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Competition Shape…Minus the Competition (Lisa’s Journey) – Entry 4

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[Lisa] The sun has set on July and I, therefore, have completed one full month of my journey through hell, I mean to health, towards competition shape.  Although I am convinced my scale snickers as I walk by, I decided to step on board, with my eyes open for a change, and see if I could smack the smugness out of my digital friend.  Hmmm, down 5.2 lbs.  Not the 50 I had hoped for but progress nonetheless.  Further, I did wear apair of jeans that prompted the following text message to Mike:

“For the blog!!!!! Just zipped a pair of jeans that I bought months ago with the intention of fitting into them.  Understand I could not pull them up when purchased.  I still hate u but I kinda love you too.”

One must remember to make sure Mike knows he is still causing pain during and after workouts, hence the hate.  If you let on that your workouts are not challenging you will suffer the wrath.  Besides, you would not get away with faking it anyway.

Looking back on July, I have incorporated some positive changes into my eating and exercise program.  While I did eat out about 5 or 6 times, I had grilled chicken or Tuna and stayed away from the bread.  I continue to workout at PURE PHYSIQUE 2-3 times per week.  I have, for the most part, kept my fat and carbohydrate intake to “prescribed by Mike” levels.

My concern is that a little over 5 lbs. just does not seem like very much.  How do I lose at least that much this month?  What do you plan on doing about this Mike?

[Mike]  It’s true, if I feel (or any trainer at PURE PHYSIQUE feels) that your workouts are not challenging then you will feel the wrath.  But contrary to popular belief it is not because we’re sadists.  We simply recognize that the level of effort most people put into their workout is not enough to improve their fitness no matter how long they exercise for or how many days a week they exercise.  Effort is the single most important factor for productive exercise and if you are not being challenged you are not changing.

A loss of 5 lbs. in a month might not seem like much but it is, especially if it is 5 lbs. of body-fat.  Considering that a pound of fat is slightly larger than a can of soup dropping five of them is no small accomplishment and is the reason why in just one month Lisa could fit into pants she could not fit into previously.

When the objective is fat-loss it is best to aim for a loss of 1-2 lbs. per week.  Attempting to lose more than this—unless you are morbidly obese—can result in the loss of muscle tissue which will negatively impact your strength, muscle tone, functional ability, and your metabolism to small degree.  This is the reason why people who lose weight very quickly tend to regain it twice as fast.

If Lisa is able to lose another 5-8 lbs. in the next month and the month after that and continue at this pace then she will undoubtedly reach her goal.  It will not be easy and will require that she continue to make good choices when eating out as well as tightening the screws on her diet by eliminating another 50-100 calories per day.  We will also look to address her activity level by adding 10-20 minutes of high-intensity aerobic exercise on 1-2 non-training days.

Competition Shape…Minus the Competition (Lisa’s Journey) – Entry 3

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[Lisa]  I will be having five ounces of steak tonight as part of my dinner.  It has 12.7 grams of fat.  This is more than half of what Mike has allotted me daily for fat intake.   Nevertheless, I want it and am going to have it.  I have planned for it and logged it in my food diary.  Why is it I have to keep a food diary in order for me to lose weight?  I watch naturally thin people go about their lives without writing down what they eat or what they plan on eating.  Yet, they remain at an ideal body weight.  Whether I am seriously focusing on losing weight or not I am very much aware of the caloric make-up of foods that I eat.  Further, I also know and/or look up how many calories are burned for any exercise I do.  For example, a half gallon of plain vanilla ice cream (one serving in my world, I mean my OLD world) is 1200 calories.  This translates to jogging for 2 hours at about 5 mph.  Not gonna happen!  I guarantee you my naturally thin husband has no idea how many calories he eats and burns in a day, week, month EVER!  This is not fair and I demand to know why this is.  Mike?

[Mike]  Why keep a food diary?  Why have limits on your food/caloric intake? Why worry about what others can eat and you can’t?

