Training

There is a fundamental law that applies to many areas of life. It is as follows:

If you want more, you have to do more.

This principle seems to apply almost everywhere. You will get more in many areas if you invest more. Do you want to get ahead in business? Then work hard at it and you will have the best chance of success.

Do you want a more fulfilling relationship with friends and family? Then spend more time building that relationship. Do you want to be the best player on your team? Then train harder and longer than your competitors and you will slowly stand out from the crowd.

I think you know where I'm going with this. When training with weights, however, it's not quite so simple. The "more is better" approach only works up to a certain point...and then it stops working. At a certain point, more will even become counterproductive.

When it comes to building muscle, strength and endurance, more training is generally better than less training...but once you exceed your body's recovery capacity, things can quickly go south.

Here's a short list of what will happen next:

• You'll struggle to finish your workouts
• You will lose strength and endurance
• You will sleep poorly
• You will struggle with exhaustion and lethargy
• You will feel strange aches and pains
• You will get sick more often

These are all signs that there is a systemic imbalance between work and regeneration. Scientifically, this symptomology is known as 'overtraining syndrome' (1) and the likelihood is that you will struggle with this problem at some point in your fitness career.

This article can help you avoid this problem. You will learn how to recognize overtraining before it becomes a serious problem and what you can do to prevent overtraining in the first place. You will also learn what you can do if you have reached a state of overtraining.

First, let's start with the common (and often false) clichés about overtraining.

Is overtraining real?

If you've been training for any length of time, you'll probably have heard two things about overtraining:

1. "There is no such thing as overtraining. There is only insufficient recovery."

The underlying idea here is that people who are physically overwhelmed by their training sessions are not training that hard at all, but simply not recovering enough from their training.

2 "If you do more than 2 to 3 heavy weights and low intensity cardio workouts per week, you will inevitably end up in a state of overtraining."

This line of thinking is generally supported by the view that more than a few intense workouts per week will overload the central nervous system.

And if you've spent any time on either side of the debate, you've probably heard reasonable-sounding arguments for both positions. But as usual, the truth seems to lie somewhere in the middle (2).

Training heavy with weights puts a lot of stress on your muscles and central nervous system, but most people can train harder than they are right now without negative physical side effects

For example, consider a study conducted by scientists at the University of Sydney (3). The subjects were young men in their twenties and thirties who had at least two years of experience training with weights and were capable of doing an average of 155 kilos of squats.

Each of these subjects performed two upper body and two lower body training sessions per week, which corresponded to four training sessions with weights per week. For squats, the men were divided into three groups:

1. Group 1 performed 1 set of squats to the point of muscle failure with 80% of 1RM weight.
2. Group 2 performed 4 sets of this type.
3. Group 3 performed 8 sets of this type.

After 6 weeks, all groups had increased in strength, with group 2 and 3 building significantly more strength than group 1 and group 3 showing the greatest strength gains. If you've ever done squats with 80% of your 1 RM weight (which is a repetition range of 5 to 7 reps), then you know how tough this training program was. One squat session of this type per week is demanding and two of them are downright grueling. And yet no signs of overtraining were observed.

An even better - and more extreme - example can be found in a study conducted by scientists at McMaster University (4). In this study, 40 young, overweight men were divided into two groups.

One of these groups was put on the following program:

1. 40% calorie deficit
2. High protein intake (2.4 grams per kilo)
3. 6 training sessions with weights/HIIT training sessions per week

The other group did the same, but only ate half as much protein. If you showed this to most personal trainers, they would say you're crazy and that all you're going to achieve with this is muscle loss.

Well, after four weeks, the subjects in the high protein group had lost an average of 10.5 pounds of fat while gaining 2.5 pounds of muscle. The subjects in the lower-protein group had lost an average of 8 pounds of fat and gained no new muscle mass.

My point here is not that you should do 16 heavy sets of squats per week or maintain a massive calorie deficit with several hours of intense training per week. I just want to illustrate how much you can abuse some people's bodies before negative effects become visible.

Exactly how far you can go depends on many things, which include your age, genetic makeup, exercise history, diet and sleep hygiene, but I can promise you this: It's far harder to get into a state of overtraining than most people think.

