^
Progressive Resistance TrainingIn the outstanding book, “The Tipping
Point”, Malcolm Gladwell discusses the concept of immunity in the
marketplace. He reveals how no marketing method works forever due to
the fact that the potential customer eventually develops immunity to
the pitch. Marketing methods that used to be effective include telemarketing
and email marketing. Both methods are not nearly effective as
they used to be. Most people do not give telemarketers the time of day.
Most email users have spam blockers or simply delete every email message
in which they do not recognize the sender. Marketplace immunity is a
tremendous dilemma that all business owners face. Without staying ahead
of the curve, a business is doomed to fail miserably.
Productive strength training is no different.
Your muscles and central nervous system (CNS is a very important part
of productive strength training) eventually treat the program you are
on the same way you treat telemarketers and email marketers. Just as
you do not give telemarketers and email marketers the time of day, your
CNS and muscles eventually do not give your training program the time
of day. They enjoy the stimulus of a new program for a few weeks and
then eventually become immune and render the program useless. Sounds
too dramatic? Just look at people at your gym that have been using the
same program for the last decade. Court adjourned and I rest my case.
One of the main reasons why no training
program works forever is the fact that you eventually become immune
to the stimulus of any program. The program either becomes too easy
and the necessary stimulus is no longer being or applied, or the training
program is too hard or complicated and the eventual burnout is soon
to follow. Either way, you shut down and progress comes to a screeching
halt. This is usually when many trainees turn to nutrition supplements,
complicated programs, or a combination of the two. While nutrition supplements
can be beneficial, they are rarely the solution that the average trainee
is craving for. I do not even have to discuss complicated programs.
If you are someone that believes that you need to do fifteen exercises
per bodypart, then you are probably someone that still wears bell-bottoms
and thinks that “Knight Rider” is what the youth of today watch.
Since exercise immunity is the problem,
changing workouts constantly must be the solution right? Nope, you are
way off. Trainees that do a completely different workout every time
they train are like people that change jobs every other week. Just as
you will never become a professional at anything if you change careers
too often, you will never get good at the skill of training if you change
workouts too often. Similar to advertising campaigns, you have to let
one program run its course before moving on the next one. Marketers
have to give the potential customer some time to adapt to a message
and get comfortable with it before moving on to another message. Just
as coca-cola does not change TV ads every week, you should not change
training programs ever week. Moreover, when you do make changes the
subtle approach will do just fine. Save dramatic changes for your personal
life and leave it out of your program.
While it is not set in stone what the
ideal timeframe is to stay on a program, a general rule of thumb is
no more than six weeks. Personally, I like powerlifter and strength-training
writer Jack Reape’s approach to training. Hit is hard for three weeks,
then have a back off week. I like the idea of staying on a program for
three weeks and hitting it hard. Then follow up the three-week program
with a back off week before moving on to another program. If you do
not stay on a program long enough, you will not reap the rewards of
the program. On the other, hand if you stay on a program for too long,
you become immune. Three weeks is long enough to absorb the benefits
of a program and short enough to avoid becoming immune.
Again, keep in mind that dramatic changes
are not necessary every four weeks. You do not have to do a super high
volume program for a phase and then move onto a super high intensity
program for a phase. You do not have to change every exercise every
four weeks. Dramatic changes are not necessary or advisable. Subtle
changes are ideal.
Lets go through a sample twelve-week strength-training program that evades exercise immunity.
In phase one we are going to start off
with a basic full body workout routine done three times per week. For
the sake of simplicity the program is going to be comprised exclusively
of compound exercises that provide the most bang for your buck. Forget
about isolation exercises for now. Hell, just forget about them all
together. Start off with weights that you can do seven to eight reps
with if you went to your limit. When you can do three sets of five with
the same weight, add five pounds. Avoid training to failure in which
you miss reps. However, feel free to take the third set of every exercise
to the limit. The limit being the point in which you cannot do another
solid rep with good form. In week four follow the same routine and use
50% of the weights that you ended with in week three. This is your back-off
week.
Monday
A-1: Standing Barbell Clean and Military
Press
A-2: Barbell
Bent-over Row
Do A-1 and A-2 in alternating fashion.
Do a set of A-1, rest for 90 second and then do a set of A-2. Continue
until you have completed three sets for each exercise.
B-1: Barbell Squat
B-2: Romanian Deadlift
Do B-1 and B-2 in alternating fashion.
Do a set of B-1, rest for 90 second and then do a set of B-2. Continue
until you have completed three sets for each exercise.
Dumbbell Windmill 3x5 (one-minute
breaks)
Wednesday
A-1: Incline Dumbbell Press
A-2: Weighted Pull-up
Do A-1 and A-2 in alternating fashion.
Do a set of A-1, rest for 90 second and then do a set of A-2. Continue
until you have completed three sets for each exercise.
B-1: Barbell Deadlift
B-2: Front Squat
Do B-1 and B-2 in alternating fashion.
Do a set of B-1, rest for 90 second and then do a set of B-2. Continue
until you have completed three sets for each exercise.
Barbell Ab Roll-out 3x5 (one-minute
breaks)
Friday
A-1: Dumbbell Seesaw Press
A-2: Dumbbell Renegade Row
Do A-1 and A-2 in alternating fashion.
Do a set of A-1, rest for 90 second and then do a set of A-2. Continue
until you have completed three sets for each exercise.
B-1: Barbell Squat
B-2: Romanian Deadlift
Do B-1 and B-2 in alternating fashion.
Do a set of B-1, rest for 90 second and then do a set of B-2. Continue
until you have completed three sets for each exercise.
