K
EEPITSIMPLE,
STUPID.
What this all boils down to is translating the theory into practice. We have to take the science and create something useful from it. A novel concept, I realize, but that's the goal here.
I'll tell you up front that nothing here is going to be revolutionary, or even exceptionally different from a lot of the programs you've probably seen or tried before. The difference is that now we have guidelines to go by - there's some established rules that we can use to not only create workouts, but to evaluate the programs created by others. We know What Works.
That's the approach I prefer. At the end of the day program design is as much personal preference as it is hard science. Instead of getting hung up on the dogma of One Best Program or some gimmicky method, we can be much more dynamic.
As long as we're working inside the rules, we're OK.
The Program Isn't Fundamental
Ultimately that's why there is no magical program. At the end of the day, it's going to come down to application of these rules, which are derived directly from research into physiology.
Just because someone takes those rules, packages them up in a new and 'revolutionary' way, then slaps a clever name on it doesn't mean it's actually a new program or measurably better than anything else out there using the same rules.
It's not right to say that such a program won't 'work'. If it's designed properly, with the rules in mind, of course it'll 'work'. My beef isn't with that. My problem is when Gurus complain that their approach is better than any other.
Newsflash: everybody thinks his or her way is the best thing since the wheel. That doesn't mean it's true.
Unless you present controlled, peer-reviewed evidence, then no one can claim that his/her program is superior to any other. That's not a matter for debate.
Just because I package up a routine, give it a clever name, and then use it to get awesome results with clients does not mean that the program was superior to any other approach.
That's the takeaway here. It's not the program. It's the principles that you follow in the gym. The program is just a means to that end. It's not a discrete 'thing' that is drastically different from every other 'thing' out there.
People consider programs like going on a vacation around the world: you could go to Europe, go to Asia, go to Africa, or wherever else, and you could have entirely different experiences on any given trip.
The reality is more like different flavors of Kool-Aid: at the end of the day, you're just drinking sugar water.
There's nothing inherently special about any program.
Problem is, a lot of people don't seem to realize this - or they do understand it superficially, but don't realize some of the deeper implications. When you consider the program as being important, you lose some of the really important factors.
You can see all over the place where people get it in their heads that a program will somehow 'stop working'
And without that, your ability to actually make improvements goes right out the window.
WORKOUT HOPPING
It's that time again. Your favorite author has just released a new workout routine on your favorite site. There's a new program making waves in the fitness community. For only $70, you too can purchase this 30-page booklet that will give you the new secrets that everyone needs.
Have you ever noticed that all these workouts look the same? They all follow the same basic themes, just organized in different ways?
No, you haven't? Take a closer look, especially now that you've got a handle on the physiology. The details and the trivia aren't important if you look to the basics.
The fitness industry relies on you not seeing these commonalities. Once you understand that there's only so many ways to go about things, you stop giving them money.
This is a phenomenon I call workout hopping. This is where you stick to a program for maybe a month or two, then consider you 'finished' it and you need something new to keep going. Far too many people operate this way, convinced that they just must have a new routine to do. Sometimes it's marketing hype, sometimes people just get bored and want something different, but it happens. It happens a lot.
What did I tell you earlier? The fundamental element of any strength training program is progressive overload:
over time, you need to be adding weight to your working sets. If you're working out with 20 lbs now, and still doing the same thing with 20 lbs in a year, then you haven't gotten stronger, and I can pretty much guarantee that you're no bigger.
It's tempting to go after all these new programs that come out every month. Magazines have been guilty of this for decades, but the recent trend in Internet marketing is jumping on the bandwagon. At any given time, you can see all kinds of programs in vogue, with all kinds of people jumping on the bandwagon.
While it's good to see people motivated, and doing programs that aren't totally stupid, it's my belief that workout hopping is a big disservice in the long term. This is the fitness industry's equivalent of planned obsolescence. When cars last 50 years, people don't buy as many cars. If you've got a productive workout methodology, you don't buy as many products on exercise.
It's well and good to jump between programs every few months, I guess, but hell you'll see guys actually stop an otherwise productive setup and jump ship for something else.
What do you think people gain from that?
What worries me even more than that is how people don't have any concern for continuity.
'Hey, I just finished up MAGIC MASS, I need a new routine now.' Do you? Why? Did MAGIC MASS stop working?
When you jump from program to program, how are you ensuring progressive overload? Are you writing down goals and making sure to keep consistent over time?
No? You didn't even think of that? You just do what the program says?
