4X Training

Disclosure first...

Before I get into my blog post on 4X training let me just tell you a little bit about myself.  I am 56 years old and have been training for over 42 years. Lifting competitively in Olympic weightlifting, my body took a toll, mostly in the joints and back.
 

After that career was shot I continued training but more to stay in shape and look good than anything else.  Over the decades I have tried every type of gimmick routine(s) and health supplements. Some worked, most didn't and I also found out along the way that everyone is different. There is no such thing as a 'one size fits all' training program.  I tell all my clients they need to experiment with their bodies after they learn how each muscle works to see what works best for them.

In addition, I do not believe in any type of T therapy which seems to be the new thing with men once they hit their 30's.  At the age of 56 I feel I look better than ever before and I know that I am much more healthier than when I used to compete.

This post has no scientific backing, just 42 years of training, observing and reading any article on nutrition and exercise.

This post will deal strictly with my opinion of 4X and who can benefit from this the most.  I am not a bodybuilder although I have been told I should compete. So I am not giving opinion based on trying this routine and I won a bunch of physique championships.  It is solely based on whether I feel it worked or not.

Why 4X?

I had to decide whether to explain What is 4X first or Why 4X so I chose the latter.

Ok, I have mentioned that I have been training for 42 years and that I am 56 years old about a dozen times already. This is very important because this means that my body has taken a seriously heavy toll on the joints over the years.  Although they are stronger than the average person, I still punish them pretty good.

It is my opinion that your muscles do not lose their strength as they get older compared to your tendons and ligaments. I feel that tendons and ligaments are like rubber bands.  Over the years with all their stretching and contracting, they start to lose their elasticity.  They are also more prone to pulling, breaking or snapping just like a rubber band.  It doesn't matter how well you take care of them, if you are constantly stressing them, they will break at some point ESPECIALLY if you are going with heavy singles or 3-5 rep maximum weights.

The same is true with your joints, where you slowly wear away cartilage and you start having arthritic conditions.

Add to that, your muscle recovery seems to be slower.  When I was in my 20's I could blast muscle parts twice a week easily and get away with it.  Today, there is no way I can do this. Mind you I am 100% natural.  I am sure if I was on some sort of hormone therapy I could get away with this training but I choose not to do so because I believe in long term health and fitness not short term.

So how do you stress the muscles WITHOUT going with an all out heavy weight? This leads me to the next.....

What is 4X?

It is a method of doing sets for any exercise on any body part that uses moderate weight. Although there are e-books out there explaining the science to the method, it's origins date way back to Danny Padilla and Vince Gironda.  As a side note, I met Mr. Gironda when I trained in his gym back in 1984 in Beverly Hills.  He was a very cool person with quite a wealth of training knowledge that is still used today.  He was very eccentric but his methods worked.

Ok so here we go, 4X training explained....

First, you find a weight that you can do for a particular exercise where 15 reps is the max you can do.  Right off the start, any exercise that you can do 15 reps with a particular weight is obviously not your max but it is a moderate amount of weight anyways.

Using this 15 rep max weight as your starting point, you warm up until you are already to perform the 4X set. My suggestion is to take a nice 3 minute or more rest before doing the 4X set because this is where the boys are separated from the men.

4X is very simple and it goes as follows:

First set with x weight 10 reps........... rest 30-35 seconds
Second set with x weight 10 reps...........rest 30-35 seconds
Third set with x weight 10 reps............rest 30-35 seconds
Fourth set with x weight, rep out.  If you exceed 10 reps that means next workout add additional weight to the x weight you just did.

Now you will read articles where the rest period may be different, some suggesting as much as 45 seconds.  For 4X training I found that 45 seconds was too much rest. It does allow you to handle a tad more weight but the rest interval is just as important if not more so than the weight lifted, I will explain that a little bit later.

It has been my experience that for most body parts except legs, to use the 30 second rest. When doing legs I use 35 seconds only because legs is such a large muscle group, you need those extra 5 seconds of gasping to gut out the next set then the next then the next.

Variation of the 4X set...

As in any training routine, there are variations to 4X training.  One which I use on occasion when the joints are feeling good is to go a little heavier, perform 6 reps but only have a 20 second rest between sets. 

How often should you use 4X?

I like to perform at least one exercise per body part using the 4X method.  I also make sure it is my first exercise and the major body building one for the muscle being trained. So for example, I would use these exercises based on body part:

Chest - Incline Bench with bar or dumb bells
Back - Lat rolls or lat pulldowns
Legs - Squats or leg press
Shoulders - shoulder presses
Arms - biceps, barbell curls; triceps, tricep pushdowns

Science behind 4X...

Ok, I told you I wouldn't get into the science of it and I really am not. I am just going to explain a little bit of what a 4X set is doing to the muscle you are exercising.

Muscle hypertrophy (increase muscle size and mass) is broken down into two categories, myofibrillar and sarcoplasmic.  They both involve increasing the size of the cells but in a different way.

Myofibrillar accomplishes strengthening through increasing weight in an exercise while sarcoplasmic hypertrophy focuses on increasing actual size of the muscle.  Think of sarcoplasmic as getting that 'pumped' look.

In 4X training you hit a sweet spot where by using a moderate weight, you are hitting the muscle from a myofibrillar standpoint then blasting it from a sarcoplasmic standpoint with that shortened rest interval.

