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IF YOU LIKE EXERCISE ... CHANCES ARE YOU'RE DOING IT WRONG
PROPER STRENGTH TRAINING FOR MAXIMUM RESULTS
By GARY BANNISTER iUniverse, Inc.
Copyright © 2013 Gary Bannister
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4759-7439-3
Excerpt
CHAPTER 1
Intensity: The Cornerstone
In mid-1968 Arthur Jones flew his family to Florida following a decade of work in the large-animal/film-making business in Africa. He was broke. All of his possessions had been confiscated by the Rhodesian government—but there was good news. He now had time to pursue a personal hobby—bodybuilding—and continue development of better tools for the purpose. He had abandoned several prototype machines in the jungle and had the latest seized.
Jones' training style was legendary. He kept meticulous records—every repetition, set, bodyweight, measurements—and decided to write about his progress by submitting an article to Bob Hoffman's Strength and Health magazine. No reply. He then sent it to Joe Weider's Muscle Builder/Power magazine. No reply. Frustrated, he reworked the piece into an attack on bodybuilding practices: "Quit emulating the workouts of the men who are winning the titles," he wrote. "Most of them can't even spell the word 'muscle.'" His formula was simple but radical:
"If you want to get bigger and stronger, you must make measurable, stair-step progress during each workout. Size always precedes strength. If you're not making gains workout by workout, your exercise intensity is too low. The key is to train harder, to continue each exercise until no additional repetitions are possible. But if you train harder, you must train less."
Jones finally sent the article to Peary Rader's Ironman and was pleasantly surprised. Rader found it interesting and asked Arthur to write monthly articles for the magazine, which he did from 1970-74.
In 1973 Ellington Darden began writing for Jones' new entity, Nautilus Sports/ Medical Industries® and witnessed several of his workouts. Nearly a decade later, after training hundreds of world-class athletes in nearly every sport, he was asked, "Who trained the hardest?" His reply was swift, "Arthur Jones."
Due to his contributions to the field—and well after the fact—Jones became known as "The Father of High-Intensity Training." His hard-hitting system, "Proper Strength Training" (a fast-paced circuit of full-out exercise with little to no rest between efforts) evolved into "High-Intensity Training" or HIT, with advocates creating a global industry of literature, websites and trainer-certification organizations—a fitting tribute, but one that did not change perception.
To most, the phrases "High-Intensity Training" and "momentary muscle failure" evoke images of bodybuilders slamming massive weights in a chaotic mix of sweat and injury.
Both are mistakenly perceived as difficult and dangerous.
Difficult It Is
In The Nautilus Bodybuilding Book (1982), Ellington Darden described a workout he witnessed in Deland, Florida. The trainer was Arthur Jones; the trainees, Casey Viator (Mr. America, 1971) and the greatest threat to Schwarzenegger's dominance, Sergio Oliva:
"Casey began by performing 25 nonstop repetitions on a leg press machine with 460 pounds. Immediately he was hustled from the leg press to the leg extension where he did 22 repetitions with 200 pounds.
By now Viator's heart rate was in excess of 220 beats per minute, he was breathing like a steam engine, and sweat was pouring from his body. But there was no time to rest.
Instantly, Jones raced Casey to the squat rack where a barbell was loaded with 400 pounds. Then, Viator ground out 17 continuous repetitions in the full squat.
'Ok, Sergio, you're up,' said Jones, as Casey, unable to walk, slithered to the nearest hiding place.
Oliva reached the squat rack after 17 repetitions with 460 pounds in the leg press and 16 repetitions in the leg extension with 200 pounds. When Sergio broke the lock in his knees for the squat with 400 pounds, he went to the floor as if he had been knocked in the head. After being helped to his feet, he tried it again—with the same results. One hundred pounds were removed from the bar, during which delay Sergio was afforded some rest, and then he performed seven repetitions with 300 pounds.
Sergio was accustomed to training his legs for at least one hour almost nonstop in the traditional fashion. But during his leg workout under Jones' supervision, one cycle of three exercises performed until momentary muscular exhaustion within a period of five minutes was all he wanted. Furthermore, Sergio spent a considerably longer period of time stretched out in front of the gym.
When Sergio recovered sufficiently to continue his workout, the torso cycle and the arm cycle were completed in approximately 12 minutes. Previously, his torso and arm training had taken two hours or longer to complete.
But, obviously, Sergio Oliva had never trained with the intensity that he experienced with Jones and Viator.
Arnold Schwarzenegger also went through a similar training session under Jones' watchful eye and remarked, 'I've often experienced times during a workout where I had difficulty walking. But this is the first time that I've ever had difficulty lying down.'"