I have worked with many exercisers and can say with absolute certainty that if you are a relatively healthy adult, you can do very well with something like the following:

• 3 to 6 hours of heavy training with weights per week (3 to 5 workouts)
• 1 to 2.5 hours of cardio per week (depending on your goals)
• 20 to 25% calorie deficit with a high protein diet and high carbohydrate intake

8 signs of overtraining you should know

It may be hard to get into a state of overtraining - and it may be more of a psychological state than a physical one - but it can happen. I had my first experience of this a long time ago while working with a personal trainer.

He had me doing workouts 6 days a week for 2 or more hours that took me well past the point of physical exhaustion - to the point of mental exhaustion. After 5 or 6 weeks of this ordeal, I was exhausted. I wasn't sleeping well, everything hurt and I could barely muster enough energy to finish my training sessions.

He advised me to take a week off training to recover and 7 days later I felt like I had come back from the dead. If I had known then what I know now, I could have spared myself the agony.

Overtraining doesn't happen overnight. It's like quicksand - it slowly pulls you down and the harder you fight it, the faster you sink. For this reason, I'd like to look at some of the signs of overtraining below to show you that it's time to take your foot off the gas (5).

1. your training sessions feel particularly heavy

When your body is exhausted, the perceived effort during training increases. This is to be expected if you've just finished a set, but if this becomes the norm, it could be an indication that your body needs a break (6).

2. you lack motivation to train

If you normally look forward to your training sessions but suddenly don't feel like going to the gym anymore, this is a red flag (7).

For me, it got so bad at some point that I was no longer able to finish my training sessions. I was so physically exhausted that I couldn't even force myself to try anymore.

3. you suffer from depression

For some people, the mood disturbance caused by overtraining goes far beyond training. They lose all motivation to do anything (8).

4. you suffer incessantly from sore muscles

Muscle soreness is a part of training with weights, but as you become more experienced, you will experience less and less muscle soreness regardless of what you do. (This is not a bad thing, by the way, as muscle soreness is not an indicator of muscle growth).

However, if you overdo it with your training, you may experience persistent muscle soreness that doesn't go away completely (9).

5. you are not sleeping well

If you push your body too hard, your nervous system can become overstimulated. This will make it harder for you to fall asleep and feel fully rested (10).

6. you are constantly tired

If you don't sleep well, you'll be tired. No surprise so far. However, if your body is constantly overworked, you may feel constantly tired and exhausted even when you do get enough sleep.

7. you feel strange pains

This is one of the first things I notice when it's time for a break. First my shoulders start to hurt, then my wrists and then my knees. These symptoms usually start after 8 to 10 weeks of intense training with weights and they go away after 3 to 5 days off.

(I should mention at this point, however, that joint pain can also be caused by other things such as poor exercise form or lack of flexibility).

8. you get sick more often than you normally would

Prolonged periods of intense training can suppress the function of the immune system, which will make you more susceptible to illness (11).

In the second part of this article, I will go into more detail about what you can do to avoid overtraining in the first place.

Source: https://legionathletics.com/signs-of-overtraining/

By Mike Matthews

He will forever be known as the "Iron Guru". Learn more about Vince Gironda's old-school bodybuilding philosophies, nutritional recommendations and sample workouts!

If you're a fan of bodybuilding or physique competitions, then you may know that many of the top champions work with a trainer and/or nutritionist to help them prepare for their competitions.

Many of the people these athletes hire are known as coaches or "gurus". You may recognize the names of some of the top "gurus" of today, but there is one bodybuilding guru who could be considered the original.

He was the "Iron Guru" of the golden era of bodybuilding and worked with many champions of the time including the original Mr. Olympia, Larry Scott, Lou Ferrigno, Frank Zane, and even Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Who was Vince Gironda?

Vince Gironda was born in the Bronx in 1917 and moved to Los Angeles with his family after his father got a job as a stuntman. The young Vince originally wanted to follow in his father's footsteps, but then turned to training with weights after seeing a photo of the then famous bodybuilder John Grimek.