So, whether you are young or old (especially old) and you want to try something that I consider safer on the joints, tendon and ligaments yet very effective, give....

4X training a try in order to be Fit Forlife!

 

 

 

 

 

Ab, Core work... change it up!

I love working out abs!  It’s not just because it makes someone look good, it is the core (thus the name) of your body and helps support you in everything that you do.

Throughout this post I will feature some of the different ab exercises I perform. They are not all inclusive, I have more than a dozen different types that I am always changing up.

Strong abs (core) supports your back and alleviates back problems. It helps posture and gives one a look of confidence.

Now just working out abs doesn’t mean you will be able to display a six pack.  Ab work is all about making your core muscles stronger. Displaying abs is best done in the kitchen with what you eat and in cardio to help shed those last few pounds of fat.  One can have a very strong core and never really show it only because of their diet.

When I used to Olympic lift my training buddy was a heavyweight lifter. At around six feet tall and weighing anywhere between 250-270, he was never much for showing abs. In fact he used to joke that while most people strived for six pack abs,  he strived for wash tub abs!  But I will tell you this, he had some of the strongest ab muscles around. What he could do in terms of core exercises were hardly matched by anyone.

 

The purpose of this post is to talk about how I work abs, not how to display them since that is an entirely different subject.

Ways of training abs...

There are all kinds of ways to train abs. They are a muscle just like any other body part. As such, most people say to never train them every day. I kind of agree with that but not completely.  In my opinion, abs are like calf muscles. They are used daily and can take a lot of work. As such, they can also take a lot of punishment in the gym. They are unlike other body parts in that way where once or twice a week is more than enough.

 

As such, I hit a happy medium of training abs four times a week.  Since I work out six days a week, one body part a week except for legs which I train twice a week, I will do ab work on the days I DO NOT work legs.  So a typical week goes like this:

Day 1 Chest, abs

Day 2 Back, abs

Day 3 Legs

Day 4 Shoulders, abs

Day 5 Arms, abs

Day 6 Legs

Difference in training abs...

Now how I train abs is a little different than most people.  Many people will do abs at the beginning or end of their work out.  They also will do a gazillion sets and/or gazillion reps. I DO NONE OF THIS.

 

Having been working out for 42 years, I am constantly experimenting with what works best for my body. What works for me may not work for you. And there is no such thing as a ‘silver bullet’ that this is the exercise or routine one must follow in order to be successful. 

What I am going to describe may or may not work for you. But I definitely recommend you try it for four weeks and make changes to it along the way to fit your style of training.

First let’s talk about number of sets and number of reps. Remember, abs are muscles, nothing special about them requires a gazillion reps.  There are four things that I feel are important for good ab development and work:

1. Limit the number of sets that you do
2. Limit the number of reps you do, it's resistance and contraction that's the key
3. Change the sequence of how you perform the ab exercises
4. Abs involved every twisting motion of your core, as such, incorporate a variety of exercises 

 Let's look at the details of training abs... 

Sets and Exercises, I keep my total set count at 10. Nothing more, nothing less.  This consists of five different exercises, two sets each. That’s it. What kills your abs is the variety. I don’t sit there and do five sets of crunches and call it a day. You did nothing to hit all the possible angles of your core.

Reps, the maximum number I ever hit is 20 reps in a set. Most sets I perform only 10. Trust me, when done properly, when performed in a slow and methodical method, when you completely contract the muscle on each and every rep until it hurts, 10-20 is all you will ever need. 

I see so many people knock out 50-100 reps and think they really hit their abs. They did nothing. They were swinging their weight or in a poor position just for the ability to knock out those 50-100 reps. In other words, they were using other parts of their body to assist in the reps, the abs WERE NOT doing the work. It would be like saying you did 50 reps on the bench.  Other than maybe get a burn, you really are not hitting the muscles as you should.

Sequence, ok this is probably the most important part because it serves two very important purposes.  Most everyone does their entire ab exercises one after the other. They also do it at the beginning or the end of their work out.

 

I prefer to space mine out throughout my work out routine. So for example if I am doing chest, a typical work out would look like this:

Abs – Incline Bench – Abs – Flat Bench – Abs – Decline Bench – Abs – Flyes – Abs

Five different ab exercises, two sets each. Perform them in between the exercises for the body part you are training that day.

This accomplishes two things. First, it gives a quick five minute rest to the body part you are training to recover in order to hit the next exercise as hard as the previous one. Secondly, it gives your abs a break before you go on to the next exercise because you are training a body part in between your ab exercises.

Trust me, the five minute break you are giving your body part is HUGE in terms of recuperation. The 10 – 15 minute break you are giving your abs between the body part you are training is also HUGE because it allows you to perform perfect, as strict as possible, as slow as possible, as much contraction as possible reps during your ab exercise.

Variety, Core muscles work in every twist and fashion possible. This is why I do five different exercises. Each one has its uniqueness. I like to use twisting or rotation movements in my reps because this is how abs actually functions in real life.  I also like to use machines that are not meant for abs but are quite effective. From the videos I have posted of some of my favorite ab exercises you can tell how something as simple as a pec dec machine or lat pulldown machine can be used to target your core.

Try it out and change it up if need be to suit your body.

Core work outs is one way to be Fit Forlife!