Here’s the deal, by definition a calorie is a measure of energy expenditure.  You require food for one reason and one reason only and that is to supply your body with the energy (calories) it needs to sustain proper function and support your daily activity. Whether you like it or not or, think it’s unfair, there are limits to how many calories you can consume regardless of how “healthy” you eat.  Because your body only needs so many calories to do its job as soon as those needs are met any additional calories, whether from ice cream or Cream of Wheat, get stored as fat.

The only time fat gets used for energy is when your body is in a caloric deficit.  Meaning you are not taking enough calories to support your energy requirements so now your body goes scrounging for them.

The reason why keeping a food journal and tracking your calories–as well as your carbs, proteins, and fats–is necessary is so you know precisely how much you can eat instead of taking a guess or being erratic. It’s a scorecard.  Just like in golf the way you win the fat-loss gam is by shooting under par.

If your baseline requirement is 1200 calories a day, then you need to take in less than that in order to start using the calories stored as fat to fill the gap.  If you haven’t read it yet check out my blog on how to figure out your caloric needs for fat-loss at: http://yorktown-somers.patch.com/blog_posts/fat-loss-its-a-numbers-game

Now regarding your husband and other naturally thin people who don’t have to track their food intake, who can eat whatever they want, who have metabolisms like race cars…GET OVER IT.  Sometimes life just isn’t fair, boo-hoo.  Why don’t we just throw a pity party because others seem to have it easier in one small area of life than the rest of us.

The fact is some people inherently have fast metabolisms—it’s genetic.  You can blame your parents (and they are the ones to blame) or you can make the necessary adjustments to your diet and do proper weight training to increase your metabolic rate.  Just stop whining about it, whining does not have a positive effect on your metabolism.

Competition Shape…Minus the Competition (Lisa’s Journey) – Entry 2

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[Lisa] The numbers, they don’t lie or do they?  Maybe you are like me; you begin a fitness/diet program and expect because you weigh xxx (fill in your own number) the weight should come flying off in the beginning.  You prepare for your first weigh-in; it should go without saying that you only get on the scale, naked, first-thing-in the morning, having shaved, removed all jewelry and having trimmed your nails.  You certainly don’t want any of those things weighing you down.  You gingerly step on the scale, if you see a number you are happy with, “Woo-Hoo,” if not – throw scale out the window, buy a new one and repeat weigh-in steps in seven days.   Losing weight has never been easy for me.  No matter what I do, it comes off painfully slow.  The scale, for many of us, is the measure of success.  Are there other things that even matter?

[Mike]  There are certainly many ways aside from the scale to measure your success.  I’ll get to that in moment but before I do I want to share the following text message I received from Lisa the other night just before going to bed (yes, I do field messages from clients at all times of the day because like a doctor, I’m always on call).

If I weren’t doing this f***ing blog I so would have had ice cream right now.

That’s what I call leverage!  Having something hanging over your head—a consequence—that forces you to stay on track.  I cannot stress the importance of having leverage which is why I dedicated a huge section to it in my book.

Back to the scale…or backing off if you can’t handle the truth.  What we’re talking about here is measuring progress. You need an objective means of determining whether or not the the actions you are taking are moving you towards your goals. There are numerous ways to measure progress.  You can go by how your clothes fit, a tape measure, pictures, the mirror, skin fold calipers or a body composition (bioimpedence) testing machine.  You don’t necessarily need to use the scale but it is a quick and easy way to track your progress.

What you need to know about stepping on the scale is that your weight can fluctuate day to day even if your caloric intake is the same due to changes in your total body water.  These changes in water weight are influenced by your sodium, carb and water intake.  With that in mind, take your daily weight changes with a grain of salt and use your average weekly weight to track to your progress.

