LEAN GENETICS
The Foundations of Effective Training
Content 3 4 6 7 8 9 10 12 14
Introduction Individual Differences Principle SAID Principle GAS Principle Specifity Principle Overload Principle Overcompensation Principle Use/Disuse Principle Conclusion
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introduction There is more information about any fitness topic than ever before. The internet has really given us the access to various sources and information within seconds. You can indeed find anything from tips for losing fat to “secrets� to adding muscle size. The problem, however, comes from the fact that with too much informaiton, it is hard to know what to follow and what might not quite fit our needs. It is often the case that someone reads an article about how to lose a few extra pounds only to realize that there are dozens of other articles that contradict what he/she has just read. Shouldn’t all types of training be somewhat regulated from some universal principles? You bet they are. The following 7 principles represent the cornerstones of effective training. Regardless of what your end goal is, if you want to progress you need to keep those principles in mind. The more of them you incorporate in your workout routine, the quicker and better your results are going to be.
#1 Know yourself (INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES PRINCIPLE) W e are all different. Few things are more
This difference in the way of training is
evident than that, yet many people neglect
largely due to genetics. There are two types
this principle. Rookies often go after the
of muscle fibers - fast twitch (white) muscle
big guy in the gym and closely follow his
fibers and slow twitch (red) muscle fibers. If
workout routine and advice without giving
we have to be more precise, those muscle
it much thought. Others buy the-best-lose-
fibers are also known as Type I (slow twitch),
weight-workout-plan and expect miracu-
Type IIa (moderately fast twitch) and Type
lous results within a few weeks. The truth is
IIb (very fast twitch), but we won’t dig too
that whatever worked for your friend might
deep in that issue. What you need to re-
not necessarily work for you. You have to ac-
member here is that fast twitch fibers are
knowledge your genetics, lifestyle, habits,
responsible for more explosive movements
preferences, etc. As David Q. Thomas, Ph.D.
or in cases where heavier weight is used,
stated, “We all will have similar responses
while the slow twitch muscle fibers are used
and adaptations to the stimulus of exercise,
for lighter, but longer in duration, activates.
but the rate and magnitude of these changes will be limited by our differing genetics”. In essence, the principle of individual differences revolves around the fact that people will experience a different response to an exercise program, depending on their individual characteristics and genetics. What does this mean? Well, some people will see better results from workouts with higher volume (lighter weight, higher reps), while others will benefit more from low volume high load training.
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LEAN GENETICS
Generally speaking, about 25% of the people have predominantly white muscle fibers, 25% have predominantly red muscle fibers and the remaining 50% have a combination of both. Therefore, if you enjoy and you are good at explosive movements or running short distances, then chances are you have predominantly white muscle fibers. Knowing your fibers is important so that you can determine the appropriate sets, reps and consequently weight that you will use.
The Best workout Routine Is the one that is specifically designed for you.
By
knowing yourself you are able to create your own plan (or get a profession-
al trainer to build one for you) that works specifically for you. Similarly to a tailor made suit, it will just feel different. A workout made specifically for you will incorporate your strengths and weaknesses and will give you a realistic approach
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#2 Define your objective (Specific adaptations to imposed demands)
T he SAID principle (Specific Adaptations to Imposed Demands) states that
your body will adapt to the changes that you impose on it. In other words, your body gets better at exactly what you train or practice. This is a fine survival mechanism, since your body recognizes that if you repeat a particular activity over and over again, then your life probably somehow depends on that activity and it needs to get better, so that you stand a better chance of surviving. So you need to decide what it is that you want to get better at and start training specifically for that. Many people want to get stronger, which means that you need to hit those heavy weights and gradually increase the amount over a certain amount of time. If you are after vascularity or well-shaped muscles, then you will need to go lighter and do more reps, which will have more of a shaping effect rather than muscle building. So in essence applying the SAID principle comes only after knowing in what direction you want to go. Unfortunately, too many people have no clue where they want to get or they are inconsistent with their goal. Just decide what you are going to train and how you are going to train and then implement that principle. Once you know in what area you want to specialize, you start to gradually build up and improve in that area. However, you should keep a stable pace. Too much load for a short period of time can cause overtraining and lead to negative impact, while too little will be insufficient for progress. This leads us next principle in question.
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to the
#3 have enough rest (gas pCIPLE) The General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS) principle, developed by Dr. Hans Seyle, states that for the body to successfully adapt to new stress it has to go through 3 stages. The first one is called the “Alarm Stage” and it is caused when the body experiences intense stress (be it from training or something else). It is then followed by the “Resistance Stage”, in which the body tries to resist and adapt to the stressor. Finally, it is the “Exhaustion Stage” where your body exhausts its last energy reserves.
Alarm Stage At this stage the body experiences some form of stress and its resistance undergoes a slight drop down. As a result the body tries to respond by releasing cortisol, adrenaline and noradrenaline to cope with the shock, as well as increases the blood glucose levels, which gives more energy. This is often known as the “fight-or-flight response. The result is a significant increase in muscular tonus, endurance, pain tolerance and energy levels.