 

Great Back Workout today...

One of my favorite body parts to work out is back.  The back is not only important for core support, it is also the tie in points for delts and traps. A thick back is impressive so why not train it hard?!

How many exercises, sets and reps?

 One of the things most people do not do when training back is hit a variety of exercises.  I think the back is the most complicated muscle group in the body. From the upper half to the lower half and everything in between, in order to get a good back work out and have a nice development you have to hit it from all angles.

I like doing many exercises on back day. I usually do anywhere from 8-10 different ones.  Each exercise consists of 2 to 3 sets but mostly 3.  Rep range is between 6-12 reps.

Make it up as you go along...

As in all body parts that I work out, I love 'inventing' new exercises. Once you know how the muscle works, it is quite easy to do.  Many of the machines that I use in any gym I go to can have multiple functions even if it isn't advertised as so.

For example in this video, I am doing very wide grip pull-ups on a cable cross over machine where they have pull up bars on either side. Rather than doing the pull ups on one side or the other, I use the handle of one pull up and the handle of the other pull up.

The result is a pull up that stretches the lat more than usual, allows you to actually do a sternum pull up, and allows you to go a little higher than normal.  Try this between sets of another exercise or rip out three quick sets of these.

How are back exercises performed?

 I believe in extension as much as possible, stretch the back muscles and make every fiber in it work.

I also believe in doing both wide grip and narrow grip exercises to build width and thickness.

Since I had back surgery over 20 years ago, I make sure any rows that I perform is done with the chest supported so as to not stress the back or put it in a disadvantaged state. The pic below is the way NOT TO DO ANY back exercise yet so many people do.  The laws of physics will eventually catch up to you, I don't care how strong you are...

The pic below is the recommended way, the back needs to be supported some way, some how...

Once you are warmed up, you can start with a decent weight as you go from exercise to exercise. In other words, since I only do 2 to 3 sets, once I warm up and complete my first back exercise, the remaining exercises I start with a pretty good weight already.

Time can be a twist to your routine...

 Another fave to add to my routine is rest or lack thereof.  Rarely do I rest more than 60-75 seconds between sets. With as many exercises as I do, I still want to keep my entire resistance workout to between 60-75 minutes. It may be mental, but I feel that resting very little between sets gets my back looking more shredded.

Common mistakes...

Two of the biggest mistakes I see people make when doing back is that they pull with their arms too much and they jerk on the weight.  I tell everyone to think of their arms as nothing more than ropes holding on to the bar and you are pulling with your back by concentrating on contracting your shoulder blades together.  Pretend like you are trying to pinch a pencil stuck between your shoulder blades. Feel the squeeze.

Every rep in every exercise is done in a slow and controlled fashion. I don't like doing herky jerky movements when working out back, you get nothing out of it except maybe lifting more weight which didn't do a darn thing to working out the back. 

In all back exercises, you start using more of your arms as you get to the full rep so I never go full rep in any back exercises. Once I start feeling the arms kicking in more than they should, that is my rep.

I definitely do believe though, in letting your back muscles stretch as much as possible when putting the weight back to the starting position. That creates a longer range of motion and just kicks in more muscle fibers when you start the contraction.

Be visual and it will happen!

Self or Sport Hypnosis...

Hypnosis is defined as a trancelike state that is like sleep but it is induced by a person whose suggestions are readily accepted by the subject.  In self-hypnosis, the subject and person is one in the same.

History...

Hypnosis in sports started being used as way back as the 1950's by the Russian's.  Clinical psychologists studying the powers of hypnosis on an individual started wondering if it could have a positive impact on athletes.  Working with the Russian Olympic team they started experimenting if it could be used as a performance enhancing tool.

Since then, it is used around the world by athletes of all sports. Self-hypnosis is so powerful it can even be used in every day life at work or at home.  The logic behind it is that 'if you can see it, it must be reality and if it is reality, it must be true'!

There has even been cases of POW's, while in solitary confinement where they used self-hypnosis to survive. In order to escape the harsh environment and in some cases, torture they were being subjected to, they used this method to think of places they were at during their lives with family and friends.  It was one way of keeping your sanity.

More recently there was a study where they got two groups of participants to engage in muscular development. One group performed actual exercises while the other group performed the exercises using hypnosis in a very real and visual sense.

After six weeks, the group performing actual exercises had increased 30% in muscle tone while the hypnotized group increased 13% in muscle tone.  That is pretty remarkable proof of what the mind can achieve.

Use in sports...

Since the Russians, self-hypnosis has become common practice amongst many professionals across all sports.  Tiger Woods has been using it since his early teens. Jack Nicklaus has claimed that he never hit a shot on tour or in practice without having a very sharp picture of what that shot was going to look like.

One of the theories behind it as used in sports is that it relaxes the athlete, takes away nerves once you have convinced yourself you can do it.

Application of Self Hypnosis...

Brain studies have shown that thoughts produce the same mental instructions as actually performing an action. This mental imagery impacts cognitive processes in the brain which affects motor control patterns, perception, planning and memory.  In essence, through self-hypnosis, you are recording in your brain the actions you are about to perform so when it is performed, it will follow the 'film' of what you just recorded.

