Training

5 reasons you don't look like you're working out

By Dan John | 09/02/14

Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/5-reasons-you-dont-look-like-you-lift

Here's what you need to know...

1. Some people spend so much time doing fancy warm-ups that they forget to move something heavy and break a sweat.
2. Start an exercise program and finish it. Stop jumping back and forth between different workout programs.
3. The basics will get you there the fastest. Do deep squats, bench presses without lifting your butt off the bench and deadlifts with (at least) twice your body weight.
4. Don't let your diet undo all the work you put in at the gym. You can't make up for a modest diet by doing more cardio.
5. Use your breaks between sets for something more productive than chatting or finding a new song.

There are a lot of things you can do wrong when working out, but if we could get people to fix the following problems, our world would be a stronger and fitter place.

1 - You actually forget to exercise

The moment you walk into the gym, a timer starts ticking. Think of it as one of those countdown timers on a bomb in an action movie. Each of us has a different total time programmed, but regardless, the time starts running as soon as you enter the gym.

What you will do during the first ten minutes of your workout will tell me pretty much everything I need to know to tell you what you are doing right and what you are doing wrong. I've always told people to do front squats first. This is still good advice, but I was hoping that a touch of urgency would get some people thinking about the importance of getting to the gym and getting to work.

During this new era of corrective exercise, I see people curling their spines against the walls with lacross balls, flailing around on the floor with foam rollers, and following a program that will realign your zodiac sign against their ascendant. This is followed by 20 minutes of easy walking on the treadmill, some dynamic flexibility training and finally some stability training or whatever.

An hour after entering the gym, they can proudly acknowledge that they've done practically nothing. And then it's time to go.

In addition to the countdown clock, think of your time at the gym as a punching bag. When we enter the gym, we cut a small hole in our ability to exercise and the sand starts to trickle out. When the bag is empty, we have nothing left. In other words, if we waste all that "sand" doing stupid stuff, then there's no sand left for the stuff that makes us stronger, fitter and a better athlete. This is not to say that some of these tools can't be useful, but do you need all of them, at once, before every training session?

Many of us trick ourselves into thinking we are exercising when in reality we are just strolling down the street wasting time. Stop doing that.

2 - You suffer from exercise ADHD

The solution to problem number 1 is to follow a program. I have a rule about programs: I don't care what program you use, but finish it. Start it and finish it.

I have a program called Mass Made Simple. Fourteen workouts over six weeks. I challenge you to spend two to three hours each week lifting, pressing and doing squats until you can do 50 repetitions of squats with your body weight. Start the program, finish it.

Maybe mass isn't your priority right now, but what is? And don't say "fat loss" right now, because the majority of people who work out will give that answer. The problem is that even if these people are supposedly focusing on fat loss, they are making little progress in this regard.

Why not focus on something else and just see if the body fat goes down while you improve another quality? Most programs are about six weeks long - even if such a program is a disaster, that's only six weeks of your life. If you've been training for ten years, how many six-week phases are there in your training history? I'll answer that question for you: about 86.

Do you want to build a better butt with hip thrusts and squats? Do you want to improve on an exercise that is your weak point - usually squats or deadlifts? There are dozens of programs posted on the internet every day. Just choose one and follow it.

Come to the gym with your training program. Print out your training plan and put it in your training diary. Follow the program and finish it.

3 - You don't master the basic exercises

Strive to master the exercises as you work out. I know, you think you're impressing the girls when you load up the leg press and fling the weights up over and over again. Want to know what they really think of this? I asked them. They think you're an asshole.

Learn to train correctly. Master deep and correctly executed squats. These days it's easy to find workshops from the best and brightest that will show you how to live and move better.

Your job is to perform deep squats, bench presses without lifting your butt and deadlifts with (at least) twice your bodyweight. The basics will get you there the fastest. And as a reward, you'll be more muscular, leaner and stronger.

4 - Your diet cancels out your training

You can't make up for countless amounts of low-quality carbohydrates with cardio training. I know vegetables, fruits and high quality protein are more expensive than wheat and corn products, but cows get fat when they eat grains. Don't be a cow.

Every week has 168 hours. If you exercise for 5 of those hours, that leaves 163 hours to potentially undo everything you've accomplished in the gym. So how about nodding in agreement when it comes to eating right? I would suggest that you learn the basics of cooking - which is as simple as using a knife, a steamer and a grill combined with some proactive shopping. This will do as much for you as the next excellent "secret" workout program.

5 - You are wasting your break times

Rethink your definition of "break". I personally never time rest periods and try to use the time between exercises for my flexibility training, stretching and corrective exercise.

One of the problems with gyms today is that there are TVs on the walls. Add to this your magical super smartphone and the dozens of other things that distract us from working out.... If you're at the gym, you're supposed to be working out.

