A little while ago, I was chatting with an acquaintance at the gym.
Guy’s been training a little while, doing “OK” (his words). However, he had a vexing problem.
Namely, his bench was stubbornly stuck at 80kg for a set of 5 and had been for about three months.
I asked about his routine and wasn’t at all surprised to discover his bench/chest workouts contained seven different exercises, including four variations of the bench press (high incline, low incline, regular, and decline – using a mixture of barbells and dumbbells).
The poor soul had fallen into the trap of believing a large amount of variety was needed to get the bigger bench – and bigger chest – he so richly desired.
Bluntly, it is not.
Quite the contrary, trying to build muscle and strength by doing a bajillion different variations of a movement will hold you back.
I shall explain:
Weightlifting exercises – squats, bench presses, deadlifts, cleans, whatever – are skills.
Like any skill, they improve with practice.
This means you have to do them over and over and over again to get better.
Variations of core movements (e.g. the incline bench press) or different movements altogether (e.g. cable crossovers) are different skills, so most people – especially beginners and intermediates – get stronger and build muscle faster by sticking to the basic lifts.
Why?
The better you get at the basic lifts, the heavier you can go. The heavier you go, the more muscle you build.
Do variations, cables, machines, and whatnot have a place?
Yup, they sure do, and I use them all the time in my own training and in my clients’ programmes.
But, how I use them isn’t how most gym-goers or, worryingly, personal trainers use them.
They think my uncompromising focus on nailing the basics is “boring”. I suppose because they value entertainment more than results.
Whatever.
If you’re one of the rare few who understands building a powerful physique is a marathon, and not a sprint… and… you’re prepared to do a lot of hard, unglamorous work, The Phil Tyreman Letter could be right up your street.
It’s your decision, though. And it’s one I recommend you take your time over.
Here are the details:
www.philtyreman.co.uk/information
Thank you,
Phil Tyreman
P.S. My acquaintance wasn’t struggling with his bench because he had a “weak upper chest” or other nonsense.
He simply wasn’t benching efficiently and effectively. A problem quickly remedied by my recommendations because, when I saw him again just over a month later, he was hitting 105kg for easy sets of five.
It’s almost like I’m The Real Deal™, y’know?
Anyway, if you’re interested in getting similar results, you’ll find all the info about The Phil Tyreman Letter below: