Introduction
At some point along the way we've all come to the realization that in order to develop the body we've always wanted we need a great workout plan. Simply going to the gym a few hours a week and randomly lifting up weights won't do it. And with all the people out there hyping up their workout programs its hard to know which one really is the best.
I'm not going to go over every workout program out there and tell you which ones are good and which ones are just hype. What I will do is teach you about the ten proven factors (we'll call them Growth Factors) that make up a perfect workout system.
Growth Factor 1:
Training session Length
If you still believe the myth that workouts should last 90 minutes or more then you are wasting your time.
During long workouts your body will have an increase in the production of "bad" hormones and chemicals, such as cortisol which breaks down muscle. While the bodies production of "good" chemicals decreases, testosterone can decrease as high as 80% in workouts lasting over an hour. You're body's ability to process blood glucose for energy also decreases in longer workouts. Longer workouts are psychologically tiring, creating boring tedious workouts where you lose desire and focus. Increasing chance of injury and loss of desire to train.
So how long should you train? Keep your workouts under 55 min. If you're doing things right several short workouts during the week will produce maximum results.
Growth Factor 2:
Exercise Selection
Not all exercises are created equal. Certain exercises stimulate the neurotransmitters, which causes the muscles motor units to contract, more than others. The more they are stimulated, the more the muscle contracts and you get better results. Isolation exercises such as machines and concentration curls do not stimulate as many motor units. Free-weights and cables will stimulate more muscle fibers. An ideal training routine will range anywhere from 70% free weights 30% cables, to 30% free weights 70% cables with a few select machines, such as the leg press, back flies, leg curls, etc. Your workouts need to be diverse because the more exercises you know, and do, the better your results will be. Variety is the spice of life and training. Doing many exercises allows you to hit different muscle fibers you may be neglecting if you just do the same exercise. Mentally things get stale if you don't change your exercises, and as the mind goes the body will follow.
Growth Factor 3:
Recovery/ Muscle training frequency
Soreness is not an indicator on how soon you should train a muscle. Science is.
How frequently you can train a muscle each week depends on how much stress you place upon it. For example: If you run a 26 mile marathon you wont be able to run one again for a week or two. But if you go out and run five twenty yard sprints you can easily do it again the next day, assuming you're in decent shape. The amount of recovery time depends on the stress placed upon the body. When doing 3 sets of 5 reps you may only need a day or two of recovery, while 10 sets of 10 reps may require 3-5 days. If you go too long without training a muscle it will atrophy and you won't make progress. On the other hand if you train a muscle too often you will over stress it and it wont grow.
Growth Factor 4:
Rest time between sets
How long you rest between sets will determine what energy source your body uses. The three main energy sources are ATP/CP, Glycolytic, and the oxidative. You body will rely on the ATP/CP source for the first few seconds of an exercise, but not much more than 30 seconds. After this your body will use the glycolytic source for about another minute. This is where the process of glycolysis takes place (the splitting of a glucose molecule to form either pyruvic acid or lactic acid and produce ATP molecules). After a couple minutes of relaying on the glycolytic source your body will then began to rely on the oxidative, or aerobic, energy source for the duration of the activity.
A body builder will make almost all of his muscle gains in the ATP/CP and the glycolytic energy source. Resting about 2-3 minutes between sets will give you more strength going into the next set allowing you to lift more weight for more reps (ATP/CP). While resting around 45-60 seconds forces you body to rely on the glyoclytic energy system. When using this energy system your body will produce a greater amount of growth hormone following the workout. There are advantages to each. That's why the proper combination of the two in a workout system will produce maximum results.
Growth Factor 5:
Volume
In the world of bodybuilding volume is king.
Volume is basically the amount lifted in the given workout. Example: barbell curls at 100lbs x 10 reps x 5 sets = 5,000 lbs lifted during that workout. There is a belief that you can do a small amount of volume, like one set, and do it really intense and it will produce the same kind of results. The problem with that belief is that the human body wasn't made to adapt and grow to that type of training. Think about. For almost all of the history of mankind, whether man was a farmer, a hunter, or a gather, almost everything man did involved lifting and pulling things over and over again. And we have adapted to that form of life.
Growth takes place after the workout due to our body's reaction to the training. When this happens you produce powerful growth hormones that cause your muscles to increase in size and strength. Volume training produces the greatest amount of these hormones.
Growth Factor 6:
Tempo/Rep speed
Muscles are made for speed, especially when it comes to sport training. During the concentric (i.e. upward part of the bench press) part of the lift I try to push or pull the weight as fast and hard as possible, while keeping good form and control. This produces greater strength and muscle size gains because of the greater force output applied. Power = force x distance / time. During the eccentric (i.e. downward phase of the bench press) part I take 2-5 seconds. The slower you go the safer and the more intense it is, that's one way to increase the intensity of your workouts. It also increases your eccentric strength.