Competition Shape…Minus the Copmetion (Lisa’s Journey entry 1)

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[Lisa] I did something this past January that caused a lot of people to call me the “F” word, I turned fifty.  As you know, they say it is harder to lose weight after you turn fifty.  While that may or may not be the case I decided to add it to the litany of reasons why I can’t shed the pounds.  I have been working out with Mike at Pure Physique for a few years.  I have lost some weight and I am down a size.  In addition, I am lifting, pulling and pushing much higher weights then when I started.  (Mike can fill you in on my “impressive” numbers, ha!)  But, I constantly bemoan my inability to make that darn scale register lower numbers.  Mike insists it is my diet.  My four basic food groups are: ice cream, pasta, bread and Starbucks.  I don’t see a problem.  Apparently Mr. Lipowski does.

I am, for the most part, a driven person.  However, I just can’t seem to find the motivation to make serious changes to my diet.   I am hoping “going public” will help.  Maybe it will help some of you as well.  I told Mike a few months ago, “I don’t want to compete in a body building contest.  I just want to look like I could”.  Is that even possible?

[Mike]  Lisa’s situation is not at all uncommon.  In fact I would go so far as to say that it’s pretty much falls in line with what I’ve seen from 75-80% of those I’ve trained over the past 13 years.  The story goes something like this (from the clients perspective):

I realize I’m out of shape and since I really don’t know what to do I’ll hire a trainer.  The trainer tells me how he can help, explaining that it will take a combination of proper    exercise and a healthy diet. Since I know I need someone to push me and help me be    accountable, I’m in.

I start my training and within one to months I’m feeling better and I’ve even lost a little bit of weight and my clothes are fitting better, and I really haven’t even changed my diet that much.  A few more months go by and DAMN am I getting strong.  I’m lifting weights in the gym that I never imagined being able to lift!  Unfortunately the weight on my scale doesn’t seem to be moving anymore.  I know I should be eating better but I love my (insert ice cream, pizza, burgers, alcohol, sweets, breads, etc).  Besides I have to have a life. …At least I have my trainer to complain to about this and he’ll come up with a workout to do the trick.

Lisa touched on good point before when she said she: “can’t seem to find the motivation to make serious changes…” The problem however is not just motivation it’s leverage.  You not only need a reason to be excited about getting in shape but you need a reason to be fearful if you don’t.  Taking her goal “public” is certainly a move in the right direction since there is now a consequence to not staying on track—everyone will know and I won’t hesitate to put it out there.  I also won’t hesitate to publicly congratulate her should she meet her objective of looking like she could compete.

No trainer or fitness instructor is capable of creating a workout to make up for a person’s overindulgence nor can we follow you around and make sure you’re adhering to the plan we set forth. If we could, believe me we would.  There’s certainly a wee bit of personal accountability necessary to get one’s self into “competition shape” and the real work takes place outside of the gym.

BMR

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You use energy no matter what you’re doing, even when sleeping. The BMR Calculator will calculate your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR); the number of calories you’d burn if you stayed in bed all day.

If you’ve noticed that every year, it becomes harder to eat whatever you want and stay slim, you’ve also learned that your BMR decreases as you age. Likewise, depriving yourself of food in hopes of losing weight also decreases your BMR, a foil to your intentions. However, a regular weight training routine can increase your BMR, improving your health and fitness when your body’s ability to burn energy gradually slows down.

Find out what your BMR is here >>> http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/

Killin’ It through Competition

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I love competition, I always have. But not for the reason people might think.  Everyone assumes that if you love competition it’s because you always win.  Not true.  I have accumulated more 2nd – 5th place trophies than I care to remember, found myself on the “2nd team” more times than I’d like to admit and I probably fall flat on my face more than 70% of the time I try something new.

The fear of failure is the primary reason why people do not like competition. They’re afraid they will be branded a “loser” if they don’t come in first or even worse, if they don’t place at all.  But the real failure is not recognizing that competition is merely a means of pushing yourself beyond your perceived limits by having a goal to move towards.

People who compete—be it with themselves or against others—achieve greater results than those who do not compete…fact.

Think about this for a moment. If you were in the hospital about to undergo surgery do you want a surgeon who competed to be recognized amongst the best in his/her class, who had a desire to be the best or one who wanted to learn at their own pace?  Just like in any profession, sporting event, or life in general there is a top and bottom and to be at or near the top you need to be “in the game” so to speak.  You won’t always win, you won’t always be the best but you will definitely be far better for trying and achieve your personal best in the process.

