How to Train Better (Hint: Don't do what this guy did)

May 10, 2023

This week in the gym I saw something that scarred me for life. It made me question if I even belong in the gym or if I should just pack it up and quit. What did I see? Allow me to paint the picture: 

 

I unrack the dumbbells and waddle backwards to my bench- hoping I don’t miss the bench entirely on the sit down and send 35kg dumbbells caving in to the centre of my chest. The first six reps of shoulder press was done in a few big exhalations and minor grunts but over the sound of my headphones is an even louder grunt -no- a SCREAM. Someone is screaming. Someone is getting stabbed. I look over to see if i can identify the stabbing because after all I am a witness and I see this kid, 14 years old, training with his friend who was a grown man. The kid was screaming. It turns out he is around 19 but just looks young. In any case he isn’t getting stabbed at all. He’s just in the middle of a set of chest press. Screaming with every push, screaming at his training partner to HELP then LEAVE IT then YEP then MORE, then 5 MORE then PARTIALS then NOPE. His body convulsed under the press performing what he considered reps and then calmly left the machine and picked up his log book and eloquently wrote something down with the proud smirk of a teenage girl and her diary. I am not exactly sure what he wrote down in his diary but It can’t be about the train wreck of a set that he just performed. It must’ve read something along the lines of “Today I locked eyes with her in the gym. She looked at me! I think I love her…And then I f***ed up the chest press beyond belief. RIP rotator cuffs LOL. Speak soon xoxo”. There’s no way he wrote down the reps as a means of progressive overload. There can’t be. There is no way to track the shit show that unfolded before my eyes. And that’s where I found the problem: 

 

Progressive overload has to be standardised. The problem with meticulously overloading is it allows too much room for error (increasing risk of injury) AND encourages the mindset of changing the exercise to allow for more reps or weight over time. How many people start with a good rep and then finish with a completely different movement in order to get that last rep in? (Like old mate and his seizure). However, those that train well professionally make sure their first reps look like their last. That way, the standardisation allows for an ACTUAL way to track your progression. 


Your muscles don’t know how much weight you lift, they only know how much FORCE they produce. (Read more about mechanical tension here). So if you have 100kg on the bar and move it so horribly that your chest contributes ‘x’ units of force, and the next guy has 70kg on the bar performed well enough that his chest contributes ‘x+50’ units of force, then clearly the second person is going to make more chest gains even though the first one used more weight. Hence the truth behind more is not always better. More weight isn’t better if it causes one to change the movement, recruit unwanted muscles, recruit momentum and take advantage of gravity and basic physics. 


This is why I train with the least amount of weight to yield the highest result. I manipulate elements of form to achieve this and it feels great on my joints, feels great on my muscles and it means I don’t have to tax my entire nervous system just to train to failure. And at a worst case, if I don’t make the extra 2% of gains than someone ruining their body and joints, at least I’ll be able to train for life and minimise my risk of injury. 

Just thought I’d try and put into words what was puzzling me so much. If you agree, share this on your IG story and tag me so I can see that I’m validated . 

 

In any case, here is this week on Wednesday: 

What I’ve seen: That kid on the chest machine (unfortunately) 

What I’ve been practicing: Batch working. This week I’ve been condensing as many things as possible into batches and it has fast tracked the hell out of productivity. Eg) I’ll film a week’s worth of content in one day, meal prep more of my meats in advance and write in advance. Very handy for things that have higher set up costs. 

What I’ve been reading: I actually went back to the vault and took out Tony Robbins unlimited power. Some things are quite dated but you learn a lot from how he navigates the world. Very interesting! 

What I’ve been watching: I have a habit of starting new shows and then moving on to the next one but one that always has my heart is Succession. The new season is out and it is just a sick show. If you haven’t seen it, this is your sign to start season 1 (but do so without a phone or any distractions because it can be hard to understand - like a modern day GOT). 

 

Have a great week guys, train hard, train well and thankyou for wanting to hear from

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