Jones described his approach to training as "outright hard work." When all was said and done, few were left standing for the photo shoot. "Cheese:" he said, "You can slice it as thin as you can, or pile it as high as you like—but you still end up with cheese. You can kid yourself any way you like—but you can't change facts; hard exercise—and ONLY HARD EXERCISE—produces worthwhile results in the way of muscular strength and size increases. If you are not willing to work hard, then FORGET IT—there simply isn't any other way to do it."
No explanation required.
I once asked a bodybuilder who entered my facility in Caracas, Venezuela for the first time what weight he could press overhead for ten repetitions. He replied, "Ciento veinte," (120 pounds). I needed to select a resistance for his effort on a Nautilus Double Shoulder machine which he had never used. The machine featured a lateral raise and overhead press exercise from a single seat. I cleaned the poor guy out on the lateral raise and quickly changed the weight for the press. He barely made the first repetition and struggled until he could lift no more. After a Spanish expletive, he asked, "Quanto?" (How much?). "Thirty pounds," I replied and escorted him to the rear of the machine to verify what he could not believe. He had nothing left after the first exercise. His effort was high but his output was low, as Jones explains:
"It should now be obvious that intensity is a relative situation depending upon momentary ability, varying moment by moment, and not directly related to output. If the trainee could have done more, but did not, then the intensity was low. But the intensity is maximum if he is doing all he can at the moment regardless of how much or how little output is actually involved."
This guy did well to make five.
Dangerous It Is Not
Jones often called high-intensity exercise, "the safest way to train." Some found it hard to swallow.
Danger exists—and injury occurs—when the force a muscle produces (or is exposed to) exceeds its structural integrity. Injury prevention requires strengthening muscles and/or exposing them to low force. Both are possible during high-intensity exercise, but let's first define terms.
Intensity is a percentage of momentary ability. Maximum intensity of contraction occurs when a muscle pulls with as much force as it can momentarily produce.
Intensity and resistance are independent. Resistance is the weight used during exercise; intensity, the effort required to lift the weight. It is possible and desirable to create a high level of intensity (effort) during exercise and keep forces produced by the effort low. In fact, it happens automatically during the performance of a set of repetitions, as described:
"Regardless of the number of repetitions involved in a set, the first repetition is ALWAYS the most dangerous repetition—and the last repetition is ALWAYS the safest repetition; and the harder it feels, the easier it is—and the more dangerous it appears, the safer it is.
The last repetition of a set of ten repetitions, for example, 'feels' harder only because you are becoming exhausted by that point in the set—you do not 'feel' actual output, instead you 'feel' the percentile of momentarily-possible output; if a man can press 200 pounds, then 100 pounds will 'feel light' to him during a first repetition, and will 'feel' heavier during each following repetition—and by the time he reaches a point where he is barely capable of performing one more repetition, then the 100 pounds will 'feel' very heavy. Because—to him, AT THAT MOMENT—100 pounds actually will be very heavy, since it will momentarily require 100 percent of his strength to move it.
Everything is relative insofar as 'feelings' are concerned—a puma looks big to a man that has never seen a lion; but the danger of injury is not based on relative factors in that sense—instead, the connective tissues have an actual level of resistance to pull, and since they are not performing work this resistance is not reduced during the performance of a set of several repetitions. If a particular tendon's connective tissues have an existing level of resistance capable of withstanding 'one hundred units of pull,' then that level of resistance remains constant throughout the set—it will be one hundred units during the first repetition and 100 units during the tenth repetition; but the 'danger factor' certainly does NOT remain constant—because during a first repetition you might be momentarily capable of exerting 200 units of pull, and if you do then an injury literally MUST result, but by the time you reach the tenth repetition your momentary ability may be reduced to a maximum of only 10 units of pull, and you couldn't hurt yourself then if you tried, you simply are not strong enough to hurt yourself at that point."
Fatigue is the key to safety and is built into every set of exercise ... but only if you behave. Select a weight you can perform for (barely) ten repetitions in good form. During the first repetition, move more slowly than you are capable. At that juncture you can produce a force two-to-three times that of the resistance selected if you jerk the weight—not smart when the breaking strength of the involved tissues is unknown. During the second, third and fourth repetitions, the possibilities remain the same, but the danger has diminished repetition by repetition. At ten repetitions the involved muscle will have lost, on average, approximately 20% of its strength. A full effort at that point—involving a muscle that is capable of producing only 80% of its capacity—is much safer than the dynamics of the initial repetitions. Nonetheless, perform all repetitions (especially the first few) using a smooth, slow, controlled speed to reduce the chance of injury. Resist the temptation to jerk the weight.
