3-0-2-1 tempo: three-second eccentric phase (3), no pause at the bottom (0)...
...two-second concentric phase (2), with a one-second squeeze at the top (1) Remember that the number order doesn't necessarily represent the order in which the phases are performed. Very precise:
this is only a bit less precise than "ultra" precise, using three
numbers instead of four. We only prescribe the eccentric phase (first
number), the concentric phase (third number) and the transition between
the eccentric and concentric phases (second number). The time between
reps is not included. Precise:
in this third method we don't even include the transition phases, only
the eccentric (first number) and concentric (second number) phases are
prescribed. For example 3-1 means that you perform the eccentric in 3
seconds and the concentric in one second.
Note:
with the first three methods of tempo quantification you'll sometimes
see an 'x' instead of a number. This means "eXplosive" or "as fast as
you can." Qualitative: This
approach, used by many coaches, doesn't include a specific number of
seconds for each phase. Rather, a qualitative description of each phase
is used. For example:
"Lower the weight slowly and lift it under control, really squeezing the muscle."
"Control the weight on the way down and lift it explosively."
"Go slow during both phases of the movement, concentrating on keeping the muscle tensed." None: And then there's this approach, used by some coaches who don't say a damn thing about tempo at all. Which one is best? It depends on the situation: each of these methods have their pros and cons. The
first two (ultra and very precise) methods are useful for someone who
cheats or has bad form. If you're in the habit of bouncing the bar off
your chest in an attempt to add a few more pounds to your bench press,
sticking to a strict tempo may help you kick the habit. For everyone
else, however, these precise methods often take away from the quality
of the set. If you're completely focused on counting seconds, you won't
be able to fully concentrate on the movement, and on generating maximum
force. As a rule of thumb, the more experienced you become, the more you should move towards the qualitative tempo prescription. Supersets: This
is one of the first "high stress" methods that newbies learn about when
starting to lift weights seriously. This doesn't necessarily mean that
it's the best one, just the most popular. Unfortunately, most people
use supersets the wrong way, pairing movements without any thought
about the logic behind the pairing. But we're getting ahead of
ourselves. First, let's talk about just what the heck supersets are. A superset is when you perform a set of two exercises back to back, without resting between them (you do rest after the second one, however). There are several types of supersets: Pre-fatigue:
refers to pairing two exercises for the same muscle group. The first
one is an isolation movement (exercise where the target muscle is doing
most of the work alone) and the second one is a compound movement. An
example for the chest would be to perform a set of dumbbell flies, then
immediately one set of bench press. The logic here is that in a
compound movement, the target muscle isn't working alone, and thus
might not be fully stimulated at the end of the set. By
pre-fatiguing this target muscle, we increase the chance of fully
stimulating it. For beginners, pre-fatigue is also good for learning
how to feel a target muscle in a compound movement. For example, many
people have a hard time feeling their pectoral muscles ("pecs") working
when they bench press. Pre-fatigue the chest with an isolation movement
and you'll feel the pecs much more in the press, which will help teach
you how to focus on that muscle. The downside is that you won't be able
to use as much weight in the compound exercise, which is also the best
mass builder of the two movements. Post-fatigue:
pretty much the same thing as the pre-fatigue approach, except that the
exercise order is reversed: you start with the compound movement and
then perform the isolation one. This also allows you to fully stimulate
the target muscle, but it doesn't interfere with the amount of weight
you can use on the big exercise. Compound: this
is the type of superset I like the least, and I rarely use it. It
consists of pairing two compound movements for the same muscle group
(e.g. bench press and dips). The problem is that it doesn't help you to
focus on the target muscle group. In the case of bench press
and dips, if your triceps are stronger than your pectorals, you'll
still rely mostly on them during both movements, and the chest might
still be left relatively under-stimulated. The only advantage to a
compound superset is that you can work more than one part of the muscle
in the same set. However, this is better accomplished with isolation
movements. Isolation: refers to
pairing two isolation exercises for the same muscle group. The purpose
of this approach is to focus on several parts of a muscle at the same
time. This is where it gets tricky: for this technique to work, you
have to select exercises that actually work different parts of the
muscle. If you choose two movements targeting the same area, you're not
getting full value from this technique. Antagonist:
in this method you pair two exercises for opposing (antagonist)
muscles. As with other supersets, there is no rest between the first
and second movements. With this approach, you can pair these muscles
together:
• chest and back
• biceps and triceps
• quadriceps and hamstrings
• lateral/front deltoid and rear deltoid
