Musings on Training and Gaining Strength

[DaveH]

For your consideration..

 

You don't get stronger in the gym. That's where stress is applied.

 

You get stronger outside the gym by recovering and eating well. I find the older you get, the more you have to consider how to recover best and what dosage of stress (aka training) is required to drive progress.

 

Sometimes I like to think of training as a medicine. You need to titrate the dose of training to a level that causes adaptation so that you can apply the next dose sooner than later. Apply too much too soon, you won't make long term progress, and burn out or die (well, not really but you get it).

 

Apply too little and you won't drive progress either. In my experience, it takes some time to learn how your body and mind react to training to know what was too much, what's too little and what's about right. Starting with a good training program will get you at least pointed in the right direction.

Generally, younger people can recover very quickly and be ready for more training quicker than older people. The older you get (read 40+ years, probably), you need to look to progress slower but progress none the less. This is where proper programming can come in.

A lot of this stuff is described in Seyle's general adaptation syndrome. Check out the books Practical Programming or Starting Strength for a primer on it.

[4skers89]

I agree with what you wrote. I tell people the 3 main thing for gaining strength is diet, proper sleep and you have to lift weights. Kind of in that order of importance. Make sure you are using good form to prevent injury. Check your ego at the gym door and don't try to increase 1 rep max weight more than 5 lbs in bench and shoulder press, 10 lbs in squat and deadlift per month. That is approximately what you can expect with 1/2 + 1 programming with 4 workouts per cycle. I have exceeded that at times but it wasn't a good idea. Gaining strength takes time. Think in terms of making gains over years, not weeks or months.

 

Side notes: 1.4-1.8 g of protein per 2.2 lb of body weight with a calorie intake of 30% protein, 50% carbs and 20% fat. I still have people check my deadlift and squat form and take a video so I can also critique it.

 

Edit: When getting into lifting you need to start light with lots of reps to build up the stabilizing muscles around joints. Otherwise the pain you feel after lifting is joint pain and not muscle soreness and you won't feel like going back to the gym.

[Stumpy1]

I agree with what you wrote. I tell people the 3 main thing for gaining strength is diet, proper sleep and you have to lift weights. Kind of in that order of importance. Make sure you are using good form to prevent injury. Check your ego at the gym door and don't try to increase 1 rep max weight more than 5 lbs in bench and shoulder press, 10 lbs in squat and deadlift per month. That is approximately what you can expect with 1/2 + 1 programming with 4 workouts per cycle. I have exceeded that at times but it wasn't a good idea. Gaining strength takes time. Think in terms of making gains over years, not weeks or months.

 

Side notes: 1.4-1.8 g of protein per 2.2 lb of body weight with a calorie intake of 30% protein, 50% carbs and 20% fat. I still have people check my deadlift and squat form and take a video so I can also critique it.

 

Edit: When getting into lifting you need to start light with lots of reps to build up the stabilizing muscles around joints. Otherwise the pain you feel after lifting is joint pain and not muscle soreness and you won't feel like going back to the gym.

I increased my bench and OHP by 10 lbs and my squat and deadlift by 20 lbs for my rep weight for my second cycle and it has kicked my ass. I went from getting 8-10 reps to 4-5 on my last set. My next cycle will stay at the current weights and I will go from there until I can get 8-10 again and I will increase by 10 and 20.

[True2tRA]

I've come to the realization quite some time ago that my diet will probably never change much. I like food way too much. Besides, my metabolism is pretty good. I'll drink beer or wine probably forever. I like it too much and it helps me relax to fire up the grill and have a cold brew. Not giving that up anytime soon.

 

Not to demotivate anybody working against these things LOL. Sorry if it comes off that way.

 

I could probably be in even far better shape than I'm in now if I changed some things. Especially sleep. What the hell is sleep? With my family situation I haven't had a good night of sleep in years.....literally.

