Fast and Furious Fitness

Well, there’s that eternal question again: Back off, take a break, or fight through it and continue?

I’ve covered the why’s and wherefore’s of this particular question a zillion times before, therefore, I won’t get into all that today. But, what I will do is provide an example from my own life. A case study, if you like - perhaps some will identify with this as well!

My regular “break day” was this past Thursday (It’s Saturday at the time of typing this). Actually should have been Wednesday, considering that was when I took a break last week, and therefore, that would have been a week (with my type of exercise routine, it’s mandatory to take a break at least a week. Unless your the type who does NOTHING but workout, rest and recuperate - but I doubt thats the case).

Well, I didn’t take the break Wednesday, and neither did I do it Thursday. There were other reasons behind this - main reason being the wife and I had some annoying, but sort of urgent personal work to get accomplished this Friday, which involved a lot of running about the place, so I figured heck, why not kill two birds with one stone.

Thursday’s workout was great, but I was fatigued, tired and irritable all throughout the day. Was DEFINITELY going to make Friday a break day from my regular routine - and did - but unfortunately, had a bad stomach upset Thursday night/early Friday morning. Uh oh, sure shod sign of overtraining there for me. . .

Needed to rest up on Friday, but couldn’t - so spent the day running around from here to there getting paperwork accomplished. And had to wake up early for a client call (overseas) and then on top of that speak with another guy, BEFORE running around all the place. Didn’t eat that well either, to give the stomach a break. And after all that, I thought I should be fit to go, raring to go actually, as I usually am after a break.

But, nothing doing this Saturday. Woke up sore ALL over - hips, thighs, buttocks, calves, upper back, shoulder, and triceps. And it’s the type of soreness nothing is getting rid of - except a massage, maybe. I can barely get 10 squats done, and that’s bad for a guy who routinely pounds out set of 40 jumper squats. Deep breathing won’t help. Heck, NOTHING’s getting the ole engine started today.

Mentally, physcially, I’m just worn out. I know I never take two days off in a row, but today - depsite all my best efforts, the body won’t co-operate. I feel like an old man, and thats when I finally decided to - give it a break again! OK, not a complete break as I did walk around a hell of a lot yesterday, but break from the regular routine nonetheless.

The wife was urging me to get a massage yesterday which I resisted. Ended up we couldn’t get one anyway as the massage center was closed, but she says these things for a reason. Guess she was right - as she usually is.

So today, I’ll try and not feel guilty over the two days off. Going to eat well, sleep well, relax, chill out - everything, except train. And tomorrow, I’m sure I’ll be back, ready to go!

Moral of this story? Well, it’s obvious. The reason I’m sharing it is because a lot of you are likely in similar situations. Therefore, lesson (or perhaps several lessons) to be learnt from this episode. We’ll see if I’m smart enough to stick to what I learnt!

All for now. Of course, this isn’t an excuse to get lazy - if that is what it is - then get FIT - FAST!

Rahul

All,

Getting stuck in a “rut” occurs to most, if not all trainees at some point in their training careers. In fact if your a serious trainee, then chances are you’ve experienced this feeling more than once.

Now, there are two things that might be occuring. It could either be overtraining, in which case I’d simply advise you to back off. But, if it’s more a case of getting stuck in a rut, or a training plateau as some call it, then read on.

Your body gets used to doing the same thing over and over again. For instance, let’s say you do a 100 pushups, and 100 squats daily, in that order. Now, is this a bad workout? Not at all -in fact, if you DO this, or similar workouts on a daily basis, then your likely in pretty good shape already. But, there might come a time (in fact there likely WILL come a time) when this workout starts to get “stale”. You may find yourself not wanting to do the same thing over and over again. Or, you may find yourself starting to dread the workout, not because it’s hard, but because it’s just gotten boring to do the same thing over and over again. Or, and this is quite common as well, your progress in those exercises might stop altogether - for instance, if your goal is to do 50 jumping squats in a row, then you might just stay stuck on 40 for a while. Remember, your muscles need to be “pushed” out of their comfort zone in order to grow!

So, how to break out of this rut??

Well, there are many ways, but two of the most useful ones are to a) change the order of exercises up, and b) not get overly hung up on how many numbers one can do in a single set, or overall.

For instance, my regular leg workout usually comprised of ~100 squats, 50 jumping squats, Sumo squats, jump l unges, and a few exercises on the floor. In that order. But, as of late - I was getting a bit bored with this routine, and my progress seems to have been stalling as well. So, what I did today was change the order up a bit, as well as the numbers: -

- 50 regular squats
- 10 Sumo squats (each leg)
- 10 jumping lunges on each leg
- 30 regular squats
- 25 jumping squats
- 20 jumping squats
- and I finished off with 10 jumping lunges, and a couple of “floor” exercises.