The key is that the imagery needs to be highly detailed, in other words, realistic. Bringing in as many senses as possible during this short mini-trance enhances the effects of the hypnosis.  Any smells in the area should be part of this visualization. Details in the room surroundings like ornaments, color of the walls, people, should be included. You are mentally filming yourself in the environment you are in then proceeding to perform your actions exactly the way it needs to be performed for success. FAILURE is never, ever part of this imagery.

The use of hypnosis offers many benefits that helps athletes handle that would otherwise negatively affect their performance. Hypnosis:

• helps to reinforce established sporting goals
• aids athletes to better handle nervousness
• contributes to relaxation
• facilitates stress management
• increases concentration
• provides the ability to eliminate distractions
• assists in controlling pain
• increases performance motivation
• improves bodily awareness

Anyone can do this!

Whether you are a professional or amateur, a regular Joe or a world class athlete, anyone can do self-hypnosis.  It takes time to practice but once you start visualizing success, and actually having success, you can fine tune your techniques.

I perform self-hypnosis in two ways. The first one is what I call 'prep self-hypnosis'.  This is actually running through your head the training you are about to do before you are even at the gym.  I do not go through every single set and rep, instead, I use 'highlights' of some of the big attempts I will make that day.  This can be done in short bursts of 30-60 seconds as many times during the day as you can. Envision what you will be wearing that day and make sure you wear it too!

The second method is 'on the spot' visualization going through the performance right before I am about to do it. This is also between 30-60 seconds in duration.  One can perform 'prep' and 'on the spot' visualization together; first during the day, then later when training.

One little trick that I use is that I may visualize a set before the 'big' event to get confidence up. Once that set is performed easily, then I visualize the big one.  After all, if the set before the big one worked out so well, why wouldn't the grand finale?

Give this a shot, I am confident this will improve your training in whatever sport you practice. We all know the mind is an incredibly powerful part of the human body, learn to tap it's resources and the rewards will be endless.

Fit Forlife

 

Solo or Partner?

Training by yourself, solo, or with a partner is a decision that you will make on and off for as long as you work out.  There is no one answer as to whether you should have a partner or not because there are way too many variables that can influence that decision. And what you decide today may also not apply later on down the road.

What kind of person are you?

The answer to this question will be a good determining factor as to whether you go solo or with someone else.  If you are a self starter, can push yourself, can usually accomplish goals with a set game plan, do not like to be bothered by others, have a hectic and unpredictable work/family schedule, then more than likely, you will be more productive training by yourself.

If you need motivation, guidance on staying focused, are starting out for the first time, and/or need to develop discipline, then you will gain more by having a workout partner.

Whichever is the case however, EVERYONE must develop the skills necessary to train solo since you can not always guarantee that a partner will be available.

Challenges of training with a partner...

If you are one that prefers to train with someone, finding a partner can be as difficult as finding a spouse!  Here are some things to consider in choosing the right partner:

1. Same schedule. It is hard enough carving up time in the day to get a good work out in. With work, family and friend obligations, you have to fit training into your day. Sometimes, the time of day may change or even the days of the week.  Now double that if you have a partner. You now have to schedule around two peoples family, work and friends.

2. Same goal.  Your routine is based on your goals.  I am not saying they have to be exact but they have to be similar. Someone that wants to train to improve their swimming will have a different training program than someone that wants to become a better runner for example. Having a partner means having similar goals.

3. Same focus.  The last thing you want is someone with the same schedule and goal but loses focus constantly and you spend the bulk of your time keeping them on track. This is mentally and physically draining.

4. Compatible personalities. You will be spending a lot of time with your partner, you might as well have compatible personalities.  For example, two people with two completely different views of the political spectrum and who love to debate about who's right or wrong, will more likely than not, turn their training sessions into debates with little or no attention being given to what your goals are.

5.Same or different gender? I leave this as a question mark because it truly depends on the individual. Some people just find it more pleasant training with another gender as opposed to the same one while others would never train with another gender. It is a matter of preference.

Over the years I have trained with both and it makes little difference to me but I will note that when I have trained with females, they seem to have a more gung-ho attitude while guys tend to slack off and wander off in side conversations. Again, just my opinion based on my experience.

6. Age difference?  There are advantages to training partners that have a large age gap between them. The younger one may learn things that the older one has already experienced. The older one can get a boost in training by being with someone that has fresh motivation and energy. 

Personally I prefer to train with people much younger than myself. I find it invigorating.  Being 56 years old and been training for 42 years, I have a very hard time finding anyone at or near my age that can keep up. If I have a partner they usually have to be 10, 20 or more years younger than myself.  They learn from my experience and I feed off their energy. It is a mutually satisfying relationship.

When to train with a partner...

Even if you are a 'hermit' by trade, there are always circumstances where you should have a partner in order to get the most out of your workouts.

If you are going to start exercising for the first time ever, it is necessary to have an experienced work out partner, coach or trainer.  Learning the basic techniques, philosophies and training methods up front is invaluable for continued progress, avoiding injury, and learning new routines.

If you are going into some sort of competition, it is always an added benefit to have a training partner attempting to achieve the same thing.  Gearing up for competition in any sport involves going through training cycles. There are ups and downs in each cycle, you want to have someone with the same goals and focus in mind to push each other through those highs and lows.  It also helps to have someone that can watch your technique, tape it, and vice versa to give constructive criticism on how to improve.