 

I might be fighting an uphill battle but I'm still fighting. I try to work hard and look my best. I guess it's better than not trying at all.

 

I commend anybody that can commit to the full lifestyle changes it takes to be an elite athlete or in ultimate shape. I've got a buddy that lives the full lifestyle. He preaches to me all the time about the things I eat. He preaches that more than anything.

[Stumpy1]

I've come to the realization quite some time ago that my diet will probably never change much. I like food way too much. Besides, my metabolism is pretty good. I'll drink beer or wine probably forever. I like it too much and it helps me relax to fire up the grill and have a cold brew. Not giving that up anytime soon.

 

Not to demotivate anybody working against these things LOL. Sorry if it comes off that way.

 

I could probably be in even far better shape than I'm in now if I changed some things. Especially sleep. What the hell is sleep? With my family situation I haven't had a good night of sleep in years.....literally.

 

I might be fighting an uphill battle but I'm still fighting. I try to work hard and look my best. I guess it's better than not trying at all.

 

I commend anybody that can commit to the full lifestyle changes it takes to be an elite athlete or in ultimate shape. I've got a buddy that lives the full lifestyle. He preaches to me all the time about the things I eat. He preaches that more than anything.

I hear ya...I have 4 kids and we are on the go all the time with sports, school stuff and their other activities. I am lucky if I get 5-6 hours of sleep a night because of it. I am like you on the diet thing. I love to eat and will eat to the point of making myself uncomfortable but what I eat isn't junky. My diet consists a lot of fish, chicken, beef and rice. My only problem is I will eat 3-4 chicken breasts at a time or 2-3 steaks at a time. My calorie intake is usually around 4000+ from all the stuff I eat.

 

My other issue is cardio. I absolutely hate running and the only cardio I usually do is walking with a weighted vest. I really need to start interval sprinting to cut some unwanted fat.

[zoogs]

I can get on board with the eating stuff. (HA! maybe)

 

But this sleeping thing? You guys are losing me. Are there really people who do that?

[Stumpy1]

I can get on board with the eating stuff. (HA! maybe)

 

But this sleeping thing? You guys are losing me. Are there really people who do that?

Sleeping is probably the most important aspect of training. Your body recovers itself while you sleep and if you don't get enough, your body will not recover fully and it could end up having a reverse affect on you training. The program I am on calls for a deload week every 4th week but I am going every 7th. This week is to allow my body to recover and to heal what I have stressed. It is essential that you take a rest period to get back to 100% so you can go again.

[4skers89]

 

I agree with what you wrote. I tell people the 3 main thing for gaining strength is diet, proper sleep and you have to lift weights. Kind of in that order of importance. Make sure you are using good form to prevent injury. Check your ego at the gym door and don't try to increase 1 rep max weight more than 5 lbs in bench and shoulder press, 10 lbs in squat and deadlift per month. That is approximately what you can expect with 1/2 + 1 programming with 4 workouts per cycle. I have exceeded that at times but it wasn't a good idea. Gaining strength takes time. Think in terms of making gains over years, not weeks or months.

 

Side notes: 1.4-1.8 g of protein per 2.2 lb of body weight with a calorie intake of 30% protein, 50% carbs and 20% fat. I still have people check my deadlift and squat form and take a video so I can also critique it.

 

Edit: When getting into lifting you need to start light with lots of reps to build up the stabilizing muscles around joints. Otherwise the pain you feel after lifting is joint pain and not muscle soreness and you won't feel like going back to the gym.

I increased my bench and OHP by 10 lbs and my squat and deadlift by 20 lbs for my rep weight for my second cycle and it has kicked my ass. I went from getting 8-10 reps to 4-5 on my last set. My next cycle will stay at the current weights and I will go from there until I can get 8-10 again and I will increase by 10 and 20.