As I mentioned above I have a lot of 2nd—5th place bodybuilding trophies.  But I can say with absolute certainty that from my very first competition twelve years ago until today, not a single year has passed that I have not improved my appearance from the year before regardless of my placing.  I know I don’t have the genetics to be the very best but, to be better than I was previously and to compete and hold my own amongst the best is everything I could ever ask for, and that’s why I do it.  Does this make me a loser?

We all need to get over our fear of competition and realize that competition is healthy.  Look no further than the PURE PHYSIQUE 12 Week Fitness Challenge report on page 3.  We could only have one winner, Mike Flannery, but everyone who got in the game saw results and many achieved personal bests.  Even though Mike earned the title of Champion for this year we still had several winners.

You may have noticed that we recently put up a Leader Board in the studio.  We did this for two reasons.  First, we want to publicly recognize those who are putting forth their best effort and achieving their personal best.  Second, we want to encourage a friendly competitive atmosphere so no one gets complacent.  We expect to see EVERYONE’s name up on that board at some point because they’ve either lost a certain amount of body-fat or gained muscle over the course of a week or month, lifted more weight or lifted longer for a particular exercise, or achieved some personal best.

However, we’re not going to be like Little League and give every kid a trophy just for being on the team.  While we do expect to see everyone on The Leader Board at some point we expect you to compete and earn your way onto it.  We want to see you get greater results and killin’ it through competition.

 

Become Lean Without Aerobics

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One of the longest and hardest fought arguments in fitness is between those who believe that aerobic exercise is necessary for fat-loss and those who believe it is not.

The primary reason why this argument rages on is because both sides bring some heavy ammo in substantiating and defending their belief. When it’s time to go to battle, these two sides trade blows like a couple of heavyweights fighting for the championship. Just when you think one has the upper hand the other one comes back with an unexpected uppercut to send em’ stumbling backwards.

I have tested both theories at various times throughout my bodybuilding career as well as tested them with clients. There is so much research and empirical evidence for both arguments that one simply has to learn for him or herself. While I tend to lean more towards the “no-aerobics” camp there are specific circumstances under which I believe aerobics are appropriate and would encourage them.

Let me give you an example.

In my first year as a competitive bodybuilder I was utilizing a method of weight training called Super Slow™. This particular method of training adamantly opposed the performance of aerobic exercise not just for fat-loss but as a form of exercise altogether.

Through diet and resistance training alone I was able to achieve the “bodybuilder” look I had been after since I first started weight training nine years earlier (I was 13 when I first began weight training). The following year I continued to steer clear of aerobics and simply worked on improving my diet…I looked even better. For the next go-around I decided I would diet exactly the same but add some moderate to high intensity aerobics. Once again, I improved.

For the next few years I would continue the implementation of aerobic exercise during my contest prep, despite my aversion to it. I’m the type who will do things I despise if I know that in the end I’ll get what I want. All I wanted was to get leaner and more muscular each and every year so if that meant getting on that treadmill or elliptical I was all in.

However in 2010 I was put in a position where because of my heavy workload and other obligations I had to be very stingy with my time. This time around I would need to make some adjustments and the first thing I did was revisit my diet to see how I could improve it based on my current knowledge. Next, I decided to hold off as long as I possibly could with performing aerobic exercise. I figured I would use it only as a last resort when I needed to get that last bit of body-fat off and for now put my time and energy towards other important things outside of bodybuilding.

After the first month I was consistently losing body-fat week to week through better nutrition alone. Upon finishing month two, I was within 5 lbs. of where I projected myself to be on contest day (2 months away). Having eight weeks to lose the last 5 lbs (the hardest to lose) I decided to continue on without aerobic exercise and would only add it as a last resort if I hit a plateau.

