3 Real Reasons Your Body Hasn’t Changed
It kills me to see people investing hours of their time and thousands of dollars over the years and never experience the number 1 drug in the world. Getting better.
Here’s how we can change that!
No target OR target set too low
When I first went to the gym I was told that just lifting the empty bar was all I needed to work on.
There was a fear in the voice of the instructors about going beyond that. I didn’t even grasp the concept that one day I would need to have 100-200kg on that bar to test my potential.
Being scared of big weights and not realising that they are the key to success held me back during the years when I could have made the most progress. Sure, I bench-pressed with intensity and with four years of consistent lifting and a block of heavy eccentrics I finally hit a 100kg bench at age 20.
By this time I was starting to squat but I had no real local reference about where I could get to. Sure there were some big guys in the gym who lifted heavy but there was no connection between me, what I was doing, and them.
Fast forward to 2013-14. I was working with the Sydney Roosters and had Sam Kennedy, Pat Lane and Travis Touma training in the gym next to me everyday (SEE MORE ABOUT THEM HERE). These guys are coaching some of the best athletes in the world but can outdo them on most stuff in the gym. These guys can lift! We were reading the same stuff and all training hard and with inspiration to create an awesome culture at the Roosters. Seeing these guys all lift bigger weights than me was the best thing for me and an environment I’d never been in.
I wrote down a 100kg snatch, 210kg deadlift and free-standing handstand push-ups up as my targets. During that period I hit new records in all of my lifts including squats and cleans. I credit it to the change in training environment and a much simpler approach to programming than I’d used in the past. That allowed me to focus on quality training and simple progression.
This isn’t something that’s unique to me. I’d be willing to bet that your best block of training was built around similar pillars: simplicity, being challenged by others and an absolute focus on your goals. Let me know if I’m right. Or if I’m wrong.
Look at any newcomer to a CrossFit, Powerlifting or Strongman gym and you will see someone who changes their expectations of themselves. What was once normal is now below-average, even unacceptable.
Community is number one here. If you want more out of life you have to build the right community of people around you who bring the best out in you - who challenge you to be better but support you along the way.
Thanks to all of you readers and people who like, share, come to events, I know this website and most of what I’ve achieved over the last few years wouldn’t have been possible without you. I hope that you’re implementing the things you’re learning to your advantage.
No Stimulus
Training doesn’t mean there is a stimulus to change. Your body responds to what is demanded of it beyond what it’s currently adapted to do.
This is the number one reason zombie trainers and clients are seeing no results after an initial boom from simply moving a little a few times per week. For those who always look for a carpark closest to the shops and avoid carrying the groceries anything will work. For the first month. Then you need to provide a bigger stimulus.
Here are some of the ways:
A. Not Enough Volume
Volume is the word for the total amount of reps x the weight within a session. If you’re doing 3 x 8-10 on 6-10 movements because that’s what you’ve always done, that’s probably why you’re reading this article.
RealSTRENGTH Method uses 5 minute blocks where it’s easy to accumulate significant volume and add volume when needed. Adding more sets and reps may be what you need to go to the next level.
Elite athletes generally train with significantly more volume than beginners using more weight for more sets. Bob Takano’s (Weightlifting Guide) is a great place to see how Russian State-run weightlifting increased volume as the athlete’s experience increased. Bulgarians went to training 3 or more time per day to get the work they needed to complete done.
136 Likes, 1 Comments - Keegan I RealMVMT (@keeganrealmvmt) on Instagram: "Double body weight deadlifts and some jumps. A bit over 3 minutes worth. 160kg 9x2 with a few..."
THE OTHER EXTREME - Too much volume will make you feel like you’ve been run over by a truck. A good guide for volume is if your tendons aren’t hurting (too much) and you’re not getting depressed as a direct result of your training, then you’re probably dealing with it ok.
B. Not enough intensity
Intensity describes how heavy the lift is compared to what you’re capable of lifting. As you lift more the body becomes less inhibited by big weights, you lift more and the body adapts. If you’re very weak then you’re going to need massive volume to get a stimulus. Think about how many 10kg curls Arnold Schwarzenegger would have had to do just to maintain his arms. Now if you give him a 30kg DB you’ll be able to save him a few hours a day.
Light high-volume training works but most people don’t have the time for it. Soccer players have good calf development from 5-20 hours per week balancing on one leg, running and jumping; mechanics used to get popeye forearms from being on a wrench all day. For those training for less than 5 hours per week for all your muscles getting stronger is the solution.
When you’re strong you’ll also improve your endurance because you’re able to use a lower % of maximum effort for a given output. If 500 watts is someone’s maximum output then they’re going to fatigue quickly when asked to produce 300 watts compared to someone whose maximum output is 1500 watts.
For gym-goers, we want to be so strong that we can do a lot of work in a short period of time. This is why rugby players look like they do. They’re big guys who can get a lot of work done in any given period of time.
THE OTHER EXTREME - If you train with very heavy weights and neglect volume as a result you’ll likely experience tendon issues and less results than you want. High intensity can maintain a physique but won’t often build one. If you’ve been training high-volume for a period of weeks or months then focussing on intensity maybe allow you to recover and see some of those gains.
SIDE NOTE - athletes using steroids can get mass gains with less intelligent training and can maintain or build muscle with high-intensity low-volume training. They may also experience increased recovery capacity of connective tissues which allow them to use the methods they use. While there are great coaches who’ve used steroids it’s also very useful to checkout the methods of old-time strongmen like Arthur Saxon from times before steroids and supplements.
Getting it right for you.
If you’ve read Dinosaur Training by Brooks Kubik you’ll hear about eye-ball busting intensity for 1 rep being the key stimulus and an absolute disgust for pump work in the gym. The trick is that Brooks advocates barrel and sandbag lifts and carries. Westside Barbell uses massive intensity, partial lifts and all, but they also do very long distance strongman work and 1-2 minute continuous work sets. Anti-Drug Strength Athlete and Author Bud Jeffries squatted 1000 pounds from the bottom up, no suit, no wraps, just a belt. He credits heavy partial lifts that go beyond the intensity you can reach for full range lifting as the reason why he was able to move from 800-1000lbs.
Bottom Line.
Build tolerance to intensity and volume and great things will happen. The total amount of work done and the intensity it’s done at is better than thinking about session to session or even week to week.
Poor Health
Many of the guys who come to me have poor health. Since supporting Ali Day, Ben Garard, Daryl Millard, Remy Casty and others through some health issues to lifetime best performances and overcoming my own issues with chronic fatigue, I’ve developed a reputation for restoring health for performance. The truth is that nature does the work. Between RealFOOD and the subconscious mind there is not much else to do.
Many gym lovers develop toxicity levels from the poor quality food and supplements they use to add mass. This then becomes the limiting factor for future progression. Check out my Poisonous Potions article as a starting point if this applies to you.
Everyone can benefit from an improvement in baseline health. You can have all the sports science and monitoring in the world but if the fundamentals for health are neglected you will perform at well below your potential.
At the elite level training goes beyond what is healthy. At this level being able to maintain health is even more important since athletes consciously exceed and test their recovery capacity in an effort to be the best. Elite health then becomes the priority and even more detailed preparation is required.
What it takes to go to the next level in the gym and in life is simple. Simple, not easy.
Set a target, think a lot higher than your scared little version of yourself ,
Work with smart intelligence and persistence towards it
Build health
Great things will follow! Remember you are a product of your community, find the people that get the best out of you and stick with them!