I have a few doubts on the argument, for something that happened a few days ago.
Basically, a friend asked me what I thought about a couple of training schedules he was given at the gym (not the same one I train to). They are the usual pre-written gym schedules that kitchen sink stuff with a ton of upper body work and little to no lower body work in a bro split fashion over 4-5 days, mostly machine-focused.
Itâs not the first time someone I know asks me what I think about their schedules and every time I tell them the same thing - Iâm not qualified in the least to tell them how to train, but then they ask me how I train and to elaborate why I donât like some stuff theyâre doing.
Iâm curious if what I tell them makes sense, the premise is that weâre talking about complete beginners, people with less than a year of training (and usually, crappy training) and with completely realistic goals, very generic - losing a few pounds of fat, being generally more in shape⊠thatâs it. Itâs the kind of goals you reach just by putting a normal amount of work but somehow they seem to complicate everything and overanalyse everything. Must be noted that they are not coached, so itâs DIY.
Iâm a beginner myself since I have close to two years of training, which is nothing, so itâs not comfortable at all to give advice - and my training is strength oriented, so Iâm even less suited to tell them how to get bigger pecs or arms.
My points to them were:
-systemic growth: I think that the younger you are (in terms of training age), the more you respond to compund barbell lifts. If they stopped seeing the squat as a âleg exerciseâ and the bench as a âchest exerciseâ, theyâd realize that those are full body movements when done correctly. This stresses the whole body in a balanced way and makes for a great efficient way to build a foundation;
-move their lazy ass: related to the first point, free weights force one to stabilize, keep good posture and improve mobility. For a lot of people, most with a sedentary life, being generically more active and improving posture leads to quick aesthetic improvements too, other than a better generic quality of life and joint health;
-they donât have much to isolate: still related to the first point, they have no place in doing three different curl variations, hitting the chest from different angles and doing multiple kinds of lateral raises. There isnât much actual muscle to isolate and stimulate, theyâre simply lacking the foundation needed for it;
-they canât handle a lot of volume: while they can go through tens of sets of machine work, like anybody, Iâm always skeptical about the actual work theyâre doing in these schedules filled with a hundred of exercises in tens of sets of 10-15-20 reps each. A beginner doesnât do well while fatigued, thatâs why heâs a beginner, he doesnât have the technical knowledge and he doesnât know his own body enough to get in quality work while fatigue builds up, which leads me to believe that most of their work is just a matter of going through the motions without much actual work. Theyâd be better off doing a few things, and learn to do them well.
-progressive overload: this is the hardest point to get through their thick skull. There seems to be a general belief that progressive overload only interests those meatheads who want to achieve world class levels and whose life only revolves around training. They donât seem to realize that for any change, big or small, the body needs a stimulus, and that stimulus needs to be provided. We all know that there are countless ways to induce progressive overload, but for a beginner, big barbell lifts seem to be the most efficient way, again - big compounds, at the beginning, allow for a very steady rate of progression, while the barbell is the implement that allows to add weight at a quicker rate (compared to dumbbells and such).
Ergo, compound barbell lifts allow for the quickest, most immediate and measurable way of progression - just add weight to the bar. I think that manipulating factors like time under tension, range of motion, recovery times between sets and so on is too much information for a beginner, they wouldnât know how to piece all these factors together and they seem to get confused at basic stuff already.
With barbell lifts, you just add weight to the bar slowly but steadily, and thatâs it - youâre adding weight, youâre making progress, itâs clear cut and obvious and leaves no room for mental masturbation.
To wrap it up, this is what I came up with for them and told them that in my opinion, they would be better off by taking some time and patience to learn at least a pair of compound barbell lifts, using any kind of progression and rep scheme they want to use (linear, periodization, 3x5, 5x5, whatever) on those, while focusing on big bang for buck assistance stuff - chins, dips, rows, leg raises, back raises. Keeping things minimal while building up a foundation and throw in some curls, shrugs or leg press if they have a dire need for pump. This implies to stick to full body or upper/lower routines, usually.
Also told them to do some aerobic work once or twice a week (walking, cycling, kettlebell circuits at home, whatever, just without going heavy) and some mobility work - and ideally, to hear from someone more reliable than me on the matter.
But overall, it seems to me that most of these people - the ones who just want to be a bit better, have just some weight to lose and some muscle to pack and be a bit more in shape, who make up for a big % of recreative gym goers - should simply do the above. Some âstrengthâ-oriented progression on big barbell lifts, some volume work with good secondary stuff, some basic conditioning and some mobility work. Theyâd lose some fat, gain some muscle, have a decent basic conditioning, better joint health, overall better quality of life - all things that can easily be achieved in, what, one year of decent training? And can be mantained without pouring blood in the gym for the rest of their life. It would basically take care of 99% of their gym-related goals.
They would also gain some knowledge about how their body works and gain some training experience that might push them in upping their goals - or maybe not, the important thing is that theyâd make an informed decision based on the actual work they did instead of relying on trends or what a random gym trainer tells them.
End of rambling (english not my main language, have mercy lol)