At the age of 22, Gironda began training at the local YMCA before moving on to train at the Easton brothers' gym. They taught him everything he needed to know to become a trainer. During this time, he took part in bodybuilding competitions himself.

Even though he never won a competition, in 1962 he came 2nd in the Mr. Universe competition with a body weight of just under 80 kilos. The spontaneous apprenticeship with the Eastons ended when Gironda decided to open his own gym in North Hollywood called "Vince's Gym".

During the fifties and sixties of the 20th century, his reputation as a trainer grew thanks to the aforementioned champions who won competitions and claimed to owe it to him. This led to him becoming a trainer to the stars, working with numerous Hollywood stars over the years including Clint Eastwood, Denzel Washington and Sean Penn.

The Vince Gironda training mindset

Gironda was one of the first to talk about the role of the mind when it came to developing the body. He made sure that all the people he trained didn't just focus on what they were physically doing during the workout. They also had to believe and trust that they could achieve the goals they had set for themselves.

How Vince Gironda shared his knowledge

In addition to his personal training, Gironda was also a talented author who wrote many articles on muscle building over the years that were read by many people across the country. Gironda's knowledge and passion when it came to training was shared by those who followed him until his death in 1997 - a month before his 80th birthday. While many of his ideas were originally published in the fifties and sixties and later ignored in favor of more modern discoveries, some of his principles are still propagated and continue to help many people today.

Vince Gironda's nutritional philosophies

Even though he was primarily known as the iron guru, Gironda also helped many people with their nutrition programs. His philosophy was that bodybuilding is 85% nutrition. Many consider Gironda to be ahead of his time, as he promoted low-carb diets long before they became popular.

He also promoted the use of nutritional supplements. The products he recommended included dried liver tablets, kelp tablets, digestive enzymes and glandular products.

Some of his dietary recommendations were controversial. Among his favorites were fertilized chicken eggs and cream. Other foods he recommended were based on the particular athlete and what he believed was needed. He did not have a one-size-fits-all approach to nutrition.

Principles that Vince Gironda rejected

Gironda was known almost as much for what he disliked as what he favored. Regardless of the athlete he was training, for example, he was totally against the use of anabolic steroids and he spoke out against their use throughout his career.

Other topics he spoke about included his exercise selection. Gironda's focus was primarily on bodybuilding and body development and his exercise selection reflected this.

For example, he was not a fan of squats. As a result, there was no squat rack in his gym. Gironda believed that squats train the gluteus and hips, which can affect their proportions compared to the thighs. He occasionally made an exception for women who competed and, in his opinion, had deficits in these areas. Otherwise, he recommended leg extensions, leg curls and other exercises that isolate the quadriceps and hamstrings.

He was also against sit-ups and was among the first to criticize this exercise as one that doesn't really target the abs.

Bench press to the neck and Gironda dips

Another exercise that Gironda disliked was barbell flat bench presses. He felt that this exercise recruited the front shoulder muscles too much, which to him meant that it wouldn't help the chest. Instead, he developed and promoted the Gironda bench press to the neck. This variation of the bench press uses a wide grip and the exerciser lowers the weight to the lower part of the neck instead of the chest.

Another exercise he modified according to his preferences was classic dips. His Gironda dips had the exerciser looking down and the chin touching the chest. The hands are positioned so that the fingers are inside the handles. The elbows are extended and the legs are stretched forward instead of being bent under the body. Gironda felt that performing dips in this manner would isolate the pectoral muscles and minimize triceps involvement.

Vince Gironda's "honest" training programs

Although Gironda's contributions to the world of fitness and bodybuilding were numerous, there is one that still stands out from the rest decades later. His 8 x 8 program has been referred to as his "honest" training program, as it encouraged exercisers to use lighter weights and focus on making the muscles work rather than focusing on the weight used. This principle has also been referred to in recent years as high density training.

In this program, 8 sets of 8 repetitions are performed and the rests between sets last only 30 seconds. It is impossible to do this with heavier weights without sacrificing the correct form of the exercise, which Gironda strongly opposed. He believed that using lighter weights and shorter rests would maximize muscle fiber growth and help burn as many calories as possible in the shortest amount of time possible.