You will also need a spotter that knows your exact strength levels in order to provide the proper spot. I have injured myself over the years 'grabbing' an inexperienced spotter in the gym when attempting a heavy lift.

 There may be certain training days that are more difficult than others. While you may be able to train alone most of the time, try to find a partner for a particular training session where you may need that extra push.

For example, I can blast any body part pretty good in the gym but I find training legs is the hardest body part to get motivated to do at the level that I normally train. Finding someone that is willing to keep up or even be more advanced in you in doing legs and also providing that mental push, can be very beneficial.

 Advantages of going solo...

While training partners has its' advantages, so does training alone. Some of these are:

1. No time schedule constraints. You train when you can based on your schedule and it doesn't have to be matched with someone else's.

2. Do what you want.  Each work out, each exercise, each set is done based on how you feel that day. It doesn't have to be voted on by your partner to add a set, change an exercise or change the routine.

3. Pair up on occasion with someone else in the gym. While training with a partner you may notice someone that trains in a way that interests you.  When training solo this is a perfect opportunity to pair up with someone for a single work out just to keep things different.

4. Creates mental toughness.  No doubt a partner can help you through a tough work out when you are feeling down. However, I have found training alone is a way to develop mental toughness. It's like the old saying 'mind over matter'.

Training alone helps you focus on getting through it one set or even one rep at a time if need be.  You learn to psyche yourself up.  This toughness will carry over into your life.

5. Problem solving. One of the biggest pleasures I get when training alone is that I can think freely about things and problems I need to take care of without being interrupted.  The blood is flowing through the muscles while working out which also makes the mind more alert. I have solved so many problems at the gym while working out.
 

Developing a soloist mentality...

Regardless if you train with a partner, there will be times due to scheduling or life events where you will be training by yourself.  The last thing you want to do is miss training sessions just because your partner can't make it or moved and you are trying to find someone else. After all, the purpose of training is for YOU to get or stay in shape, not to get someone else in shape.  It makes no sense to stop just because someone else had to.

If you want or need to train solo and are the type that always has to have someone around, you will need to develop soloist skills.  Like anything else you do in life that is not in your nature, it will require mental willpower and stepping outside your comfort zone.

One can take baby steps by training alone once a week.  Make it your easiest work out. 

Focus and visualize beforehand what it is that you want to accomplish in that work out and mentally show it complete as you finish each portion.

Spend the time between sets thinking about what you are going to do next. Prepare by psyching yourself up. Sort of your own self motivator. Keep reminding yourself why you are doing this and the consequences if you fail.

If you are tired and don't want to go in but normally would because you knew you had a partner waiting for you, find the will to drag yourself in the gym anyways. Just get in the gym. Once there, the environment will usually pick up ones energy level and motivation. Start doing something, anything! The key is getting blood in the muscle to wake your body up out of the slump and get it going.

Hope some of these very basic ideas help in determining if and when you should have a training partner.

 Would love to hear any comments or questions you may have...... Fit Forlife

Variety is the spice of life!

Define Variety

Per Webster, variety is defined as the quality or state of having or including many different things.  When it comes to training, there can be a lot of variety in the variety itself if that makes any sense to you!

 

Most people would interpret variety in training as doing different exercises but it is so much more than that.  For starters, here are some forms of variety just for weight training alone:

 

1. Change the sequence of the same exercises that you perform

2. Change the set/rep combo of the same exercises

3. Change some of the exercises

4. Change all the exercises

5. Change the rest interval between sets

6. Perform combo exercises

7. Incorporate High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) either during your weight program, i.e. monitoring heart rate within a target range between rest intervals then performing a set increasing the heart rate into cardio mode for short bursts of time.  Or you can incorporate something as simple as jump rope every second or third set for short 20 second bursts of high revolution jump roping

 

 



Variety even with the forms described above can be different depending on whether you are bodybuilding, strength training, lifting for a particular sport or just to stay in shape.

 

Note some of the more popular programs out there now like P90X, P90X2, Insanity, T25, Crossfit, they are all based on variety, variety, variety.

 

Why change anything?

 

 

A lot of people ask, why should I change anything if I feel I am making progress or I am happy at where I'm at in my exercise regimen?

 

Imagine a world where we never change anything.  You wear the same clothes every day. You eat the same meals. You watch the same TV show or movie over and over.  It wouldn't take long before your life becomes stagnant. The same is true with exercise.

 

It has been my experience based on over 40 years of training which included competitive weightlifting, that after a period of time the body becomes a master at adapting to any stimuli you present it.  This is especially true the longer you have been training. This is why it is imperative to throw variety into your exercise routine. It keeps the body on guard, fresh and learning new and different motor skills.

 

If everything stays exactly the same, your body will get 'efficient' at going through the motion of the same ole same ole.

 

Even if you are making progress, eventually it slows down or even regresses.

How much change is necessary?

 

 

 

While the body has an amazing ability to adapt to anything you present it over and over again, the great news is that the body can also be easily confused!  As mentioned above, something as simple as changing the exercise sequence totally throws the body out of kilter.

 

So those that are reluctant to make drastic modifications to their workout routines, can take 'baby steps' by starting out with sequence and set/rep combo's without changing anything else.

 

As you start to notice a difference, i.e. 'good' soreness, strength improvement, overall better well being, etc., then take bolder steps and try some of the other suggestions above. 