• abdominals and lower back Triple sets:
This technique is similar to the superset except that instead of doing
two exercises back to back, you perform three movements in a row. This
is obviously a very demanding method that should not be abused,
especially by beginners and/or individuals with low work capacity. Just like supersets, there are several alternatives when it comes to triple sets. Here are a few: Pre- and post-fatigue: this
one starts with one isolation exercise, follows with a compound
movement, then closes the circle with another isolation exercise. An
example for the chest might look like this:
A1) Dumbbell flies, 8-10 reps
A2) Decline bench press, 6-8 reps
A3) Cable crossover, 10-12 reps Holistic:
this one was first popularized in the late 80s by Dr. Fred Hatfield,
and more recently by coach Poliquin. It consists of performing one
compound movement with heavy weights and low reps, then moving on to an
assistance exercise performed for an intermediate number of reps (8-12)
and then finally performing an isolation drill for high reps (anywhere
from 20 to 40 reps). An example could look like this:
A1) Bench press, 4-6 reps
A2) Incline dumbbell press, 8-10 reps
A3) Cable crossover, 30 reps Other
examples would include triple sets of three isolation movements working
three different parts of a muscle or using different movement
patterns/angles.

Extended sets Drop
sets are part of a category of training method called "extended sets."
Extended sets means that after you reach a point where you can't lift a
weight one more time with proper technique you find a way to continue
on doing more work. This is normally done either by reducing the weight
(drop sets) or by taking a short rest before continuing on with the set
(rest/pause or cluster sets). So when performing a drop set you
basically perform a certain number of reps with a given weight. At the
end of that "first" set you reduce the weight slightly and you
immediately continue performing reps with the reduced weight. For
example:
Dumbbell bench press with 50 pound dumbbells; able to perform 6 reps...
After 6 reps you go down to 40 pound dumbbells to perform 3-4 more
reps. You
can also perform double drops, or even triple drops (reducing the
weight two or three times). But I reiterate that this is a stressful
method that should not be abused. Rest/pause sets: these
are somewhat similar to drop sets in that you continue to perform reps
even after you reach the point of failure. But this time you don't
reduce the weight, instead you rest for 7-12 seconds before resuming
the set with the same weight. So you might do 8 reps with 200 pounds on
the bench press, re-rack the weight, rest for 10 seconds and then
perform
2-3 more reps. Cluster sets: clusters are similar to rest/pause sets,
however with clusters you take your 7-17 seconds of rest between each repetition.
A cluster set of 5 reps would be: 1 rep, rest 10 sec., 1 rep, rest 10
sec., 1 rep, rest 10 sec., 1 rep, rest 10 sec., 1 rep, end of set. Obviously,
since you rest between every rep, you can use a lot more weight than
during regular sets of the same number of reps. Burns:
burns are partial (half) reps performed at the end of a regular set.
For example, you perform 10 full repetitions on the dumbbell curl, and
at the end of the set you add 5-6 partial reps at the second half of
the range of motion. Muscle failure:
Failure is the point at which you can't complete one more proper
repetition at a given weight. In other words, you reach a point of
muscle failure when you're unable to complete a repetition without
having the help of a spotter, or resorting to cheating or bad form.
Failure can occur due to several factors, including complete fatigue of
the muscle fibers (rare), accumulation of metabolites (lactate,
hydrogen) in the muscle which makes contraction harder or impossible,
and fatigue of the nervous system (which makes recruiting the muscle
fibers more difficult). Intense vs. Intensive: there is a lot of misconception regarding the term intensity
as it relates to training. In the strength training field, "intense"
refers not to a subjective value ("dude, this workout is, like totally intense!") but to an objective variable: the amount of weight used compared to your capacity. Simply
put, the heavier the weight compared to what you're able to do, the
greater the intensity of the exercise. For example, if you're able to
lift a maximum of 200 pounds on the bench press for one repetition
(your one-rep max, or 1RM) doing one set of 5 reps with 170 pounds
(85%) is more intense than doing one set of 10 reps with 140 pounds
(70%), even if the later might actually feel more painful or harder. Intensive,
on the other hand, refers to the subjective feeling of hard work: when
you feel like you're really working out hard and giving it all you've
got, the workout can be said to be intensive, but it might not necessarily be intense. Volume: this
refers to the total amount of work done during a workout. Technically,
volume is equal to the number of reps, times the weight used, times the
number of sets. For example, if you perform 5 sets of 10 reps with 200
pounds on an exercise, your volume was 10,000 pounds. In
bodybuilding circles, however, volume is most often referred as the
number of sets per muscle group; less than 6 sets per muscle being
considered low volume, 6-9 moderate, 10-16 average, 17-20 high, and
over 20 very high volume. This is obviously not a comprehensive
glossary of strength training words or techniques, but it will allow
you to understand the basics, and should help you on your way.