And please don't put together a mix of your favorite songs. Years ago, I was told that the Soviets discovered that "toxic" music increases the ability to exercise. Hey, maybe that was a lie too, but I think it's a great idea. If you hate country music, then listen to country music. I hate pop music and listening to it over the speakers at the gym makes me work out harder. Hate and extreme anger are great motivators

Rather than rewinding your 'intensity mix', maybe get down on the floor and work on the stretching you need. Or do what great bodybuilders used to do - perform most of your training as supersets so that you never really rest. I'm a big fan of supersets for any athletic goal. Obviously you should avoid this for Olympic weightlifting and powerlifting exercises, but try the following:

• One-arm presses with TRX pulls
• Curls (of any kind) with tricep presses
• Bench presses or push-ups with rowing

Squats and swings also work well together and are a great conditioning workout. I like to do 10 to 15 swings and then move the barbell up for 5 goblet squats. Try to do this for a total of 100 to 150 swings while listening to the latest crappy pop song.

Bonus suggestions

• Take the towel off your neck, Rocky.
• There's never a reason for a headband or a pirate scarf.
• Wipe down every bench and cushion after use.
• Pack the weights back - even if you didn't leave them there.
• Do squats on the squat rack - and nothing else.
• Don't yell if something causes a burn...unless you're really on fire.
• If you're wearing a muscle shirt, remember that it's not the piece of fabric that makes the difference between an undershirt and a muscle shirt.
• Be nice to the staff.
• Learn to perform deep squats. Nothing will get you more recognition than deep, cleanly executed squats.

Related blog posts:

>> The pyramid method for strength and muscle

>> Why the big three basic exercises are not enough to build mass

The 5 best ways to get stronger

By Mike Robertson | 02/18/15

Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/5-best-ways-to-get-stronger

Here's what you need to know...

1. Try performing "back-off" sets at 90% of your max weight for the day instead of bludgeoning yourself with volume.
2. If you perform paused reps, not only will you get significantly stronger, but you'll also develop a more efficient bar movement path.
3. Perform sprints, jumps and medicine ball throws to expose your nervous system to a high rate of force development and develop explosive speed through this.
4. Choose supporting exercises that are either specific and help to mimic a weak point during the movement or exercises that are more general in nature and have carryover to the big exercises.
5. Build muscle through the use of oxidative training, where you perform an exercise at a steady, slow pace with both eccentric and concentric portions of the movement.
6. Drink plenty of water and use 300 Sparta Rage from Gods Rage before each session.

1 - Perform back-off sets at 90%

One of the mainstays of Eastern European training programs is performing a lot of submaximal training volume, especially in the 70 to 80% range. If you watch many of these strength athletes compete, their technique is absolutely impeccable. Every repetition from the first warm-up set to the max attempt looks the same.

Unfortunately, most of us can't just train at high volume overnight. In this case, you should include back-off sets with 90% of your max weight on the working sets in your program on the appropriate day.

Let's say you're using a program like 5/3/1. You could work your way up to your heavy set of 5 reps during the first week and then perform two back-off sets of 5 reps at 90% of your heaviest set of the day. During the weeks with the 3-rep sets on the 5/3/1 program, perform back-off sets of 3 reps. During the week with single repetitions, perform back-off sets with one repetition.

The goal is to add more volume to your program. By performing back-off sets, you are ensuring a few things:

• Performing your heaviest set prepares the nervous system for the following sets
• The reduction in weight is strong enough to stimulate the body while not making you feel crushed.
• Lastly, the weight is still heavy enough that there is carryover in terms of technique, but not so heavy that the technique begins to suffer under the load.

This technique produces good results time and time again.

2 - Include paused training on your main exercises in your program

Many years ago I gave paused training its first real chance. As someone who is more of a reactive strength athlete (very bouncy and elastic), this was a humbling experience. I was consistently using far less than 50% of my 1RM weight and it was still very taxing.

However, the results were more than worth the effort. Not only did I get significantly stronger - the biggest change was in the path of the bar. I was no longer leaning forward on my squats and my bench press movement improved too. Suddenly both of these exercises had very tight and efficient bar paths and my performance skyrocketed.

Aside from improving the path of the bar, when you slow the movement down or add a pause to the movement, you largely take the tendons out of the equation and shift the load directly to the muscles.

And if you are forced to pause at the lowest point of the movement or really slow down the execution of the exercise, you will also notice a significant improvement in your kinesthetic awareness of the exercise.

To get the most out of paused exercise, there are two options:

Option #1: 3 second rests every week. For your squat workout, for example, work your way up to your target weight for the day and then reduce the weight by 50%. From here, perform 2 to 3 sets of 3 reps with a 3 second rest and try to increase the weight each week.

Option #2: Periodize the rests as follows:

• Week 1: 7 second rest
• Week 2: 5 seconds rest
• Week 3: 3 second rest

3 - Become more explosive

Strength athletes who are very elastic and springy benefit the most from paused training for the reasons listed above. On the other hand, there are strength athletes who are not elastic or springy at all.

