Choosing your big two:
· The Jack of all trades, master of none; why this needs to stop
· Use a compound lift with a high loading potential that can be progressed
· Look at your anthropology and injury history to decide what best suits your goals
· Bring some focus and energy mainly to these two compound movements
I love powerlifting (Squat, Bench and Deadlift) and watching Olympic lifting (Clean and Press/Snatch), but I’m fed up with everything only revolving around these movements. Some people just are not designed to handle them or get what they want from them either though a lack of coaching, injury history or maybe even equipment availability. Tried walking into a regular gym on a Monday looking for a bench?
The Jack of all Trades, master of non.
I find myself talking with clients, friends and people I bump into in coffee shops (when my head rises from my book) about how to lose weight. Deadlift double bodyweight, do a pull up, gain muscles everywhere, save small dragons when hunters come looking. Well, the last one takes a special talent I can’t share here. I digress. Sometimes the list goes on and I forget the first thing they have asked me… So have they.
More often than not going into the gym without a plan or any real idea of what exercises you wish to progress, which will result in you not progressing anything, leading to frustration.
So with my clients, I have been (where appropriate) setting two primary exercises as the focus of workouts and making them get after it! Want a chin up, you bet that’s the primary focus. The rest of the workout will follow from there.
Use a compound lift with a high loading potential that can be progressed
The bulk of your training should come from compound movements. These are exercises that cross over more than one joint. Take a pull up for developing your arms instead of a bicep curl. The bicep curl only crosses over the elbow joint, limiting the stress that can be put on the muscle, where as the pull up uses muscles across the elbow and upper back. This leads to a great loading potential, causing more tension, load and stress to the arms. Also this movement can be a great focus for progress, by the time you can nail five good pull ups with 0.25 (women) and 0.5 (Men) x bodyweight extra you’ll be hella strong, look incredible and achieve something very few others can. Also, does anyone care that you can curl that 30kg dumbbell poorly… well your ego does ;)
Look at your anthropology and injury history to decide what best suits your goals
Now I’m going to use the barbell bench press as an example here. Some people just don’t feel it in their pecs. Now if your goals are primarily aesthetic and you want to build a bigger chest but you don’t feel it and it only feels like your triceps burn and your shoulders are being torn apart then chances are this movement is not for you. We could look to progress a dumbbell floor press or Olympic ring press up instead. I don’t know you but I do know if you feel like you get an awesome burn in your chest and your shoulders feel dandy then you are probably onto a winner.
Bring some focus and energy to these two movements and let the rest of the workout support these
Now I wouldn’t recommend coming into the gym and just doing one or two exercises then going home. The big focus is for you to get better at these, so the rest of the workout should support your goals and help correct any imbalances you may have. In turn this will allow you to keep progressing, thus succeeding. I will however state that at times it’s worth while if you go to hit your workout and you are not feeling it after a warm-up then just get these movements done to the best of your ability then get on out of there. This means even on days (we all have them) where you just don’t function you are still making progress and being awesome.
Now, pick two exercises you really want to get better at that suits your goals and for the next six to eight weeks look to get better at them.
Did I just make your day or ruin it? Let me know.