11 principles of bodybuilding training part 2

"The first principle is that you must not fool yourself - and you are the easiest person to fool"

- Richard Feynman, theoretical physicist

Welcome to the second part of my 11 principles of an effective bodybuilding training program.

Before we get into principles 6 through 11, I'd like to briefly explain how I came up with them.

I developed these principles over time to prevent myself from tricking myself into straying from the proven path to training success by chasing the next shiny object that catches my attention in hopes that it can provide me with the key to quick and easy progress.

I have found that there is simply no such thing as quick and easy progress in bodybuilding. However, there is a route to steady, predictable progress and it is described by these 11 principles.

Adopt them as your own principles or use them as a guide to generate your own principles. Either way... use them! Otherwise, you'll probably fool yourself by trying every training tactic under the sun - only to find out you've achieved nothing. However, if you are guided by principles, then your efforts will not be in vain.

6 - Perform one endurance / volumizing exercise per muscle group

While those who like to feel a burn in their muscles and maximize the pump tend to neglect heavy sets with low repetitions, those who like to train heavy tend to neglect the higher repetition range.

Performing sets of more than 10 or 12 reps is great for increasing endurance, but you probably won't care. But you do care about the visual effects that become visible as a result of performing sets with higher repetitions. Training in this higher repetition range will obviously increase the time under tension and it is this longer time under tension that also stimulates hypertrophy. Because the hypertrophy that results from higher repetition sets and is not primarily due to an increase in the mass of the contractile tissue of the muscles (i.e. actin and myosin filaments), it is often referred to as non-functional hypertrophy...a term I don't put much stock in as it is very misleading.

If we're talking specifically about an increase in muscle size by mechanisms other than an increase in muscle fiber size, then I prefer to use the term volumization. But whether you prefer the term non-functional hypertrophy or the term volumization, we are talking about an increase in muscle cross-sectional area via an increase in size and/or an increase in the number of mitochondria and capillaries, an increase in the size of the sarcoplasmic reticulum, etc.

Generally speaking, performing sets of 12 to 20 repetitions is perfect for stimulating muscle volumization. The visual result of this is rounder, fuller looking muscles.

So if your goal is bigger muscles, keep in mind that you want to increase ALL components of the muscle. If you don't do this, then you are consciously forgoing gains!

7 - Use multi-joint exercises and isolation exercises

When I was doing my undergraduate degree in exercise science, I set out to find the professor who was best known for his knowledge of resistance training. When I was in his office, I asked him my most burning question regarding resistance training for hypertrophy: "Which is better for building muscle mass - multi-joint exercises or isolation exercises. For example, is squats or leg extensions better for quadriceps growth?"

His answer surprised me. "Neither is necessarily better," he said. "Both have their pros and cons. It's best to stimulate a muscle in a variety of ways. You'll likely achieve greater overall hypertrophy if you use both, rather than focusing solely on basic exercises or isolation exercises." At first I was quite disappointed to say the least, but this lesson sank in.... True answers are not as black or white as we would like them to be.

When it comes to a bodybuilding workout, it's crucial that we don't just use multi-joint exercises. Sure, multi-joint exercises provide the best gains in functional, usable strength, but that's not our goal. It's just a nice side effect on the way to our goal.

Isolation exercises may not be as "functional" in terms of real-world applicability, but they put a laser-like focus on the target muscle to ensure that it is the recipient of the training stress.

Barbell squats are great, for example, but your lower back may give out before your quadriceps. And that will interfere with the training stimulus your quadriceps receive. This is where leg extensions come into play. If you perform a set of leg extensions to muscle failure, then you know your quadriceps have done all the work! Instead of thinking in an "either/or" mentality, you should internalize the fact that neither basic exercises nor isolation exercises are inherently superior... they are just different.

8 - Choose exercises that target your weaknesses

If you're training to improve the appearance of your body, then it's extremely important to keep symmetry and aesthetics in mind. Too often we bodybuilders get sucked into progression by training harder, which means moving more weight or doing more reps with the same weight. Sometimes we even try to do both at once (which is a recipe for stagnation, by the way). However, we should keep in mind that "improvements" in bodybuilding come not only through increases in performance, but also - and primarily for competitive bodybuilders - through an improvement in appearance.

And I'm here to tell you that improving a lagging muscle group is the surest way to quickly and dramatically improve the appearance of your body. You should think of yourself as an artist creating something artistically beautiful with your body. I have found that this mindset works well in this regard. Admittedly, this is something that comes naturally to me when I'm training others, but not so much when I'm training myself. I think this supports Alwyn Cosgrove's observation, "He who trains himself has an idiot for a client."

