I Used to Train TOO MUCH

LESS IS MORE

324 Words | 1 Min 58 Sec Read

Hey Team, it’s Dan here.

I wanted to share with you a training tip that will enable you to get much more ‘bang for your buck’ when it comes to getting stronger and building muscle.

First, I want to take you back to October 2017, when a young Dan had just started his Sport Science degree.

I loved training, I was playing football non-stop, I was doing this degree. I thought I knew a lot more than I actually did.

Here is a screenshot of what a session of mine looked like at that time (not quite sure why I was editing the note at 1:12am😂 - I clearly had a passion for it).

A few things jump out at me when I analyse this session, but we will keep todays discussion to ONE important principle:

TRAINING VOLUME

Training Volume is the amount of Sets and Reps completed in a given training session.

The research tells us that:

1. 10-20 sets, per muscle group, per week, is optimal for growing muscle.

2. As little as 1 set per week is enough to get stronger.

In the above session alone I was doing 16 SETS just for chest!

Doing this much for one muscle group in a single session has a number of disadvantages:

1. You build up lots of fatigue which may take days to recover from (sore for longer)

2. The last 2-3 chest exercises would more than likely be at a lighter weight compared to exercises 1&2.

This is the law of diminishing returns - instead of growing more muscle by doing more sets, we just spend longer in the gym and feel much sorer without the return (more muscle) on our investment (time & effort)

Fast forward to 2023, and our muscle building and fat loss programmes are much sleeker in design.

We provide our members with high quality programmes that enable them to build muscle and strength, without boring workouts or exercises.

Below is an example taken from our Day 2 of the October Phase of Training:

This is just one of three training sessions our members get access to each week.

Every 4 weeks we progress into a new phase: new exercises, new rep ranges, new challenges.

Avoid the pitfalls that I made when I was 18, and build muscle and get stronger quicker with us at Organic Strength:

If you want to lose 2-4kg per month and improve your fitness then join us on our 4-Week Starting Strength Challenge. Find out more about it HERE

LESSON OF THE WEEK

The Pareto Principle: 80% of the results come from 20% of the actions. AKA Less is More.

Dan.

🌱 - Organic Strength