Titles of Training Videos and Articles
What is typical of these kind of media are people using extremist terms to describe training certain body parts. They can also be used on social media at times by bodybuilders who have uploaded perhaps a photo of themselves training. Generally you'll see things like "Blast your Biceps!" or "Crushing Calves" lol. Note the mandatory use of the common letter at the beginning of both the body part and the adjective. You can't just have a video which says "Training Chest" it has to be something EXTREME like "Punishing the Pecs!".
Jay Cutler blasting his biceps
Talking about Training at the Gym
This kind of talk usually results from the question "what ya trainin' today?", which is a useless question in and of itself because nobody actually really cares what you are training, it's just a filler comment. But that's a different topic and I digress. The question sometimes results in an answer like "just smashing a bit legs" which leads me to think two things 1. "smashing"? What are you smashing them with a sledgehammer or something? and 2. which "bit" of your legs are you smashing? Similarly the response may be "just smashing some biceps" ... "some biceps" ... just some random biceps? Which ones? It's funny to listen to the way people talk in the gym. Oh and of course I can't forget the use of the word "aye" which is added onto the end of the sentence ie "Just smashing some chest aye". Ah, gets me every time.
The "No Pain, No Gain" Mentality
This is also known as the "go hard or go home" mentality. This occurs both with people training with weights in general and amongst some personal trainers. I'd actually go as far as to say that it's common place. People tend to hold the belief that more is better. Train to failure and beyond, break through the pain barrier, use extreme intensity techniques, take no rest days, train until you vomit or collapse, the more pain the better etc. The idea that if you aren't training balls to the wall all the time you aren't training hard enough is not only false, it's not even close to being an ideal way to train for progress. My best guess at where this comes from is that bodybuilding is an activity where you are trying to accrue and retain as much muscle mass on your frame as possible. So the end goal is extreme (retention of extreme muscle mass) and I think that people therefore associate that you must go to extremes on all fronts eg pain, fatigue, intensity, rest periods to achieve that goal.
The Dreamer Bulk
I'm sure we've all seen this one. Some of us may have even taken this approach at some point. The goal in this case is of course gaining muscle mass and often you may hear the phrase thrown around "gotta eat big to get big". Well that's true you do need to eat in a caloric surplus to gain muscle but rates of muscle gain are generally quite slow for natural lifters. In fact depending on training age and dosage the rate of muscle gain for some enhanced lifters is not going to be exactly off the charts. But still people think that somehow gaining a huge amount of weight which is largely body fat is going to cause them to gain a lot more muscle mass. Now I'm not saying that there is no context under which one should bulk but in many cases it is smarter to gain enough body fat to improve leverages and then to stay either at maintenance calories or in a slight surplus (depending on a variety of factors). Huge calorie surpluses are just going to cause you to gain fat which you will inevitably have to lose later (which doesn't bode well for any additional muscle tissue you may have gained as a result of that surplus).
The Aesthetic Movement
Somehow the obsession with "aesthetics" that has arisen in recent years has turned into the "let's be shredded all year round" movement. It would surprise me if the majority of people who follow this kind of thing actually have an understanding of what aesthetic physique qualities are (but that's another topic). Anyway, unless you have an outstanding metabolism staying shredded year round probably means that you will be in a caloric deficit year round. And that means you won't be gaining any muscle (unless maybe anabolics are involved). If improving your physique and maximising the aesthetic qualities (eg symmetry, proportion) are goals that are important to you then it's probably an intelligent idea to stop trying to be ripped all the time and allow yourself to eat consistently above maintenance for decent periods of time so that you can actually improve those things. And as a side note that I may address in future blogs, that goes for the bodybuilders who do 16 comp preps every single year. %^*# sake just have an off season for once!
Labeling things as "good" and "bad"
People in fitness often label things absolutely as good and bad. This can relate to food choices, training methods, exercise choices, supplements, equipment, exercise technique etc. Unfortunately it's not always that simple. It's not always black and white but rather there are shades of grey. In other words there is no good and bad, only context.
Hitting PRs
Now this is an interesting one. Hitting PRs (lifting the same weight for more reps or more weight for the same reps) is important to some degree if your goal is hypertrophy because progressive overload is one of the major factors involved. I actually encourage people strongly to focus on progressive overload. However I want to note that goals always need to be at the forefront of our minds when it comes to this kind of thing because getting too wrapped up in getting stronger can be a negative thing. If you are focused on achieving a personal best lift at all costs, form can really go out the window and you are risking a one way trip to snap city. For example if you are deadlifting the heaviest weight you've ever lifted but you get stuck at the knees, your back is rounded and you are hitching back and forth until you eventually lock it out ... did you really hit a PR? IMO no you didn't. My suggestion in this case is to leave your ego at the door, use an intelligent approach to progressive overload with realistic expectations of the rate of strength (and muscle) gain and have lots of patience.
Ok that's about it for this one guys. Like Jason Blaha would say "I hope this was informative and I will see you guys next time, but let me give you guys a bicep shot first".
Me giving Jason a bicep shot
Remember you can get in touch with me or follow me via the following avenues. Coaching inquiries are best directed directly to email.
Email - info@muscleacademy.com.au
Website - www.muscleacademy.com.au
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Instagram and Twitter - @evansoooon
- Evan
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