With four weeks until the contest I was ahead of where I projected myself to be at this point. What a great feeling it was being “stage ready” with just a few short weeks remaining and not having performed a single minute of aerobic exercise! By the time I hit the stage I was 3 lbs below my projected weight and was easily the leanest and most muscular I had ever been.

Just as proof that this was not a fluke or a gender issue (yes, men do lose weight more easily). My girlfriend took the same approach with her diet and lost 29 lbs. in those four months without performing aerobic exercise and competed in her first Figure competition.

So as you see I’ve taken both paths to achieving personal bests. And whether yo need aerobic exercise or not is a function of many different factors. Just so that you don’t walk away with only my personal experience on the issue let me leave you with why I believe at times aerobic exercise was needed versus not needed. Please keep in mind that these are MY reasons and may not be applicable to everyone.

NEEDED WHEN:
•Diet was inadequate and proper adjustments were not made as my body/metabolism changed.
•Too few weekly weight training sessions (2-3/week), not enough to keep metabolism elevated.
•Work schedule was lighter and I was not expending as much energy throughout the day.
•Did not give myself enough time to diet.

NOT NEEDED WHEN:
•Diet was meeting personal requirements and proper adjustments were made as body/metabolism change.
•Performing 3-4 weekly high intensity weight training sessions.
•Heavy workload with long hours.
•Lower stress levels as a result being in a “better place” personally.
•My significant other was also training and dieting for competition so I had a great support system at home.

A ‘Fast and Furious’ Workout – Part 2

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In Part I we discussed the importance of training intensity which we defined as the
possible percentage of momentary muscular strength and volitional effort exerted during any given point of an exercise.

We also established that the only way to be sure that a muscle receives adequate stimulation from an exercise so that it may develop and grow stronger is by performing that exercise with maximum intensity, i.e., 100 percent of your effort. This means working the muscles to momentary muscular failure, the point at which despite your greatest physical and mental effort you cannot move the weight for another repetition.

Now you might say, “Wait! I never see anyone else at the gym doing this.” And my answer to you would be you’re right; which is why all those people still look the same despite working out for an hour and a half, four to six times a week.

Meanwhile I’ve personally conducted, observed and implemented the workout (and other variations of it) I am about to outline here—which will take approximately thirty-minutes to complete and performed three times a week at most—resulting in 30-60 percent increases in strength, 4-10 lbs. of fat-loss and 2-5 lbs. increases in lean muscle in just 4-6 weeks. Compared to the majority of gym goers and exercise enthusiasts it’s half the amount of exercise and time spent in the gym with double the results. It’s also a fraction of the wear and tear on the body.

At this point you are probably wondering how it’s possible to work out for such a short amount of time and so few days a week and achieve such significant results. Unfortunately when I give you the answer you’re still going to be wondering because it seems implausible.

The “secret” is: when you exercise with maximum intensity by taking your set to momentary muscular failure you have provided your muscles with a more than sufficient stimulus to develop and grow stronger making it unnecessary to perform another set of that particular exercise.

I suggest you read it again to let it really sink in.

What I’m suggesting which to most would seem far-fetched and somehow against accepted practice, is that you perform only one set for each exercise. Sure you can do a 1-2 warm-up sets at the start of your workout to get mentally and physically prepared but it is fruitless and a complete waste of time and effort to perform warm-up sets and sets with sub-maximal effort for each and every exercise like most people do.

The proof is in the research which has demonstrated time and time again that there is no significant difference in muscle development or strength when performing one set of an exercise compared to three or more. So why perform the extra sets? The only reason why most people do is because that’s what everyone else does…it’s the “pack mentality.” Sadly this is also the reason why so many trainees with 10 or more years of exercise experience under their belt have so many injuries and find it difficult to recover from workout to workout. They are overusing their joints and tendons and overstimulating their muscular, nervous, endocrine and immune systems.