The bar speed for these exercisers looks largely the same from the warm-up sets to the max sets - kind of slow and methodical.

Can you get strong by forcing repetition after repetition? Sure, but there are also many benefits to focusing on exercises that expose the nervous system to very explosive movements.

Think jumping, sprinting and medicine ball throws in this context. The key here is to take things easy. If you think of speed squats or deadlifts when you think of explosive training, then this will definitely be a shock to your body.

Box jumps

When it comes to jumps, you should try box jumps. These reduce the eccentric stress on landing and focus on the anterior muscle chain, which translates well to squats. On the other hand, long jumps challenge the posterior chain and should improve your deadlift performance.

Sprinting

Some short sprints will expose the nervous system to very explosive movements and a high rate of force development. This won't be specific to training with weights, but that's not necessarily the goal either.

Charlie Francis has noted that even though many athletes don't make the weight room a priority, they often move very heavy weights when they train in the weight room.

Although there are other factors at play here (particularly good genetics), there is probably some truth in what Francis believed. If you expose the nervous system to very explosive movements, this can carry over to other movements such as squats and deadlifts.

Medicine ball throws

If box jumps or sprints are problematic for some reason, medicine ball throws are better than nothing. Try forward and backward medicine ball throws for lower body explosiveness, as well as plyometric medicine ball throws for the upper body (you lie on your back and a training partner drops the medicine ball, which you catch and then reverse the direction of movement).

4 - Choose the right support exercises

If you want to move a ton of weight on squats, then you need to train squats. If you want to move huge weights on the bench press, then you need to train bench presses.

But that doesn't mean that assistance exercises should be chosen haphazardly or, even worse, removed from the program entirely. In fact, choosing the right assistance exercises can make the difference between success and failure when it comes to breaking through plateaus.

There are basically two ways to choose your support exercises:

• Exercises that are specific and help mimic a weak point in the movement, or...
• Exercises that are more general in nature

Let's use classic squats as an example. If someone lacks strength in the lower range of motion, they could use a specific exercise such as paused squats or 1 and a quarter squats to compensate for this weak point.

On the other hand, this person could also choose front squats as a supporting exercise, this exercise is not as specific as classic squats, but it should still have carryover to squats as it trains the core, hips and thighs.

As a general rule, we often start training cycles with more general support training to compensate for weaknesses and as an athlete gets closer to competition, we get more specific with exercise selection.

The point is that support exercises cannot be an appendage. Your main exercises are by far the most important part of your training session, but the right support exercises will take your gains to the next level.

5 - Use oxidative training during the off-season

I don't know about you, but when I'm trying to push my max weight up on an exercise, I don't care what muscle fibers are helping me do it. Slow contracting fibers, fast contracting fibers, whatever - if they're willing to help me move the damn weight up, then I want their help! That's the reason we give some love to all types of muscle fibers - including the slow contracting ones.

For example, we use oxidative (or tempo) training to get the slow-contracting muscle fibers to hypertrophy. Let's use squats as an example:

Take the weight off the rack and perform your squats with a continuous motion or tempo such as 202 or 303. The goal is to move slowly during both the eccentric and concentric parts of the movement.

In addition, do not fully extend the joints during the entire movement! As soon as you approach the top of the movement, immediately move on to the next repetition.

There is a lot of discussion about appropriate workout to rest ratios, number of sets, etc. I generally start with a 1:1 ratio of work to rest (40 on, 40 off) for 3 to 5 sets. Here are a few practical tips:

Don't try to be a hero. Done correctly, this is a merciless technique. Rather than undoing your efforts by going too fast, start with a weight that is too light and increase the weight as needed.

Look for joint-friendly variations whenever possible. Performing classic squats and holding the bar on your back for long periods of time during tempo squats can be quite uncomfortable. Choose a safety squat bar to reduce the load on your shoulders while maximizing the load on your legs.

Related posts:

>> The pyramid method for strength and muscle

>> The push-pull workout

Genetic studies show that some people react differently to training than others.

More than 800 genes influence exercise performance. Studies conducted by renowned geneticist Claude Bouchard showed that between 8 and 13 percent of people experienced negative physical changes from exercise, which included increases in blood insulin levels and triglyceride levels, an increase in systolic blood pressure and reduced HDL cholesterol levels (the good cholesterol).

Eric Leifer of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute in Bethesda, Maryland, noted that Bouchard and colleagues did not make comparisons with people who did not exercise, so their studies did not have an adequate control group. In a study of 1,200 people and a control group, they found no evidence of subgroups of people who responded negatively to exercise. In addition, everyone has a different metabolism - and this is noticeable for some people when it comes to fat loss . While most people gain fat quickly when they eat excessive amounts of fatty and sugary foods, there are people who only gain weight slowly under similar conditions.

Exercise is healthy for most people, but not everyone reacts in the same way.

(Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 48: 20 - 25, 2016)