Don’t resist the basics!
You know there will never be a day I don't promote getting stronger, building muscle. I want you to leave this article having an ease with how uncomplicated it needs to be, and is. And a love for the medicine that resistance training is. Don’t get me wrong, the longevity of the practice will mean you learn and develop skills that will take years. But as a beginner when it’s just you and a pin loaded machine lets these basics become your foundation. Or an intermediate that has just spent due time practicing squat technique and you’re about to load the bar up - we must stay committed to the basics, your foundations.
And for the fence sitters you might avoid it because “I don’t want to bulk up”, “I”m time poor”, …. but I’ll call bullshit on all of that for you because I truely value health, and your health. I know you do also because you’ve thought about it or complained about wanting something different in the last fortnight, guaranteed.
I’ll rest when everyone is respecting themselves enough to do 2 days of
resistance training well, & consistently.
Ok so what underpins the basics. Our bodies respond brilliantly to frequency - consistency. They are also specific. This means that if you work one arm and not the other you will get a reduction in the central (full body hormonal & nervous system) benefits and you’d have one jacked arm, working efficiently to live up to it's potential in your body and one regular arm.
An important distinction to make when setting the blue print for your WHY you train program is that musculo-skeletal system is not just about aesthetics. It is the largest organ system that has been under played by the fitness industry to sell you quick fixes and guilt. What you achieve with your resistance training is improved hormone regulation, insulin sensitivity, immune regulation, mood stabilising and more…. So lets get this magic pill done, and done right.
Top 6 things to commit to:
MOBILITY: Meet yourself were you are at with our joint health and apply mobility drills for your warm up
these are joint and ROM focused for safe lifting, without inhibiting (aka putting to sleep) muscle cells.
REPETITIVE: pick 3 -5 exercises and do them for at least 8-12 weeks with out changing them, of course continue to progress weights every 4th session.
this allows you to see change in the muscle strength & your function and movement skills. Allow for one deload period in this time if you are training more than 3 times a week.
FULL BODY: for people that are time poor this way you never loose, aim for 3 days but only manage 1, but everything has still been trained.
Be sure that at least one of your exercises is a rotational movement & take 24- 48 recovery before your next session.
PACE: control the movement with a 3:2:1 ratio for best strength results.
so for a row - pull arms to body over 2 sec, hold in the row position for 1 sec, control the return to start position over 3 sec.
REST: be excellent and strict with your 2-3 min rest times between sets. If you are time poor do a super set = upperbody to lower body with 30 seconds rest then back to upper body.
plan for success put your phone on focus and use an alternate non distracting option for a timer.
LOAD: the weight you choose should feel 8-9/10 difficult at the end of your repetition range.
Strength set = 4 reps, so rep 3 & 4 should feel V hard. Hypertrophy set = 8 to 10, so rep 7 or 9 should feel V hard. Endurance or recruitment set = 20-30 reps, 18 or 28 should feel V hard. Technique and control should never be compromised by weight progression, if it is get your technique checked.
So here we are. Stay consistent and let the specificity of the stimulus do it’s hidden magic in your powerful medicine system which is your muscles. And be sure the only thing that gets in the way of your body gaining, is your brain.
Have fun!