The best thing to do is to have someone with a sense of good body development to assess your strengths and weaknesses. If this is not possible, then take pictures of yourself and critique them as if you were critiquing someone else's body. Cover your face in the photo if necessary, but be as objective as possible. Then categorize each muscle group into one of three categories: dominant, balanced or underdeveloped. Then - and this is crucial - use this information when putting together your training program, making sure you choose exercises that specifically target your weak areas.

If a muscle group lacks size, then choose an exercise that targets that area, forcing it to do the majority of the work and pushing that area to exhaustion at the end of the set. At this point it should be noted that this will often NOT be a multi-joint exercise, as multi-joint exercises tend to spread the training stress and subsequent adaptation across multiple muscle groups. For example, if your weakness is the width of your back, then you need to focus on exercises that specifically target the inferolateral aspect of the latissimus. Dumbbell pull-ups and cable pull-downs with arms extended are examples of exercises that would be suitable for this.

You should also be aware that an overdeveloped muscle group can also be a visual weakness and it is just as important to address such a weakness by choosing appropriate exercises...exercises that will not cause hypertrophy in this area (of course this is where the set/repetition scheme comes into play).

So if you have quadriceps like tree trunks, I wouldn't train hack squats or leg extensions. And if you do barbell squats, then you should consider doing them with a wider stance so that some of the load is shifted to the gluteus, hamstrings and adductors and less stress is placed on the quadriceps. Just make sure to be methodical in your exercise selection. This will go a long way in developing a visually appealing body.

9 - Perform the most important exercises first

This principle goes hand in hand with the previous one. Because even if you choose the right exercise but do it at the wrong time, the effect can ultimately cancel itself out. Let's say you chose unilateral dumbbell rows to address the thickness and width of your latissimus. If you perform this exercise towards the end of your back workout, you will not be able to use as much weight and/or perform as many repetitions as you would if you had performed this exercise as the first exercise of your back workout due to neurobiological and muscular fatigue.

As a side note, the use of both creatine and beta-alanine is a good approach to minimizing fatigue through anaerobic training (i.e. training with weights), with the former being particularly effective for sets with heavy weights and low repetitions, while the latter is more effective with moderate weights and higher repetitions. Performing an exercise as your first exercise allows for maximum recruitment of motor units, which equates to stimulating the maximum number of muscle fibers. And remember that only the muscle fibers that have been stimulated will grow.

So don't waste your most important exercises by doing them when you're already exhausted. Do them first so that you can get the maximum benefit from them!

10 -- Repetitions and rests are inversely proportional to each other

Many training principles are more or less intuitive and common sense. But the fact that the number of repetitions and the length of rests are inversely proportional to each other is not one of them. In reality, this often contradicts intuition. Let's say you performed a maximum set of barbell bench presses with 3 repetitions in which you gave it your all.

If you pause after this set, let your heart rate and breathing rate return to their normal values, then you will notice that it won't take long for these two components to return to their normal values. In the end, you didn't even feel a burn in your chest and triceps for such a short time under tension. After about 60 seconds, you'll feel ready to do another set. Let's say you've just put the bar down on the other side after a brutal set of 15-rep barbell squats. It will take at least 2 full minutes or more before you feel like you can perform another set with the same intensity.

The strange fact, however, is that our perception of recovery is not accurate. Even though heart rate and breathing rate are important in some ways, there is something going on at a cellular level that we can't feel per se. When you reach the point of exhaustion on a heavy set with low reps - where we're talking about momentary concentric muscle failure - it's primarily related to exhaustion of the ATP-CP energy system and exhaustion of the nervous system. And it takes 2 to 3 minutes for these two components to recover to the point where you can perform another set at the same intensity.

When performing high tension, low repetition sets to stimulate protein synthesis, it is very important to maximize the performance of each set by performing as many repetitions as possible with a given weight. You must avoid having to reduce the weight to duplicate the efforts on your previous set because it is the tension in the muscle that serves as the primary stimulus for strength gains and ultimately more actin and myosin filaments (aka bigger muscles). However, if you base your rest intervals on how you feel, then you'll probably want to do the next set after just one minute because three reps on the bench press just doesn't feel as challenging. Performance on sets with higher reps and longer time under tension is not as critical. This is because it is not tension that acts as the primary stressor during these sets, but metabolic fatigue. This type of training stimulus is different from tension as a stimulus. Metabolic exhaustion does not so much lead to a build-up of new actin and myosin. Instead, it leads to hypertrophy of other structures (i.e. sarcoplasmic reticulum, mitochondria, capillaries, etc.)

Unlike low repetition sets, you should not necessarily fully recover from higher repetition sets. In fact, starting the next set before you are really ready for it is a great way to increase the metabolic stimulus you generate from the following set. So for heavy sets with low reps, you should pause long enough to be able to use maximum weight again on the next set, as it is the weight and the tension the weight creates within the muscle that provides the nectar for new growth.