Walk the Walk! A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, and if you follow these nine steps, your own journey will go a lot smoother.
1. Set Realistic Goals Newbies
must understand the importance of setting realistic goals. Some people
actually think that they will look like Arnold after only a few months
of training. When their gains fall far below their inflated
expectations, they often quit. Listen: muscle growth is a slow process.
while a beginner can gain muscle faster than a more advanced
individual, rarely will you be able to gain more than 2-3 pounds of
solid muscle tissue per month. When you begin training it's realistic
to expect a gain of around 15-20 pounds (which is a huge amount) in your first year
of training, but only if everything is done right. So don't panic and
quit training (or turn to steroids) simply because you didn't gain 20
pounds of muscle in 8 weeks.
Two months of training won't turn the guy on the left into the guy on the right.
2. There is No Magic Program The
key to progress is (and always will be) the amount of effort you put
into your program and your progression. Hard work and the drive to
progress in some way in every single workout is the real secret to
muscle growth and strength, not some cutting edge program.
3. Progression This goes back to the principle of effort. The real secret to building muscle and strength is to progress.
You must challenge your body on a consistent basis and find ways to
progressively ask more of it. If you do the same thing over and over
again, you'll end up looking the same as you do now in a month, a year,
or ten years. Progress is the name of the game, not program design, not
tempo, or other small details. Find a way to progress and you'll gain
size and strength. Now, there's more than one way to progress.
What we're looking for are ways to make our bodies work harder. This is
progress, and it's what will lead to growth. Here are a few ways to
make your body work harder: Increase the load. You
can challenge your body by adding weight to the bar and performing the
same number of reps per set. For example, if you did 225 pounds for 10
reps on the bench press last week and put up 230 for 10 this week,
you've forced your body to work harder. Obviously, this
method of progression has its limitations: you can't just keep adding
weight to the bar every week, and expect your body to adapt. You'd
increase your bench press by 260 pounds a year simply by adding five
pounds to the bar per week, if this were possible. Unfortunately, it's
not. Increase the reps. Another way
to make your body work harder is to do more reps per set with the same
weight. For example, if last week you did 225 for 10 reps and this week
you do 225 for 12 reps, you've progressed. Just like with the previous
method, you can't add reps like this every week. Increase the average weight lifted for an exercise.
This is very similar to the first method, except whereas increasing the
load refers to lifting more weight on your max set, this one refers to
lifting more weight on average for an exercise. For example, let's say you perform 4 sets of 10 reps on the bench press:
Week 1 Set 1: 200 pounds x 10 (2000 pounds)
Set 2: 210 pounds x 10 (2100 pounds)
Set 3: 220 pounds x 10 (2200 pounds)
Set 4: 225 pounds x 10 (2250 pounds)
Total weight lifted = 8550 pounds
Average weight per set = 2137 pounds
Average weight per rep = 213.7 pounds (214 pounds)
Week 2 Set 1: 210 pounds x 10 (2100 pounds)
Set 2: 215 pounds x 10 (2150 pounds)
Set 3: 225 pounds x 10 (2250 pounds)
Set 4: 225 pounds x 10 (2250 pounds)
Total weight lifted = 8750 pounds
Average weight per set = 2187 pounds
Average weight per rep = 218.7 pounds (219 pounds) As
you can see, even though the same top weight was reached during both
workouts, on week two you lifted five pounds more on average. This is
progression! Increase training density.
