The whole truth about training programs… Part II
To run, jump or ride a bike, you first have to learn to stand up and walk. It’s a fact that is not taken into account at all at the start. People assume you simply “show up and do it”, simply “show up and train”. If only it were that easy in practice. Whether the goal is fat burning, muscle mass or maximum strength, very few people are gifted enough to start working on the process and moving toward the goal right from the first sessions. It’s quite common to “charge in with great fanfare”, for example to the gym to burn fat, only to find that exercise technique and execution are anything but satisfactory. And that technique and feel just don’t come, and don’t come, and don’t come.
So getting squat technique down, getting the bar to move the way it should in the press, and so on, takes most beginners several months. Unfortunately, my experience shows that very many enthusiastic beginners don’t stick around long enough to get their execution and technique sorted. Their appetite simply fades first and they “drop out”. To everyone reading this who plans to start strength training, take note: until exercise technique is clear, no fat burning, muscle building or strength development will take place. It’s pointless even to start progressing. The technique of the main basic exercises must be in place and execution must be smooth; only then can we start loading and pushing ourselves properly. And once again, in many cases it takes several months before the technique is in place and you can really start working on the process directly.
Given the above, as well as several other circumstances, the most suitable type of program for a beginner with any goal is “full-body training, three workouts a week”. Of course there are all kinds of options, but this is the classic, time-tested, “watertight” one. It lets any beginner, whatever the goal, get from a standing start to real training as quickly as possible. As far as recovery goes, training frequency can be high, and if you’re willing to put in the effort, you learn quickly.
What suits whom…
Once the first settling-in period is over and you’re ready to work on the process, you should start to specialize, so to speak. That’s right, but even with specializing you shouldn’t split hairs. What I mean is that there’s no need to torment yourself over whether to follow bodybuilding programs or programs with more of a powerlifting focus. Of course, after the first year of training, thoughts start moving toward what to pursue more. Your thinking needs to be clear, all the more so if you plan to compete someday. But whatever the goal, for the first 3 – 4 years of training you can freely “mix” bodybuilding training and a powerlifting focus. Of course, all this on the condition that you are progressing in the basic exercises. The basis of development and moving forward is the fact that, in the end, you become stronger. There are exercises that both bodybuilders and powerlifters do — these are the very same basic exercises with their variations. The main concern should be how to get stronger in them. It makes no difference whether you’re aiming for longer and longer sets with the same weight or trying to do a fixed set length with ever greater weight.
As for all kinds of casual exercisers, people who simply want to keep their muscle tone or burn fat, programs put together with either a powerlifting or a bodybuilding focus suit them equally well. If I come to the gym wanting to expend energy and burn fat that way, the same program a bodybuilder uses to build muscle will do just fine. Because the end result is actually realized through appropriate nutrition.
Do you need a training program at all?
You know, it’s a bit of both. There’s no doubt that if you’re a dedicated person with more serious goals, you should go about things following a set program. At the same time, I’ve met quite a few people who treat a training program, or the lack of one, as a kind of ticket for entering the gym. They’d like to, but “I ordered a program here, should get it in a couple of weeks, then I’ll start.” Meanwhile the person may even have some previous exercise experience. A program must not become an excuse or a reason for doing or not doing. If you have previous experience and still plan to train, you can do a little something even before you get the program. And the funniest thing is that when the program is finally received, the person who was supposedly so eager to follow it has disappeared. A program is important, but it shouldn’t become an excuse to work out or not.
Author: Janar Rückenberg
Source:Turg.Fitness.ee
Come and work out! ArtGym
