TRAINING BINGO

newsletter Dec 22, 2022

Training Bingo

You don’t need to blackout the whole board to make gains.

What you learn most recently tends to ripple through the entirety of your training.

The ability to add to a program does not necessarily mean it becomes better.
Pick your shot, implement concepts and methods gradually over time for the best results.

Reality Check

There are a few key premises that drive most of your progress in the gym. The further along you get and the harder it is to see progress, it can be alluring to attribute more meaning to the minutia than necessary. The reality is that any single workout has a very natural limitation on how many sets, reps, or exercises you can meaningfully complete – and that limitation is fatigue. While biasing different ranges of motion, regional hypertrophy, or assistance lifts might catch your eye – trying to cram everything into one perfect program is a recipe for disaster.

Credit Where Credit is Due

The dissemination of training knowledge through the general population is admirable. Information regarding length-tension relationships, anatomy and applied biomechanics, and deep physiology is popping up from more and more sources; however, the ability to synthesize and apply these topics reveals the experience level of the user. As information is layered upon itself, it would logically seem that a refinement of programming, exercise execution, and general training protocols would converge upon one singularly optimal plan – but this is not the case.

Training is not about cramming as many advanced premises into the same program as possible. Training is about making progress using the most applicable premises, at the right time, for the right person. The easiest example is the length-tension relationship of any given muscle. While convenient, training all three muscle lengths across the same workout (dare I say, even the same mesocycle) can be a wasted effort. The fatigue accumulation versus return on investment considerations should be more strategic than simply trying to hit every single option on your training bingo card.

Digging deeper into the pros and cons of each training principle should deliver you to greater options for progress – not a call sheet of greatest hits for every single training session. As with the diminishing returns of pursuing strict volume increases for greater progress, so too is there diminishing returns from an overly bloated program. Pick a few solid training refinements to add to your normal meat and potatoes – then focus on raw effort. Over time, the accumulation of biomechanical shot calling, primary, secondary, or even tertiary benefits of exercise selection, and the longest runways of progression will naturally synergize to your benefit.

Think In Months and Years, Not Days and Weeks

Logically arranging training can be as complex or straight-forward as you decide to make it. The reality is that most things work, most of the time, presuming effort and consistency coincide with your choices. Gaining new knowledge is never a bad thing – but overclocking any single workout (or training program) can rapidly produce negative results. A deeper understanding of training principles can and should enable you to make better progress in the long term, but slowly weave these things in as to not overwhelm your log book or confound the real producer of gains. Train hard, train for life, and allow yourself to see progress before making sweeping changes.

Biomechanics shapes your exercise technique to your body and helps with load management where necessary.
Exercise physiology helps you understand the true unifying producer of gains, effort and consistency.
All progress rests on the back of a long term commitment. Set yourself up for success by layering in more advanced principles slowly over time – fully appreciating their value for future programming efficiency.