Turkish Get-up 3x5 (one-minute breaks)
In phase two we are going to increase
the volume and lower the reps to focus more on strength. The stronger
you get the bigger you can get if that is one of your goals. Besides
who wants to be big and weak? Be as strong as you look and have it all.
Again, we are going to focus on a basic
full body workout routine done three times per week with a focus on
compound exercises. Since the volume is higher and the weights are heavier,
we are going to cycle the intensity. Monday will be your heavy day.
On Wednesday, you are going to use 80% of the intensity that you used
on Monday. On Friday, you are going to use 70% of the weight you used
on Monday. Every week, rotate the intensity so every workout has its
moment of fame. Confused? Do not worry, I will clarify below.
Monday
Week 1: 100%
Week 2: 80%
Week 3: 70%
A-1: Standing Barbell Clean and Military
Press
A-2: Weighted Pull-up
Do A-1 and A-2 in alternating fashion.
Do a set of A-1, rest for 90 second and then do a set of A-2. Continue
until you have completed five sets for each exercise.
B-1: Barbell Squat
B-2: Romanian Deadlift
Do B-1 and B-2 in alternating fashion.
Do a set of B-1, rest for 90 second and then do a set of B-2. Continue
until you have completed five sets for each exercise.
Hanging Leg Raise 2x5 (one-minute
breaks)
Wednesday
Week 1: 80%
Week 2: 70%
Week 3: 100%
A-1: Incline Barbell Press
A-2: Dumbbell Renegade Row
Do A-1 and A-2 in alternating fashion.
Do a set of A-1, rest for 90 second and then do a set of A-2. Continue
until you have completed five sets for each exercise.
B-1: Barbell Deadlift
B-2: Front Squat
Do B-1 and B-2 in alternating fashion.
Do a set of B-1, rest for 90 second and then do a set of B-2. Continue
until you have completed five sets for each exercise.
Barbell Ab Roll-out 2x5 (one-minute
breaks)
Friday
Week 1: 70%
Week 2: 100%
Week 3: 80%
A-1: Dumbbell Clean and Military Press
A-2: Barbell Bent-over Row
Do A-1 and A-2 in alternating fashion.
Do a set of A-1, rest for 90 second and then do a set of A-2. Continue
until you have completed five sets for each exercise.
B-1: Barbell Squat
B-2: Romanian Deadlift
Do B-1 and B-2 in alternating fashion.
Do a set of B-1, rest for 90 second and then do a set of B-2. Continue
until you have completed five sets for each exercise.
Dumbbell Turkish Get-up 2x5 (one-minute
breaks)
Remember to take a back off week in week four in which you follow the same routine with 50% of the weights used in week three for each training day.
In phase three we are going to increase
the volume and reps with the classic 5x5 program. The 5x5 program is
great for increasing strength and size. Of course this is assuming that
you up the calories. To focus more on strength without adding size,
try the 5x2 program. With the 5x5 you increase the weight when
you can use the same weight for all five sets.
As usual, we are going to focus on three
workouts per week and again cycle the intensity. Similar to the last
phase, Monday will be your heavy day. On Wednesday you are going to
use 80% of the intensity that you used on Monday. On Friday you are
going to use 70% of the weight you used on Monday. Every week, rotate
the intensity so every workout has its day in the sun.
Monday
Week 1: 100%
Week 2: 80%
Week 3: 70%
A-1: Incline Dumbbell Press
A-2: Weighted Pull-up
Do A-1 and A-2 in alternating fashion.
Do a set of A-1, rest for 90 second and then do a set of A-2. Continue
until you have completed five sets for each exercise.
B-1: Barbell Squat
B-2: Romanian Deadlift
Do B-1 and B-2 in alternating fashion.
Do a set of B-1, rest for 90 second and then do a set of B-2. Continue
until you have completed five sets for each exercise.
Hanging Leg Raise 2x5 (one-minute
breaks)
Wednesday
Week 1: 80%
Week 2: 70%
Week 3: 100%
A-1: Barbell Clean and Press
A-2: Weighted Pull-up
Do A-1 and A-2 in alternating fashion.
Do a set of A-1, rest for 90 second and then do a set of A-2. Continue
until you have completed five sets for each exercise.
B-1: Barbell Deadlift
B-2: Front Squat
Do B-1 and B-2 in alternating fashion.
Do a set of B-1, rest for 90 second and then do a set of B-2. Continue
until you have completed five sets for each exercise.
Barbell Ab Roll-out 2x5
(one-minute breaks)
Friday
Week 1: 70%
Week 2: 100%
Week 3: 80%
A-1: Dumbbell Seesaw Press
A-2: Barbell Bent-over Row
Do A-1 and A-2 in alternating fashion.
Do a set of A-1, rest for 90 second and then do a set of A-2. Continue
until you have completed five sets for each exercise.
B-1: Barbell Squat 3x5
B-2: Romanian Deadlift 3x5
Do B-1 and B-2 in alternating fashion.
Do a set of B-1, rest for 90 second and then do a set of B-2. Continue
until you have completed five sets for each exercise.
Dumbbell Windmill 2x5 (one-minute
breaks)
Once again, remember to take a back off
week in week four in which you follow the same routine with 50% of the
weights used in week three for each training day.
There you have it a twelve-week program
to evade immunity and keep progress coming. As you can see from the
sample program in this article, subtle changes made every four-week
are the way to go. Keep the focus on the basics exercises that have
been proven effective and make changes in reps, sets, and breaks to
keep immunity at bay.
If you need some help with developing
an effective program that evades immunity, check out my personalized
program page at: http://www.mikemahler.com
Live Life Aggressively!
Mike Mahler