 

What kind of programming are you using? The 1/2 +1 programming cycle is:

 

Week 1: 4 sets of 7 reps (4 x 7) @ 12 rep max (RM) weight

Week 2: 4 x 6 @ 10 RM weight

Week 3: 4 x 5 @ 8 RM weight

Week 4: 4 x 4 @ 6 RM weight

 

It's called 1/2 + 1 because the number of reps you are doing for each of the 4 sets is 1/2 of the maximum reps you can do at that weight e.g. 6 reps because you you are doing 1/2 of 10 (RM) +1 = 6 reps. I don't usually go up in weight for the next cycle unless I can hit the full 4 x 4. If diet and sleep is correct you can start the next cycle with a 12 RM weight of 5 lbs additional for bench and shoulder press and 10 lbs additional for squat and deadlift (I believe I incorrectly stated it as the 1 RM weight earlier). Even an old fart like me has been able to achieve that fairly consistently going from essentially untrained to advanced. It's easy to get started to determine your 12 RM by picking a weight that you can lift somewhere between 4 and 12 reps and then look up your 12 RM in a chart. 10 RM is 6% more then 12 RM, 8 RM is 6% more than 10 RM.. etc. Sorry for all the detail but I really like the workouts and try to tell whoever might be interested. You mentioned that your free time is short. http://www.mensfitness.com/training/build-muscle/no-plateau-workout workouts take about 1 hour or about 3 hours of gym time per week. I regretfully used to spend 6-10 hours per week in the gym with far less results.

 

A friend gained a lot of strength doing the 5 x 5 stronglifts which also has simple programming. Basically you try to get in a full 5 x 5 at a weight with good form. Once you do that then add 5 lbs for bench and shoulder press and 10 lbs for squat and deadlift. When you said you were trying to get to 8-10 reps on your last set it made me think of the stronglifts. 8-10 reps are a lot if you are going for just pure strength. I say that because both the stronglifts and the 1/2 +1 are for developing strength and both use less than 7 reps per set. It's all good though.

[DaveH]

 

I can get on board with the eating stuff. (HA! maybe)

 

But this sleeping thing? You guys are losing me. Are there really people who do that?

Sleeping is probably the most important aspect of training. Your body recovers itself while you sleep and if you don't get enough, your body will not recover fully and it could end up having a reverse affect on you training. The program I am on calls for a deload week every 4th week but I am going every 7th. This week is to allow my body to recover and to heal what I have stressed. It is essential that you take a rest period to get back to 100% so you can go again.

 

You can say that again. Sleeping is incredibly important for recovery in my experience

[Stumpy1]

 

 

I agree with what you wrote. I tell people the 3 main thing for gaining strength is diet, proper sleep and you have to lift weights. Kind of in that order of importance. Make sure you are using good form to prevent injury. Check your ego at the gym door and don't try to increase 1 rep max weight more than 5 lbs in bench and shoulder press, 10 lbs in squat and deadlift per month. That is approximately what you can expect with 1/2 + 1 programming with 4 workouts per cycle. I have exceeded that at times but it wasn't a good idea. Gaining strength takes time. Think in terms of making gains over years, not weeks or months.

 

Side notes: 1.4-1.8 g of protein per 2.2 lb of body weight with a calorie intake of 30% protein, 50% carbs and 20% fat. I still have people check my deadlift and squat form and take a video so I can also critique it.

 

Edit: When getting into lifting you need to start light with lots of reps to build up the stabilizing muscles around joints. Otherwise the pain you feel after lifting is joint pain and not muscle soreness and you won't feel like going back to the gym.

I increased my bench and OHP by 10 lbs and my squat and deadlift by 20 lbs for my rep weight for my second cycle and it has kicked my ass. I went from getting 8-10 reps to 4-5 on my last set. My next cycle will stay at the current weights and I will go from there until I can get 8-10 again and I will increase by 10 and 20.