I could go into much more detail but at this point you are probably saying to yourself, “Just get to the workout Mike so I can start getting buffed!” If you want more details so you can truly understand the best exercise practices for you as an individual I suggest reading my PURE PHYSIQUE: How to MAXIMIZE Fat-loss and Muscular Development or Prescribed Exercise, which can be found at www.ExerciseCertification.com

The F.A.F. Workout: Provided is an A and B workout which you will alternate from one training day to the next. If you perform 3 workouts a week, one of the workouts will be performed twice and the next week it will switch and the other will be performed twice.

Key Points: It is not enough to simply suggest you perform your exercises slowly as is typical of these types of articles (a major pet peeve of mine). We need to get specific. So next for each exercise I’ve provided you with the approximate cadence you should be using for that exercise. For example if you see 5/5, that means you take 5 seconds to lift the weight and 5 seconds to lower it. A cadence of 3/1/4 would indicate that you take 3 seconds to lift the weight, pause for one second and lower it in 4 seconds.

Following cadence is the approximate rep range you should be working within. The objective is to REACH FAILURE within this rep range. Your goal is NOT to complete all the reps because if you can then you were not working with maximum
intensity and/or did not use enough weight. (Note: Don’t be afraid to train heavy ladies it will not result in you getting “too big” or “bulky” without steroids or other bodybuilding drugs.)

After you have reached failure it’s on to the next exercise. If for some reason you cannot reach failure on your first try stay right where you are, rest for only 10-15 seconds and then attempt the exercise again for as many repetitions as you can in good form until you do reach failure.

Note: When this workout is performed correctly and with little rest between exercises your total workout time should be 25-35 minutes.

Workout A

Exercise / Cadence / Reps (women) / Reps (men)

1. Leg Press / (4/4) / 10-12 / 7-10

2. Hip Abductor / (3/1/4) / 10-12 / 7-10

3. Hip Extensions / (4/1/5) / 10-12 / 6-8

4. Leg Extensions / (3/1/4) / 10-12 / 7-10

5. Sissy Squats / (3/3) / 12-15 / 9-12

6. Lat Pulldowns / (4/1/5) / 8-10 / 6-8

7. Straight Arm Pulldowns / (4/1/5) / 8-10 / 6-8

8. Pec Deck / (3/1/4) / 10-12 / 7-10

9. Shoulder Press / (3/3) / 12-15 / 9-12

10. Triceps Extension / (3/3) / 12-15 / 9-12

11. Dumbbell Curl / (3/3) / 12-15 / 9-12

12. Abdominals / (2/1/2) / as many to failure
(choose from)
•Crunch machine
•Reverse crunch
•Hanging crunches

Workout B

Exercise / Cadence / Reps (women) / Reps (men)

1. Chest Press / (3/1/4) / 10-12 / 7-10

2. Seated Row / (3/1/4) / 10-12 / 7-10

3. Narrow Grip Pulldowns / (3/1/4) / 10-12 / 7-10

4. Lateral Raises / (3/1/3) / 10-12 / 8-10

5. Front Raises / (3/1/3) / 10-12 / 8-10

6. Hercules Curls / (3/1/3) / 10-12 / 8-10

7. Bench Dips / (3/3) / 12-15 / 9-12

8. Overhead Rope Extensions /(3/3) / 12-15 / 9-12

9. Leg Curls / (3/1/4) / 10-12 / 8-10

10. Walking Lunges / (slowly) / just short of failure

11. Hip Adductor / (3/1/4) / 10-12 / 8-10 (optional)

12. Calf Raises / (2/1/2) / 15-20 / 10-15

A ‘Fast and Furious’ Workout – Part 1

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There are two things everyone who exercises wishes for. Their first wish is that results came easier. “There should be a pill for this.” is what I hear from clients nearly every day. Wish number two (which could just as easily be number one) is that results came faster or with less time investment.

Well, I have good news and I have bad news. The bad news is results—really noticeable results—will never come easy. There is always a price to pay and when it comes to losing fat, building muscle and getting fit and effort is that price. The good news is results can be seen faster and with very little time investment!

I have for you a ‘Fast and Furious’ workout that when performed just three times a week is guaranteed to build muscle and boost your metabolism so you can develop a lean, toned physique.