Neurological Safety
Besides fatigue, the body has another built-in safety mechanism. During a 100% effort, only a small percentage of a muscle's available fibers become involved. An average muscle allows approximately 30% of its fibers to activate in an all-out, one-time lift. Some individuals, by birth, can recruit as much as 50% of their available fibers; others, only 10%. The 50-percenters are strong and powerful individuals; the 10-percenters, weaker by design. The fibers that are not activated lie in wait for future use or emergencies. The body MUST keep a reserve.
If a 50-percenter is forced to repeat a task, his 50% reserve will not last long—a few repetitions and out. In contrast, the 90% reserve of a 10-percenter comes in handy during repetitive tasks.
The maximum effort involved during high-intensity training does not change these values. The body will not allow a greater activation of fibers ... for safety reasons. If and when ALL of a muscle is allowed to contract (such as during an electrocution or emergency—a loved one pinned under a car), bones break—something the body can do without.
Overload and Muscle Recruitment
The individual muscle fibers that are recruited during physical effort perform on an all-or-none basis—are either fully involved or not involved at all. The difficulty of the task dictates which fibers and how many are involved. When the task is easy, as it "feels" during the first repetitions of a set, only a few fibers are involved and are working as hard as they can. As the working fibers fatigue, the body judiciously taps the reserves to continue. The number of involved fibers changes from repetition to repetition. Terminating a set of exercise after only a few repetitions does nothing to stimulate change because of the large number of untapped muscle fibers. Stimulation most likely occurs when exercise is continued to a point where as many fibers as possible are involved, and where some of the fibers are worked to exhaustion.
A set of repetitions terminated prior to momentary muscle failure will not involve the maximum number of available fibers. Nor will it activate the powerful "fast-twitch" fibers which are recruited only when intensity is high. Both factors are crucial to stimulating growth, as Jones suggests: "A slight decrease in the intensity of effort in exercise will result in a disproportionately great reduction in the production of results." He made the same clear to me one day with his finger in my face, "Young man, if you perform ten repetitions of an exercise when you could have done twelve, you may as well stay in the parking lot. You'll get the same result—nothing."
The body loves to do nothing beyond its daily routine. To trigger a signal for change, muscles require: ONE, an overload—a resistance or challenge that exceeds the norm; and TWO, intensity—the involvement of a high percentage of momentary ability.
Practical Application
There are two ways to increase intensity during a workout: Work harder on each exercise performed and spend less time between efforts. Both come with a warning.
The 100% effort required at the moment your ability has been significantly reduced by fatigue is not something the body looks forward to. It doesn't like intrusion, much less an intense one—and there's proof. Trainees, left to their own, revert to "easier" habits that fail to satisfy the requirements for change. Effort must be all-out and learned. You can't show up one day determined to fail on every exercise because someone told you it was a good thing. Trainees must gradually increase effort until a complete repetition becomes impossible, which may take a while. Jones claimed that a highly motivated athlete armed with clear instructions concerning the necessary requirements might fail on one or two exercises (of twelve) when left to his own. In that regard and when possible, have your workouts supervised and pushed by a buddy or professional trainer.
In the initial stages of training rest after each exercise or you may find yourself staring at the lights. I'd rather see new trainees learn to work as hard as they can and rest for five minutes between efforts than do a little here and there. Gradually and with discretion, move quickly from one exercise to another, but be warned—the cost is high. Rapid movement between exercises demands chemical changes that initially can't be met. The resulting symptoms—lightheadedness, nausea, cold sweat and fainting—are signs that the pace is too quick. Don't be eager to get there. Time your total workout and gradually reduce it to a more efficient level. And don't be fooled: A twelve-exercise workout performed in seventeen minutes is much more intense than the same performed in twenty-five.
Arthur Jones likened muscle stimulation to tapping a stick of dynamite repeatedly with a hammer. Nothing happens. Now, take the hammer and SMASH it once—something happens. Intensity is the cornerstone of Proper Strength Training: It turns the switch "ON."
CHAPTER 2
Proper Strength Training
"Steady-state (aerobic) training is necessary for cardiovascular benefits and non steady-state exercise (progressive resistance) is required for meaningful strength increases. Both results can be produced from the same training program."
Arthur Jones
(Continues...)
Excerpted from IF YOU LIKE EXERCISE ... CHANCES ARE YOU'RE DOING IT WRONG by GARY BANNISTER. Copyright © 2013 by Gary Bannister. Excerpted by permission of iUniverse, Inc..
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