I started working out with weights in 1979 when I was 16 years old. Fast forward to a day when I arrived at a gym to do a workout. I was 46 years old at the time. On that particular day, it occurred to me that I had been training for 30 years. I evaluated my strength level at 46 and realized that my progress had yo-yoed up and down throughout the last three decades. It also occurred to me that this was a similar pattern that others experienced. There are many lifters who, like myself, make substantial gains over the first few years of training, but after that, their strength kind of hovers close to the same level year after year.
I was fascinated with quick gains and thought that quick gains were the norm if you were training right. I would often look back at time periods where I made some rapid gains. I constantly analyzed and reanalyzed what I had done during those time periods believing that I could repeat those rapid gains again. In the end, I would always come to the same conclusion, which is that the training didn’t stop working because I deviated away from a training strategy that had worked, rather, the training strategy that worked simply stopped working.
At 46, I realized that I didn’t need to hit the jack pot of continuous rapid gains, I only needed to make a long-term series of small gains; gains that were so small that it would almost seem as though I wasn’t gaining at all. If I had only gained one pound of strength per month from the time I was 16 until I was 46, I would be lifting an additional 360 pounds above the level of strength I started with when I was 16. In other words, I would be lifting close to 500 pounds for the squat, deadlift, and bench press. I wondered if my training strategy had been all wrong, and if it were possible to gain one pound per month over a long period of time. Fast gains are good anytime you can make them. Slow gains don’t seem nearly as good, but they are better than no gains, and I had experienced many years of no gains. Was I doing something wrong?
When I started training in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, Mike Mentzer was one of the central figures in bodybuilding. Not only was Mentzer big and muscular, he was strong. Mike was famous for a style of training that he referred to as “Heavy Duty,” which was based on high intensity training and brief workouts. At the same time, Arnold Schwarzenegger was still the most dominant figure in bodybuilding. Arnold did tons of sets and he also insisted on pushing hard on each set. The words, “bomb,” “blitz,” and “blast,” were all commonly used in order to describe the type of training intensity that was needed to grow progressively bigger and stronger. Those who failed to train hard enough would fail to gain. If you did happen to fail, the obvious conclusion was that you failed to train hard enough; even if you had trained your hardest. The philosophy of pushing your hardest on each set worked for me for about three years, and then it quit working. I was constantly killing myself just to maintain what I had already built, but it didn’t lead to progress.
In the first 29 years of training, I was fortunate to remain relatively injury free. I would tweak a shoulder or my back at times, but it would usually recover fairly quickly. The truth is that I seemed to be able to train through minor injuries until they went away. I didn’t worry too much about rehab as my body simply seemed to rehab by itself, but at 45 I hurt my back. I couldn’t train my way through it this time. I had to dramatically back off on training and eliminate some exercises. Eventually I recovered and kept training. In the process, I began to view training in a whole new way and finally figured out that it is possible to make gains without annihilating yourself with high intensity. By the time I was 50, I had developed the first stages of precision point training. Even so, by the time I was 54, I had become increasingly susceptible to injury to the point where I could barely train any more without reinjuring myself or acquiring a new injury. I knew I still needed more adjustments to my training methodology.
I am now 58, and I am still learning. It seems ironic that I had all the time in the world to be patient with my training when I was a young man, but I was always in a hurry to gain fast. Now that I am old, and have less time, I have finally reached the stage where I am willing to be patient enough to think of training in terms of what works over the long-term instead of what works in a short amount of time.
If someone were to ask me if I would train differently if I had to start over again at 16, my answer would be, “Yes, I would train in a totally different manner.” I am staggered by how much my beliefs about training have changed in just the last decade. It seems that almost everything I once believed about effective training has drastically changed. For one thing, I now think of effective training as something that should work over years, not just months. This approach will cause initial progress to go slower, but the gains will continue longer and be greater in the end.
If someone had walked up to me ten years ago and outlined the training philosophy that I now have, I would have thought that they were mentally deficient, or very naïve and completely in the dark when it comes to sensible training. I am sure that many who read what I am about to say will think the same thing, but for the benefit of those who are open minded, this is what I now believe about training compared to what I previously believed about training:
Training Intensity
I once believed that the best way to train was to push each set to failure or beyond with forced reps. Now I believe that it is better to stop 2 to 3 reps short of failure or to only repeat reps as long as you can maintain a steady even rep pace. Along with this, I add in some half sets, which refers to doing half as many reps as I can perform if I were to do as many reps as possible within a set.
Training Volume Within Each Workout
Training volume is the total amount of sets and reps performed for a muscle group within a workout. This is one area of training that I haven’t changed very much over the last few decades. I still prefer short workouts consisting of two to three full sets for each muscle group, plus two to three half sets per muscle group.
Training Frequency
In the past, I worked each muscle group two to three times per week. Since I no longer utilize high intensity training, I can recover faster and prefer high frequency training by working my whole body five to six times per week, although I often do it in the form of high frequency frontloading, which means that I train my whole body twice on Monday, twice on Tuesday, and twice on Friday. That’s six workouts per week, but I still take Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday off from heavy resistance training. See the homepage of this website if you would like to see a free book on High Frequency Frontloading.
Exercise Technique
In the past, I often sacrificed the use of excellent exercise form in order to lift more weight and squeeze out as many reps as possible. Now I believe in sacrificing the amount of weight and reps in order to strive for perfect form on every rep. I want the exercise motion to feel exactly right and I want my muscles to feel exactly right as I do the exercise motion. This practice facilitates consistent progress over the long-term.
Rep Speed
In the past, I preferred fast reps. I still believe that you must lift forcefully if you are peaking and want to make fast progress, but for long term results, I prefer a moderate to moderately slow rep speed in order to create more time under tension and to fully engage the muscle that I am working. This is a change that I have made in just the last couple of years.
Relaxed Lifting
In the past I would take a deep breath, brace myself and tighten up my whole body before doing each rep. Now I do not take a deep breath or do a Valsalva maneuver when lifting, nor do I tighten up my whole body. I stay as relaxed as possible and breathe calmly without creating internal pressure in my lungs and midsection. This takes practice and you must be careful not to relax to the point of allowing your midsection and back to collapse and round forward when doing a squat or deadlift, yet I have learned how to stay as relaxed as possible when lifting. This greatly reduces the overall strain of a workout and makes recovery faster and easier.
Amount of Weight
In the past, it was all about heavy weights in the five to six rep range. I still believe that heavy weights are the quickest path to fast progress, but for long term progress, I prefer mostly lighter weights that are about 60% of my single rep max, with a little lifting ranging around 75% of my single rep max. This allows for more reps and more time under tension so that my body can be exposed to a moderate intensity stimulus enough to make an adaptation.
Adding Weight
In the past, I would add weight or reps to my lifts at the first hint of a strength gain. I believe this is a critical error and no longer use this practice. I feel it is far better to keep using the same amount of weight and reps over the course of many workouts until the weight and reps start to feel easier. Once the same weights feel easier, I am still going to use them for several more weeks before adding weight. This practice will minimize adaptive resistance to strength gains by reducing the effects of the pattern that kills progress, which you can read about in my free book, Overcoming Strength Training Plateaus.
Stretching
In the past, I did very little stretching and believed it was an unnecessary part of strength training. Now I stretch every muscle almost every day. This is critical in order to maintain healthy connective tissue and gain strength and joint stability in positions that would be vulnerable if you don’t stretch.
Multiple Exercises per Muscle Group: Every Angle Possible
In the past, I believed in simple workouts consisting a three to five exercises per workout. I still believe this to some degree but I do many variations of each exercise. In other words, I vary the stance width when squatting and deadlifting, and I vary the distance between my hands when pressing and pulling. I also vary the angle of my upper body and shins when squatting and deadlifting, and I vary the amount of incline when pressing, and the angle of my upper body when pulling. I now believe in hitting every muscle from as many different angles and positions as possible. This will tend to decrease the potential development of the debilitating effects of strength imbalances, weak points within various lifting motions, and body positions that are vulnerable to injury.
Bodyweight Exercises
In the past, I believed that body weight exercises were for people who were afraid of weights. Now I use them and feel that I can position my body at many angles to get the most out of my pressing and pulling exercises. I do uncommon stretches and bodyweight exercises in order to stretch and strengthen my body from every angle and position possible. Not only does this add to my strength for basic lifts, but when done correctly, it helps prevent injuries.
The stretches and exercises that hit my muscles from every angle and position is something that I have added to my training in the last eight months. This decision was prompted by listening to Coach Christopher Sommer who is the founder of Gymnastics-Bodies, and Miranda Esmonde White who teaches Classical Stretch and Eccentrics. I have also found Dr. Eric Goodman’s Foundation Training on how to rehab and safeguard your back against injury to be very helpful. My joint health, strength, flexibility, and mobility have much improved after incorporating their practices.
I have learned a lot over the last four decades, and plan to keep on learning. I will put what I have learned into practice, and if I find something that works better, I will do it. I have not shared my thoughts in order to fit in with the most popular weight training methodologies because most of what I believe doesn’t fit in with what’s popular and accepted. At the same time, I am all for the popular programs any time I believe they will help me improve. The point I want to make is that if I am doing things in a different way than normal, it’s because I believe it’s beneficial in terms of long-term progress.
When it comes to your own training, any time you find something that works, stick with it as long as it works, and try something else if it quits working. If you, or just one person learns just one thing from the experiences that I have shared about, I will be happy that this information has been helpful to someone. Best of training to you.