An Old Dog Learns a New Trick?
After training since the tender age of 15, the last 36 years of my life have been a continuous dedication to the field of health and fitness. From my novice training years starting in high school and being the only guy to “lift weights” (via Nautilus machines and the Nautilus Principles) and playing basketball (an unheard of combination back then) to now, I think I’ve picked up a thing or two about training. I’m far from being an expert and believe once you think you are an expert you’ve already proven yourself the fool because no one truly knows everything and can certainly learn – or should at least strive to continue to learn anyway.
I’m a firm believer in working hard – in and out of the exercise arena. Nothing builds more character and allows for a person to discover what they are really made of than when they train. Training is a personal thing, so personal I find it quite amusing when people tell me how I should be doing it. It’s an opportunity for self-discovery, a chance to be mono-y-mono with one’s self – the struggle of wanting to quit versus the desire to push on, can I do more versus I will do more.
Over the last few month’s I have been focusing a bit differently on my fitness and not concerning myself with what most would consider ”"rules of engagement”. I don’t like rules, especially when there’s no real reason for them so I have no problem doing my own thing, but I do have some time-honored and time-proven approaches that I feel are advantageous to my health and fitness. Now, here comes the sticky wicked and that’s that these approaches are not always beneficial nor desirable because sometimes, priorities need to be shifted.
As I’ve gotten a wee bit older and have been more active this summer, I am finding that my normal approach to strength training is still beneficial to my health, fitness and overall performance, but a tweak here and there might be a good consideration. I have recognized the following over the last couple of month’s based on an ache here and a pain there and what it takes to get rid of them and better still, prevent them. Interestingly enough, once one thing is altered it seems there is a domino effect and one needs to be aware and act accordingly.
So, here’s what I’ve concluded recently:
- I need and prefer more frequency of exercise – daily if possible
- I need to include more joint movements
- I need to train with greater plains of motion
- I need more volume of sets and exercises
- I need to stay with higher reps
- I need to replicate patterns with multiple sets
- I need not train the same exercise too many sessions in a row
- I need to work in a cumulative fashion for overall health and fitness benefits
- I need to reduce my intensity of effort to achieve the above list
I will at a later date get into more detail about each bullet point and if anyone has any questions regarding my points, please feel free to comment on this post.
Posted on August 6, 2012, in Mind-Body, Strength, Thought Provoking. Bookmark the permalink. 7 Comments.
Fred,
I really appreciate the information you share.
Thanks
Thanks, Monte. I hope some of it is helpful in some way.
Hi Fred,
I think this is a great post.
If you train with greater frequency, will you be training split routines or full body?
I train 2x per week full body with strength exercises and I perform mobility and pre-hab work like glute bridges and band pull aparts on off days.
When I perform full body routines I often feel pretty exhausted afterwards. I perform multiple sets for some exercises since experience has indicated multiple sets are better for my hypertrophy.
If you perform multiple sets, how many reps will you typically perform? In previous posts you did 50+ reps when performing single sets.
Thanks,
Marc
If you train with greater frequency, will you be training split routines or full body?
Full-body. When I rarely do a split, I don’t feel as taxed (which is good) but I also don’t feel as “complete”. However, I will – when necessary – not train my legs or just might do a little work based on my other activities knowing that my lower body (and entire system) would do better not over taxing them. During the colder month’s I tend to do 3x a full-body because I loathe stationary cardiovascular work and get the conditioning benefit via my strength sessions. In the summer I’m more active and therefore don’t find it necessary to go full-throttle on the strength work for cardio benefits nor for strength benefits.
When I perform full body routines I often feel pretty exhausted afterwards. I perform multiple sets for some exercises since experience has indicated multiple sets are better for my hypertrophy.
I experience the same issues and would tend to agree about the hypertrophy (to some degree, anyway). That’s where the experimentation comes into play – finding what works for you to achieve your goals. In a couple of month’s more than likely I will have a different approach because I won’t be able to continue doing what I’m doing now when the weather changes to cold. I don’t know what you are doing in or outside the gym so it’s kind of hard for me to make any recommendations.
If you perform multiple sets, how many reps will you typically perform? In previous posts you did 50+ reps when performing single sets.
Right now, to help me lower my intensity down to “reasonable”, I am working on not counting reps. Reason being if I know I did 28 reps last time with a specific weight I will try to get 28+ the next workout so if I don’t count and go by feel I’m more likely to stop when I need to and I’m hoping this allows me to dial it back for a bit. But, to answer the first half of your question, I typically will be in the 20+ range for upper body and 25-50 for lower body. When I was doing 50′s I never really did them for one single set. I would get 20-25 and be forced to rest and over several sets get a total of 50. This is a great way to do volume, keep compressive forces low and increase the HR.
A recommendation to consider: Training frequency, by definition, will be different for many people since there a lot of people who train at different day intervals. Intensity is also ambiguous so keep it in perspective for yourself and what you need. To my recommendation: if you want to do more frequency and volume, you can still train full-body but don’t go nuts doing every single movement. Do get really deep into what I want to explain we would need a lengthy phone conversation but in short, if you believe that when you perform say a chin-up that you are not only using the back and biceps but also involving the pecs, delts, triceps, abs and traps then you will also recognize that you don’t have to do much for those body parts – at least not every workout. Move the seat up on the leg press and tell me your hammies and glutes don’t get hammered as much as your quads. Do a standing shoulder press and the entire shoulder girdle, midsection and hips get hit as well. Point is, if you want to train with volume and frequency, emphasize an area for for the day and throw in 1-3 other movements, next time, do something different. You can also think cumulatively – if the leg press works the quads, hamstrings and hips then you can do “volume” by doing leg extension, hip adduction, hip abduction and leg curls all without going to failure THEN do a hard set of leg presses at the end. Tons of ways to mix-n-match it, Marc.
Hope this helps a bit but like I said, way more to it than I can write here.
Fred
Thank you so much for taking the time to provide such a thoughtful reply.
As I get older I am doing a better job of not beating myself into the ground with every set. The variables of volume, frequency, intensity are all integrated and if I modify one, the others are impacted.
I personally feel better with more frequency and I get aches if I don’t train often enough. Therefore, I must modify my intensity to fit into increased frequency.
Thanks again,
Marc
Marc,
It sounds like you have a good handle on things and I understand that you (like everyone) questions “what’s best”. Kim Wood always says that training is more an art than a science – and I would have to completely agree. I asked a buddy today who was contemplating something about his training and I asked “if you don’t know anything about training, what would you do?” I think as we become more experienced we need to not over think and trust what we know.
Hiya Fred,
I enjoyed this blog and actually understood most of it! I believe you meant to say “planes” of motion, though.