What makes this routine work? Intensity of effort.

How important of an ingredient is intensity? Imagine trying to bake cupcakes without eggs…that’s how important! Yet rarely does anyone train with a level of intensity that is sufficient in signaling to the body to become stronger or more fit beyond its current state or condition.

Intensity is defined as the possible percentage of momentary muscular strength and volitional effort exerted. In other words it is the amount of strain your muscles are under at any given moment during an exercise. Intensity is considered to be at its max (100%) when you have reached the point of momentary muscular failure. This is when the muscles are so fatigued that they can no longer generate enough force to move the weight being lifted despite you putting forth all your mental and physical effort. When you train with this level of intensity it becomes unnecessary and counterproductive to perform a large amount of exercise. This is why the fast and furious workout works so well and is incredibly efficient despite what you might view as being very little exercise.

If there is just one thing you take away from this article and nothing else I hope it is this:

It does not matter how many reps, sets, workouts or time you spend in the gym, without applying maximum intensity of effort you may as well resign yourself to never progressing beyond your current physical condition.

Intensity is the cornerstone of not only the routine I will outline in Part II but it is the engine that will drive your results regardless of all other factors. In Part II I’ll provide you with the specifics of the training program so you can be on your way to getting significant results, fast.

How to Perform Your Exercise for Ultimate Success

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Every fitness magazines, blog and book promises that their training method or program that will lead to, Faster Fat-loss, Bigger Biceps, A Flat Stomach, Toned Arms in 10 Days, Sculpted Legs, Better Sex and a host of other desired, over-exaggerated and embellished benefits of exercise.

It’s amusing to read the some of the reasons given by the author as to why and how their program will succeed where others have failed, especially when the program has no scientific backing or logical basis. But heaven help us if there is some celebrity or athlete who endorses the program! Then the program must be legit!

Without fail these routines typically…fail. Aside from the most obvious reason that no routine or specific formula can address or make up for the various intrinsic and extrinsic factors of all individuals, the second common reason why they fail is because they never address how the exercises should be performed. This “oversight” is most common with weight training or any type of resistance training programs. Specifically, they give no detailed instruction on repetition performance other than a few generic recommendations like, “Lift the weight under control. Don’t cheat.” or “Move slowly.”

It is impossible to provide anyone with a training routine or to follow a routine that is certain to produce the desired result unless you are assured that the exercises will be performed properly or in the manner intended. Although the repetition is the most fundamental element of weight training it is also the most overlooked, under-appreciated, and misapplied. This should come as no surprise. Consider how many of us have stepped into a gym for the first time and carefully thought out exactly how we will perform our very first repetition. It would not be a long shot to say none of us, unless the first visit was with a very mindful and detail oriented personal trainer. Unfortunately many bad habits are established within those first few months or years of training which for many will never be reversed.

Whether new to exercise or a seasoned veteran, it serves one well to be very clear about the purpose each repetition serves. It should not be as simple as moving the weight from point A to point B—that’s a simpletons approach. In the simplest way I can explain, the purpose of each repetition is to maximize muscular tension and place the greatest amount of strain on muscles possible while minimizing the strain placed on the joints and tendons. This is best accomplished by moving at a tempo slow enough to keep momentum from becoming a contributing factor in the completion of each repetition and being able to feel the muscles at each point of the range of motion.

Fast repetitions (i.e. 0.5-2 seconds to lift the weight, 0.5-2 seconds to lower it) utilize momentum to carry out a better part of each repetition whereas repetitions performed slowly (i.e. 4-6 seconds to lift the weight, 4-6 seconds to lower it) must rely on the force generated by the muscles in order to complete each rep. Moving slow makes performing the exercise harder and as we know, the harder or more demanding an exercise is the greater the likelihood of it stimulating an improvement in you physical condition or development.

Effective weight training begins and ends with the repetition. It is the foundation from which every set of every workout is built, and will be a determining factor in any programs success. Address the rep and everything else will begin to fall into place.