Life lessons from the Gym, pt 2

Going to the gym is a lifestyle for many. Time spent there brings people together. Under the iron we learn intrinsic lessons. These lessons carry on into life outside the gym.

One of these lessons is that we are each stronger than we think we are.

- Are stronger than we think we are

According to the American College of Sports Medicine, the nationwide standard for men aged 20 to 49 should be between 13 and 28 pushups, and for women in the same age range, it should be between 11 and 20 (https://kiss951.com/2021/09/03/most-americans-cant-do-more-than-10-pushups/). 

This is more than just moving your body or moving weights with your body. Handling weights at regular intervals teaches you how to dig deep for another rep. You heart friends telling their training partner to get another couple of reps in each set. You may have been the one under the bar looking for what was needed to get that final rep. The bar moves ever so slowly. Muscles ache and quiver. The person under the weight is breathing faster and heavier to provide needed oxygen to those muscles.

This lesson carries over outside of the gym. The consistent facing of a physical challenge teaches you that, somewhere deep inside, is that something you need to go another step or repetition further. Outside the gym that lesson helps you to realize how capable you really are. It shows you that your fortitude runs deeper than you had ever imagined. This is key to completing tasks which seem insurmountable. This is key in facing life’s challenges. This is key when confronting our own demons.

We handle stress and pain better than we previously thought

Lifting weights, jogging, whatever our physical training teaches us, through experience, that we can handle pain. We face physical pain after many workouts. This is the result of lactic acid building up in the fatigued muscles. The muscles themselves have undergone trauma. Yet, the day after, life goes on. We have to participate in life regardless of the residual pain. The body reacts by rebuilding and becoming stronger. We take that basic lesson and apply it to other areas of our life to see that adversity makes us stronger.

There is another pain threshold we face and learn from. Success comes with hard work. By digging deeper into our fortitude and finding strength for a few more reps, or running a few steps faster, we learn to persevere. 

- Stronger sense of self

These previous two lessons help us see ourselves in a different light. We have gained insight into being more capable than we had thought. This now found understanding begins to fill a wellspring of confidence. Physically, our posture changes. We stand up straighter and taller. We step out with inner strength as if nothing in our path will dissuade or impede us.

We have learned that we adapt to stresses in our lives, that these stresses make us better. We put our body and mind through the crucible of fitness training. As a result our confidence grows. We know better what we can handle. We know better that challenges will always be present. We know that we can overcome. As Leonardo da Vinci had put into his codex, every obstacle is destroyed through rigor.

These lessons from the gym translate into other aspects of our lives. They transform us deeply. Keep training and keep growing.

Drop Sets: What and How

 Why do we workout, lift weights, or run for miles at way-too-early in the morning? In some small manner we are each trying to attain an Atlas-esque physique. In our minds we are trying ot be something like Steve Austen or Jamie Sommers, the bionic sci-fi duo of the 1970s. We are training to be stronger, faster, better than before.

 

That is the crux of training, is it not? To be stronger, larger, faster in some respect than we were before? It is. It most certainly is. We all train in our given arena to become more athletic and more aesthetically pleasing to someone. The issue is that, due to the microwave oven mentality, we want those results now and have little patience for the journey.

 

It is along the journey that we use a multitude of training tactics and techniques known by different titles. In this piece we will look at a few principles written by Joe Weider. He has left us numerous training principle to learn and grow with.

 

Weider Principles

Joe Weider, the Master Blaster himself, gave us a plethora of training principles. This list was built through trial and error over hours in the gym and in talking with exercise scientists as well as physicians. Among those is included Drop Sets. The premise and practice are quite simple. You do an exercise to failure, lower the weight, repeat. Why? To overload and fully exhaust a target muscle group for full development is why.

 

These are also called rack runs. You may have a few colorful terms for them of your own that the uninitiated would not understand. But, to what end? Do these really work? Is there a benefit to this style of training?

 

A 2018 study published through the National Institute of Health looked at the effect of drop sets on growth of muscles. It was found that drop sets increased growth in muscle tissue in trained muscle groups. This was most likely due to the higher amount of stress on the targeted muscles.