 

What kind of programming are you using? The 1/2 +1 programming cycle is:

 

Week 1: 4 sets of 7 reps (4 x 7) @ 12 rep max (RM) weight

Week 2: 4 x 6 @ 10 RM weight

Week 3: 4 x 5 @ 8 RM weight

Week 4: 4 x 4 @ 6 RM weight

 

It's called 1/2 + 1 because the number of reps you are doing for each of the 4 sets is 1/2 of the maximum reps you can do at that weight e.g. 6 reps because you you are doing 1/2 of 10 (RM) +1 = 6 reps. I don't usually go up in weight for the next cycle unless I can hit the full 4 x 4. If diet and sleep is correct you can start the next cycle with a 12 RM weight of 5 lbs additional for bench and shoulder press and 10 lbs additional for squat and deadlift (I believe I incorrectly stated it as the 1 RM weight earlier). Even an old fart like me has been able to achieve that fairly consistently going from essentially untrained to advanced. It's easy to get started to determine your 12 RM by picking a weight that you can lift somewhere between 4 and 12 reps and then look up your 12 RM in a chart. 10 RM is 6% more then 12 RM, 8 RM is 6% more than 10 RM.. etc. Sorry for all the detail but I really like the workouts and try to tell whoever might be interested. You mentioned that your free time is short. http://www.mensfitness.com/training/build-muscle/no-plateau-workout workouts take about 1 hour or about 3 hours of gym time per week. I regretfully used to spend 6-10 hours per week in the gym with far less results.

 

A friend gained a lot of strength doing the 5 x 5 stronglifts which also has simple programming. Basically you try to get in a full 5 x 5 at a weight with good form. Once you do that then add 5 lbs for bench and shoulder press and 10 lbs for squat and deadlift. When you said you were trying to get to 8-10 reps on your last set it made me think of the stronglifts. 8-10 reps are a lot if you are going for just pure strength. I say that because both the stronglifts and the 1/2 +1 are for developing strength and both use less than 7 reps per set. It's all good though.

 

I was doing the 5x5 stronglifts until I started Wendler's 5/3/1. It is based off of 90% of your 1RM and you do certain percentages off of that. The first week is 3x5 at 65%, 75% and 85% of that 90%. The second week is 3x3 at 70%, 80% and 90% of that 90%. The third week is 5,3,1 at 75%, 85% and 95% of the 90%. The fourth week is back to 3x5 plus added weight to the 90%. On the last set of every main lift (bench, squat, OHP, deadlift) you try and get as many reps as you can. That is where I was getting my 8-10 reps and why I increased my weight by 10 and 20 and it made a huge difference. My next cycle I will either stay the same or increase by 5 and 10 depending on how my last sets go.

 

The great thing about this program is you do one core lift and 2-3 accessory lifts. I am usually in and out of the gym in about 45 mins.

[4skers89]

 

 

 

I agree with what you wrote. I tell people the 3 main thing for gaining strength is diet, proper sleep and you have to lift weights. Kind of in that order of importance. Make sure you are using good form to prevent injury. Check your ego at the gym door and don't try to increase 1 rep max weight more than 5 lbs in bench and shoulder press, 10 lbs in squat and deadlift per month. That is approximately what you can expect with 1/2 + 1 programming with 4 workouts per cycle. I have exceeded that at times but it wasn't a good idea. Gaining strength takes time. Think in terms of making gains over years, not weeks or months.

 

Side notes: 1.4-1.8 g of protein per 2.2 lb of body weight with a calorie intake of 30% protein, 50% carbs and 20% fat. I still have people check my deadlift and squat form and take a video so I can also critique it.

 

Edit: When getting into lifting you need to start light with lots of reps to build up the stabilizing muscles around joints. Otherwise the pain you feel after lifting is joint pain and not muscle soreness and you won't feel like going back to the gym.

I increased my bench and OHP by 10 lbs and my squat and deadlift by 20 lbs for my rep weight for my second cycle and it has kicked my ass. I went from getting 8-10 reps to 4-5 on my last set. My next cycle will stay at the current weights and I will go from there until I can get 8-10 again and I will increase by 10 and 20.

