Inefficiency Experts, Part 1 Print E-mail



To be completely fair, the mainstream, bodybuilding-style approach to strength training does work for some people. There are plenty of guys training this way and making impressive gains. You see, not everybody has to bust his butt with dead-lifts and squats just to build a little muscle mass. Some guys blow up like ticks by sticking mainly with machines and isolation exercises. But it's been our experience that guys like these are the exception and not the rule.

Guys who grow easily by doing traditional bodybuilding-style workouts usually fall into one of the following three categories:

They built their bodies with hard, heavy training but can maintain it with less difficult workouts.
They are genetically gifted mesomorphs who grow even when they sneeze.
They are on steroids, and the anabolic power of the drugs makes up for their lack of gym savvy.

Whichever the case, they're not genetically challenged ectomorphs. If you're hypertrophy challenged and think you can increase size or strength to any significant degree with this type of training, you've got another think coming.

Besides, even if traditional weight-lifting workouts can help some people get results, we're not so certain that this way of training makes much sense from a physiological standpoint. Rather, it's just a system based on tradition and heavily influenced by gym equipment manufacturers. Just like Chris Rock said in an old stand-up comedy routine: "Just because you can do it, doesn't make it a good freakin' idea."

So what's wrong with the typical workout? Well, let's look at what the average gym workout might look like. The average guy walks into the gym, and after a lame attempt to pick up the receptionist and a few herky-jerky movements he considers "stretches," he makes a beeline to the bench press. After some poor form pressing, it's on to a few other chest exercisesmany of which are performed on machines (more on why this is a bad idea in a moment). After chest work, it's on to the arms. There, he'll spend the better part of the next 45 minutes admiring himself in the mirror, imitating the sound of a water buffalo in labor while attempting to lift more weight than he can handle (poor form again). Then it's on to a couple of sets of crunches through a microscopic range of motion and one last shot at the receptionist before he calls it a day. Our trainee then repeats this ritual (or one similar) the next day, only this time turning his attention to his back and shoulders. Then it's perhaps a day or two off before doing both workouts one more time heading into the weekend.


 
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