There were two different ways to train with the 8 x 8 method. You could either use a full body training program or focus on individual muscle groups, as is the case with a bodybuilding split program. Both options were intense and you could be sure afterwards that you had done a serious training session.

If you use the full-body training program, you should limit yourself to a maximum of 5 exercises. Even if this is only 8 sets for each major muscle group, this is a total of 40 sets per training session.

Example of a Vince Gironda 8 x 8 full body training program

The Vince Gironda inspired 8 x 8 training program

If you want to use a bodybuilding split program, you should stick to three or four exercises for the larger muscle groups such as legs, chest and back. For smaller areas such as biceps, triceps and calves, only two exercises each are recommended.

The split program below is an example of what such programs could look like. Gironda had different athletes perform different programs based on their individual needs.

Monday: Vince Gironda 8x8 chest training program

Tuesday: Vince Gironda 8x8 back & biceps training program

Thursday: Vince Gironda 8x8 shoulders & triceps training program

Friday: Vince Gironda 8x8 quadriceps, leg flexors & calves training program

* 30 seconds rest between exercises

**Gironda preferred to perform dumbbell exercises with both arms at the same time rather than alternating them to minimize rest times and maximize effort.

Source: https://www.muscleandstrength.com/articles/vince-gironda-inspired-workouts

Earlier this week, I was fortunate enough to spend some quality time with a friend of mine who recently completed his training as a physiotherapist. As we discussed the relative merits of different training protocols, my friend lamented that people in his profession rely too heavily on standard protocols for rehab training their patients. In his view, many physical therapists tend to prescribe programs of 3 sets of 10 repetitions to their patients regardless of training experience, age and personal preference.

My friend has been strength training for about a decade, which may explain his enthusiasm for varying repetition ranges for different populations. Over the course of their training careers, exercisers use 5 x 5, 3 x 8, 1 x 20 and a variety of other set and repetition schemes. For this reason, they know the effects that different training protocols can have. But even outside the world of physiotherapy, it is common to see exercisers following certain training protocols with almost religious fervor. When was the last time you heard anyone promote a program with 4 sets of 11 repetitions? That would be sacrilege...repetition ranges must be divisible by 2 for the vast majority of exercisers!

In fact, it's not just the world of physiotherapy that has fallen in love with 3 sets of 10 repetitions. Many programs for beginners and advanced exercisers also propagate this scheme. When I completed my first "real" 5 x 5 program, I was encouraged by older exercisers to move to a 3 x 10 program as an introduction to bodybuilding. With that in mind, in this article I'd like to explore the history of the 3 x 10 training program - a training protocol favored by many exercisers and physical therapists alike.

In search of the founder...

In my articles, I regularly deal with the fact that exercisers take conventional wisdom in the field of weight training and bodybuilding for granted without questioning it. Barbell squats appear to be a timeless exercise, but if you take a closer look at their history, you will see that they only appeared on the scene in the early twentieth century. The same applies to the traditional bench press. Our basic exercises are actually quite modern. The same is true for a 3-set, 10-rep workout - a training protocol popularized during the late 1940s and early 1950s.

However, our story begins in the early decades of the 20th century with a boy from Alabama who was born in 1917. Thomas Lanier DeLorme experienced a number of adversities during his formative years. He struggled with the poverty of the "Great Depression" years and a nasty bout of rheumatic fever. His youthful body was therefore quite fragile. Although he eventually reached a height of over 180 centimeters, DeLorme was confined to bed for four months during his teenage years to aid his recovery from a fever that had slimmed him down to 63 kilos. As reported by ranking physical culture elders Jan and Terry Todd, DeLorme used his time to study both medicine and muscle building.

Initially, DeLorme chose to study medicine because he wanted to help others who needed help. This selfless goal was accompanied by his second decision to not only rebuild his body, but to improve his physical development as well. Therefore, this young man spent his time flipping back and forth between medical textbooks and issues of Strength&Health - a strange, but admittedly profitable combination. In 1939, DeLorme was accepted to the University of Alabama for medical school. From there, he went to New York to continue his studies and change the world of mucoskeletal rehabilitation.

