Sometimes it’s easy to get confused and lose sight of what’s most important.
Especially when it comes to building muscle.
You read about all these different, fancy, confusing concepts and, of course, start trying them all. You make so many changes that you can’t really tell what’s doing what. And your training gets really, really complicated.
When something is ultra complicated it’s never that fun. That’s why I believe in simplicity. Training should be fun and it should produce results you can track on a regular basis.
If you can’t look at your training journal and see significant progress from week to week you’re doing something wrong.
Each week you should be noticeably stronger. Weights should feel lighter. Exercises that were difficult to do a few months ago should now be easy.
I’ve said it before and I will say it again…
The single most important factor for building muscle is setting PR’s (personal records) on big exercises for somewhere between eight and twenty reps.
That’s it. It’s not much more complicated than that.
In Renegade workouts I program movements like trap bar deadlifts, dips, pushups, chin ups, dumbbell presses and rows that are meant to be recorded and tracked. Your main goal on these exercises is to add weight or reps. Or both.
So, you when you do them today you write down what you did in your training journal. Maybe you dumbbell pressed the 70’s for nine reps. That means your next goal is to press the 70’s for ten reps.
As a newbie, or even someone new to tracking rep PR’s, you will make progress rapidly and consistently. Advanced lifters can even experience this when trying a totally new exercise for the first time.
From week to week you’ll be able to add weight or reps.
That’s an awesome feeling.
But it doesn’t last forever. And if you push it too much you’ll get injured. So, what do you do?
Simple. You rotate exercises more frequently and you track rep PR’s over the course of months instead of weeks. Doing this helps you stay injury free.
And remember that you shouldn’t be approaching every exercise in your program with this mindset.
There should be 1-3 “money exercises” per training day that you track. Then you should also have functional movements and some pump work (curls, pushdowns, neck harness, etc.) that you don’t obsessively try to PR on. Doing so takes away from the effectiveness of those particular exercises. It can also lead to injuries.
This is a very simple formula that has stood the test of time.
It’s how I designed the latest Renegade training program, called Insurrection. It’s one of my favorite 6-way splits and gets the job done with just 3 main strength training sessions per week, lasting no more than 45 minutes each. The PR’s will be dropping with this one.
Click HERE to grab your Brand New 8 Week Training Program right now.
And if you want to hear an in-depth discussion of this topic, tune in to today’s episode of the Jay Ferruggia Show.
You’ll also learn…
- The optimum rep range for strength and muscle gain
- The reason you stop making progress after your newbie gains run out
- How to safely progress your training and avoid injury
- The best exercises to set PRs on for the upper and lower body
- The optimum workout set up that lets you balance strength, size, and athleticism
- The one thing you’re doing wrong when it comes to getting better at chin-up
- Whether or not you should include functional movements in your training
Listen To The Jay Ferruggia Show
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- Onnit Total Human Optimization: Get your Shroom Tech Sport, Alpha Brain, Hemp Force and more incredible supplements and fitness equipment at onnit.com/Renegade. And use the coupon code “Renegade” at checkout to save 10%.
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