With higher repetition sets, on the other hand, you should not rest very long between sets so that you intentionally compromise your performance and create metabolic stress that will lead to hypertrophy of the cellular components of the muscle cells.

11 - Keep in mind that intensity and volume are inversely proportional to each other

I have deliberately saved this principle for last as I believe it is the most important of all. The fact is that if you don't follow this principle, it doesn't matter what else you do...you won't make any progress. I know this all too well as this is the principle I have struggled with the most. First, let's make sure we mean the same thing when we talk about volume and intensity. Intensity in this context is basically how close you go on a given set to the point where you've given it your all. If you do as many repetitions as you can with a given weight and only give up when you can't do another repetition, even if your life depended on it, then you have reached 100% intensity.

When we talk about volume, we mean the number of exercises, sets and repetitions you perform during a given training session. I disagree with the idea that 5 sets of 5 repetitions is the same stress on the body as one set of 25 repetitions. In my experience, it is the number of demanding sets we perform that largely determines the stress. So when I talk about volume, I am primarily referring to the number of work sets performed during a given training session. In other words, the number of sets performed to the point of exhaustion.

The degree to which you reach exhaustion on a set determines how intense the set is. Let's say you can do 10 curls with 50 kilos...and that this is your real 10RM (maximum weight for 10 reps). Sets of 10 reps where you give it your all are extremely demanding for your body. Sure, these sets are demanding for your muscles, but they are also insidiously demanding for your nervous system. The more sets in which you give your all during a training session, the fewer total sets you should perform. Otherwise, you simply won't be able to recover within a reasonable amount of time. However, if you only do 9 repetitions in a set of 50 kilos, this is not nearly as demanding on your nervous system and not as demanding on your muscles themselves. Therefore, you could do 3 sets of 9 repetitions without the risk of overdoing it.

However, if you were to perform 3 sets of 10 repetitions with your 10 RM weight (50 kilos), then we would be talking about a seriously demanding training stimulus for both your muscles and your nervous system...even if this seems to be just one more repetition. You can either train hard or long, but you can't train long and hard. To illustrate this, let me compare the training style of former Mr. Olympia Dorian Yates with the training style of former Mr. Olympia Jay Cutler. Dorian was known for his very few sets. In fact, he only performed one work set per exercise. His training was high intensity but low volume. Jay Cutler was the other extreme. He was known for performing many exercises per muscle group and many sets per exercise, and also for training each muscle group every 5 days instead of every 7 days like Dorian.

If you watch Jay train, you would definitely say that his training is intense. But if you take a closer look at his training, you'll notice that he doesn't perform his sets to the point of muscle failure. He often gets quite close to muscle failure, but still stops one or two repetitions before reaching the point of muscle failure.

This is where we (I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels this way) often go wrong...we try to train at maximum intensity like Dorian and at the same time try to perform a high volume workout like Jay...all at the same time! And that, my friend, will not work.

Please trust me on this one, as I have learned and relearned this lesson many, many times. Or you can be stubborn like I was and say "screw it, I can do more...I'll do one more repetition on the next set...and then I'll do one more set too!". This will give my muscles no choice but to grow!"

Except that we forget that the muscle has another option than to grow...and that is "not to grow".

The mentally challenging part of this principle is that you can do a lot of sets and do all of those sets to muscle failure...and you'll leave the gym drained but feeling like you had a fantastic workout. The problem is that even if your muscles recover and you don't feel sore at the next training session, your nervous system is still in intensive care due to the intense overload a few days earlier. So even if it's time for your next training session and you feel like you're ready, it could well be that you're not.

If you're like most other serious strength athletes and bodybuilders, it can be hard to force yourself to finish a set when you know you have more in you, and it can be just as hard to not do another set when you know you could. But sometimes you just have to stop before you've given it your all. This my friend brings us back to point number 1 - train each muscle group once a week. If you do this, then at least you have some room for error when it comes to ensuring adequate recovery. And yet, it's still crucial to keep volume and intensity inversely proportional to each other. The best rule of thumb I've found is this: only perform the last set of an exercise to muscle failure.

If you do this and limit the number of sets and reps as described, then you will achieve a good balance between intensity and volume. But if you're crazy enough and want to know what overtraining really feels like, go to muscle failure on every set and use a Cutler-style volume program. If you do this, then in a few weeks you'll know exactly what it feels like to be overtrained.

If you're more interested in making steady progress, keep in mind that it's better to train smart than to train hard.

Final words

Remember to use these 11 principles like a good recipe. You can follow it as it is to cook something great, or you can add a pinch of this or a touch of that to create something of your own. Whichever way you choose, at least you won't be starting from scratch.

If these principles help you even half as much as they helped me, then we'll both be happy! Take care of yourself.

By Clay Hyght

Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/11-principles-of-bodybuilding-training-part-2