 

The technique trains both fast and slow twitch muscle fibers. Slow twitch fibers are associated with more endurance activities. These take longer to fatigue. Fast twitch fibers, conversely, are associated with strength and power. Fast twitch are larger fibers than slow twitch.

 

Drop sets have the unique capacity for training both slow and fast twitch muscles in one session. There is also another aspect of drop sets which some may overlook. They include an increased time under tensions.

 

Time Under Tension-This refers to the amount of time a muscle is under direct tension during training. The concept is that the longer a muscle is under tension the greater the gains in strength. Time under tension has benefits to a degree. I am not going to tell you that a three minute curl is going to give arms the size of Schwarzenegger.

 

There is something to be said about slower, more controlled movements for a more thorough training of a muscle group. By properly increasing the TUT, time under tension, a trainee can see several benefits. Among these benefits are mind-body connection, stronger muscles, and better form which results in better training. One positive aspect is that by going slower you reduce the risk of injury due to bad form. Another benefit is that, by prolonging the TUT, you more thoroughly exhaust the target muscle.

 

By dropping weight and continuing your sets past regular muscle failure, as in drop sets, you can maintain proper form with the lighter workload. Training with proper form for greater periods trains in better habits. More specifically, we are looking at the increased TUT. This technique is a continual depletion of the amount of muscle fibers in the fast twitch group.

 

Each set is presumably to failure. By lowering the weight at the point of failure you can continue to train without stopping. This fatigues more muscle fibers with each set. In this, you can see how strength fibers are being exhausted and endurance fibers are being engaged and trained as well.

 

There is a limit as to the amount of muscle fibers that a given exercise can exhaust before the trainee can no longer do that given exercise. This is positive failure. By lowering the amount of weight used, the stress load on the muscle fibers is lowered. This allows the trainee to continue to do the exercise thus firing or tearing more muscle fibers. In so doing repeatedly, the trainee goes to positive failure multiple times throughout the drop set resulting in a more complete exhaustion of muscle fibers in the targeted muscl group.

 

This dual fiber training in connection with the continual dropping for fast twitch fiber training will, after recovery, provide the trainee with larger and stronger muscles. These results will also be seen in shorter periods of time according to studies. Most training cycles run 12-weeks. Drop sets are recommended to run for 6-weeks for results.

 

Overload

Progressive Overload is the idea that you will continually and gradually increase the weight you are training with in order to increase the stress on your muscles. This results in larger and/or stronger muscles upon recovery. How this applies to drop sets is simple.

 

When training with drop sets as your main exercise routine you will still need to increases the weight you are lifting. The method I use is taken from the Russian Squat routine. It is simple and straight forward. Each workout, increase the starting weight by five to ten pounds. In this way, each workout is an overload as it is an increase from the last session.

 

Growth in Size and Strength

Due to its capacity for training both fast and slow twitch muscle fibers simultaneously this method is effective and efficient in producing muscle growth. Growth occurs when the body recovers after training. The training is traumatic to the body as it tears muscle fibers. The body then compensates by rebuilding more fibers than there were before. What we see as the result is larger, denser, stronger muscles. The technique of drop sets brings results in as little as six weeks according to studies.

 

Science Says

In review, the National Institute of Health studies have shown that drop sets are very effective for increasing size and strength as well as endurance. This training method is, in this author’s experience, fast, effective, and efficient. It is also highly enjoyable.

 

Conclusion

Drop sets are fast and efficient as a training technique. Using them as a foundation for your workout is an advanced technique. Even at advanced levels you will experience muscle soreness for days afterwards. Increasing your nutritional intake of protein and carbohydrates is likely to provide you what is needed to repair the damage done through training.

 

This author has done several 12 week cycles of drop sets and enjoys them thoroughly. At the time of this writing, this author is one month in on a drop set cycle. The technique is not easy in practice, but worth doing. The gains you will achieve in size and strength are worth pushing through. The gains will not come steadily as you will hit the wall at some points. This is natural.

 

When you cannot do all the reps per set as you design, do not increase the weight for the next session as designed. Rather, replicate said workout at the next session and hit the reps per set at that workout. You will get there so long as you persevere.

 

If you have not yet tried drop sets, you should give them a go. The first few sessions will be painful the day after. Stick with it as the results will be worth the initial pain.