I applied this same principle to my pushups as well, and also my pull ups. The result?? From not feeling like working out at all initially, I had a SUPER workout, and it was actually way more intense than usual, as I changed the way my muscles were being hit. All in all, I’d say a good deal!

There are other ways to change things up as well - but, I only have access to my bodyweight exercises for now (no hills, no swimming pool), so I’m doing what I can for now, and what works best, given the limitations.

Did I do a 100 squats in a row? No, not this time. But, I got a great workout in without doing that many in a row (one set).

Is it bad to shoot for a 100 in a row? No, absolutely not. You can get a great workout in by doing that many in a row (one set).

There’s a coupla lessons hidden in there someplace. See if you can find ‘em!

Get fit - FAST!

Rahul

All,

The muscles at the back of the body are some of the most forgotten, and “undertrained” muscles for most people.

Most trainees go berserk training the muscles at the front i.e. the muscles that “can be seen in the mirror”, but how many people do you hear about that proudly train their lower back? Their hamstrings? Or their glutes? I bet not too many.

Now, don’t get me wrong - it is important to train the front of the body - but what happens is most folks spend too much time/energy training the front of the body, while the back of the body is neglected. The result? Muscle imbalances occur, said muscles get overtrained, and in some cases, injury occurs (how many times have you heard of people perenially sore front deltoids?). . .

So, without further ado, let me explain why the muscles at the back are important to train: -

1. The largest muscle groups in the body (excepting the quads) are all located at the back of the body. Your lats, glutes, hamstrings - all these are large muscles. Training these intensely makes you BREATHE deeply as they involve a lot of focussed effort, and more importantly, they promote growth throughout the entire body.

2. Training these intensely prevent overtraining in the other “opposing” muscles. It also improves performance in those muscles. For instance, I’ve been a bit burnt out on high repetition Hindy squats for the past couple of days, and therefore have been concentrating more on jumping lunges and Sumo squats, both of which target the groin, glutes, and hamstrings. The result? I tried doing a maximum rep of Hindu squats today, and banged out a 100 of them in good time. That sort of speaks for itself!

I’ve had similar results with pushups - to increase my pushup numbers, I’ll often concentrate on pull ups for a few days. . .

3. Last, but certainly not least, the muscles at the back of the body are very important when it comes to providing a “support structure” for the rest of the body. For instance, a person might be able to bench a tremendous amount of weight, but he will never be “truly” strong unless he develops his back (upper and lower) to the same degree. Similarly, overdeveloped quads and underdeveloped hamstrings are a disaster waiting to happen.

For those who claim they train purely for the “look”, well, think about this: - How ridiculous does a guy with an large chest, but narrow back look? Or, let’s say you have huge thighs, but underdeveloped glutes/hamstrings; your legs will look big from the front, but you will never be able to fill those jeans out completely. Train EVERYTHING though, and you will get that “solid” look to your body that speaks of strength in no uncertain terms!

Long story made short - train the muscles at the back of your body as hard, or harder than you train the muscles at the front. Your body will thank you for it - as will your workout results!

Get fit - FAST!

Rahul

For those who work out daily, it is not uncommon to experience days where the workout just isn’t a “great” one. There are days one just isn’t able to workout at maximum intensity, despite one’s best intentions. . .

The question then begets: Should I skip my workout altogether on those days, or should I “grit it through”?

This really depends. In most cases, I would suggest the latter option. Now, if your really overtrained, and your body’s sending you S.O.S. signals to “take a break” (see earlier post on “When to back off . . .”), then it’s probably best you take a break that day. However, in most cases, it is better to grit it through a less than ideal workout and complete anyway; you’ll be better off having accomplished something rather than quit halfway.

I’ll give you an example from my training today. My session yesterday was GREAT - really got the blood pumping, and the heart going - all in optimum time. Today’s wasn’t nearly as good though - perhaps because I repeated the exact same routine again (tip: keep changing things up - I’ll have more on this in future as well). I felt like quitting halfway through my squats, and slowed down considerably while going through the pushups - but, completed my routine anyway. The result? I’m off to take a shower - and feel great at the end of it!

Moral of the story - if your REALLY overtrained, or need a break, go for it. But, in most cases, it’s simply just a “bad day”, and it’s best to grit one’s teeth and take it in your stride, just as you would anything else that comes along in the day.

All for now!

Rahul

P.S. : - I will have a post out shortly on how changing your routine up every once in a while can really shake things up - stay tuned!

P.S #2 : - Have a great workout today!!