You can also progress by increasing the amount of work you perform per
unit of time. This refers to decreasing the rest between sets, while
using the same weight (or not decreasing it by too much). By reducing
rest intervals, your body is forced to work harder and recruit more
muscle fibers due to the cumulative fatigue phenomenon. Increase training volume.
This is probably the simplest progression method. If you want to make
your body do more work, then do more work! This means adding sets for
each muscle group. For example, on week one you might perform 9 work
sets for a muscle group and bump it to 12 on week two and 14 on week
three. While this can work, it shouldn't be abused as it can lead to
overtraining. Most trainees should stick to no more than 12 total sets
per muscle groups 90% of the time. Use intensive training methods.
The occasional inclusion of methods such as drop sets, rest/pause sets,
tempo contrast, iso-dynamic contrast, supersets, and compound sets is
another way of making your body work harder. It also shouldn't be
abused, as it constitutes tremendous stress on the muscular and nervous
systems. Use more challenging exercises. If
you're used to doing all your training on machines, then move up to
free weights. You'll force your body to work harder because you have to
stabilize the load. If you use only isolation exercises and start
including compound/multi-joint movements, you'll also make your body
work harder because of the intermuscular coordination factor. Produce more tension in the targeted muscle group.
It's one thing to lift the weight; it's another thing to lift it
correctly in order to build size! As I often say, when training to
build muscle, you're not lifting weights; you're contracting your muscles against a resistance.
You can improve the quality of your sets, thus making your body work
harder, by always trying to flex the target muscle as hard as possible
throughout the duration of each rep. Increase the time under tension by lowering the weight under control.
I'm not a huge fan of precise tempo recommendations as I find that they
can interfere with training concentration. However, I do acknowledge
that when a muscle is under constant tension for a relatively longer
period of time (up to 45-70 seconds), more hypertrophy can be
stimulated. The best way to do this without having to use less weight
is to lower the weight more slowly, still focusing on tensing the
muscles as hard as possible the whole time. These are just a
few ways of progressing. You don't have to use them all at the same
time, but knowing that each of these represents a progression will
allow you to constantly challenge your body. You can't lift more weight
today?
No problem, try one of the other eight methods. The key is progression.
Find a way to progress every week and you're sure to grow.

Part 2 of Section 1 will run tomorrow.
Christian
Thibaudeau is a strength coach, bodybuilder, Olympic lifter, and former
newbie. He transformed his physique from bleak to magnifique, and you
can too. All he asks is that you follow the guidelines in this series,
that you don't mispronounce his name (it's "tee-bow-doh"), and that you
resist, at all costs, any urge you may have to call him "Riddick."



http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=1764218

Training for Newbies, Part 2
by Christian Thibaudeau
Yesterday,
Christian conducted part 1 of newbie school, covering such topics as
basic program design and progression, along with providing a pretty
slick glossary to weight training lingo. Today he'll cover more
advanced elements of program design, along with the fundamentals of
loading parameters.
Pay attention so he won't have to rap your newbie knuckles with an EZ curl bar!

4. Don't neglect anything.
Mirror muscles. It's
the very rare newbie who starts out with a balanced training program
that includes sufficient lower body and back work. Most beginners begin
their quest by focusing on the "mirror muscles." These are the muscle
groups you see when they look in the mirror (chest, shoulders, abs,
biceps, triceps). Working only the mirror muscles is asking
for trouble. First off, it can lead to postural problems and muscle
imbalances, which can increase the risk of injury. Second, and equally
dire, it makes you look like a dork. You may see yourself only from the
front, but others see you from the sides and the back. Do you really
want a David Copperfield physique that magically disappears whenever
you turn around? And don't forget about serious lower body
work. Not only because a big upper body supported by scrawny "chicken
legs" looks stupid, but also because intensive lower body work will
help stimulate whole body growth by increasing anabolic hormone production.
