Work turned an ordinary trainee into a master

… and work turns an ordinary trainee into a master. Put it however you like, but it really holds true and it works. Today I’m arming you with statistics from my training log. In early 2010 something like a rebirth took place. The injuries of 2008 – 2009 knocked some sense into me, and I finally admitted that bodybuilding is my “bread and butter”. Refocusing on bodybuilding in early 2010, I also realized there is no point stepping on stage without a proper back and legs. So squats for the legs, though no longer with heavy weights, and pull-ups for the lats became the cornerstone exercises of my leg and back workouts.

A few days ago, out of curiosity, I counted how many squats and pull-ups I did in 2010 and 2011. Under squats I counted regular barbell back squats, Smith machine back squats, and front squats in both variations. I did not count box squats at any height, hack squats or trap bar squats. Naturally, the vast majority were traditional free-weight back squats, at least 85 – 90% of all squats. The weight I used varied broadly between 50 – 150 kg over the year. Of course, there were workouts at and around 200 kg, but few, because my back can no longer handle such high intensities.

Most of the time in both years I worked with 90 – 120 kg. I’ve done a lot of 10 x 10. In the repetition count I also included ramped-up warm-up sets, which I count as half working sets. For example, if the main part of the workout calls for squats with 70 kg for 5 x 16, I see no reason not to count the preceding 16 reps with 50 kg and 16 reps with 60 kg among the working sets. That is already a decent amount of work. Also, since the weights used in these two years were nothing special, in many cases I didn’t need a big warm-up. For example, if I planned 10 x 10 with 90 kg, then 10 reps with 60 kg beforehand is enough and I can move on to the main part.

Under pull-ups I counted regular overhand-grip pull-ups, wide neutral-grip pull-ups (palms facing each other) and underhand-grip pull-ups. As with squats, most of them, about 90 – 95%, were traditional overhand-grip pull-ups. The weights I used for pull-ups varied over the year from bodyweight up to 30 extra kilograms.

Actually, the weights I’ve mentioned weren’t a priority when I compiled the statistics. I was simply interested in how many proper squat movements (squats) and pull-up movements (pull-ups) I did in those two years in total. How big could the annual work volume be?

Results:
2010:
Pull-ups: 2058 (on average 171.5 pull-ups per month, 42.9 pull-ups per week)
Squats: 3522 (on average 293.5 squats per month, 73.4 squats per week)

2011:
Pull-ups: 3212 (on average 267.6 pull-ups per month, 66.9 pull-ups per week)
Squats: 5101 (on average 425 squats per month, 106.5 squats per week)

What should you do with the work volume numbers? What conclusions can be drawn from such statistics?

First, the numbers are simply fascinating. It’s interesting to note how much has been lifted and how much volume has been worked through.

Second, it’s interesting to see how much the human body is able to withstand, get through and “put itself through”. Imagine, these are only the numbers for two years and only two exercises. On top of them comes everything else. After all, legs aren’t only squats and the back isn’t only pull-ups.

Third, these numbers certainly show how much work, at least for these two exercises, a bodybuilder with below-average leg and back genetics would need to do if they want to someday stand out on stage. Clearly, a high work volume in these exercises is by no means the only way to progress, but it is certainly one of many options.

Author: Janar Rückenberg

Source: Turg.Fitness.ee

Come and train! ArtGym