Having added to debunking the myth that strength training would suddenly morph women into bulky, manly beings, my thoughts naturally turned to the quality of training.
It is important to remember that achieving long-term fitness goals is a marathon and not a sprint and must be treated as such. There is no magic pill, no shortcut ab workouts that will enable you to achieve your goal. At the end of the day, you have got to get down in the trenches and put the work in.
Getting fit and staying fit requires sacrifice. But it is very rewarding in the end.
Very often, when a newbie starts working out, there is an assumption or a misconception that more time spent in the gym will automatically lead to faster gains. Not so fast.
It is all about working smarter rather than working harder.
Let me break it down for you.
So, you go to gym and you spend three hours pushing yourself to the limit and beyond. At the end of it you’re feeling pretty worn out. You might even be hating life a little bit, right? You might be thinking, but hey, that’s the price we pay to be strong and ripped right?
Wrong.
Way too often people turn strength training into a grind. They workout way for too many days, and for way too many hours. It becomes a chore. They eventually plateau and burn out both physically and mentally. Then they become discouraged and quit.
Some do persevere, but it’s not pretty. Their workouts are half-hearted and they lack the intensity to continue developing any strength and making gains. Motivation is lost, so they are now really just going through the motions. Sounds familiar?
My advice?
You would be much better served only working out four to six hours a week. Giving it your all will be a lot easier when you actually look forward to your workouts, and don’t feel exhausted from all the overtraining. In training as in life, quality will always be better than quantity.
As I said before, getting fit also involves good nutrition and rest; it is not just about spending hours and hours in the gym. Growth hormones are activated while you rest and recover not when you are creating tears in your muscles working out.
Your goal when creating a strength training programme should be to get the most bang for your buck. When you’re at the gym, you have a limited time to stimulate your body and get out. It is important for you to utilize this time in the most efficient and effective manner possible.
This is one of the biggest reasons why I always advocate for compound movements over isolation movements. Aside from the fact that isolation work tends to be mind-numbingly boring, it also just isn’t efficient. It is never going to be physically possible for you to isolate and work each of your muscles separately; there simply aren’t enough hours in the day.
So don’t fixate over doing hundreds of crunches, curls, triceps’ extensions and trap raises. Life is short. I promise you that you can achieve defined abs and arms without an unrealistic workout schedule and the accompanying stress.
I workout just three days a week and I am able to maintain an award-winning physique with shredded abs year round. And actually, I have made considerable gains in the past year, while spending less time in the gym. How come?
Unlike the previous years, I don’t spend my time doing thousands of crunches and isolation movements that are less beneficial. I opt for more compound movements instead of the isolation movements. I find that I am able to stimulate the same amount of muscles in one hour that I previously stimulated in three.
Sometimes you need to work smarter, not just harder.
Stay tuned friends.
