More is always better right? Well... not always. In fact, maybe not very often. An age old trap for lifters is thinking that if I just do a little more work every time I go to the gym, I'll keep getting closer to meeting my goals. So you keep going to the gym and hitting it hard, sometimes twice a day, week in and week out. You start to notice that your shoulders are aching when you wake up in the morning, but you've got a deadline for your goals so you have to keep adding weight. Then your knees start to hurt, but you need to get a few extra sets of squats in. You're not sleeping that well. Even worse, your progress has come grinding to a halt. Now what? It seems like adding even more work is the ticket to get the numbers moving again, but where is the motivation to train? You're hurting, tired, and stuck. So let's rewind, what should you have done?
Training is like medicine. You administer a dose and look for a response. You don't prescribe chemotherapy to someone suffering from a cold. You tell them to go take some over the counter decongestant and wait it out. It's the minimum effective dose. If you start at the nuclear option, there's nowhere else to progress if that doesn't work. In addition, most drugs have side effects. The less of a drug you can take to get the desired effect, the less you have to deal with the side effects. Thinking of training in this way means, I'll do the least amount of work in the simplest possible way that will garner a training effect. It limits the side effects (excessive soreness, joint pain, potential injury) and it leaves me with options for increasing the dose when the current dose stops working (different set and rep schemes, more sessions, etc.).
We can look at this from a variety of angles. If you're training for strength and a simple progression of 3 sets of 5 reps will allow you to make progress, why make it any more complicated than that? Pick all of the low hanging fruit you can, because progress is going to be much more difficult in the future. There's no need to add bands and chains and specialty bars when you're a new lifter. There's no need to rotate workouts every week or to do odd lifts to build your basic movements. Simply practice the basic movements with enough weight on the bar to allow you to make progress.
If you're a crossfitter, do the WOD with weights and movements that allow you to move with the highest possible quality. Get used to your body and learn how to use it. You probably don't need to be training 2-3 times per day, 6 days per week at this point. Get your 3-5 training sessions in per week and allow time for recovery. When the progress stops, then you can address the reasons and perhaps the next step will be to up the dose.
If you're a runner, follow a plan that doesn't run you into the ground 365 days out of the year. I think the reason so many runners are injured is that they don't have an off season. Repetitive pounding on your ankles, knees, and hips is going to take its toll. Build your running to your competitive season and then bring the dose back down to allow your body to recover. Couch to 5k programs are great, if they get you off the couch and prepared for a 5k. However, it could be that you should take a slower progression towards being the runner you want to be to allow you to make progress over a longer period of time.
So take a step back and look at your training. Are you doing too much? Do you go into workouts recovered and ready to work hard, or are you feeling beat up and tired? If the goal is progress, and it should be, then you need to keep the goal the goal rather than just doing work for work's sake. Look for the minimum effective dose that will carry you towards your goals. Be smart, stay healthy, and train hard!
If you enjoy these blog posts, please take a minute to click the little buttons below and share them with your friends. I think these are training messages that can make a difference to help you reach your goals, and would love to share this knowledge with as many people as I can. You could also take a moment to join our facebook group. Last plug, follow me on twitter and instagram @disruptivefit for updates on training and new posts. It's full of trainers and lifters who enjoy some discussion and are a great resource for training questions. Thanks for reading!
Training is like medicine. You administer a dose and look for a response. You don't prescribe chemotherapy to someone suffering from a cold. You tell them to go take some over the counter decongestant and wait it out. It's the minimum effective dose. If you start at the nuclear option, there's nowhere else to progress if that doesn't work. In addition, most drugs have side effects. The less of a drug you can take to get the desired effect, the less you have to deal with the side effects. Thinking of training in this way means, I'll do the least amount of work in the simplest possible way that will garner a training effect. It limits the side effects (excessive soreness, joint pain, potential injury) and it leaves me with options for increasing the dose when the current dose stops working (different set and rep schemes, more sessions, etc.).
We can look at this from a variety of angles. If you're training for strength and a simple progression of 3 sets of 5 reps will allow you to make progress, why make it any more complicated than that? Pick all of the low hanging fruit you can, because progress is going to be much more difficult in the future. There's no need to add bands and chains and specialty bars when you're a new lifter. There's no need to rotate workouts every week or to do odd lifts to build your basic movements. Simply practice the basic movements with enough weight on the bar to allow you to make progress.
If you're a crossfitter, do the WOD with weights and movements that allow you to move with the highest possible quality. Get used to your body and learn how to use it. You probably don't need to be training 2-3 times per day, 6 days per week at this point. Get your 3-5 training sessions in per week and allow time for recovery. When the progress stops, then you can address the reasons and perhaps the next step will be to up the dose.
If you're a runner, follow a plan that doesn't run you into the ground 365 days out of the year. I think the reason so many runners are injured is that they don't have an off season. Repetitive pounding on your ankles, knees, and hips is going to take its toll. Build your running to your competitive season and then bring the dose back down to allow your body to recover. Couch to 5k programs are great, if they get you off the couch and prepared for a 5k. However, it could be that you should take a slower progression towards being the runner you want to be to allow you to make progress over a longer period of time.
So take a step back and look at your training. Are you doing too much? Do you go into workouts recovered and ready to work hard, or are you feeling beat up and tired? If the goal is progress, and it should be, then you need to keep the goal the goal rather than just doing work for work's sake. Look for the minimum effective dose that will carry you towards your goals. Be smart, stay healthy, and train hard!
If you enjoy these blog posts, please take a minute to click the little buttons below and share them with your friends. I think these are training messages that can make a difference to help you reach your goals, and would love to share this knowledge with as many people as I can. You could also take a moment to join our facebook group. Last plug, follow me on twitter and instagram @disruptivefit for updates on training and new posts. It's full of trainers and lifters who enjoy some discussion and are a great resource for training questions. Thanks for reading!
This is a great write-up, Brandon. Thanks for sharing. Happy Holidays!
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