 

I always say that your body is like a lab. Experiment with it, see what works and what doesn't. Exercise is not a 'one size fits all' routine.  Every body is different which means every workout should be different and always changing.

 

Take the plunge, what's the worse that can happen? You can always go back to doing the same ole routine over and over again, sort of like the movie 'Ground Hog Day'!

How long should I stay with this change?

That question reminds me of an old TV show called F Troop.  The cavalry was looking for a fort and they run into a bunch of Indians familiar with the area.  The cavalry leader asks the Indian Chief how far to the fort. The Indian Chief says three stone throws away.  The cavalry leader then asks how far is a stone throw and the Chief replies I don't know, how far can you throw a stone?

 

The  moral of that story is that when it comes to exercise and how long should you stick with the change it all depends on the individual, how many years they have been training, when was the last time they changed their routine and how much change are you planning to do next.

Personally, any time I  make major changes to my routine I give it 4 - 6 weeks to see if any progress has been made.  Minor changes I may give 2 - 4 weeks.  Again, each person is different.

Go ahead, you have nothing to lose.  It's like getting a haircut that you end up not liking, your hair will grow back out. The same is true with changing routines, if you don't like it you can change it again or go back to what you liked before.

Comments welcomed!

Fit Forlife

 

 

 

 

 

Training one body part a week...

Why train one body part a week?

For anyone that has been training for any period of time, they quickly  discover that there are just as many training programs as there are stars in our galaxy.

Part of the reason for such variety is determined by each person's goal such as:

1. Each particular sport requires specialized training methods that best effectively utilizes muscles, motor nerve patterns, flexibility, speed and agility just to name a few.
2. Desire of the individual to either tone up, slim down, bulk up.
3. Special permanent physical conditions that may inhibit them to perform exercise(s) one way but can be done using other methods.
4. To rehab an injury to a particular part of the body.

What even makes this more confusing is that within each category above, you can further break it down into endless sub categories!

This post will deal strictly with training one body part a week, why, and two methods to accomplish this.

As you may have read when I first started this blog, I have been working out for over 40 years, initially in competitive weightlifting then lately, just to stay in shape.

As I have gotten older I started to notice that the body was not responding or recuperating like it used to.  I was on a three day on, one day off split and getting two training sessions in per bodypart within a seven day period.

I was on this program for many many years...

I noticed that the first initial training session for a body part would range from good to great and the second training session ranged from so-so to 'it sucked'.  This was even happening if I lightened the load and changed the exercises. I tried changing volume and intensity, that didn't work. I even went to a two on, one day off split but the same thing was happening.

Then one day I read about the one body part per week split.  At first I was very skeptical because I had never done this and I was relating it to how the week would look like based on how I had been training before.

Once I started using the program, however, and making adjustments here and there with set and rep count as well as always mixing up the exercises, I found that each and every workout was a great workout. The muscles are super strong because of all the rest they receive. You not only get a great physical workout, you also get a great mental boost and we all know that staying fit is just as much mental as it is physical.

The logic behind the system...

Part of the theory behind working the body part once a week is that you get plenty of recovery time before your next session. After all, if you do a part on Monday and you are training Monday-Friday, your next session for that part would be the following Monday. Wow, that's an entire week worth of rest or is it???

This is where the second part of the theory kicks in and is part of the beauty of it all. You can not train one body part without impacting auxiliary body parts with any exercise, all your muscles are interconnected with each other.
 

This means if you are doing bench presses for chest, as an example, you are also training some triceps and front delts.  The same is true if you were doing lat pull downs for back, you are also kicking in some biceps.

So the logic is that you are training each body part, hard core, once a week then hitting it very mildly at least one other time during the week.  This is part of the reason why you don't lose size and in fact can increase size, definition and tone because you are allowing your body plenty of rest, recuperation and restoration time!

So how do you break up the parts across the week?

First you have to determine how many days a week you are going to train then you have to determine the sequence.  Keep in mind that you can actually train more days in the week than you normally do for two reasons, first, you are only training a body part once a week and secondly, your workouts will be shorter if you split the body across more days.

It is my belief that how you split your body parts to train across the week must be carefully staggered in a way or sequence where you are not training the auxiliary body part the following day.

I will use myself as an example.  I have split up the week into five workouts, Monday - Friday.  Each workout is no longer than 60 minutes long.  This is resistance training. I also add 20 minutes of HIIT cardio training four of those days as well as abs when I perform HIIT training. The only time I do not perform HIIT or abs is when I do legs.

So my week would look like this and I have included the auxiliary muscles that is involved via parenthesis () when I work out a particular body part:

Chest (triceps, front delts), HIIT cardio

Back (biceps, medial and back delts), HIIT cardio

Legs (core)

Shoulders (triceps), HIIT cardio

Biceps and Triceps, HIIT cardio

So as you can see from the split above, I am giving each 'main' body part a full week of rest and each 'auxiliary' body part about 48 hours rest before making it my main body part, i.e. work out chest with auxiliaries being triceps and front delts which won't be worked out until two or three days later.

With this five day split you can 'add' an extra day to do legs again if you wish. I do this almost every week. I have found that legs can take the punishment and also because they are not being trained as an auxiliary muscle in any of the other days. You also mix or lower the intensity on the second leg day of the week or use it to work on your weak points, i.e. hams or quads.