Resistance Stage During this stage the body continues to release chemicals that play an important role in raising and maintaining alertness, concentration, strength, etc. Although the body optimizes itself to provide the best chances to deal with the outside factors, its resources are not unlimited and eventually one of two things happen – the stressor is either dealt with, or the body starts to
Exhaustion Stage If the stress continues for a longer period of time and eventually depletes the body’s resources, then the body gets into complete exhaustion stage and shuts down. It is unable to function properly at that point and if the stress continues, it might lead to some long term damages. For that reason it is highly recommended that you don’t get into that phase and stop your workout way beforehand. 7
#4 Specialize (Specifity principle) T
he specificity principle has some cor-
Let’s say you are trying to set a personal
relation with the SAID principle mentioned
best on the flat bench press. You start with
above. It states that you develop the body
general exercises to develop overall body
part you choose to train regularly, or that
strength. The more you progress, the more
you will get better in a skill that you prac-
you start narrowing down the exercises to
tice regularly. Simply put, if you want to be
just the ones you really need. The weights
a quick runner, you will practice sprints, not
will start to increase while the amount of
marathons. This might sound like the most
reps will fall. Your tempo will also change
obvious thing in the world, but the point
- you will slowly lower the weight, while
here is different. Presuming that you have a
explosively push it back up. You will start
clear idea of your goal (adding muscle size,
putting less emphasis on your lower body
getting leaner, getting stronger, etc.), your
and more on your upper body, the ma-
training should get more and more special-
jority of time and effort being on your
ized with time. So what does this mean?
chest, or namely horizontal bench press.
The closer you get to your final goal, the more you will need to narrow down your
The specificity principle applies to any sport
training, i.e. weights used, number of rep-
sphere, regardless of whether you are go-
etitions, number of sets and lifting tempo.
ing for a running competition, powerlifting event or just want to get your physique to another level. Think of the specificity principle as a funnel that if implemented properly will allow you to exceed in your chosen field.
The more you progress, the more specialized your training should be. 8
LEAN GENETICS
#5 Improve (overload Principle) I
n order to evolve and progress, you should constantly put your body under ad-
ditional stress. In other words, the more you demand from yourself, the more you will achieve. The overload principle states that with time your trainings should become more and more challenging. Your workouts should build upon each other, otherwise you hit a plateau. Your improvement, or overloading, is determined by 4 factors. They are Frequency (how often you exercise),
FREQUENCY
TYPE
INTENSITY
TIME
Intensity (how hard you exercise), Type (type of exercise – aerobic and/ or anaerobic) and Time (how long you exercise). Those are the variables that determine your progress. By setting the standards higher in any of those four variables you are ultimately rising your own level of adaptation. For example, if you want to make some progress, you can start exercising a particular muscle group twice a week (Frequency), have shorter breaks between the reps and sets (Intensity), switch to heavy compound exercises (Type) or train for longer period of time (Time). A change in any of those areas will cause your body to adapt to a new standard. However, be mindful of the changes you make. If you change your workouts in a drastic rather than progressive way, you are running a higher chance of overtraining and consequently hindering your progress.
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#6 Overcompensate (Overcompensation Principle) I f you train intensely and you give sufficient time to your body to adapt and recover, it will not only get to its previous level of strength, but will also overcompensate, meaning it will grow stronger than before. As Nietzsche said “That which does not kill us makes us stronger�, is fully applicable here.
The overcompensation principle is the main reason why your muscles get bigger and stronger with every workout or you get calluses on your hands from lifting the bar, etc. This principle is applicable even on a psychological level. The more stress you go through, the less it gets to you. Your body quite simply sees stress as something that threatens your survival, so it builds up protective mechanisms so that next time you encounter those events you better prepared to withstand them. The principle of getting stronger and stronger is to build upon the overcompensation point and do not let the body go back to its normal level. In other words, if you train the muscles often enough, they will grow bigger and stronger. If, however, you leave too much time between the trainings, then the muscles will go back to their old level, meaning no progress in the long term.
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LEAN GENETICS
It is also important to remember that if the stress continues to occur during the compensation phase (as opposed to during the overcompensation phase), then you will be exhausting your body, leading to overtraining. So, if you train legs once or twice a week, they will grow stronger, but training them excessively every day will result in atrophy (muscle break down). The damaged muscles need a sufficient time to recover and adapt before a new blow. If you don’t provide enough rest and hit the muscles before they have fully recovered, then you will cause additional stress to an already damaged muscle and you might cause a microtrauma (micro tearing of muscle fibers). The same principle applies to psychological stress. A stressful situation every now and then can build up some resistance mechanisms, but being under pressure every day might get you to a nervous breakdown.
grow stronger by building upon the overcompensation point.
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you either Use it or lose it... 12
LEAN GENETICS
#7 train regularly (Use/Disuse principle) T
he Use/Disuse principle can be boiled down to the well-known quote: “Use
it or lose it”. In order to keep your hard earned muscles or the fitness progress you’ve achieved, you have to train often. The body is an extremely efficient machine and it won’t think twice whether or not to sacrafice whatever it doesn’t need.
Your body does not care about aesthet-
Having in mind that it takes consider-
ics. At all. It is all built for efficiency, so it
ably more time to build the muscle mass
always seeks how to optimize the cer-
than to lose it, it does make sense that
tain process or activity. Believe it or not
you do your best to protect it. Therefore,
your muscles are an extreme expense to
regular trainings with a sound diet should
your body and if it sees no point in keep-
be provided to keep or grow your mus-
ing them (training must be provided), it
cles and/or improve your fitness level.
just sacrifices them (muscle atrophy). The truth is that your body loves storing fat because fat means food storage, which ensures that you won’t die from starvation. Muscles, on the other hand require a lot of energy to be moved and maintained and consequently burn a significant amount of calories. Now, would your body keep something that burns out your energy reserves? That’s right, it wouldn’t.
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conclusion A s you’ve seen those
principles do
So now you know some of the most
not exist in isolation, but are linked to
important principles for effective train-
each other. They are the foundations of
ing, it is up to you to implement them
every sound workout plan and if any of
and take your training to the next level!
them is missing, then you are simply not making the most out of your workout. Are those the only principles that exist? Well, not of course. There are many other principles and techniques that can (and as a matter of fact should) be implemented for maximum progression, but it is well known that the above mentioned ones are the Grandaddy rules.
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LEAN GENETICS
Defy. Your. Limits.
LEAN GENETICS
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