In the world of exercise and performance training we have a few laws to go by. These laws are grounded in scientific evidence, so usually they are dead on ( Hint, Hint, always duh!). The one we are talking about today is the Law of Training Specificity.
The law of specificity states simply that whatever you train for you will get better at. In a nutshell, if you train with a bodybuilder style program, your body will experience the adaptations of this style of training, not those of marathon training. What this means for both competitive athletes and everyday people is that your training should be geared towards your desired end state. If you want to be stronger and faster for a sport, your training and exercise selection should reflect this goal. Conversely, if your goal is fat loss, better posture, or any other goal that is not bodybuilding, DON'T TRAIN LIKE ONE!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is one of the biggest mistakes, along with poor form and diet of course, that I see daily at the gym. Men and women, both underweight and overweight, young or old, and all not competitive physique athletes are guilty of it. They take workouts featured in bodybuilding and figure oriented magazines that promise fat loss, muscle gains, and rock hard anything, and without thinking do it. This results in the late 50 something out of shape husband and wife duo I saw this morning doing a series of 4 different curl and press down exercises. Now while I am sure that Jay Cutler experienced great gains with this program, not the best selection for everyday people looking for improved body composition and health.
If you do 9 million sets of curls, push downs, side laterals, etc you will become better at these exercises, and your arms/shoulders might grow a little bit. But lets be realistic folks, while many of us want the body of these figure athletes, is it best for us to train like them? The answer is absolutely not.
For someone like the couple above, this exercise selection is wrong. Instead of doing curls, skull crushers, and whatever else, they should be focused on the exercises that have the greatest potential for fat loss, muscle growth, and strength gain. Pushing and pulling are the best thing on earth for these things. Dead lifting, squats, pressing movements, even body weight movements (Yes, you should still do these) all involve both multiple and large muscle groups. This leads to increased muscle mass over a much larger area than those of a curl. Also, this higher level muscle involvement means more calories burned during exercise, as well as afterwards due to muscle gains (muscle is the metabolic furnace that fuels fat loss). Oh, and these compound movements with also make arms and shoulders plenty big enough for the ladies fellas. I have not done an arm specific training program in years, and I have big, strong arms just the same.
In closing, think about what you are doing, and how it relates to your goals. The information above will steer you in the right direction. If you go to some other trainer and they have you doing a bunch of curls and press downs, come to me or Brandon Walters. Brandon is the single best trainer I have seen in this state. He will get you set up along the right path. That is of course if you are Jay or Ronnie. If thats the case, curl away my friends ;)
As always questions and or discussion is welcome!!!!
The law of specificity states simply that whatever you train for you will get better at. In a nutshell, if you train with a bodybuilder style program, your body will experience the adaptations of this style of training, not those of marathon training. What this means for both competitive athletes and everyday people is that your training should be geared towards your desired end state. If you want to be stronger and faster for a sport, your training and exercise selection should reflect this goal. Conversely, if your goal is fat loss, better posture, or any other goal that is not bodybuilding, DON'T TRAIN LIKE ONE!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is one of the biggest mistakes, along with poor form and diet of course, that I see daily at the gym. Men and women, both underweight and overweight, young or old, and all not competitive physique athletes are guilty of it. They take workouts featured in bodybuilding and figure oriented magazines that promise fat loss, muscle gains, and rock hard anything, and without thinking do it. This results in the late 50 something out of shape husband and wife duo I saw this morning doing a series of 4 different curl and press down exercises. Now while I am sure that Jay Cutler experienced great gains with this program, not the best selection for everyday people looking for improved body composition and health.
If you do 9 million sets of curls, push downs, side laterals, etc you will become better at these exercises, and your arms/shoulders might grow a little bit. But lets be realistic folks, while many of us want the body of these figure athletes, is it best for us to train like them? The answer is absolutely not.
For someone like the couple above, this exercise selection is wrong. Instead of doing curls, skull crushers, and whatever else, they should be focused on the exercises that have the greatest potential for fat loss, muscle growth, and strength gain. Pushing and pulling are the best thing on earth for these things. Dead lifting, squats, pressing movements, even body weight movements (Yes, you should still do these) all involve both multiple and large muscle groups. This leads to increased muscle mass over a much larger area than those of a curl. Also, this higher level muscle involvement means more calories burned during exercise, as well as afterwards due to muscle gains (muscle is the metabolic furnace that fuels fat loss). Oh, and these compound movements with also make arms and shoulders plenty big enough for the ladies fellas. I have not done an arm specific training program in years, and I have big, strong arms just the same.
In closing, think about what you are doing, and how it relates to your goals. The information above will steer you in the right direction. If you go to some other trainer and they have you doing a bunch of curls and press downs, come to me or Brandon Walters. Brandon is the single best trainer I have seen in this state. He will get you set up along the right path. That is of course if you are Jay or Ronnie. If thats the case, curl away my friends ;)
As always questions and or discussion is welcome!!!!
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