Tag: General Rule

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Train / Eat / Sleep

IN THE GYM,

You Train, you Work Hard, you go home… right?

Unfortunately that is not how it works for most of us who are not professional athletes.

The difference between being a ‘professional’ versus being a ‘high-level athlete’ is that high-level athletes still have to go to work! Whereas Pro’s job is to Train / Eat / Sleep + Perform.

Top Professionals have as much control over their Sleep and Nutrition as they do their movement. High-level athletes don’t/can’t because Life often gets in the way!

All that is to say is – pay more attention to your Sleep and Nutritional QUALITY – and you will notice an improvement in Performance.

I appreciate that this is easier said than done.

Start with limiting your training sessions to 3 days a week but adding in one important extra little thing …

MOVE MORE THROUGHOUT THE DAY
ok this isn’t a ‘little’ thing, its huge. Most of us sit all day and don’t walk enough.

  • the negative effects of sitting for hours cannot be undone by any amount of exercise.
  • walking / running is the most primal type of human movement and is one of the most effective exercise for maintaining general health.

Another General Rule:
you need almost twice as much “Non Exercise Activity” as you do training in the gym.

HOW!?!?!
here are a few ways of adding more movement into your daily life

  • Morning Movement Routine
  • Pre / Post – Meal Walks
  • Set up a “courage corner” / workout station and practice “Grease the Groove”

This is not the place to explain the GTG protocol.

Suffice it to say – Grease The Groove is the most effective way to Build Strength and Skill while helping to maintain a Healthy Body Composition.

That brings us back to the question of Exercise Selection and what you should be focusing on when it comes to Movement Quality.

…. More on that next time

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Strength Training specific 4 your Age & Fitness Level

IN THE GYM,

“Training like a teenager is only appropriate for teenagers.”

It is important to take into account chronological age and “fitness level” when considering how much Volume of Work you should be doing each week.

There is only empirical evidence from my own experience to back up this next claim:

A (very) General Rule:
once you past your 30ies you need to be doing 10 reps for every decade you have been alive. Every workout, for every exercise.
– example: if you are 35 you need to be at least doing 30 reps per session of each exercise. If you’r 90, you do 90 reps per exercise, per session.

When it comes to Exercise Selection:
you will get stronger, faster, if you stick to the same 5-10 Compound Movements (or at least variations of them) and get really, really good at them.
– example: Push Up, Squat, Pull Up, Deadlift, Snatch

That being said ….

AGE IS JUST A NUMBER

If you put in hard work, no matter the age, you will get stronger.

That means you can be considered a high level athlete at any age.

At that point of being a ‘high level athlete’ – the very general rule I stated above no longer applies. At a highly trained level one must be very strict with their sleep and nutrition, not just their training – if improvements are to be made.

A high level athlete may need 5 or 6 sessions of training per week to progress.

However, for those following the general rule : 3 training sessions a week is a enough!

In the next post I will talk a little bit about why 3 workouts a week is enough IF you MOVE MORE OFTEN throughout the day. I will give you a few suggestion on how to go about this

* a note on the General Rule : this rule will change depending on the exercise, and is a suggestion of how much Volume of Work you need to do in order to maintain joint and muscular health as you age. If you are 90 you might do 9 sets of 10 reps on the bench press, but then only do 9 sets of a single 40 yard dash. (a great workout btw – try it and let me know how you feel the next day.)