Brevity: The Key to Building a Great Body

I've been around this game a long time and have tried nearly every workout imaginable; I’ve had some great results with some and nothing with others.

Yesterday, I was doing a "normal workout" for me that included chest and shoulders. I did three exercises per body part and performed 8-12 reps per set with a weight that was a bit of a challenge by rep 12. That's typically how I determine my weight; I should be able to do at least 8, but no more than 12 with the selected weight. Once 12 can be surpassed, it's time to increase the weight. That's the acceptable protocol for "hypertrophy".

Well, during this basic workout I was watching some kids (20-25 years old) doing what I used to in the past..."overtrain" They were lifting way too heavy, to the point where their form was absolutely horrific and they were accomplishing only about three good reps per set. In addition to that, I know they were in there for a total of about 2.5 hours; way too long if you ask me. Even when I was training for size, I never spent any more than 1.5 hours in the gym. If I did, I split up my workouts to an am/pm routine.

Maybe it's due to muscle maturity, but I can accomplish in twenty minutes now what those guys were attempting to accomplish in hours. Seriously...brevity, in my opinion, is the key to a successful fitness routine, even if you want to build size and strength.

If you get into the gym with a plan in mind, and hit it with a focused and aggressive style, you could realistically be in and out in way less than two hours. I am no longer a believer in these marathon workouts that include 4 sets of 10 reps of chest, shoulders and triceps then abs or calves and then 30 minutes of cardio...that's way too much.

If you were doing a circuit training routine, you would hit several muscle groups obviously, but that is an entirely different routine all together.

Overtraining can be more damaging than not training at all. So do yourself a favor and back off some if you are guilty of these marathon workouts. Just because your favorite professional says he does that, doesn't mean it's good for you. As a matter of fact, there was a retired IFBB pro bodybuilder who these kids saw walk in the gym. They were enamored with him apparently because they all stopped and gazed with stars in their eyes. He graciously walked over and talked to them and kindly warned them to cut back or pay the price in the long run.

It was very refreshing to see his influence used in a matter that would have a positive effect on these very impressionable young men.