Jun 2 2009, 01:27 PM, updated 17y ago
By JOHN GARGANI of bb.com
We get so many threads on here where people list their various workout programs, or, where they complain that a certain bodypart is not growing and then list their current program and rep and set configurations......
fine.....but I love when people use expressions like: " I throw in a couple of sets of lateral raises", for example, and then wonder why their lateral delts are not growing.
or better yet, so clean and neat: " I do 3 sets of this, and 3 sets of that " etc., as If it were a homework assignment!
here is an interesting quote from WIKIPEDIA on Training:
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Originally Posted by from WiKipedia
Training differs from exercise in that people may dabble in exercise as an occasional activity for fun. Training has specific goals of improving one's capability, capacity, and performance.
the first thing I highlighted was SPECIFIC GOALS: just what ARE your goals?? to get bigger, regardless of stronger, to get stronger, regardless of bigger, to get defined, regardless of size, to get bigger AND defined...etc......
I also highlighted CAPACITY: Training involves improving or increasing capacity.
meaning: if you are doing a neat little tidy program, where you "throw in " 3 sets of lateral raises, then what makes you think they are ever going to grow...
why should they??? what is the impetus, what is the forcing issue that makes the body WANT to prioritize them?
(please, keep in mind, that I am just using one muscle as an example)
So: with that in mind, why couldn't you do 5 sets, or 6 sets or whatever, in this case, of the lateral raises....or, why couldn't you do a pyramid styled workout similar to what you might do in benching.....
if you want a bigger chest, do you "throw in" 3 sets of benches for 8 sets each??? The guys who have built some really truly deep and big chests have POUNDED THE LIVING SHITE OUT OF THEM with benching, earlier on, or still now.....
what makes people think that only works for one particular exercise??
My point, and it just comes around to an old rant of mine, resurrected again, is that once you start thinking in terms of a regimented written down, cross off the list, check off the boxes approach to bodybuilding, you are already self limiting yourself, and holding yourself back....
if you are TRAINING, then you are out to also improve your capacity, and for one workout, or several workouts, that might mean simply doing more of something else....and why?? for no other reason than 3 sets might simply NOT be enough to stimulate a weak bodypart......
a variation of this is when people will come on here and say: " give me another exercise for lateral delts, because I already did 3 sets of those".....
but I say: If you are getting a GREAT mind muscle connection with that movement, why move on to anything else??? instead of trying something else, which may not really hit that bodypart as well FOR YOU, why not simply DO MORE of what is working well for your body......
but if you are going to say " but I have already done what I was SUPPOSED to do in the workout plan", then forget about it, because in that case, I would have to say F@#$ the plan and F@#$ the horse it rode in on!
NEVER LEAVE AN EXERCISE IF YOU ARE GETTING GREAT MIND MUSCLE CONNECTION FROM IT AND ARE DOING GREAT AND MEANINGFUL REPS!!
don't worry if you "Leave out" something else that was "planned"...so what??
what would you rather do, some meaningless and pointless exhausted sets of whatever, at the end of a workout, or more sets of a movement where YOU ARE COOKING??!!
never be a slave to a written routine.....your body will tell you, every workout, what the routine should be.....
if you are simply NOT connecting to a certain exercise on a given night, then by all means, don't beat a dead horse and move on, but conversely, don't leave it if you are grooving on it.....
and don't worry about doing more sets than you were supposed to at the end, because, as I said, if we are "TRAINING" we are looking to increase some sort of capacity somewhere along the line at all times.....
going back to the Wikipedia quote: don't "DABBLE"....don't do 3 sets of everything all neat and pretty....do what you HAVE TO DO to get the job done......improve your capability and capacity and performance....in a word: TRAIN!!!!!!
This post has been edited by darklight79: Jun 2 2009, 01:28 PM
Are you "working out" or or TRAINING?, By JOHN GARGANI of bodybuilding.com
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