The value of consistency

[David Jamieson]

Hey fellas, I'd like to drop a little insight here.

In training, there are a great many misconceptions about the very act of training oneself, what to eat, what routines etc.

there is a million pages of good advice and twice that of bad, but I want to leave a simple message about what happens when:

1. You train hard for a year and then stop and relax.

This will cause adipose tissue to begin it's onset and for total body weight gain. Also, because you've tightened everything up, the elasticity is not retained and you will stretch back and it will not be pretty because it was tight and was grown. Be consistent and work at a level you can keep integrated to your lifestyle.

2. Stopped working out after a long time of moderate work.

This will see you deteriorate at a more normal level, but the losses of strength and stamina will be very noticeable after only a few years of sedate activity.
Be consistent and work at a level you can keep integrated to your lifestyle.

3. Moderately train effort wise, but practice daily.

This is the optimum regimen of practice. You will always keep what you have gained and continue to make gains although the law of diminishing returns will apply and you will peak. But then, it is about maintenance. It is this model that will afford you quality of life when older. Be consistent and you can't lose.

The quick fix workout routines are actually not that great for your body if you don't follow up with maintenance.

P90X is an awesome workout, but if you can't continue to give your day 30min-1hr of high intensity training, then you are going to lose the gains rapidly after doing this or programs like it. This goes for all the other abs in a box routines that people do for a quick fix so they don't look like a bag of crap when they hit the beach. I've done it, many others as well. I don't recommend these programs to anyone who will not follow up with consistent daily practice.

Bottom line is you MUST be consistent in your practice to achieve personal kung fu that has value. No shortcuts, no quick way to it, just effort and time.

Don't fall in the short timeline trap. It is a bandaid and not a solution.

[sanjuro_ronin]

Periodization is, to me, the ideal method.
HOWEVER, the reality of time contraints can make following the correct routine a bit hard to say the least.
I would still adovcate 80% perhas 70% of moderate intermixed with High Intenstiy simply because NOTHING mimks real world MA application than high Intensity.

[mooyingmantis]

David,
Absolutely one of your best posts.
The slow and steady, the tried and true. What worked one hundred years ago still works today. We may now have more medical understanding of why it works. But the bottom line is that it works.

[LivingArt]

helluva thread!

Especially with how our societies all like to find the quick fix with everything. I'd say taking it slow and enjoying the journey improves understanding and proficiency. You can't rush speed, strength, form, and/or general understanding of life.

its also always important to know when to add on more difficulty. Be it weight, miles, or technicalities.

[YouKnowWho]

it is about maintenance.
Old saying said, "It's easy to develop but it's hard to maintain." How to maintain your MA ability when you are 80 years old is the main concern that we all have.

You have to enjoy your training. If you don't, you may push yourself a bit too hard. There is nothing wrong to push yourself harder. The only problem is you may have intention to quit and that's not good.

[David Jamieson]

Richard, it's good to know you are getting back to routines and health man!
Was pleased to read it. :)

[sanjuro_ronin]

A word on this:

P90X is an awesome workout, but if you can't continue to give your day 30min-1hr of high intensity training, then you are going to lose the gains rapidly after doing this or programs like it. This goes for all the other abs in a box routines that people do for a quick fix so they don't look like a bag of crap when they hit the beach. I've done it, many others as well. I don't recommend these programs to anyone who will not follow up with consistent daily practice.
Any program will work for the typical 8-10 weeks ( the best gains being those at the 6-8 week mark)because that is how long it takes for you body to adapt to ANY routine that you start this is different from your norm ( whatever that norm may be).
PX90 works a bit beyond that because of its "muscle confusion" principle, BUT the moment it becomes a routine your body WILL adapt and it will plateau.

That is why periodization works so well, it allows you to focus for that "sweet spot period" (that 8-10 week mark) and work whatever you may want to focus on during that period to the max, then back off, recover (1 week) and then go to the next "phase" of development.

[wenshu]

http://startingstrength.com/articles/novice_effect_rippetoe.pdf

It doesn't mater how many times I see it happen, I will always chuckle at some old dude lugging his laptop into the gym to bust out Insanity or P90X workouts.

Turn that **** the **** down dude, can't you see me trying to squat 135 over here? I need to concentrate.

*cracks amyl nitrate and does wildly exaggerated hip circles in singlet and weight belt

[sanjuro_ronin]

http://startingstrength.com/articles/novice_effect_rippetoe.pdf

It doesn't mater how many times I see it happen, I will always chuckle at some old dude lugging his laptop into the gym to bust out Insanity or P90X workouts.

Turn that **** the **** down dude, can't you see me trying to squat 135 over here? I need to concentrate.

*cracks amyl nitrate and does wildly exaggerated hip circles in singlet and weight belt

I would "disagree" with Rippetoe to a certain extent in regards to HIT and P90X because BOTH systems have built-in's to compensate the "novice effect" after it wears off- P90X with its muscle confusion and HIT with its training to failure.
The problem is that people tend to "burn out" when their bodies don't adapt and "slow down naturally" ( that is why the body IS designed to adapt, so as to NOT over train/burn out).
I can count on one hand the number of guys I have seen do HIT the right way and as much as P90X works to "change" how you look, it doesn't really do much more than that to any specific degree.
Of course it doesn't CLAIM to do anything other than change the way you look anyways.