'Just doing what the program says' is why something like 99% of people that start exercising will never see results.
Think about this before you 'finish up' that new program and start searching for the latest thing.
Workout hopping doesn't control for consistency or logical variation in your program. See, people get it in their heads that they need to 'change it up' to 'shock the body'. This old quasi-myth is justification for workout hopping, and in some circles it's used to support completely stupid or dangerous training methods. The need for variety is not carte blanche to do any or every stupid fad you read about. The need for a degree of variety is not justification for constant workout hopping.
Read that again if you need to.
People focus on variety but forget about is the need for consistency. If you're not staying at least a little consistent, how do you know that you're improving? What's your benchmark for improvement? If you're constantly shifting exercises and program ideologies, or buying every new guru's book to jump on the bandwagon, I'll bet my ass that you don't have one.
Look - the program comes out of the basic guidelines. It's about progressive overload and avoiding plateaus.
Odds are MAGIC MASS didn't actually stop working. You either hit a peak, or you got bored. There's really no reason that a casual lifter couldn't back off the weights, re-start the training cycle, and make gains all over again.
Now, there is something to be said for the 'avoiding plateaus' part of that, too. Some variety in exercises and rep ranges and whatnot can do you good. I'm not trying to downplay the importance of liking your workout, either – when you like what you're doing, you're more likely to stick to it and put in the required work. What I'm telling you is to keep some sense of continuity when you change your workouts, and that you don't need to change your workouts every 4-6 weeks.
One of two things will come out of this scenario: This guy will switch to something that is at best a re-imagined copy of MAGIC MASS (without realizing it) and maybe keep some progress; or he'll jump ship entirely to something totally different, and basically start himself over. If he's lucky, he'll be the former. When this guy starts program hopping, there's no continuity. There's no thought being put into long-term progress, or any kind of goal-making beyond the scope of what program is being done.
Compare that to the longer-term plans that smart coaches put into place. There's benchmarks set, testing done, and changes made over time with that on-going improvement in mind. The actual content of the program doesn't matter, per se, as long as there's some kind of plan for progression. That's where workout hopping takes you off-course. It distracts you by luring you to one gimmick after another. There comes a point where you have to narrow down what works for your goals and learn how to adjust accordingly.
Again, hey, if you're just after some basic fitness, knock yourself out. But I do find it funny how the guys and girls that do this and claim they just 'want to have fun' by doing different workouts are inevitably the same ones wondering why they're not getting any major results, either.
There's a line that sums this up nicely: going to the gym and doing a bad program will always give you better results than constantly searching for the perfect program. It's not just good advice. A fancy program isn't a substitute for hard work and consistency.
What Are The Key Guidelines, Anyway?
It'd help if I actually told you what is important, wouldn't it? I can't just be one of those fellas going around making promises and not following through.
I've been making an attempt to bridge the gap between the labcoat science crap and what we actually do in the gym. The physiology, complex as it may be, is easy by comparison. It's just a matter of looking at facts and figuring out patterns.
The strength training, that's trickier part. Research only tells us so much; it's up to us as trainers, coaches, and self-experimenting weirdos to figure out What Works within those boundaries. It gets even fuzzier because the guidelines are so damn broad. After all that information I gave you, we still can't say with certainty much besides 'use heavy weights and try to get stronger'.
There's a lot of good bodybuilding programs out there. There's also a lot of bad ones. Whole lot of bad ones.
While it's easy to point at something and call it 'bad' or 'good', it's all but impossible to say that protocol A will be more effective than protocol B, assuming A and B both fit under the umbrella. Compounding matters, even the people on the bad ones will be convinced that their pet program is the bomb-ass shizzle.
So what's the litmus test? I mean, it's hard to look at some jacked, shredded dude and tell yourself his program sucks, right? If you are the big, jacked dude, you either think I'm full of it, or just don't care because you're big and jacked. Either way, I'm not really talking to you at this point – I'm talking to Joe and Jane Average, the folks that need to do more than look at weights to see improvements. Where do we start drawing the line between something that gets obvious results, and what will be the best bet for you?
We've looked at the insides, the stuff under the microscope that results in a bigger muscle. We've looked at the research into strength training. From both of these, we drew some conclusions. Having done that, we can lay out some specific guidelines. A good bodybuilding program for gaining muscle mass would have a handful of features:
1) Get Stronger. Put emphasis on building strength and otherwise increasing poundages. This is the core of a bodybuilding routine, point blank. If you're not getting stronger over time, then you're not growing past a certain point.