Now if you can't train five days a week you can do a four day split. I do not recommend a three day split because the workouts would be too long and there isn't enough rest period between main and auxiliary muscles. It just gets too congested if you are going to do it with intensity.

Four day split...

With a four day split I recommend two on one off or Monday-Tuesday, Thursday-Friday.  One program would be something like this:

Monday
Chest and Triceps, HIIT cardio

Tuesday
Back and Biceps, HIIT cardio

Thursday
Legs (core)

Friday
Shoulders (triceps), HIIT cardio

I also need to add that your workouts now go to 75 minutes instead of 60 minutes since you are adding one more body part to that session. HIIT cardio still remains at 20 minutes.

Final Notes...

I hope you enjoyed this article and would love to hear your feedback or experience.  This is a routine that will get you in fantastic shape.  I am not advocating this as a 'one size fits all' routine for entering a contest or improving in a particular sport.

Remember what I said in the beginning, there are endless types of routines based on what you want. This is just one method to stay fit, get good hard workouts in, and see great improvements in your body.

Stay focused.............. Old Fart Training

 

Training is like wine, it gets better with age...

I have been training for 42 years spanning five decades; from my teens through my 20's, 30's, 40's and now 50's.  Over those years my training has changed dramatically (as has nutrition) due to a different focus, objectives, body maturity and just plain being smarter.

In the beginning....

and for about the first decade, it was purely to compete in Olympic Lifting, Snatch and Clean & Jerk.  Something that Crossfit has actually made popular but has been in the Olympics from the very beginning thus its name.


David Rigert C&J

David Rigert Snatch

This was my favorite Olympic Lifter, David Rigert from Russia. Note the similarity to Moe of the Three Stooges but don't tell him that, he would kick your ass!

The purpose of Olympic Lifting, after learning the technique, was to get strong then stronger.  Then when you accomplished that, you guessed it, you got stronger again. A pretty Neanderthal training method. I always did love simplicity!
Workouts were intense. Once I reached national level I would compete just three times a year, usually the State championships, a Regional championship, then the Nationals. Occasionally you would throw in another meet as a Guest Lifter in order to maintain your competitive groove.
At that level your training cycles were about 12 weeks long and those were even broken down further, i.e. Prep, Pre-Contest and Contest phase. Within each phase there was a certain amount of tonnage you lifted calculated as something called a K factor to stay on course with your goals at the meet. I will stop getting more technical here for the sake of keeping my readers awake! And many of you thought us weightlifters were dumb, ha!
This type of training was harsh on the body and I am putting that mildly.  You pushed your body, joints, tendons and muscles to its outer limits. That was the only way to get stronger.
After many injuries, the last one being a partially torn patellar tendon, it was time to hang up my weightlifting belt and work out to stay in shape.  At the time I knew nothing about fitness, all I knew was how to get stronger! This was a total mindset shift....
But I always love a challenge.

Training through your 20's and 30's...

so on I went, working out without a purpose. I still trained hard and still trained heavy even well into my 30's. I just didn't compete because my joints couldn't stand the punishment of the Olympic movements. Since I also didn't have contests to train for, there was no training cycle as before. I kept training with no real purpose other than I just loved the adrenaline rush of the gym. Something I inherited from my father...
My muscle head mentality still existed from my competition days however, where I still went as heavy and hard as I could in certain body parts, especially legs.  Squatting work outs were so intense I developed a herniated disc.  At the time I was still a No Pain, No Gain worshipper. So much so that I kept on lifting with a herniated disc until one day it ruptured and I had to have emergency back surgery the next day. 
I was in my early 30's at the time. I still remember the surgeon telling me 'you know it's not a good thing to be having back surgery at 30'! That's when I knew I had to change my training objectives otherwise I would never see my 40's without being a cripple!

Education and Experimentation...

During this era I started reading a lot about diet and nutrition. I was not interested in bodybuilding only because in those times and probably now as well, in order to do well in a contest, you had to start juicing or what they call now, taking Performance Enhancing Drugs (PED's). It made no sense to me that to be healthy you had to take drugs. That was just an oxymoron!
Although I did a mix of bodybuilding and powerlifting movements, my main concentration was on form and range of motion.  I wanted to build symmetry and an athletic look, I was no longer interested in strength or size.
I found the best way to achieve this was using perfect form and extending the range of motion that the muscle stretches and contracts through each rep of a given exercise. It makes no sense to cut a rep short just so you can lift more.
Like I tell everyone weight is irrelevant when exercising. Too many people worry about that.
During this time I was still training 4-5 days a week, each body part twice a week and no cardio since I never did it when I competed.

Hitting the 40's...

Now I am hitting my 40's, feeling very good in how I feel especially when I get together with high school friends and find how many of them are on medication and can't do things that are too physical. I always had a guilt feeling about staying in shape mostly because people would criticize it. It wasn't till I hit my 40's that I just didn't give a crap what others thought, I knew I was on the correct life long path.
All these years of training has paid off since I have almost no similarities (in physical activities) between my friends and I except for those that also competed with me.
My metabolism had slowed somewhat, I could tell by how difficult it was for me to maintain a desired weight.
So this was the decade that I decided to incorporate some aerobic activity. I started only because I knew I needed to improve my cardiovascular system, something that I had always neglected and also because I was starting to get into hiking, snorkeling, kayaking and cycling.
Due to my metabolic change I started to pay more attention to what I ate. I started reducing sugar content, increasing fiber intake and having a consistent low fat calorie diet. This is something that I will elaborate on in a future post.
I could still train hard but one thing had definitely changed in my mid 40's. I could no longer train a body part twice a week and it be effective. I would basically have one good work out then one crappy work out on that body part during the week.  I hate hate hate crappy workouts. It's still the competitive side of me.

