Twenty years ago I was very influenced by the bodybuilders
and the training systems of the day. Hitting the weights five
or six times a week, splitting upper and lower body workouts
and working out twice a day was seen as normal.
Every set was taken to positive failure, with three or more
forced reps on top of that and if that wasn't enough I would
throw in a few negative reps to top it off. This type of training
would leave me totally exhausted and render me sore for days
after every session.
The constant battering to my body lowered my immune system
and I would always be sick or injured. I would take time off
training and then go back to it again, all the time gaining
nothing in size or strength.
Can you imagine years and years of hard work like this all
for nothing. The sad reality is that I still see it going
on around me now? The cold hard facts are that over 80% of
the regular trainees in your gym are overtraining. That’s
right, 80%, disturbing isn’t it?
Traditional training techniques like volume training are ineffective
and downright dangerous, having been passed down from the
previous training generations and unquestionably followed
at all costs.
The only people making any progress on these systems are the
so called 'bodybuilding stars' who have superb genetics (about
2% of the general population) and are taking massive amounts
of steroids (very expensive and dangerous).
So please don’t fall into the same overtraining trap
as many others have, if you haven't made any gains for a long
time now and maybe suffer from one or more of the symptoms
found below stop!! Stop wasting your time and effort for nothing.
• Reoccurring colds and sickness
• Sore joints and muscles
• Unwillingness to go to the gym to train.
• Loss of appetite
• Insomnia
• Chronic fatigue
Put a stop to overtraining by understanding that the two main
components of strength training are the intensity of the exercise
and the recovery after the exercise.
Infrequent, short, high intensity weight training sessions,
followed by the required amount of time to recover and become
stronger is what is needed to increase functional muscle size
and stop overtraining.
Have a look at some scientific principles found below and
practice them in the gym and you will be on the road to greater
gains in muscle size without the problem of overtraining.
Limited Energy Level
A strength-training program should be short and simple; you
only have a limited amount of energy per training session.
Scientific studies reveal that blood sugar levels (energy)
start to deplete after 30 mins, so exercise selection and
the time taken to perform them is crucial.
What you should be aiming for is stimulating as many muscle
fibres in the shortest period of time available, leaving the
gym and going home to grow.
To do this, you will have to perform high intensity workouts
consisting of multijoint, compound movements in the shortest
amount of time so that blood sugar levels don’t deplete.
Progressive Overload
Progressive Overload is the main exercise principle you need
to be aware of in order to get the results that you're after
with strength training.
The three most important points are:
• Complete your exercise with perfect technique
• Push to total failure when doing a set
• Overload the weight on the bar progressively.
Basically this means that when the body is stressed by high
intensity training beyond its normal demands, the body will
adapt to these new demands of improved strength.
Once your muscles have adapted to a particular weight then
it'll be time to overload them further (add more weight, speed,
repetitions). You'll need to keep on repeating this process
of overload and adaptation if you want to become stronger.
Training Frequency
The sad reality is that the popular high volume type of training
techniques that you find in bodybuilding books and magazines
(and used by the stars) are irrelevant to the majority of
the population and has a high failure rate.
What is good for the latest bodybuilding star is probably
not good for you. Everybody has different genetics; most of
us have poor genetics and are not taking steroids like the
stars.
The only way the majority of us can make any gains at all
is to perform short intense workouts followed by long periods
of rest so that you don’t over train.
Over Compensation
Many studies at universities, conducted around the world have
shown clearly that recuperation from strength training requires
far more rest time than previously thought.
Infrequent, short, high intensity weight training sessions,
followed by the required amount of time to recover and become
stronger is necessary for you to increase your functional
muscle.
Here's what you need to do - allow your body enough recuperation
time for over compensation to take place, so that the muscles
can adjust to their new strength and growth.
Exercise Selection for Intensity
I can't stress enough of how exercise selection is absolutely
crucial. There are only a few exercises that you really need
to perform. These exercises consist of multi-joint movements.
These particular exercises are far superior to that of isolation
exercises (working 1 muscle group at a time) because you are
required to use more muscles from every muscle group.
By following these principles you will not only develop greater
muscle size but also banish overtraining for good.
Written By: Gary Matthews
Author of several ebooks, including:
"Maximum Weight Loss in Ten Weeks"
"Maximum Weight Gain in Ten Weeks"
http://www.maximumfitness.com
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