The war, weightlifting and Watkins...the experiments begin

Once in New York, DeLorme was contacted by a sergeant named Walter Easley, who wanted to discuss his recent knee surgery with DeLorme. After being told by doctors that his knee would never fully recover, Easley sought out the young man from Alabama in his search for help. Easley had followed instructions to do light training for his rehabilitation with almost religious fervor. Such advice was backed up by leading American physiotherapist R. Tait McKenzie, who believed that heavy training was counterproductive on the road to recovery. This advice was followed by many physiotherapists. But DeLorme was not one of them.

Instead, DeLorme advised Easley to use the maximum amount of weight with which he could perform as many repetitions as possible. Using iron shoes, Easley performed up to 70 repetitions of leg extensions per leg. This was an unorthodox approach that resulted in near-complete rehabilitation. As news of Easley's rehabilitation spread, DeLorme's reputation and notoriety increased. Other members of the Army began to follow DeLorme's advice, which promoted heavy resistance training.

Fortunately for DeLorme - and unfortunately for his patients - the United States was in the midst of World War II when DeLorme's career in rehabilitation began. This meant an almost endless supply of soldiers looking for help rehabilitating and healing damaged ligaments, bones and stress fractures. These were the perfect subjects for DeLorme's theories. DeLorme soon joined the Army with Dr. Arthur Watkins, who held similar views, and these two men began to make history.

In 1945, DeLorme wrote a paper entitled "Restoration of muscle power by heavy-resistance exercises," which was published in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery. Using 300 case studies, he observed an excellent response in muscle hypertrophy and strength combined with an improvement in symptoms when patients followed his method of 7 to 10 sets of 10 repetitions. The exercisers started with a relatively light weight and increased it until they reached their maximum weight for 10 repetitions.

In 1948 and again in 1951, DeLorme and Watkins changed their views as experience had shown that this volume was too high and in most cases 20 to 30 total repetitions led to better results. Fewer repetitions allowed training with heavier weights, which led to stronger and faster muscle hypertrophy.

Training with progressive resistance: 3 x 10 Magnum Opus

DeLorme and Watkins therefore began to promote fewer repetitions and a focus on heavier weights instead. They did this using scientific studies. Studies that were more replicable than the advice of the muscular guy in the gym. Along with several other authors, the two wrote the scientific treatise Progressive Resistance Exercise, a medical textbook published in 1951 and one of the first large-scale exercise books of the era. This book was in many ways a starting point for exercise science.

Frustratingly, I owned a copy of this book, but unfortunately it was lost when I moved house. Such is life... But thanks to the excellent Dave Draper Forum(https://www.davedraper.com/fusionbb/showtopic.php?tid/21871/ ) we can find some excerpts of this book on the internet without buying a new copy.

On the speed of repetition:

"The development and release of tension should be smooth and without pause at the highest or lowest point of the movement. The weight should neither be moved ballistically upwards with momentum nor dropped downwards under the influence of gravity."

On the number of repetitions:

"The number of contractions per repetition is arbitrarily set at 10. If fewer repetitions were necessary, the weight could be increased. Whether 10 is the optimal number for rapid gains in strength has never been determined by any criteria other than empirical experience of exercisers. However, it is probably the number that is close to the optimum."

On the duration of rests between sets:

"The length of rest intervals between bouts is important only insofar as it affects the total work that can be performed during a treatment phase. Short rest intervals are likely to reduce the number of repetitions that can be performed with the prescribed number of repetitions of 10. All existing data tends to suggest that prolonged training is not the primary prerequisite for increasing strength. Strength development - the amount of work performed within a unit of time - is important. A short but intense effort is the goal that should always be kept in mind."

On warming up/increasing weight from set to set:

"The increased temperature within the muscle is believed to affect the viscous and elastic properties of the contractile tissue in a way that increases the work performed during the same energy production, based on an acceleration of the chemical processes involved.

By initially using light weights and increasing the weight after each set of 10 repetitions, the muscle is warmed up and prepared to release its maximum force for 10 repetitions...

