four Types
Hardgainers Part 2: Physiological Characteristics
Hardgainers Part 3: Conditional Hardgainers
Hardgainers Part 4: Intensity Responsive
Hardgainers Part 5: Volume Responsive
Hardgainers Part 6: Volume Responsive Training
Hardgainers Part 7: 8 x 8 Training For Volume Responsive
Hardgainers Part 8: Misinterpretation Of Rapid Gains
Hardgainers Part 9: The True Hardgainer
Hardgainers Part 10: Training Tresholds
