In this day and age, we often look for the newest and flashiest way to reach our goals.
Many of us are often led to believe that more of something and the more shiny and modern it is, the better. Men and women each day buy into the hot item of the day. This includes resistance training programs as well as nutrition and cardiovascular programs that seem to be the next big thing.
However, simplicity is often a more effective route when it comes building muscle and losing fat.
The great bodybuilders of yesteryear did it differently. Their training tended to be much more abbreviated and efficient. This was the case for 1963 Mr. America Vern Weaver. He had incredible symmetry and a very good amount of muscle mass for that time period. His off-season workout was the following:
MONDAY and THURSDAY 1. Decline Bench Press 6×6 2. Weighted ChinUps 6×6
TUESDAY and FRIDAY 1.Bottom Position Squats In Power Rack 6×6 2.High Pulls 6×6
That’s it. Weaver’s sessions were completed in under an hour. This was typical of the routines that Weaver used during his off-season mass building phases. Of course, he did much more than this from a volume standpoint during his training in the last three or four months prior to a competition.
More exercises were used to balance his physique and a quicker training pace was utilized him to hone his body for the stage. Point is, approximately 66% of the year for Weaver was spent utilizing a minimalist approach to building his body. And it worked insanely well!
Do the workouts I create for my clients only have two exercises per workout in them? No.
My programs tend to have more variety than this, but are often more abbreviated than what is often delivered by other fitness professionals.
Abbreviated Training is often the ticket for those attempting a body metamorphosis.
Many factors, such as busy schedules, mentally and physically challenging occupations, lack of sleep, age, etc. have a significant effect on how much recovery ability we have.
Abbreviated Training is a tried and true programming strategy to make sure we don’t write checks that our body can’t cash.
The bottom line is this – when it comes to positive outcomes from your efforts in the gym, less often turns out to be more.
