Paradoxically recovery begins in the gym. By this I mean the program you perform and the intensity you bring to the program are critical in determining whether you will recover prior to your next training session. This was one of the most important lessons I had to learn in my own training regime and it is somewhat counterintuitive.
Much of the ignorance is driven by bodybuilding magazines that too often talk about the pump, going for the burn and training to failure. In aggregate this paints a picture that training is only effective if you wipe yourself out by pushing maximally each set of each exercise every training day. For the non professional lifter nothing could be further from the truth.
Let there be no equivocation the pump and burn are a physiological response to training not a causal factor of training success. Constantly training to failure of every set and pushing to extremes will result in quickly overreaching your recovery ability leading inevitably to over training and stagnated progress. As a consequence the training program you undertake and the manner which you perform this is the first key element of managing recovery.
Recovery ability varies from individual to individual but anecdotally few individuals, unless heavily geared will continue to gain while pushing to failure every session. I have lost track of how many times I watch young trainers in the gym straining constantly with drop sets, forced reps and even super sets every session. They stagger out at the end of their sessions visibly spent having completely exhausted their nervous system. In fact I am sure if you wring their gym towels they would drip cortisol.
For a natural trainer a better approach is to focus on getting stronger at the exclusion of all else. This is best accomplished by a consistent progressive overload focusing on accumulating minor increases in poundage at each session and always hitting rep targets. My best results have come from making just such a change, working on a Rippetoe 3 day a week full body routine.
Moving from a routine built around working to failure is a paradigm shift but ideal for managing recovery and keeping the gains coming. By not pushing to failure you can focus on always hitting rep targets with a weight that is progressively increased each session (the foundation to increasing strength). Furthermore it ensures you see each training session not as an individual activity but rather as an integrated element of your program. Thus the importance of not overreaching on any one single session as it puts at risk your program.
In a similar vein I see new trainers working too much with the eccentric portion of the lift. Of course we all hear that the negative portion of a lift is great for muscle growth blah blah blah. What happens next is the new trainee summarily wipes himself out by grinding out the eccentric portion on every lift. This results generally in massive soreness which directly impacts their capacity to back up for the next session. Worse still this can be dangerous if used on exercises such as the deadlift. I have seen several guys in my gym regularly resisting a deadlift heavily on each eccentric lift which is just soooo dumb.
Check out the form on massive freak Matt Kroc in the video below. Forget the "gear" forget that he is far above the rest of us mere mortals, what I want you to notice is that he virtually drops each rep once he has completed lift. Thats how you should deadlift pull strong then little resistance on the way down. That certainly reduces the risk of injury.
So for the enlightened ones our there I agree this does sound awfully simple, but the benefits to your training are enormous. To recap my keys to managing recovery in the gym are:
For a natural trainer a better approach is to focus on getting stronger at the exclusion of all else. This is best accomplished by a consistent progressive overload focusing on accumulating minor increases in poundage at each session and always hitting rep targets. My best results have come from making just such a change, working on a Rippetoe 3 day a week full body routine.
Moving from a routine built around working to failure is a paradigm shift but ideal for managing recovery and keeping the gains coming. By not pushing to failure you can focus on always hitting rep targets with a weight that is progressively increased each session (the foundation to increasing strength). Furthermore it ensures you see each training session not as an individual activity but rather as an integrated element of your program. Thus the importance of not overreaching on any one single session as it puts at risk your program.
In a similar vein I see new trainers working too much with the eccentric portion of the lift. Of course we all hear that the negative portion of a lift is great for muscle growth blah blah blah. What happens next is the new trainee summarily wipes himself out by grinding out the eccentric portion on every lift. This results generally in massive soreness which directly impacts their capacity to back up for the next session. Worse still this can be dangerous if used on exercises such as the deadlift. I have seen several guys in my gym regularly resisting a deadlift heavily on each eccentric lift which is just soooo dumb.
Check out the form on massive freak Matt Kroc in the video below. Forget the "gear" forget that he is far above the rest of us mere mortals, what I want you to notice is that he virtually drops each rep once he has completed lift. Thats how you should deadlift pull strong then little resistance on the way down. That certainly reduces the risk of injury.
So for the enlightened ones our there I agree this does sound awfully simple, but the benefits to your training are enormous. To recap my keys to managing recovery in the gym are:
- don't train to failure and don't grind out reps
- increase poundage in moderate increments (2.5 kg) every session (assuming a routine based on Rippetoe or similar)
- understand that each session is a precursor to the next so you must stay within your recovery so as not to risk subsequent sessions ( it is the aggregate increase in weight over your program that will drive gains)
Till next time stay strong!
Thomo
Thomo
ps My thoughts go to all those in Queensland who have suffered terrible losses over the last week due to the flooding. As Australians we must all give however we can to help families recover.