Note that this does not mean you have to train exactly like a powerlifter. You can borrow from powerlifting, though. It also doesn't mean that you have to blindly add weight to your lifts every time you step in the gym.
What it means is that you need to have some kind of plan in mind for progression. If you're still lifting the same thing in a year, I'll give you odds that you're not any bigger, either. Unless you went on the juice.
2) Do Enough Work. Get an adequate total dose of exercise. If you're not getting a proper dose of anything, you can't expect to see the results you want.
The weight is important, and so is getting stronger. But you've got to have enough exposure to that weight for it to matter. This means that both in each workout, and between workouts, you need to be racking up enough
of a stress to create overload and trigger gains. Whether this means doing a lot in each session and doing fewer sessions, or doing less in each session but more sessions, well, much like everything else, that's something for you to play with.
3) Train for Specific Goals. Use of muscle-specific training methods along with your heavier training. It's well and good to get stronger, but at the same time that strength has to be developed and applied in specific ways.
This is where the old-school bodybuilding stuff can come into play. Once you've got your foundation routine in place and have a plan for getting stronger, then you add in your “high-intensity” techniques and your pump 'n tone fluff. This covers everything from isolation exercises, so you can get your curls and other vanity exercises in there, to, well, pretty much everything bodybuilders have ever done with the goal of fatiguing, pumping, or otherwise working the hell out of a muscle.
Note that this stuff is only conditionally important – if you're not taking care of points one and two, then this stuff is worthless.
4) Control Stress and Recover Properly. Over the long-term you need to have some way of alternating between high and low stress training. Recovery is the number one issue you will face when you start to train for any kind of activity. In fact, recovery is the key determinant of everything we do – if it weren't important, you could just chain yourself to the gym and get as big and strong as you wanted.
Variation becomes more important as you become more advanced, in order to avoid staleness. It's easy for the nervous system to adapt and thus slow down your progress. Adaptation actually decreases the amount of motor units that are recruited when you do an exercise – paradoxically, you actually stimulate less muscle the better you get at any movement. Further, it's easy to literally burn yourself out from trying to get stronger, requiring you to take some sort of a break.
This also encompasses any general or corrective work – joint mobility, flexibility, and conditioning – that's required to keep you healthy and fit.
Possibly even more important is the need to keep fresh mentally, and somewhat regular changes to the routine can help with this too. So we have to vary our stress and our overall stimulus from time to time, in order to avoid burn out and staleness.
...and that's it. Any routine that fits these conditions will be effective as a bodybuilding routine as far as I'm concerned.
Notice there's no harping on exercises, rep ranges, tempo, time under tension, none of that. There's no worry about going to failure or not. Nothing about getting a pump. Nothing about whether you should use high volume or low volume. No magic exercises. No gimmicks, and no hair-splitting.
And that's the entire point.
This is not to say that these micro-level things aren't important. They are, in a way. Just that they aren't fundamentals, and if you don't have them in place, the detail work doesn't really matter. Even then, the detail work will boil down more to individual preference and keeping out of a rut. If you try to put the windows on a house before you've even poured the foundation, you just end up with a pile of crap on the ground.
We've gone over several ways of creating overload in a given workout. You'll be focusing on creating more tension, which means progressively heavier weights, or somewhat lighter weights moved with oomph. Or you'll
be focusing on doing more muscular work with a heavy-enough weight, which we know is a combination of volume and TUT. This may seem simple, but it covers a large amount of training methods – in fact, just about everything ever done by a bodybuilder or strength enthusiast can be classified this way.
Which is what I'm after. I told you way back in the introduction that I'm after a general model, not a specific program. This is our model.
We can nitpick over specific iterations all day long, but once you've whittled it down to the core principles, it all blends together. If you want to show me peer-reviewed evidence that your pet method is superior to anything else, I'll be happy to revise this section. Until then, this is the best we can do and it's not likely to get any better any time soon.
If you sit down and think about it, all successful bodybuilding programs will fit these sets of conditions. They may differ in the weekly split, the rep ranges, or the choice of exercises. They may have some gimmicky method or whatever that's used to set them apart in their own gimmicky way. They may have some egotistical creator that thinks his pet program is the best thing ever, and you can't possibly succeed on any other method.
But not even the biggest of Bros can take the complete body of evidence and really challenge those conclusions, no matter how much he flexes.
My entire goal is to distill the process into a handful of key axioms. People get too hung up on crap that just
My entire goal is to distill the process into a handful of key axioms. People get too hung up on crap that just