[Pork Chop]

I agree with everything you said, but occasionally you do need some rest.

I don't know if illness made me feel burned out or if over training made me feel ill; but I've been taking this week off to recuperate.

Besides a chest cold, I have a bunch of nagging injuries that haven't been healing - a cut on my hand that's taking weeks to heal, a badly bruised knee, sore back (probably from sitting too much).
Thing is, this rest is finally giving my body a chance to deal with these things instead of just recovering from my workouts. My motivation's starting to come back too.

Sometimes, rest/time off can be a good thing.

[SteveLau]

Certainly consistency is necessary in many activities including MA for one to achieve good skill level. For the time being, my training program includes two fitness training sessions and one MA training session per week. In the other days, there will be light exercises session like stretching and strength training which do not take more than 5 minutes.


Regards,

KC
Hong Kong

[bawang]

hellos peoples, after 8 month of lifting the weights, today i do 200 pound squat, the grass touching my anus, 5 times.

GREAT SUCCESS

[Frost]

Well done maybe if you squatted properly you could hand more than the baby weights :cool:
Only joking nice work keep it up :):)
As ronin says anything works for a few weeks and normally the quicker it works the quicker the gains leave you when you stop doing the programme
Again as Ronin says (he does occasionally say some good thinks…shocking I know) perodization is the way to go, both in terms of exercise selection, motor abilities trained and also volume and intensity
General rule of thumb is to use the least volume and intensity needed to make changes and normally train this way for 8 weeks before switching to training another motor ability (ie maximum strength, endurance etc): using this method you gradually increase volume and intensity over 3 weeks, reduce volume and intensity on the 4th week, use more advanced methods and higher intensity over the next 3 weeks and in the final 8th week reduce volume, intensity and methods used. And then start over. This method avoids burn out, over training and leads to consistent and constant gains

[JamesC]

I would "disagree" with Rippetoe to a certain extent in regards to HIT and P90X because BOTH systems have built-in's to compensate the "novice effect" after it wears off- P90X with its muscle confusion and HIT with its training to failure.
The problem is that people tend to "burn out" when their bodies don't adapt and "slow down naturally" ( that is why the body IS designed to adapt, so as to NOT over train/burn out).
I can count on one hand the number of guys I have seen do HIT the right way and as much as P90X works to "change" how you look, it doesn't really do much more than that to any specific degree.
Of course it doesn't CLAIM to do anything other than change the way you look anyways.

If I remember correctly, this is the reason that TGY hates all the Tai Chi studies done on older people.

ANY activity will promote adaptation when you are doing nothing in the first place.

Rippetoe's program just takes advantage of it in order to make you stronger as quickly as possible in that time frame.

P90x takes advantage of it with the body recomp. You can completely change your body recomp within that period, especially if you are sedentary(or completely detrained, which is the same thing I suppose) AND on a **** diet. Which most people are.

[sanjuro_ronin]

Well done maybe if you squatted properly you could hand more than the baby weights :cool:
Only joking nice work keep it up :):)
As ronin says anything works for a few weeks and normally the quicker it works the quicker the gains leave you when you stop doing the programme
Again as Ronin says (he does occasionally say some good thinks…shocking I know) perodization is the way to go, both in terms of exercise selection, motor abilities trained and also volume and intensity
General rule of thumb is to use the least volume and intensity needed to make changes and normally train this way for 8 weeks before switching to training another motor ability (ie maximum strength, endurance etc): using this method you gradually increase volume and intensity over 3 weeks, reduce volume and intensity on the 4th week, use more advanced methods and higher intensity over the next 3 weeks and in the final 8th week reduce volume, intensity and methods used. And then start over. This method avoids burn out, over training and leads to consistent and constant gains

It is correct because it has been proven to be correct.
And because Chuck Norris says it is !!

[Frost]

It is correct because it has been proven to be correct.
And because Chuck Norris says it is !!

the russians proved it correct...chuck simply gave it his roundhoused stamp of approval!!

[Happy Tiger]

Well done maybe if you squatted properly you could hand more than the baby weights :cool:
Only joking nice work keep it up :):)
As ronin says anything works for a few weeks and normally the quicker it works the quicker the gains leave you when you stop doing the programme
Again as Ronin says (he does occasionally say some good thinks…shocking I know) perodization is the way to go, both in terms of exercise selection, motor abilities trained and also volume and intensity
General rule of thumb is to use the least volume and intensity needed to make changes and normally train this way for 8 weeks before switching to training another motor ability (ie maximum strength, endurance etc): using this method you gradually increase volume and intensity over 3 weeks, reduce volume and intensity on the 4th week, use more advanced methods and higher intensity over the next 3 weeks and in the final 8th week reduce volume, intensity and methods used. And then start over. This method avoids burn out, over training and leads to consistent and constant gains
i agree periodization is invaluable concept. Interval training is the key to good recovery, time managment and integration and maximization of potential training skills/attributes. I use TCM 5 element theory to designate and organize my training. Works for me.