Performing only 10 repetitions with the 10RM weight would result in roughly the same strength gains as performing 3 sets. If it were not necessary to physiologically prepare the muscle for a maximum effort, then one set of 10 repetitions would be sufficient.

This has been demonstrated time and time again in the clinical treatment of injuries in young athletes... As amazing as it may seem, many athletes have developed great strength by never performing more than 5 repetitions of a single exercise. The amount of weight moved appears to be the key factor in stimulating hypertrophy.

Some scientists believe that it is the amount of work performed in a unit of time that is responsible for strength. Although not conclusive, observations suggest that it is the tension that the muscle has to develop that is largely - if not exclusively - responsible for stimulating hypertrophy and increasing strength.

The warm-up should not interfere with performing 10 repetitions with the 10RM weight. In other words, if the patient is too fatigued to perform 10 repetitions with the 10RM weight after performing the first 10 repetitions with the first weight (50% of the 10RM weight) and 10 repetitions with the second weight (75% of the 10RM weight), only 5 repetitions should be performed on the first two sets so that the patient is fresher and more rested for the 10 repetitions with the 10RM weight.

Another option is to skip the middle set of 10 repetitions (75% of the 1RM weight) and go straight to 10 repetitions with the 10RM weight after the first set of 10 repetitions with 50% of the 10RM weight.

Patients are regularly unable to perform 10 repetitions with the 10RM weight if they have not previously performed a set with a lighter weight."

On the training effect on the muscle:

"An increase in strength is accompanied by a measurable increase in size, which is attributable to hypertrophy of pre-existing muscle fibers rather than hyperplasia. The amount of connective tissue also increases and the sarcolemma becomes thicker. There is an increase in the number of capillaries and the content of muscle hemoglobin, phosphocreatine and glycogen increases. The net effect of these changes is an increase in endurance, which is sometimes impressive."

On the optimal number of total repetitions:

"In the first publications dealing with progressive resistance training, 70 to 100 repetitions were advocated, with these repetitions performed as part of 7 to 10 sets of 10 repetitions. Further experience has shown that this number is too high and that in most cases 20 to 30 total repetitions provide far more satisfactory results. Fewer repetitions allow training with heavy weights and lead to stronger and faster muscle hypertrophy."

Perform three sets of 10 repetitions. On the first set, use 50% of your maximum weight for 10 reps. Use 75% of your maximum weight for 10 reps on the second set and use 100% of your 10RM weight on the last set.

An explanation for the popularity of this training protocol

For physical therapists, the appeal of this program is easy to explain. DeLorme and Watkins had provided replicable evidence that this program helps build muscle and make patients more flexible and stronger. This was scientific evidence at its best. In addition, this program was easy to explain to patients and short enough to ensure compliance.

Whether the modern physiotherapists my friend referred to actually follow these protocols to the letter is another matter. It seems that many simply recommend 3 sets of 10 reps, with no emphasis on progressively heavier weights. However, this is a completely different story for another day and is no doubt influenced by the fact that for some strange reason, not everyone has the ability or interest to go to a gym.

When it comes to bodybuilders, the appeal of this approach is a little harder to pin down. While DeLorme and Watkins were primarily targeting the medical community, their interest in training brought them into contact with the world of bodybuilding and strength training. In fact, in the 1940s, DeLorme was known to be in contact with the likes of John Farbotnik, the 1950 Mr. America.

There is also speculation that bodybuilder George Eiferman knew DeLorme, although this is harder to pin down. The truth may in fact be that DeLorme and Watkins had simply found the scientific rationale for a training protocol that had been used before in the field of bodybuilding. Certainly the old Bob Hoffman courses already propagated 10 to 15 repetitions.

What was probably new about the DeLorme and Watkins approach was the recommendations on the weights used (i.e. 50%, 75% and 100%). The longevity and popularity of their protocols could be attributed to the fact that they are effective. This is something that anyone who has tried them will tell you and for this reason, this approach is still being promoted by modern trainers.

Source: HTTPS://PHYSICALCULTURESTUDY.COM/2017/08/04/3-SETS-X-10-REPS-THE-HISTORY-LOGIC-AND-REASONING/#MORE-10233