Hail to the Dinosaurs!
Like every human being, dog, cat, hamster, gerbil,
goldfish, parrot and parakeet, I have a Facebook
page.
So without looking for it, I see all sorts of crazy
training stuff in my Facebook feed.
One of the current trends is the video of a trainee
hitting a new PR in the squat, deadlift, clean and
jerk or whatever.
There's usually a note that proudly proclaims that
"Sally Smith just made an awesome 15 kilo jump
and a new PR in the squat" -- or "Johnny Jones
upped his PR in the deadlift by 20 pounds!"
Now, I'm glad that Sally is doing squats -- and I'm
glad that Johnny is doing deadlifts.
And I'm glad they're adding weight to the bar.
And I'm glad they're excited about their training.
So far so good.
But, here's the problem.
Those big jumps are unsustainable.
You can do them for a couple of workouts, but you
can't do them forever. Very soon, you're going to
run right into a brick wall. Dead end street. No more
Gainsville. Toto, we're not in Kansas any more.
It's much better to add weight to the bar at a slower
and more manageable pace. It builds more strength
and more muscle when you do it that way -- and it
builds more confidence -- and it lays the foundation
for much better over-all results.
In other words, slower works better.
And this is nothing new. It's an idea that's been
around for a very long time.
Back in the day, the York courses taught single
progression and double progression.
In both systems, you added reps until you had
doubled your initial rep count -- and then you
added weight and dropped back to the original
number of reps and repeated the process.
In single progression, you added one rep every
workout. In other words, you always did a little
bit more in every single workout.
In double progression, you added one rep every
second workout. Thus, you would do a little bit
more, then repeat that workout, then do a little
bit more, and then repeat that workout, etc.
Double progression was slower. It took twice as
many workouts before you would add weight to
the bar.
Was that a problem?
No, not at all.
In fact, for MANY trainees, double progression was
better because it allowed them to build a much
better foundation for future gains. The "slow cooking"
approach gave plenty of time for the internal changes
that build strength and muscle -- such as an
improved digestive system, better circulation,
stronger nerve impulses, better assimilation of
food, increased appetite, and an increase in the
hormonal activity that supports growth.
That was true back in the 1930's and 1940's --
and it's just as true today.
Yes, I know we live in a world of instant gratification.
We all want it RIGHT NOW.
But patience is a virtue -- and in the Iron Game,
it's also a necessity.
Make haste slowly. You'll be glad you did.
As always, thanks for reading and have a great day.
If you train today, make it a good one.
Yours in strength,
Brooks Kubik
P.S. Chalk and Sweat will take you from beginner to
advanced with a series of progressively heavier and
more demanding workouts -- without wasting any
valuable training time on second rate programs:
http://www.brookskubik.com/chalk_and_sweat.html
P.S. 2. Support your muscle building and strength
training workouts with the right kind of diet and
nutrition -- the kind I teach in Knife, Fork, Muscle:
http://brookskubik.com/dinosaur_nutrition.html
P.S. 3. My other books and courses -- and Dinosaur
Training DVD's -- are right here:
http://www.brookskubik.com/products.html
P.S. 4. Thought for the Day: "Slow and steady wins
the race, and slow and steady lifts the iron."
-- Brooks Kubik
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