David Copperfield demonstrates the dangers of neglecting the lower body. When
designing a training program, make sure that it includes at least one
movement from each of these exercise categories: Upper body
horizontal push (bench press, dumbbell bench press, low-incline bench
press, low-incline dumbbell press, decline bench press, decline
dumbbell press)
Dumbbell bench press Upper
body horizontal pull (seated rowing, 1-arm dumbbell rowing,
chest-supported dumbbell rowing, T-bar rowing, bent-over barbell row,
machine seated row)
Seated cable row Upper
body vertical push (military press, seated dumbbell shoulder press,
seated barbell shoulder press, standing dumbbell shoulder press)
Seated dumbbell shoulder press Upper
body vertical pull (chins, pull-ups, lat pulldown in front with a
pronated (palms away) grip, lat pulldown in front with a supinated
(palms toward you) grip, lat pulldown with parallel grip)
Pull-ups Lower body quads dominant bilateral (close-stance back squat, front squat, leg press, hack squat)
Hack squat Lower body quads dominant unilateral (lunges, step-ups, Bulgarian split squat)
Bulgarian split squat Lower
body hips extension dominant (Romanian deadlift, dumbbell Romanian
deadlift, stiff-leg deadlift, reverse hyper, good-morning, pull-through)
Romanian deadlift Lower body knee flexion dominant (lying leg curl, standing leg curl, glute-ham raise)
Lying leg curl Obviously, you don't need to (and shouldn't) do allof
these exercises in the same workout, but you should do an exercise from
each group every training week. You can add additional exercises only
when you're doing at least one of each. Once you're at that point, you
may choose from the list below. Direct biceps/arm flexion
exercises (preacher curl with straight bar, seated dumbbell curl,
seated incline dumbbell curl, hammer curl, reverse preacher curl)
Seated incline dumbbell curl Direct
triceps/arm extension exercises (decline barbell triceps extension,
decline dumbbell triceps extension, lying barbell triceps extension,
lying dumbbell triceps extension, various types of cable triceps
extension movements)
Decline barbell triceps extension Direct deltoid exercise (dumbbell lateral raise, leaning-away dumbbell lateral raise, cable lateral raise)
Leaning-away lateral raise Chest
isolation exercise (cable cross-over, decline dumbbell flies, flat
dumbbell flies, incline dumbbell flies, pec deck machine)
Cable crossover Rear deltoid exercise (bent over lateral raise, seated rope rowing to the neck)
Bent-over lateral raise Trapezius exercise (dumbbell shrugs, barbell shrugs,

overhead shrugs)
Barbell shrugs Calf exercise (standing calf machine, seated calf machine)
Standing calf raise
5. Enthusiasm is great, but overwork is your enemy Understand that most of your gains will come while you're recovering
from your training sessions. When you hit the gym hard you'll stimulate
your muscles to grow bigger and stronger, but the actual growth happens
when you rest. Training too much and/or too often can really limit your
gains. You should include 2-3 days of rest per week to stimulate
maximum growth, and limit your volume to 9-16 sets per muscle group in
a training session, 9-12 being better in most cases. Training
is a highly emotional issue. We want that lean, strong and muscular
physique so bad that we often throw away reason! We fear that we're not
doing enough and end up doing too much for our own good. Always focus
on quality, not quantity. And never forget that rest and recovery are
just as important to the growth process as the training itself.
6. Change is good, within reason Few
people know this, but when I was younger I was quite an accomplished
golfer. I come from a golfing family: my father used to be the
president of the local country club, my younger brother played on his
college team and Sundays were generally spent playing a family golf
game. I actually played competitively until I was 18, even winning two
junior tournaments. I've always been in love with learning and
experimenting. When weight training became a passion I read everything
I could on the subject, tried every routine and method possible. Well,
when I played golf I was the same way. For example, each month I used
to read Golf Digest. This magazine presented a monthly swing
analysis: basically presenting a frame-by-frame breakdown of a top
pro's swing. Without exception, I would devote that month to trying to
swing like the month's featured pro. For one month I might try to copy
Fred Couple's swing, then move on to Davis Love, and from him to Ernis
Els, and so on. The funny thing is, even though I copied the swings of
all
the top pros, my swing never actually improved. Why? 1. Because I never
devoted enough time to a swing style to actually become good at it and
reap the benefits. 2.
Because the "swing of the month" might not have necessarily been well
suited to my own body mechanics. Ernie Els is 6'3" with long arms and a
lot of flexibility; I'm 5'8" with short arms and pretty tight.