Training a body part once a week...

The logic was that it would eliminate that one crappy workout during the week and it allowed me to absolutely blast to exhaustion the one body part I was training. It also reduced the amount of training time which meant more time spent on cardio.
My training now went as follows:

Day 1 Chest
Day 2 Back
Day 3 Legs
Day 4 Shoulders
Day 5 Arms

Interesting enough, although I am working a body part once a week I am still working out ancillary muscles at the same time. For example, when working out chest you are also hitting the triceps indirectly. With back you are also training the biceps in the same way, etc.  I have legs in the middle of the week in order to give the upper body parts a rest between sessions.
I found this routine to work great, so much so that I still use it today and have converted many people in the gym to train this way as well.

Passing through the 50's...

The most noticeable difference between 40's and 50's training is that you are more prone to injury. The muscles are as strong as ever, its just those pesky tendons and ligaments. I feel they are like rubber bands, there is only so many stretches left in them...
Stretching is more important now and also not doing stupid stuff like handling a weight that you know is just too heavy. I think they call this being older and wiser.
You are more intelligent in your training because the goal is health and fitness and you accomplish this by avoiding injury instead of minimizing injury.  There is a difference. When you train to avoid injury you still train hard but not crazy whereas training to minimize injury you still take risks.
For example, I never do any bent over back exercises without the support of a bench against the chest. Way too much pressure is placed on the lower spine.
I don't do squats from the squat racks, I use the Smith Machine. I have found that they are just as effective yet safer on the joints and back. I train for longevity.
Whenever I am going for a record set it is because I know I handled the previous set relatively easy and I also do not bite more than I can chew in weight selection and reps desired.
Another noticeable difference is metabolism. While it slows down in your 40's, it seems to come to a screeching halt in your 50's. Diet and cardio now becomes more important than lifting!
In my 20's and 30's I ate fast food every day and in the evening's maybe fast food again or something not too healthy.
In my 40's I started tightening my diet up.
In my 50's I am meticulous about it. I still maintain a low fat calorie diet but I also carefully watch consumption of fiber, anti-oxidants, reduction of sugar to almost a zero level and more fish and chicken and less steak although I love it (sorry Paleoists's!).
Another trick to counter a slower metabolism is cardio training. I am now religious about it. It is a major key to maintaining target weight.
I have recently incorporated HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) cardio. HIIT involves performing any form of cardio (stairmaster, treadmill, elliptical, etc) for a set time period, usually 20 minutes, and incorporating several cycles of very high intensity speed for short bursts, normally 20 seconds.
So, for example, a 20 minute session on the elliptical would start off with a three minute warm-up, followed by a burst of speed for 20 seconds, slow it down to warm-up pace again until minute five then another 20 second burst. Each burst should be anywhere between 50%-100% increase in speed depending on your endurance level.  You go as fast as you can with nothing left in the tank after those 20 seconds.
You continue this cycle of two minute slow pace, 20 second burst until you reach the 20 minutes. The speed you maintain between your bursts does not matter. It's the burst that's important.
The theory behind HIIT is that your body adapts to any steady target heart rate pace where it no longer is fat burning effective. With 20 second bursts every two minutes it confuses the body and the fat burning continues throughout the session. It does not allow the body to adapt.
I have been on it this year entirely and I am hooked. I decreased the amount of cardio I was doing because I was burning too much bodyweight. It's a beautiful thing!

In conclusion...

As you age from decade to decade, you must adapt your training in order to maintain the highest level of fitness. This is not to be confused with slowing it down.
Initially, I just threw caution to the wind and went all out because nothing hurt.  The joints can only take so much high level abuse.  So I throttled my training back and eliminated the exercises destroying the joints. I still trained recklessly though and more injuries caused me to retool my training again.
In fact my current training is more intense than when I was in my 20's. My rest intervals between sets are much less, my exercise movements are much more controlled and deliberate and when you add cardio but the weights I use are substantially lower. Don't get me wrong, from my original foundation I can still out lift most everyone in the gym and definitely those in my age range but it is because I graduated to that level over many years.  I now feel I am in the best shape of my life.
Initial training was for competition, for others it may be to play a sport. But as you get older you realize that training is to make your life enjoyable forever. To stay active rather than inactive.  Once you stop anything, whether physical or mental, you start to atrophy. Activity is the best anti-aging formula in the world.
Fitness is not measured on how much you can lift or how big you are. Fitness is being able to maintain the same level of activity as you did when you were younger.
One final and important benefit to staying fit and healthy is that it is contagious. What a beautiful thing to pass on to your children. It's a lifetime benefit. I thank my Dad for starting me on this road four decades ago.
Age truly is a number and the best part is that you control what direction you want your body to take...

Train hard, smart and healthy......... Fit