Is your training time-divided in a balanced fashion?
7 April 2005If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
One question folks ask on a consistent basis is how should I divide my available training time? When it comes to progressive resistance training, people spend way too much time training the beach muscles chest, shoulders, arms and abdominals while virtually ignoring the back and legs. The back and leg muscles account for roughly 65% of total body mass and therefore should be allotted 65% of total training time.
The typical trainee will perform a 3-4 sets of lat pulldowns, maybe 3-4 sets of seated cable rows and after fifteen minutes theyre done back training. Yet these same folks think nothing of performing an hours worth of chest exercises hitting multiple exercises for a single muscle, the pectorals, flat bench, inclines, declines, pec dec and flyes this despite the biological fact that the pecs account for perhaps 10% of total body mass. Dont even bring up arm training: how many times have you seen gym rats perform set after set after set of curls followed by set after set of tricep work, literally working their arms for hours. If they train legs at all it will be a few sets of legs extensions and leg curls thats it.
Training balance should be strived for and need be determined according to a muscles percentage of overall body mass. Why spend 45-minutes training a single muscle that accounts for 5% of total body mass? (biceps) Trainees spend a disproportionate amount of training time on the chest, shoulders and arms. Why spend 70% to 80% of total training time on muscles that account for 30% of total body mass? Are you imbalanced in your training? Remember that when it comes to progressive resistance training intense progressive resistance training, the only kind that triggers muscle hypertrophy you have about one hour before the point of diminishing returns set in. In other words, if you are training as hard as you are supposed to, after 40-60 minutes, sheer fatigue causes you to lose poundage and reps on the exercise selected for the end of the session.
Theres no sense in training once the point of diminishing returns has set in and you cant perform even 60% of normal fresh capacity. Have you ever noticed how the exercises at the end of a tough session always suffer? At the end of a grueling session an exercise in which you normally could handle (for example) 100-pounds for 10 reps now you can only handle 70-pounds for 10-reps or 100-pound for 6-reps. My contention is, why even bother when capacity is so diminished? Work like hell for 40-60 minutes and bag it. Given that you only have a finite amount of time to work dont fritter it all away performing dink-ass exercises like tricep kickbacks or preacher curls.
Start every workout with a major body part and use a compound multi-joint exercise to start every session. Always start with exercises that require groups of muscles to work in muscular synchronization then follow up with an isolation exercise. Save the tiny muscles and the isolation exercises done in machines for the end of the session. Big, broad, sweeping exercises that requires lots of muscle to act in coordinated fashion sap energy and should be done when energy is high and you are fresh.
Good Cause… From time to time we like to see about helping out some of our friends in need. Here’s an email I received. Can any of you help out?
Deferential request from a former Marine
Dear Marty:
My name is Jim Haley,Jr.-{http://www.mercyvocational.org/teachers/personal.php?username=jhaley}-and I teach history and coach boys’ varsity soccer at Mercy Vocational High School{http://www.mercyvocational.org/ }in North Philadelphia, PA.
Do you know someone in the athletic venue, who would be willing to donate
used weight-lifting and/or cardio equipment to Mercy Vocational High School?
I thought perhaps, you may have a point of contact not at a university, that
may be willing to give us dumbbells {5-100 lbs.}, for example.
Presently, we have very few weights for our student-athletes. Please understand, that we are not playing the “feel sorry for an inner city school card.”
Please note, we are not asking for new state of the art equipment. We are respectfully asking for donations of used, weight-lifting/cardiovascular equipment–that is in good condition. Mercy Vocational High School will provide a letter to any donor for tax purposes, which cites the donor’s appraised value of any donated equipment.
Dummbbells {5-100 lbs.}are our highest priority, but donation of any of the
following used weight/cardio equpiment: hack squat machine, standing calf
machine,seated calf machine, stairmasters, military press bench, incline bench,
universal machine,leg curls/leg extension, Smith Machine},would be a monumental
help–to our school.
Mercy Vocational High School is a private, urban vocational high school sponsored by the Sisters of Mercy. Mercy Vocational High School is a co-educational institution with a current enrollment of 390 students. The student body is comprised of a diverse multiethnic and multiracial population:
Males 47%, Females53%,
Multi-Racial 1%,
Asian/Latino - 9%,
African-American 41`% and Caucasian 49%. The average academic class size is 25; the average vocational technical class size is 15.
On a personal note, as a high school senior I was 5′ 4″ 135 lbs.–able to “hang glide to school on a dorito.” I was 5′10″ 150 lbs, when I went to Marine Corps Officer Candidates School{http://www.ocs.usmc.mil/ } in Quantico, VA {1981}, following my graduation from Penn State.
With the help of some Marines,I found the weight room and put on 15 lbs. of muscle.
After resigning as a Captain, I have continued weight lifting & boxing {I got to
spar Bam Bam Hines in the early 1990s}. I am now 5′ 10″ 195-200 lbs.{a muscular version}, as opposed to the “hunger-striking version” of
myself…years ago.
You and I are aware of how lifting weights can enhance an at-risk student-athlete’s performance
& confidence.
If you or anyone you know, can donate any used weight lifting cardio
and/or equipment to Mercy Vocational High School, please note that I may be
reached at me email.
I don’t have a clue how many requests you receive. But by sending you at this email,as the trite cliche goes—”the worst you can say is no.” I say the following not in the jaded sense, but during my prior career–I heard “no” expressed to me occasionally in a non-pristine lexicon.
I certainly appreciate you taking the time to read this email. Perhaps you even got a chuckle out of a few of my lines. As you know, a couple chuckles can be good, considering sometimes we both deal with “charismatically-challenged” people.
Respectfully Submitted,
Jim Haley, Jr.
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