Russian Squat Routine

As any good gym rat, I was eager to get back into the gym during the COVID Shutdown, A little over 3-weeks ago that finally happened in my area. My younger son, Luke, and I jumped into things with both feet and all gusto. An approach that has historically landed me in injuries. Not this time, I am happy to say.

I went back to the gym with a solid plan from years past. I cycled several times over the years since I learned it at a YMCA in Ambler, PA. It was the Russian Squat routine. As Luke is 15, I was hesitant to put him on that. All four of my kids are hesitant to follow directly in my footsteps while training, so he stuck with the tried and true 3x10. I did the 1x20 and adding 5 to 10 pounds each session.

It occurs that some of you may not know the Russian Squat protocol. It is a very rough routine, both mentally and physically. If you have never tried it, I suggest that you do at least one 6-week cycle of it in your lifting career. It will add pounds to your lift in super-fast time as well as show you that you are more than you thought you were.

First, you take the weight which you are squatting for 3x10 reps. A good solid, hard 10 reps. This is the weight you will use for your starting squat weight for one set of 20. The breathing pattern is unique. It’s called breathing squats for a distinctly good reason. Your body will need O2.

For the first five reps, just breathe and squat normally. Squats six through 10 take one breath at the top of each squat. For squats 11 through 15 your breathing between squats should now be three to five breaths. For 15 to 20 just breathe as much as you need to. Take the time you need between squats for these last repetitions.

Here is the kick. You do NOT put that bar on the rack until you complete the 20^th squat. I don’t care if your foot is curling up into a ball due to cramps, you keep squatting until you hit 20 repetitions.

You got your 20. You racked the weight. You even put a checkmark in your logbook. Fantastic! Next workout, you add 5 to 10 pounds on that squat and do it again.

Say you squat on Monday and you do 265 for 20 reps. Wednesday will be 270, at least.

This is what the routine looks like, overall:

Shoulder Press       3x12

Bench Press           3X10

Squat                      1x20

Pullover                 1x20

The pullover is done with a lightweight, I use a 50-pound curl bar. Lie down on a bench, hold the weight at arm’s length, and lower it as far as you comfortably can behind your head. Then, pull it back to its starting point above you. You will feel this stretching your chest cavity out. I don’t know what it does physically other than feel real good after the squats. The lifting coach who introduced me to this program back in the early 1990s said that, by expanding the chest cavity this way, you are forcing the body to grow. I do not know enough to say yes or no, but it sounds kind of strange. I will say it again, it feels good and I still do it.

After the main portion is done, I continue with shrugs, triceps extensions, and curls. You know, the ego-boosting exercises. I also train abs and those muscles along the spine every workout. Those muscles, the erector spinae, are vital in this routine. If you mess those up you are done. I do bodyweight back extensions as the last exercise. Doing this last allows me to hit them directly when already exhausted and warmed up. I can also focus on every repetition while doing them to keep my form perfect.

That’s the Russian Squat routine in a nutshell. I highly recommend that you give it a go once you’ve checked in with your doctor. Be forewarned, though, you will notice that your appetite increases while doing this. Your body size is going to grow, even if you are older, like me. I am 50 as of this writing. Three weeks in and I am seeing growth in my legs and arms.

While this is a 6-week cycle, I am stopping early. Luke, mentioned above, is getting ready for high school football and wrestling. He has the same slender build I did when I was his age. He wants to bulk up some. So, we are switching gears to a 5x5 routine for powerlifting.

I will keep you all updated on what that looks like and how it’s going for us.

Thank you.

Live well!

Live Strong!

Training Mistakes

     Accidents happen. Haven’t we all heard that too many times? Anyone who has been involved in competitive athletics or sports long enough has firsthand experience with training mistakes.

Mistakes in training and in the gym carry a range of repercussions. These can range from possibly being featured on a Gym Fails video an injury that lays you up for a few days to weeks to a crippling injury that dead ends your training. If you’re lucky, the worst injury will have you out of the gym for a few days.

     I am looking at this topic through my own history. I have been a competitive power lifter, led fitness training in the military, been a competitive runner and swimmer. Fitness is, obviously, a large portion of my life and has been for decades. During my life in training I have had a staggeringly large number of injuries. These injuries have happened in different events and through a surprisingly large number of different ways, but generally were due to one or more of the following three reasons.

