"How To Tell If You Are Making Progress - My Final Conversation With Wolfgang Fitness Riddles Part 3"
Published by Marc David http://www.beginning-bodybuilding.com Part 5 of a 10-Part eCourse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Wolfgang's Fitness Riddles Part 3 of 3
Did I exercise my muscle enough? How do I find out?
How Do I Know I'm Making Progress With My Workouts?
What an excellent question this is going to be for this mini-course. Almost everybody I know, who is starting out, does a little and then a little more. They continue to do more and more until they are too tired and burnt out. Or after a few months they just give up when they stop seeing changes.
Let's learn the truth about soreness as an indicator of progress and the mistake that 90% of beginners make 90% of the time.
Question #3: Did I exercise my muscle enough? How do I find out?
Wolfgang:
With a plethora of exercise routines flooding the markets (simple, compound movements, complicated set patterns) I understand that the burning question is: Did I exercise my muscle enough? How do I find out?
I think the most logical way to look at it is to determine whether I have a *slight* muscle ache the next day. If I do then the intensity is correct.
Bigge'r ache --> Bad, the muscle might los'e substance.
No ache --> Bad, no exercise effect, might have been wasted time.
What do you think?
Marc:
This is a loaded question. At first glance you might just think...
If I worked out and became sore... I made gains. If not, I didn't. Simple.
WRONG!
So let's begin with the three things you must do to make progress.
1- Soreness is not an indicator of progress
2- No method of tracking leads to the "I dunno" syndrome
3- Over-training is the biggest mistake all newbies make
First...
Soreness is not an indicator of progress!
Some people get sore because of the stretch. Some people neve'r get sore. In any case, the bottom line is that soreness means very little.
Soreness is not much more then small micro- tears in the muscle tissue. These damaged muscle tears heal and slightly improve the strength of your muscle. However, those tears and the feeling of soreness can arise from stretch or lactic acid build-ups.
Let's skip a lot of medical jargon and linking to studies and plunge into a real world example.
If I started 1 year ago curling 70 lbs on a barbell and today I can do 135 lbs with the same good form... What does it mean?
It means whatever I'm doing is working as I'm getting stronger and my arms are bigge'r and capable of handling more weight.
And here's the kicker.
Personally, 99.9% of the time, I ...
Neve'r get sore from working arms.
Soreness is not an indicator of progress.
The fact that I went from 70 lbs to 135 lbs is the progress indicator.
Forget muscle aches. Sometimes you will be sore. Other times maybe not. This leads to the next indicator.
Second...
If you don't write something down before you go to the gym and keep notes, you are going to fall into the dreaded...
"I dunno" Syndrome or the IDS complex.
Have you ever heard those who don't plan, plan to fail?
It's pretty much universal. It applies to the gym as well. Each and every time you step into the gym you should have a plan. You should know what machines or fre'e weigh't exercises you will do. You should know how long you will be on the cardio machine and in what heart rate zones.
Nothing stinks more then just going to the gym and wandering around, doing some sets her'e, some reps there and at the end just leaving.
You might get sore. Maybe not. Week after week you do the same thing.
Yawn.
Boring!
Track your progress in a journal. Each week you should look and see that you did a specific exercise with "X" weight for "X" reps. Strive to beat that. If you can beat your previous workout then you have improvedthat week.
This is a clear indicator of progress.
Have you ever watched a movie and the guy or gal running is being timed with a stopwatch? Over and over for each cut scene. This continues until it's similar to a Rocky movie and they are dancing around.
They timed each workout and over the course of those cut scenes they got better and better.
They simply tracked their progress towards a short term goal.
This is how you know if your efforts are in vain or not.
And finally...
Over-training. If you don't keep track and you don't know, you'll probably just start to do more and more of the same routine. Or you will do forced reps when your muscles have already reached a failure point.
90% of beginners make this mistake. They just do more. More arms workouts. More reps and more sets. And more bench pressing.
The thought process is that if training "X" body part once a week is good then three times must be better!
And heaven forbid you change the workout. I've been at my current gym since 1999. I've seen the same people, do the same things, every day I see them.
It's not really shocking that they don't make gains.
Many beginners fall into this type of trap.
I must get sore or I didn't work my muscles hard enough-->
Leads to-->
Forced reps, more training, longer workouts-->
Leads to-->
Over-training and lack of progress.
The solution?
1- Forget soreness as an indicator of progress 2- Track your workouts 3- Change up your routine 4- Keep the workouts to 60 minutes or less
I'll talk to you again soon.
Your Friend,
Marc David
Here was Wolfgang's response...
Hi Marc Just let me say that I'm truly impressed by the time and effort you've spent answering my question's. That's a big thumbs up! I've just bought your beginner's book and am curious to read it.
Best wishes, Wolfgang
P.S. In the next issue of your Beginners mini- course, I'm going to tell you what a meal replacement is, commonly refereed to as an MRP, and why you shouldn't be gulping them down too often.
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The Beginner's Guide to Fitness and Bodybuilding" is life changing! Before I found your program, I was embarrassed to take my shirt off at the beach. No'w I not only feel comfortable with my shirt off, but I've also increased my energy and feel much, much healthier.
Thanks
John Klein Chicago, IL
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