Posts written by Michael J. Mahony

How does it relate to training?

We have all heard people discuss how long their workout is or how much time they spend working out.  People are very into such things.  However, is it really that important and does it relate to training at all?

I will tell you that time is an important factor in training and I don’t mean just having the time to do it.  Your training is affected by time in numerous ways such as the speed of the repetitions or the length of your workout.  Those two issues are in my sight today.

Speed of Repetitions

Everyone is looking for ways to intensify their workouts.  The speed of your repetitions is just one way to do this.  By slowing down you repetitions and paying close attention to your form, you increase the intensity of your workout.  By speeding up your repetitions you are increasing the explosive power you have.

By slowing down the repetitions you increase the time under tension for the muscle.  This is an important technique as it really shocks the muscle.  I guarantee that if you try a 3 second up and down repetition the amount of weight you can lift will decrease dramatically.  It will also skyrocket your strength.  As long as you approach your workouts in a progressive fashion, pushing yourself harder on each workout, you are going to see results that will blow your mind.

You can also mess with the repetition cadence in other ways.  Do a 2 seconds up, 4 seconds down negative emphasis and you will feel the burn.  Do this with an increased number of repetitions and you might feel like collapsing.

Repetition speed seems to change your metabolic reaction to the training.  Almost everyone I know who has tried this with true intensity has ended up throwing up during their initial workout.  It is simply an intense experience.

Length of Workout

We’ve all heard the bragging from a muscle bound guy about how long he spent in the gym yesterday.  If you are like me that does not impress you.  I believe you can get in and out of the gym and get some great work done just by being intense during your lifts.  In fact, there are many trainers who will tell you that by going to the gym for more than an hour will increase your odds of gaining fat due to the cortisol response.

All I know is that I feel much stronger and have a more intense workout when I keep it around 45 minutes in length.  Anything longer seems counter-productive.

Conclusion

Time is just another variable in your workout.  Use it wisely and you will see the gains you desire.

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• Listen or Make It Worse
• The Beat Goes On
• Going to Failure
• 5-3-1 Insanity: Sick Feeling
• The Approach is Big

It can happen at the most unexpected time.  It happens with no warning.  It can derail you if you don’t handle it correct.  I am speaking of training injuries.

Imagine for a moment that you are in the middle of a squat and you feel a twinge in your lower back.  It is not extremely painful, but it is more than a normal twinge.  How you handle this moment is going to determine how your training goes for the next few weeks.  If you try to work through the pain you are likely to miss alot of training time due to a major injury to your back.  However, if you listen to your body and rack the weight and stop the workout, you will salvage alot of potential lost time.

Make sure that you take the smart route.  If you feel something completely out of the ordinary, stop your workout and don’t continue until you’ve confirmed the severity of the problem.  You could be wrong and it could be something minor, but that would be preferred to a major problem that you ignore.  You won’t ever be sorry you stopped a workout at this point, but if you train through an injury you could very well be wishing you hadn’t.

I’ve done it both ways.  My preference is to stop and let my body heal.  It works best every time.

Related Posts:

• Listen or Make It Worse
• The Beat Goes On
• Going to Failure
• 5-3-1 Insanity: Sick Feeling
• The Approach is Big