     Overtraining 

     This is a term some of you may not know or be familiar with. Overtraining, sometimes also called overlifting, happens when your training cycle is so intense that your body cannot recover completely between each session. Each session is breaking your body down more than you have time to recover from.

     While our bodies are, in fact, surprisingly resilient and can adapt to arduous conditions in a rapid manner, there is a point of overload at which you go too far. This begins to sap your strength and endurance. In essence, you are getting weaker rather than stronger. Your bulk is bailing on you. Your strength is strutting away.

     Some of the symptoms that you may be experiencing are likely:

•      Persistent fatigue
•      Deep mental fog
•      Notably higher resting heart rate
•      Increasing/ed injuries
•      Burnout
•      Depression
•      Irritability
•      Loss of strength and endurance

     

     This can be, as said above, from not getting enough recovery between workouts. Another culprit is insufficient nutrition. If you are experiencing any of the above symptoms you should start by taking a few days off from training. Increase your protein and amino acid intake. Take a close look at how and what you eat on a regular basis. Are you actually getting enough protein and calories? Are you getting enough carbohydrates? Is your diet adequate to fuel your training?

     Under-eating

     When physically active, under-eating can be a hazard. You wouldn’t run a high-performance motorcycle or sports car on low grade cheap fuel, would you? Why would you not fuel your body and brain with the best fuel available? What about cutting fat for that upcoming competition or the bathing suit season? Really?

     Keep in mind is that the human brain is comprised mostly of fat. The brain is 60% fat. What do you suppose happens to people who starve themselves of fat? Their brain physically shrinks. The brain loses both size and functionality. But, this is a last resort act of desperation done by the brain to preserve itself. When you initially drop calories and fat from your diet, you will go through a period of brain fog. This is given as a direct warning in the information for all the ketone diets I have read about, too.

     Carbohydrates, the complex carbs not the simple ones, play an important role. If you are diabetic, go talk to your doctor right now! Complex carbs are metabolized into glycogen and stored mostly in the liver. There is a small amount of glycogen in the blood stream, too. Glycogen is what actively fuels the muscles when moving. What is stored in the lover is gone after approximately 25 minutes of intense activity. At which point, the body begins to burn fat or muscle tissue for energy. It all comes down to what the body has become accustomed to using.

     Proteins and carbohydrates are most needed. By eating or drinking protein and carbos after yoru workout, you are

•      Decreasing muscle catabolism
•      Increasing muscle growth
•      Restoring glycogen stores
•      Aiding your own recovery
•      Promote muscle growth

     It is recommended that your protein to carb ratio is 3:1, three grams of carbs for every one gram of protein.

     Bad Form

Compound movements are those that involve more than one set of joints to complete. This includes bench press, squat, bent row, and deadlift as examples. These lifts are very technical in nature. That is, you are best off to study the form prior to stacking the bar with weights. The mantra has always been, “Form first, strength will follow.”

     Proper form ensures proper and complete muscular development and strength throughout the entire range of movement. Proper form is also going to minimize the risk of injury. For instance, in deadlift, I and many others, have gotten over-enthusiastic. In this, we start to perform the lift too fast in each rep. By not taking the few moments necessary to ensure that feet, knees, and hips are properly aligned and that the back is in its proper alignment, a lower back injury is inevitable. Even in my 20’s, I lost far too much time to that injury by not checking my form and technique. Squat and bench press are two other lifts that are considered technical lifts in their execution. I have detailed the specifics about those two competitive lifts in You Don’t Know Squat and Pressing Matters.

     Take the time to study proper form for each lift you are using in your routine even if you are not necessarily a newbie. Even the simple biceps curl, if done with poor form and enough weight, can result in injuries. Bad form with curls can put your rotator cuff at risk.

     Make the necessary adjustments. Starving your system while pushing it to levels beyond what it can already handle is just asking for injuries. Injuries that will keep you away from what you love most, training. It does not matter of that sport is martial arts, cross country, swimming, powerlifting, or what.

     If you are an older athlete, like me, do not shortcut the recovery time or nutrition. At this point in our lives shortcutting on these will bite us in the end faster than we care to admit.

     Train hard.

     Train smart.