You also want to make sure you feel each rep. When you're doing 10 reps don't worry about rep number 10 when you on number 5, focus on number 5 and do it right.
Growth Factor 7:
Exercise Performance/Form
If you're like me you want to get the maximum benefit from each exercise you do. Some people believe to get the most out of an exercise you have to do every part of that exercise in perfect form. That's partly true. Think about this: if you were to lift a heavy box from a 2 foot table to a 5 foot table naturally you would bend your knees, push with your legs, grip with your forearms, curl with your biceps, pull with your upper back, and lift a little with your lower back. You have just lifted the object with natural form. Did lifting the box that way put as much stress on the biceps compared to if you just curled the box up with out moving anything besides your forearms? Of course not. But was it still safe? Yes. Did it still put stress on the biceps? Yes. If the box wasn't too heavy you could have just curled it up. Since the box was too heavy to just curl it was ok to use other muscle to help out. Same with weight training:
Perfect Form
Perfect form is when you focus as much force as possible into the muscle you're working without using momentum or help from other muscles. You want to start each set with perfect form and do most of the reps using this form. Example: Bar curls with just the forearm moving (pivoting on elbow joint) and back straight.
Natural Form
As you begin to get tired you can go into natural form to finish the set. You're still putting as much force as possible into the muscle you're working but now you're getting a little help from other muscles and joints, safely. Basically you're lifting how you naturally would. Example: Bars curls with the forearm moving, knees slightly bent so you can get a little push from them during the concentric part and a little lift from your back. Keep your Abs tight to support your lower back.
Sloppy Form
Don't use sloppy form. You have a high chance of getting injured and you're hardly using the muscle you're trying to work. Drop the weight instead. Example: Bar curl where you swing back and forth to get the weight up while relying on momentum.
Growth Factor 8:
Reps
When determining the amount of reps to do you must first determine what your goals are. Low reps (1-8) produce the greatest amount of absolute strength. Medium reps (9-20) produce more anaerobic strength. While high reps (21-40) produce mainly aerobic endurance strength.
As a bodybuilder variety is the key for muscle growth, so you will want to train in a wide rep range. This range can go anywhere from 1-40 reps with 90% of your training between 5-15 reps.
When lifting heavy, around 8 reps or less, you will be using your white muscle fibers more. As you get into the higher reps, around 15 or more, you will be using the red fibers more. While 10-12 reps produces the most volume. Knowing when and how to change these reps is a major part of making results.
Growth Factor 9:
Periodization
Periodization may just be the greatest thing to happen to the weight lifting world. When you know how to properly use periodization you have then un-locked the door that will allow you to overcome any plateau and make progress for years to come. This is a very complicated science. Periodization contains 3 smaller subgroups: macrocycle, mesocycle, and the microcycle. Basically periodization means changing up your workout. But how you go about doing it is the tough part. Most people do this by just switching to a new workout every month or rotating the days they train each muscle. That is not periodization its "Muscle Confusion". Proper periodization will produce amazing results while "muscle confusion" might produce results sometimes. When you use periodization properly you will be working with the other 9 growth factors to make changes to your workout so you can continue to make progress. You do this by adjusting your training intensity on daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly bases.
Your body needs to adapt to make progress. When you train there are two directions your body will pull towards: Over-training or under-training. Somewhere between those two in a small area where growth takes place, the "Ideal Training Zone". By properly applying the 10 growth factors you will be able to stay within that ideal zone and continue to make progress until you reach your genetic potential.
Growth factor 10:
Training Intensity
By Training Intensity I mean the effort at which you workout. There are many ways to adjust the intensity of your workout program: changing the amount of reps and sets, rest time, tempo, etc. For now I'm going to talk about training intensity as a separate factor. The fact is you're not going to push yourself and apply the same amount of effort into each and every workout and into each and every set. Physically and mentally you just can't. Some days you may leave the gym feeling totally exhausted, while other days you might feel like you hardly even worked out. Knowing how much training intensity to put it depends a lot on you and what stage of periodization you're in. Most of the time your training will be between 100% all out effort and 70% effort. At times sets will be done to complete failure using drop sets and partial reps while other times you'll feel like you could have done a few more reps. Knowing what intensity to train at is part science and part you. It takes time to learn how your body responds and adapts to training.
Conclusion
What I've done is create a series of training systems that follow the previously mentioned 10 Growth Factors. I didn't simply give you a temporary program to follow. I gave you an endless system of training that will teach you and allow you to understand these 10 factors.
"Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day, teach a man to fish and he will eat for a lifetime."
(Note- These workout programs are the most effective, and are made for non-steroid bodybuilders)