Copying Ernie's swing doesn't guarantee you'll swing like Ernie. Where
am I going with this? Well, I see the same thing happen all the time
with weight training. Some guy (usually a teenager or a newbie) will
read about this novel program and will immediately discard what he's
currently doing (regardless of whether it's working or not) to try the
new routine. Many people bounce from program to program every
1-2 weeks! They never give a program a fair chance to prove its worth.
It takes time for muscle to be added to your frame. You can't judge the
efficacy of a training philosophy if you change around before the
routine has actually had time to work. Yes, changes in your
workout are important to long term progress. But changes that come too
soon, or that are too drastic, are sure to stop your progress dead in
its tracks. I'll say it again. Body transformation is a highly
emotional issue. We deeply want to believe that somewhere lies a
program that will instantly change our body into the image we always
dreamed about, giving us gains beyond our wildest expectations. I'm
sorry to disappoint you, but such a program just doesn't exist. Some
programs are better than others, but nothing is so drastically superior
that it will cause you to pile on muscle at a phenomenal pace. The
secret formula to getting the body you want is (and always will be) the
amount of effort you put into each workout, multiplied by your
long-term dedication. Furthermore, a program might sound
super-cool and effective; but that doesn't mean that it will suit your
body-type, needs, objectives, and mental demeanor. For example, a
Westside-inspired program looks cool, and this type of training has
been proven to be super effective to build strength. However, if adding
muscle mass and building an aesthetic and balanced physique is your
main goal, then the Westside template might not be the best option,
even though it can help you build muscle. The same could be
said about the Olympic lifts. I love them, they are fun to do, and they
really give you a great sense of accomplishment, as well as a ton of
power. However, if you're training for a bodybuilding show, a Bulgarian
Olympic lifting program might not be the best choice for you. On the
other hand, while a bodybuilding program might give you some good
muscle gains, it's not what you want if your goal is to peak for a
powerlifting contest. If you're a long-limbed person, you'll
need more direct limb work to grow maximally while a "stubby" guy will
often get big all over (limbs included) from doing only the basic
lifts. Longer limbed guys also generally need more unilateral work than
their shorter limb counterparts. So while a "back to the basics"
program of only squat, bench, deadlifts and rowing might be fine for
Pugsley, it might not work not so well for Lurch.
Lurch likes a variety of direct and isolation exercises; Pugsley prefers to deadlift. Finally,
guys with severe muscle dominance might require more direct/isolation
work to bring up their weak points. For example, if you're
deltoid-dominant, simply doing bench presses and variations for the
chest might not be optimal, because your delts will take over the
movement, leaving the chest under-stimulated. So you can see
why you shouldn't switch to a program only because it's the flavor of
the month, or because your favorite author (even me) just wrote about
it. Never be seduced, always be convinced! Select a program only if:
• It fits your goal(s)
• It fits your body type
• It fits your strength ratios/muscle dominance
• You gave your former program a fair chance to work
•
You're willing to do the program justice by working hard at it and
giving it enough time to work its magic. If you approach a program
thinking, "I'll do this for a few weeks just to see how it goes," then
forget about it. The only place it will go is nowhere. To stimulate continuous progress, you dohave
to change your training program regularly. Changing the program can
mean changing the exercises around, switching the number of reps or
sets you perform or even the type of training methods you use. If you
always keep using the same program, eventually your progress will
stall. Understand, however, that you need to stick to a
routine for a certain amount of time. The more advanced you become, of
course, the more frequent you must change your program. A beginner
should stick to a program for 6-8 weeks, while a more advanced
individual might have to change it every 3-4 weeks. Some very advanced
individuals actually need to change it as often as every two
weeks to maximize progress. But for a beginner, I recommend sticking to
a program for 6 weeks before switching things around.
7. Lift heavy, within your limits Getting
stronger on basic movements should be one of the primary objectives of
a beginner. If your bench press goes from 100 pounds to 200 pounds,
chances are that your arms, shoulders and chest will be significantly
bigger. Striving to become stronger also follows the rule of
progression which, as we saw earlier, is the key to muscle growth. However,
training with the goal of getting stronger doesn't mean you should be
obsessed with your numbers. Testing your strength with sets of under 5
reps is just asking for trouble when you're starting out. You don't
have the neural efficiency to benefit maximally from low-rep sets, and
more importantly, you don't yet have the technical mastery or
inter-muscular coordination to perform maximal work safely. Beginners
should strive to become as strong as they can, but in medium rep zones.