 

What kind of programming are you using? The 1/2 +1 programming cycle is:

 

Week 1: 4 sets of 7 reps (4 x 7) @ 12 rep max (RM) weight

Week 2: 4 x 6 @ 10 RM weight

Week 3: 4 x 5 @ 8 RM weight

Week 4: 4 x 4 @ 6 RM weight

 

It's called 1/2 + 1 because the number of reps you are doing for each of the 4 sets is 1/2 of the maximum reps you can do at that weight e.g. 6 reps because you you are doing 1/2 of 10 (RM) +1 = 6 reps. I don't usually go up in weight for the next cycle unless I can hit the full 4 x 4. If diet and sleep is correct you can start the next cycle with a 12 RM weight of 5 lbs additional for bench and shoulder press and 10 lbs additional for squat and deadlift (I believe I incorrectly stated it as the 1 RM weight earlier). Even an old fart like me has been able to achieve that fairly consistently going from essentially untrained to advanced. It's easy to get started to determine your 12 RM by picking a weight that you can lift somewhere between 4 and 12 reps and then look up your 12 RM in a chart. 10 RM is 6% more then 12 RM, 8 RM is 6% more than 10 RM.. etc. Sorry for all the detail but I really like the workouts and try to tell whoever might be interested. You mentioned that your free time is short. http://www.mensfitness.com/training/build-muscle/no-plateau-workout workouts take about 1 hour or about 3 hours of gym time per week. I regretfully used to spend 6-10 hours per week in the gym with far less results.

 

A friend gained a lot of strength doing the 5 x 5 stronglifts which also has simple programming. Basically you try to get in a full 5 x 5 at a weight with good form. Once you do that then add 5 lbs for bench and shoulder press and 10 lbs for squat and deadlift. When you said you were trying to get to 8-10 reps on your last set it made me think of the stronglifts. 8-10 reps are a lot if you are going for just pure strength. I say that because both the stronglifts and the 1/2 +1 are for developing strength and both use less than 7 reps per set. It's all good though.

 

I was doing the 5x5 stronglifts until I started Wendler's 5/3/1. It is based off of 90% of your 1RM and you do certain percentages off of that. The first week is 3x5 at 65%, 75% and 85% of that 90%. The second week is 3x3 at 70%, 80% and 90% of that 90%. The third week is 5,3,1 at 75%, 85% and 95% of the 90%. The fourth week is back to 3x5 plus added weight to the 90%. On the last set of every main lift (bench, squat, OHP, deadlift) you try and get as many reps as you can. That is where I was getting my 8-10 reps and why I increased my weight by 10 and 20 and it made a huge difference. My next cycle I will either stay the same or increase by 5 and 10 depending on how my last sets go.

 

The great thing about this program is you do one core lift and 2-3 accessory lifts. I am usually in and out of the gym in about 45 mins.

 

I remember looking at Wendlers a while back but not in depth. I switched over to a workout for a short time where the programming used different weights and I believe reps for each set. I didn't like switching the weights out and even figuring out what I was supposed to lift each week so I went back to 1/2 + 1 even though I felt that it was probably better for gaining strength. How long have you been doing the Wendler's and what kind of gains have you achieved? I might try it for a while to trick my body once I get out of the fat loss/maintaining strength mode.

 

Short workouts are good. Forgot where I read this but it said if you were spending more than an hour in the gym lifting you're wasting time.

[Stumpy1]

 

 

 

 

I agree with what you wrote. I tell people the 3 main thing for gaining strength is diet, proper sleep and you have to lift weights. Kind of in that order of importance. Make sure you are using good form to prevent injury. Check your ego at the gym door and don't try to increase 1 rep max weight more than 5 lbs in bench and shoulder press, 10 lbs in squat and deadlift per month. That is approximately what you can expect with 1/2 + 1 programming with 4 workouts per cycle. I have exceeded that at times but it wasn't a good idea. Gaining strength takes time. Think in terms of making gains over years, not weeks or months.

