TIP#2 The Only Reason To Never Skip Leg Day…
I want to talk about an incredible concept that when I heard it for the first time, changed the way I looked at training forever. Upon hearing it, this profound sense of clarity washed over me, and a weight was instantly lifted from my mind (no. pun. intended...). It wasn't some crazy 'secret' or some weird exercise that all the champions had discovered, but more of a choice of wording about an already over talked about concept. We are all familiar with the phrase, 'Train your legs to increase testosterone throughout your whole body'. The theory that when you train your legs, an infinite amount of testosterone is released that helps to grow your upper body... Well, when I heard the life changing concept, it really put this 'train your legs for testosterone' theory to shame, and this is it:
"Training your legs Intensely forces your nervous system to adapt to handle much more stress when you train upper body." So simple, but so important.
Forget what you think you know about testosterone and leg training, because this concept you've just learned about will change your life. Strive for nervous system adaptations, not this mythical 'testosterone release'. Being able to work out harder every session due to very intense leg workouts will give you much more potential for improvement than a temporary slight raise in your natural testosterone levels.
A lot of us are unfamiliar with an effective training session. We all want our exercises in the gym, park, on the track or in our own homes to be effective, as the objective for most of us is to reap the benefits of those effects i.e. Feel healthier, look better, be more active and turn heads. We spend hours, days, weeks, months and years devoted to a cause, excercising regularly (or irregularly) and pursuing goals that we may or may not reach. The dilema has never really been the concept of exercise, but how effective it can be.
If someone works out regularly for a few months, and they see improvements in fitness, vitality, strength and body composition (less fat, more muscle), they might be happy about it - or they might not. They might have surpassed all their expectations and are immensly proud of themselves... or they might think that they've put in all this work for such little benefit. Everyone has their own individual goals. However, everyone has the potential to make their training much more effective than it currently is, and therefore completely smash all their expectations right out the park, in less overall time than before. The reason is that most of us do not know how to train effectively - not even close.
Without taking this article into 'technical' territory, we can talk about some basic principles that everyone needs to abide by if they wish to improve their strength, muscle shape, muscle size and reduction of unwanted body fat. The most important thing is that you must be prepared to train hard, every session, for as long as you wish to improve. This is the simple part, but also the most difficult...
What does training 'hard' mean? Well, it means you must strive to increase your Intensity every single week, and one way of doing this is 'Progressive Overload'. This is the most simple and most powerful concept to do with improving performance and appearance. It basically means that whatever you did last session, you must make it harder next session, in order to improve. See Below for some ways of inducing Progressive Overload:
Increase the weight (but always keep perfect form).
Increase the reps (again, maintain appropriate form).
Decrease Rep Rate (slow down the rep movement).
Decrease Rest (take shorter breaks between sets, 60 secs or less).
Forced Reps (have a 'spotter' help you complete the set when you fail. Not for beginners).
Cheat Reps (cheat on form on the last few reps to prolong a set. Not for beginners).
Optimise Range (optimise rep range to increase time under tension on targeted muscle).
There are many extra ways of inducing adpatations, but for now these approaches will be more than enough to create massive changes in your body. Remember that without Progressive Overload, your body has no reason to adapt and change, and without great nutrition there will be limitations to your results. So, as people who want our training to be effective, we must be methodical and do the things neccessary for improvement. Training Legs Intensely will help us tremendously while training upper body (using the approaches mentioned above) and will be by far the most challenging session of the week. - It will help to train with a partner or a coach, for added safety and guidance.
NOTE FOR BEGINNERS: Do not attempt any of the approaches described above if you are uncomfortable with resistence training, completely alone or nursing an injury. If unsure about performing any exercise, consult an exercise professional for instruction.
Thank you so much for reading, I want to provide you with useful information that you can apply to your training lifestyle now, and really help you in your pursuit of your goals.
Matt
Next article will be about Optimal Nutrition, so check back on Wednesday for the update! Thanks so much.
