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Old school vs. New school advice !
With new research and trial and error in the weight room, methods have come and gone. With all of the information and misinformation out there, it can be tough to figure out what to exactly do to earn the body you desire. While not everything is an absolute, there are some old methods that need to be put to rest and new ones that should be taken into consideration.
#1 Old school– The best rep and set method is 3 sets of 8-12 reps
This set and rep range has been the go-to for many “bodybuilders”. This set and rep method has been coined as the “muscle hypertrophy” training method and many have adapted to this for a long time. The problem is that 3 sets of 8-12 reps won’t work forever. It also neglects a very important aspect of training; building strength. This set and rep range is also not the only way to build muscle. At some point in your training, you will need to increase the stimulus and change it up to facilitate growth.
New School – A combo of low (2-5), medium (6-14), and high (15+ reps) By providing your body with multiple different types of sets, reps and loads, you are able to tap into more of your muscle fibers, increase strength, and avoid plateaus
#2 Old School: Hit each body-part once per week for optimal muscle growth
Traditional bodybuilding methods recommend that you hit each muscle group with endless sets once a week in order to see progress. This done not work for the majority of the population. In order to optimize muscle growth, strength and recovery, hitting each body part once a week is not optimal.
New School: work your muscles at least 3 times per week for optimal muscle growth. High frequency training has been shown to produce more muscle growth and improve strength gains. The more often you hit a muscle, the better chance you have to make gains. Want big legs? Make sure your squatting OFTEN !
#3 Old school: Every set needs to be take until complete failure
While this method can produce some great results, it is not for everyone nor can it be done all of the time. True failure his hard to get to due to its biomechanical and neural demands. Not to mention that you need to be one mentally tough person to do this workout after workout.
New school: Leaving 1 rep in the tank for the majority of your sets builds you up, prevents over training and reduces the risk of injury. This type of training will allow for more consistent workouts, prevent burnout, and allow you to really master lifts. It will also help keep you fresh to keep intensity high workout after workout.
#4 Old school: Doing steady state cardio on an empty stomach burns significantly more body fat than cardio with food and during other parts of the day.This method was adapted by bodybuilders for a long-time. It only made sense since the thought was that with less glycogen in the system, more fat would be burned as fuel. This is not always the case and can possibly burn up some precious muscle.
New school: You burn equal fat anytime of day
Whenever you perform cardio it has equal benefits. All cardio methods, such as interval training, metabolic conditioning and steady state cardio all have their place in a training program. Utilize each method depending on your individual needs. Perform at the time of day that is optimal for YOU.
#5 Old school: To gain muscle and lose body fat, you must eat every 2-3 hours, 6+ times a day.
Eating frequently for the advanced bodybuilder looking to step on the IFBB stage may be needed but it doesn’t work for everyone. In most cases, it is just not feasible to do for the individual who is just looking to get fit. Fitting in all of these meals can get complicated. Eating frequently does not increase the metabolism like it was once thought too and in fact it can also reduce insulin sensitivity and cause you to eat unneeded calories.
New school: You can eat 1, 3, 6 meals, or any amount, you just need to reduce nutritional deficiencies.In the end, it is all about getting in the proper amount of calories and nutrients that your body needs. How you get those in your body is up to you and your schedule. Hello MACRO counting smile emoticon
Training methods will come and go and there is always new research being published. Nothing works forever and you need to explore new methods in order to keeping making progress. Keep an open mind, be willing to change and find what works for you.
Memorial Day Class Schedule !
In honor of Memorial Day, Monday May 30th Fitness Heroics will have the following class times:
OPEN GYM : 8 am-9 am
CrossFit Class: 9 am
Stress is STRESS !
Did you know that when you train you are causing an outside stress on your body? When you are in the gym you are increasing the stress load and when you are out of the gym you are doing all things possible to decrease that amount of stress. When you achieve the right balance training adaptation occurs. When you have TOO much stress, you get over-reaching, which could make you too fatigued to train hard enough to stimulate change. If you continue to keep training when stressed, go even further down the wrong track, you end up with over-training, which can lead to a near total system shut down.