 

Side notes: 1.4-1.8 g of protein per 2.2 lb of body weight with a calorie intake of 30% protein, 50% carbs and 20% fat. I still have people check my deadlift and squat form and take a video so I can also critique it.

 

Edit: When getting into lifting you need to start light with lots of reps to build up the stabilizing muscles around joints. Otherwise the pain you feel after lifting is joint pain and not muscle soreness and you won't feel like going back to the gym.

I increased my bench and OHP by 10 lbs and my squat and deadlift by 20 lbs for my rep weight for my second cycle and it has kicked my ass. I went from getting 8-10 reps to 4-5 on my last set. My next cycle will stay at the current weights and I will go from there until I can get 8-10 again and I will increase by 10 and 20.

 

What kind of programming are you using? The 1/2 +1 programming cycle is:

 

Week 1: 4 sets of 7 reps (4 x 7) @ 12 rep max (RM) weight

Week 2: 4 x 6 @ 10 RM weight

Week 3: 4 x 5 @ 8 RM weight

Week 4: 4 x 4 @ 6 RM weight

 

It's called 1/2 + 1 because the number of reps you are doing for each of the 4 sets is 1/2 of the maximum reps you can do at that weight e.g. 6 reps because you you are doing 1/2 of 10 (RM) +1 = 6 reps. I don't usually go up in weight for the next cycle unless I can hit the full 4 x 4. If diet and sleep is correct you can start the next cycle with a 12 RM weight of 5 lbs additional for bench and shoulder press and 10 lbs additional for squat and deadlift (I believe I incorrectly stated it as the 1 RM weight earlier). Even an old fart like me has been able to achieve that fairly consistently going from essentially untrained to advanced. It's easy to get started to determine your 12 RM by picking a weight that you can lift somewhere between 4 and 12 reps and then look up your 12 RM in a chart. 10 RM is 6% more then 12 RM, 8 RM is 6% more than 10 RM.. etc. Sorry for all the detail but I really like the workouts and try to tell whoever might be interested. You mentioned that your free time is short. http://www.mensfitness.com/training/build-muscle/no-plateau-workout workouts take about 1 hour or about 3 hours of gym time per week. I regretfully used to spend 6-10 hours per week in the gym with far less results.

 

A friend gained a lot of strength doing the 5 x 5 stronglifts which also has simple programming. Basically you try to get in a full 5 x 5 at a weight with good form. Once you do that then add 5 lbs for bench and shoulder press and 10 lbs for squat and deadlift. When you said you were trying to get to 8-10 reps on your last set it made me think of the stronglifts. 8-10 reps are a lot if you are going for just pure strength. I say that because both the stronglifts and the 1/2 +1 are for developing strength and both use less than 7 reps per set. It's all good though.

 

I was doing the 5x5 stronglifts until I started Wendler's 5/3/1. It is based off of 90% of your 1RM and you do certain percentages off of that. The first week is 3x5 at 65%, 75% and 85% of that 90%. The second week is 3x3 at 70%, 80% and 90% of that 90%. The third week is 5,3,1 at 75%, 85% and 95% of the 90%. The fourth week is back to 3x5 plus added weight to the 90%. On the last set of every main lift (bench, squat, OHP, deadlift) you try and get as many reps as you can. That is where I was getting my 8-10 reps and why I increased my weight by 10 and 20 and it made a huge difference. My next cycle I will either stay the same or increase by 5 and 10 depending on how my last sets go.

 

The great thing about this program is you do one core lift and 2-3 accessory lifts. I am usually in and out of the gym in about 45 mins.

 

I remember looking at Wendlers a while back but not in depth. I switched over to a workout for a short time where the programming used different weights and I believe reps for each set. I didn't like switching the weights out and even figuring out what I was supposed to lift each week so I went back to 1/2 + 1 even though I felt that it was probably better for gaining strength. How long have you been doing the Wendler's and what kind of gains have you achieved? I might try it for a while to trick my body once I get out of the fat loss/maintaining strength mode.