The functional hypertrophy (6-8 reps) and total hypertrophy (9-12 reps)
zones are ideal to maximize growth in a beginner. Get as strong as you
can in those zones and you'll grow significantly bigger.
8. The Cazeault principle My
friend Steph Cazeault (who trains guys like Steven Jackson, Drew
Bennett, and Richie Incognito) has a training principle that I think is
really good, especially for beginners: in every workout, include one
exercise that you hate! Now, why the heck would you
want to do that? Simple. Because most of the time, these exercises are
the ones that will give you your best gains. Ask yourself what
exercises you're avoiding, either because they're hard, or because
you're not very good at them. Those are the ones you have to do.
Every training session should include one exercise you hate. Yes,
I know. It's no fun. But do it anyway: the exercises you hate will
improve your physique by leaps and bounds. You're far better off doing
an exercise that works your weak points than you are with exercises
that play to your strengths. And you'll get a lot more gains from an
unfamiliar, gut wrenching exercise than from one that's so familiar you
can practically do it in your sleep. Bottom line: perform one exercise you despise, every single time you train.
9. Lift in Three Dimensions One
of your top priorities as a beginner is to improve the efficiency of
your nervous system. With a more efficient nervous system, you'll be
able to:
• Recruit more muscle fibers when
training, especially the growth-prone high-threshold motor units. More
recruited muscle fibers equals more muscle growth.
• Lift more weight because of improved intra- and inter-muscular coordination.
•
Have a better mind-muscle connection, which will allow you to better
target the desired muscle group during an exercise.
• Have better lifting technique, which will reduce the risk of injuries. To
maximize nervous system involvement you should focus on exercises where
you have to move a resistance in three-dimensional space: this means
using movements where the source of resistance is "free," not fixed. A
machine is a fixed, two-dimensional source of resistance: the movement
pattern is determined and controlled by the apparatus, requiring much
less neural involvement than when lifting free weights. Machines
are not completely useless: some are even excellent additions to a
program. However, a beginner should focus on free weights in order to
maximize nervous system and muscular development. A beginner should not
only build his muscles, but also learn how to optimally use his body,
and you need to perform free-weight movements to accomplish this.
Machines are not completely useless. By
the way, don't confuse cables with machines. Cable exercises are "free"
movements just like dumbbell and barbell movements, and in fact can be
thought of as redirected barbell movements. While dumbbells and
barbells should remain the cornerstone of your program, you can also
add cable exercises as needed.

Loading Parameters for Beginners The
following loading parameters are adequate for beginners. For more
information about how to design training programs, I suggest reading my
series entitled How to Design a Damn Good Program, Part I and Part II.
Intensity zones Functional hypertrophy (6-8 reps)
Total hypertrophy (9-12 reps)
Strength-endurance (13-15 reps)
Number of exercises per muscle group Back: 3-4
Chest: 3
Quadriceps: 3
Hamstrings: 2-3
Deltoids: 2-3
Biceps: 1-2
Triceps: 1-2
Calves: 1-2
Sets per exercise If performing 6-8 reps: 4-5 sets
If performing 9-12 reps: 3-4 sets
If performing 13-15 reps: 2-3 sets
Rest between sets 6-8 reps = 90-120 seconds
9-12 reps = 60-75 seconds
13-15 reps = 30-45 seconds

Conclusion Being
a beginner can be frustrating. You're swamped with tons of information,
most of it confusing, much of it contradictory, and some it downright
false. When I look back at my years of training, I wish when
I was starting out that I could have found a source of information
anywhere near as good as this website. Had I known halfof what I know now, I believe I would have saved myself years of wasted time and disappointment. My
sincere wish now is that by applying the guidelines explained in this
article and in the next two, you'll be able to save yourself a year or
two of frustration, and start your quest on the right foot. Good luck, and bon voyage!
Christian
Thibaudeau is a strength coach, bodybuilder, Olympic lifter, and former
newbie. He transformed his physique from bleak to magnifique,
and you can too. All he asks is that you follow the guidelines in this
series, that you don't mispronounce his name (it's "tee-bow-doh"), and
that you resist, at all costs, any urge you may have to call him
"Riddick."
Section 2 of this series will cover nutrition.
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