Work Out Smarter, Not Harder
Takeaway Points:
A well designed workout program uses periodization, the manipulation of training variables (sets, reps, weight, intensity, etc.), in order to continue making workouts challenging over time as you get stronger.
Periodization allows for consistent increases in difficult as well as factors in time for recovery, rest, and deloading. This helps prevent injury as well as allows your body the time to repair itself which is needed for building muscle.
Consistency is still king when it comes to making progress. Inconsistent exercises, intensities, and weights will only lead to inconsistent results, which is why having a periodized training program is key.
This is a corollary to my previous piece, and is intended to complement some of its obvious flaws. The point of the last article wasn’t to claim that working out harder will always be more beneficial. There are plenty of cases when working out as hard as you can will only hurt you more in the long run. The point of the article instead, is that working out harder is kind of the whole point - workouts need to be scaled over time for you to keep getting results, so everything we do in the name of working out “smarter” is actually just about finding intelligent ways to enable you to successfully workout harder.
As a result, in many cases, pure effort alone can lead to great results, even with a poor program. Many famous athletes get in great shape DESPITE their terrible training methods, not BECAUSE they have elite and superior training methods.
The word for intelligent training is “periodization” - the careful manipulation of training variables over time to achieve the desired training result.
Periodization is based around the idea that the human body really isn't capable of lifting at maximal efforts all the time. Sure, you can show up to the gym and beastmode out and lift as heavy as possible and approach your one rep max once a week, but what happens when you push for twice a week? Three times a week? Four? Sooner or later, you're going to be sore and tired from previous attempts. Lifting heavy puts stress not only on your muscles but also on your brain, your bones, your joints, etc. Sooner or later, something is going to give out, and all it takes is that weakest link for the whole chain to fall apart.
Knowing when you can push yourself and when you need to rest is essentially the main thing that a periodized program structures for you. It tells you when to take days easy, to take days hard, to build up to maximal effort, to make gains by pushing yourself without having to push yourself too far. Don't push your body beyond its limits or you're going to hurt yourself, and an injury is always worse than simply holding back a little bit in your training, even if you think your lifts suffer a little bit. For lifters looking to build strength, this is the number one way to work out smarter.
Likewise, a lot of what “good training” is, is just ensuring that you’re actually training the right exercises, using the right weight, and in the right frequency to achieve the desired physical adaptations and to scale it effectively over time. If you want to develop your chest, you need to use some kind of exercise that targets those muscles. You need to do it regularly and you need to increase the challenge level appropriately over time to drive further adaptation.
There’s not necessarily any magic to this. But there are certainly ways to do it wrong: using the wrong exercises, training in the wrong intensities, worrying about unimportant variables, or working out way too much (or way too little) for your training goals. These mistakes mean that you may still be able to see progress, but it’s much slower and less consistent than if you had a better plan, no matter how much hard work you put into it.
The biggest mistake of all, of course, is inconsistency. Not following a consistent program means inconsistent adaptation, inconsistent results, and typically, frustration and eventual quitting.
So what does a smart program do for you?
Selects good exercises that will actually get the physical adaptations you want
Selects training intensities that will actually get the physical adaptations you want
Arranges them in a weekly structure that optimizes for completing as much work as possible within the limitations of your body’s ability to recover and adapt
Scales the difficulty of these exercises over time in a way that properly increases the difficulty without going too quickly or too slowly
Provides the support and accommodation needed to make changes, and helps you to remain consistent with your effort over time
In short, a smart program enables you to work hard, without making things so hard that they become impossible.
At the end of the day “working out smarter” and “working out harder” are really often just two ways to describe the same thing.
About Adam Fisher
Adam is an experienced fitness coach and blogger who's been blogging and coaching since 2012, and lifting since 2006. He's written for numerous major health publications, including Personal Trainer Development Center, T-Nation, Bodybuilding.com, Fitocracy, and Juggernaut Training Systems.
During that time he has coached thousands of individuals of all levels of fitness, including competitive powerlifters and older exercisers regaining the strength to walk up a flight of stairs. His own training revolves around bodybuilding and powerlifting, in which he’s competed.
Adam writes about fitness, health, science, philosophy, personal finance, self-improvement, productivity, the good life, and everything else that interests him. When he's not writing or lifting, he's usually hanging out with his cats or feeding his video game addiction.
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