No matter how you look at it, stress is stress. The body doesn’t differentiate between mental, emotional, or physical stress. So the last thing you should be doing if you’ve just had one of those days is head to the gym and max out. This seems counter-intuitive. When you have a bad day, it’s natural to want to take out that aggression in the gym and let off some steam. But when you do, you’ve essentially had what amounts to two max effort sessions in the same day, as far as your body is concerned.
To counteract all that stress you need training methods that soothe the body and allow your system to reset. For example, a day where you learn new moves should finish with an easy aerobic cool down to return the body to a suitable resting state that is responsive to training. Just as your warm up should prepare you for stress, your cool down should ready you to absorb the stress. And that is best done with a settled mind and body. Do a ROMWOD which is a stretching and mobility video that helps you recover from your workout while calming your mind.
Once you’ve got your recovery figured out, the final step is monitoring training intensity and frequency. Most people can’t handle more than two or three hard sessions per week, and the days between should be filled with active recovery to stimulate the system, not further deplete or stress it.
The goal of training is to improve the body, not test its limits. Focus on adding guided meditation and focused breathing work, as well as aerobic recoveries and cool downs, and you will be surprised at how much better your body feels.
Why the warm up feels like a WOD !
Warming up for training is one component that is often over looked. When I program the warm up many people often tell me it’s like a mini WOD. GOOD! It should!!! If you aren’t warm after your warm-up…you are doing it wrong. I want you ALL members and non-members of the gym to understand the why behind the importance !
There’s a difference between stretching and warming up. Hence the infamous 200-400m jog or row at the beginning of every warm-up. A cold, tight muscle, is much harder to stretch than a warm, loosened one! You want to physically prepare your body for the demands of a strenuous workout by gradually increasing your body temperature.
Your workout is more effective. In simple language, our bodies operate from different energy sources and in different “zones”. I am sure most of you have heard of, or even trained with the method of getting your cardio to the “fat-burning” stage. Same principle. When you don’t properly warm-up, you accumulate less time in the correct energy system. This “not only makes your training less effective, but creates more variables” in performance and progression.
You want to prepare for the work you are about to do. Do you ever look at the elements of the warm up ? They are in direct correlation with the workout. WHY ? I am trying to prepare your mind and body for the work it’s about to do. You want to practice the technique of lifts at a light weight and gradually move into your working sets. Going from 0-180 will lead to injury and set you back. Think back to a training session that you skipped out on the warm up just a little. The first few lifts felt just a little “off” then by the time you finish the working sets your into the training. That’s a lot of wasted time in between that your warm up could have prevented.
Warming up properly also reduces the risk of injury which will increase your longevity in fitness. Your ligaments and tendons are more flexible when you have some blood flowing, meaning you’re less likely to end up with pulls and tears. The more complex the lift, the more intense the warm-up that is programmed that day.
You will see better results, all around… Period! We all chase the PR. It’s in your blood as an athlete. The worst thing you can do is chase it without being warm! Have you ever jumped to a moderately heavy weight, one that you can usually do efficiently and it feels extra heavy? Or on the opposite end of that or have you hit a point in a workout, namely something like a longer row, and realized you catch that “second breath”? It’s because your body finally warmed up!
What ever warm up you choose to do, treat it as PART of the workout. It’s just as important for your mind and body to be ready and prepared to work hard. Put the effort into the mind to muscle connection !
2nd Annual Murph WOD- May 21, 2016 at 9 am !
In memory of Navy Lieutenant Michael Murphy, 29, of Patchogue, N.Y., who was killed in Afghanistan June 28th, 2005.
Come join us on May 21st, 2016 at 9 am!
“Murph”
For time:
1 mile Run
100 Pull-ups
200 Push-ups
300 Squats
1 mile Run
Modified: partitioned into reps or with a partner
Rx: as written
Rx+:20lb. weighted vest male/ 14lb. weighted vest female
This workout was one of Mike’s favorites and he’d named it “Body Armor”. From here on it will be referred to as “Murph” in honor of the focused warrior and great American who wanted nothing more in life than to serve this great country and the beautiful people who make it what it is.