 

Short workouts are good. Forgot where I read this but it said if you were spending more than an hour in the gym lifting you're wasting time.

 

I read the same on the time spent for training.

 

I have been on the program for 2 months now and have noticed my strength increases. My 1RM for bench was 345 when I started and I just finished the second cycle of the 5,3,1 week and was able to get my last set (1+) for 6 reps @ 295. I use a rest pause on all lifts to keep from "bouncing" the bar off my chest or at the bottom of a squat. I have noticed big increases on my accessory lifts also. I try and do 50% of my 1RM on all accessory lifts, such as incline DB press. My 1RM is 345 on bench so I will do 3x12 with 85s. I am up to 95s for 3x12 on them now. I do front squats for an accessory to deadlifts but us 50% of my 1RM on squat. That, along with my squat numbers have jumped through the roof. The only lift I need to work on more is my deadlift as I feel like I am lagging. I have a 1RM of 435 on it and feel it should be more. I implemented good mornings and snatch-grip deads as an accessory to squat so hopefully that helps.

[DaveH]

 

 

Short workouts are good. Forgot where I read this but it said if you were spending more than an hour in the gym lifting you're wasting time.

 

IMO It really depends on what you're doing, not just that it took you a long time.

 

For instance, if you're using Texas Method you could easily spend over an hour on volume day. Unless you're inhuman and can squat 5x5 at ~90% of your 5RM in less than a half hour or so. Then you have bench or overhead press 5x5.

 

It just depends on the program. If you're dicking around using a bunch of machines for more than an hour, then yea, you could probably be using your time more wisely

[4skers89]

Stumpy, you're moving some pretty good weight there. Do you know where you are in terms of categories? If you send me your body weight and 1 RM on shoulder press and squat I can look them up. Unless you're over 300 lbs I imagine you are somewhere between Advanced and Elite on bench and possibly Advanced on deadlift. I read that once you get past advanced you need to switch to a more sophisticated programming beyond the 1/2+1 or stronglifts so the Wendler's makes sense. I looked up my friend's categories and he was very close to Advanced level doing the the 5 x 5 stronglifts. Do you have a goal?

 

Due to being old, tall and small frame I've resigned myself to the fact I'll probably never get much past Advanced. Currently between Intermediate and Advanced. My 1 RMs 1 1/2 year ago were Bench: 290, Deadlift 386, Shoulder Press 190, Squat 330. Been on and off lifting and dropping weight since.

[4skers89]

 

 

 

Short workouts are good. Forgot where I read this but it said if you were spending more than an hour in the gym lifting you're wasting time.

 

IMO It really depends on what you're doing, not just that it took you a long time.

 

For instance, if you're using Texas Method you could easily spend over an hour on volume day. Unless you're inhuman and can squat 5x5 at ~90% of your 5RM in less than a half hour or so. Then you have bench or overhead press 5x5.

 

It just depends on the program. If you're dicking around using a bunch of machines for more than an hour, then yea, you could probably be using your time more wisely

 

Based on the name I didn't like the sound of this Texas method until I found http://www.t-nation.com/training/texas-method and saw Rippetoe. It looks like you could still average 1 hr per workout over a week of workouts. I was interested since it is good for getting through intermediate level until I read that it works because of ability to recover when young. I tell younger guys that now is the time to get strong and then just transition to maintaining. I thought Mark was losing his mind with this "If I could go back and do it over again... I'd spend less time trying to date more women..". He has to be talking about the time aspect and not that he actually dated more women.

 

Sounds like my workouts when I started out. I just made up my own by picking various things to do. A lot of them involved machines. I wished I had started with well planned out workouts and not wasted so much time. The only machines I use now are calf raise and pulley machines.