What do you mean… “a day off from the gym”?

I lift weights. Every day. Actually, I lift weights twice a day, Monday through Friday. I take it easy on the weekends- I only lift once per day, Saturday and Sunday. I must be young, right? That’s the only way somebody would be able to do that. No… I’m not so young. How do I possibly find the time to exercise so often? I make time. Even though I spend an average of 60 hours each week working, I still make exercise a priority. Of course, it DOES HELP that I do not subscribe to cable television, so I do not waste ANY time watching garbage like reality TV. Never turning on the “idiot box” definitely frees up some time. Whatever the case, the fact remains that I lift weights about 7-12 times every week. And I am even thinking about increasing that. I “olympic” squat, which means that I squat real LOW. To the point where my hamstrings cover my calves, almost like I am trying to touch my butt to my heels. I squat like this every day. With weights. And my knees, hips, and lower back are ALL still in perfect health. Why does it matter what I do? Because. What one man can do, another can do.

Back in the 90s, one the many self-proclaimed gurus I chose to learn from was Mike Mentzer. Mike was preaching a low-volume training system he dubbed Heavy Duty Training. The premise was pretty simple – do only as much in the gym as you need to, to come back STRONGER the next time. His workout prescriptions frequently featured doing only 1-2 sets per body part. Under Mike’s tutelage, your workouts might last as little as 20 minutes per session (including warm-ups). He based the philosophical foundation of this training system partly on the teachings of Ayn Rand and frequently referenced her works, The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged. Basically, Mike was out of his tree. A can or two short of a six-pack. NUTS. But, he could logically argue all day long why YOU and everyone else should only spend about 2-4 hours PER WEEK in the gym, no matter who you were. Like I expect all great teachers to be, Mike was a fanatic. I am glad that I devoted a significant time period seriously exploring his methods and the value of low volume training. I learned a lot. The concept of low volume training has its place in the larger picture of successful weight training, but it is just a small, small, SMALL sliver of the picture. These types of low volume training gurus come and go. A more contemporary version of the Mike Mentzer type (Mike is dead now), is a guy like Jim Wendler, who is, you guessed it, promoting a low-volume training system. Ironically, Jim Wendler was, at one time, a student of Louie Simmons. Simmons, the most innovative GENIUS in the history of powerlifting, generally believes in four “core” workouts per week and 3-9 “mini-sessions” per week, equaling approximately 7-13 workouts per week. Personally, when I am asked about Mentzer-Wendler types that are preaching low volume routines, I have the same general answer. “These guys are preaching low volume training so you can RATIONALIZE being LAZY and have more time to lay around and read their lame articles and/or buy their crappy products”.

At the other end of the spectrum of training advice from Mike Mentzer, we have an Olympic weightlifting coach like John Broz, who is an advocate of a high frequency, high volume training system.  This is sometimes referred to as a “Bulgarian” style training system. I have a lot of respect for what guys like John Broz are trying to accomplish. And, although it may seem like I am now a student of John Broz and other promoters of high frequency training systems, I have been saying things like, “there is NO SUCH THING as overtraining, only under-eating, and under-sleeping”, for over 10 years BEFORE I ever heard of John. I also assert, as a product of my own now nearly 30 years of weight training experience, that there is an inherent harm and benefit in EVERY training system that must be considered. In the short term, you will notice the benefits of a given system rather quickly, but in the long term, the harm will become evident. A “perfect” training system DOES NOT EXIST. Training is much more dynamic than that. As soon as you take the time to write it down, there are going to be some subtle changes that need to be edited into it. It may seem that I am arguing against low volume training systems. It may seem that I am advocating high frequency training because that is similar to what I currently do. What I really want to say to you is – TRAIN AS MUCH AS YOU NEED TO TO SUCCEED.




Paul Newt has been privately instructing and strength coaching since 1994. He is the Founder of Edge 24 Hour Private Fitness, and Master Trainer at New Energy and Weight-loss Training Systems.  He is available for consultations.  Visit www.newtsystems.com for more information.