You have read the latest articles on what the best training program is to meet your goal and after six weeks have little to show for it. Does this sound familiar?

I remember one summer watching the Superman movie “True Man of Steel,” and thinking, “Man, I want to look that jacked.” I found a program for size; most of the exercises had three to four sets and 10-15 reps, which, if you look at any of the research does correlate with hypertrophy.

After two months of working out, I had little to show other than the fact that I hated lifting weights for more than five reps.

What did I do wrong?

I showed up to the gym four days a week consistently, I did the workouts as written, and I did all right, from my perspective, on nutrition. Why didn’t I get better results?

Sets and Reps Are Only Half The Story

We know that a correctly designed program with all the right exercises and sets and reps is only half the story. The other half is the effort you put in.

Hypertrophy can happen in two ways: lifting heavy weights for lower reps and lifting lighter weights for higher reps.

Both ways will trigger a stress response that will create hypertrophy. Where people go wrong is forgetting about the intensity at which you should be performing each set.

Whether you are lifting heavy or light, you need to be lifting at an intensity that will trigger a response.

For example, if you are doing a barbell bench press for 4×5 at 205lbs ask yourself, “On a scale of 1 to 10, where one is I-could-keep-benching-forever and ten is I-could-not-get-any-more-reps, how hard is this set?”

If every set you lift is at an intensity of 5 or a 6, you will feel like you did work, but your results won’t be amazing. You have to lift at an intensity of 8 or a 9 consistently if you want to add significant muscle mass.

Without the right amount of effort, you are wasting your time.

Measure Your Effort: 1. RPE Scale

Go back to the RPE (rated perceived exertion) scale:

• 1-5: Too many reps to count. Nice warm up.
• 6: Could have gotten at least 5 more reps.
• 7: Could have gotten 3-4 more reps.
• 8: Could have maybe gotten 2 more reps.
• 9: Could maybe get 1 more rep.
• 10: Could not have gotten another rep.

As stated above, your working sets, the ones that count, need to be at that 8 to 9 level.

I find this method to work the best for 90% of my clients.

Measure Your Effort: 2. Lift Based Off Percentage

If you are more analytical and like tracking numbers, then base your working sets of your 1 rep maxes.

• 100% 1 rep
• 95% 2 reps
• 90% 3 reps
• 85% 5 reps
• 80% 7 reps
• 75% 10 reps
• 70% 12 reps
• 65% 15 reps

For example, if I am doing 4×5 and my 1RM is 205lbs, I would want my working set weight to be in the 185 to 195lb range.

Measure Your Effort: 3. Volitional Fatigue

Volitional fatigue is the point in a set when you can no longer perform reps with proper form. This means you could maybe do a few more reps but would have to sacrifice form or cheat to complete the reps.

All working sets should be done to or just before volitional fatigue. This method is the one I use the least because it requires such a high level of body awareness.

To see results you have to put in the effort. Showing up and going through the motions is not good enough. Yes, it is better than doing nothing, but if you are looking to see consistent improvement, you have to push yourself to an uncomfortable place.

The best program is only the best if you put in the effort needed to make you the best.

The post Effort Determines Outcome appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

As I get out of bed, I notice my back feels tight. I lethargically walk over to the coffee pot in hopes that the caffeine will be what I need to get me going for my morning workout.

My alarm goes off. I look at my phone and see that it is 5:30 am. I just went to bed five hours earlier because I was stuck in a Netflix binge-watching session.

As I get out of bed, I notice my back feels tight. I lethargically walk over to the coffee pot in hopes that the caffeine will be what I need to get me going for my morning workout.

I pull into the gym parking lot at quarter to 7 am. I have no motivation or energy for a workout, and as mentioned before, my back is not feeling right, and the only reason I am even going to the gym is that I know it’s good for me.

Have you ever been in this situation when you show up for a workout and you aren’t feeling it?

We hope that every time we show up to lift we will be feeling physically and mentally ready to wrestle a grizzly bear and be able to bend steel bars with our fists. But how often does that happen?

The Mind-Body Disconnect

It seems like our mind and body are often not in tune. You show up mentally ready but your knee has been nagging at you for the past few days and it’s leg day. Or maybe you are feeling great physically, but your head is some place else.

What do you do in this situation? Give up and go home and hope tomorrow is better?

Maybe.

What if the program has you doing three sets but you feel amazing? Is it ok to do four or five sets?

Possibly.

This is where intuitive lifting comes into play.

Intuitive lifting helps you optimize the 80% of the time you feel OK, helps you pull back 10% of the time when you show up not be feeling it, and takes advantage of the 10% of the time you feel terrific.

What Is Intuitive Lifting?

At its core, intuitive lifting is listening to what your body is telling you at the present moment and making adjustments to get the most out of your body in its current state.

It takes into account sleep, stress, nutrition, and how your body is feeling with movement.

The following components should always be evaluated prior to training:

• Sleep: How was your sleep quality the night before? How much sleep did you get (more or less than 8 hours)?
• Stress: How anxious do you feel? Do you feel recovered? Motivation level? Is your resting heart rate higher than usual?
• Nutrition: Are you hydrated? Have you had vegetables at each meal? Eating protein at each meal?
• Your Body: Are you stiff or feel restricted? If yes, where? Is there discomfort in a specific movement? If yes, does warming up help?

Not feeling great in one of these areas is not a cause for concern or a reason for you not to workout, but if you see there are more negatives than positives showing up, then that is something to make a note of.

The 3 Rules Of Intuitive Lifting

1. Have A Plan: Intuitive lifting doesn’t mean you do what you enjoy every day. You need to follow a workout plan that is designed for your goals and capabilities. Doing what you like doesn’t push you to the level you need to achieve your goal.
2. Assess How You Feel: When assessing sleep, stress, nutrition, and movement try not to be subjective. Recognize if you are making a decision based on how your body feels versus where you are emotionally. Most of the time our bodies can do more, but we emotionally feel we can’t. There are times when your emotional side is correct, so you do need to listen to it from time to time.
3. Make Tweaks Not Overhauls: With the information you gather from your self-assessment you should make tweaks to the program, not overhauls.

Example: As you are warming up for your deadlift your back doesn’t feel right.

A tweak would be trying squats that day or turning your deadlift day into a focus on form and working at loads below 50% of your one rep max.

An overhaul would be to throw the program out and turn it into an “I do whatever I want” workout.

The Intuitive Warm Up

One of the many reasons to warm up is to give yourself an idea of how your body is feeling that day. As you go through your warm up you might notice your shoulder is feeling a little cranky or as you are doing squats your hips are feeling a little tight.

Sometimes all it will take is doing a little extra warming up of that area and you can go on with your normal workout.

But that is not always the rule.

What do you do?

You find what feels good.

For the shoulder, you might have a barbell overhead press but you find that for today dumbbells feel better because they offer a better range of motion. Or maybe having more stability with a bench feels better, so you try a dumbbell incline bench press.

In the case of the squat, you might find going to a box feels better because it adds more stability. Or you could try single leg movements like split squats and lunges.

When things aren’t feeling right play around to see if you can find an alternative that does.

Beware the Bad Night’s Sleep

Sleep and nutrition are the cornerstones of recovery. If you are not getting 7 to 8 hours of sleep consistently, you will be limiting yourself on the results you could be getting.

If you are trying to workout on four hours of sleep you would be better off taking a 20 minute nap than working out.

For the day you don’t feel rested because of a bad night’s sleep, cut your workout sets in half. For example:

Planned:

• Squat 4×6
• Chin Ups 4×6
• Bench 4×6
• Reverse Lunge 3×8

Adjusted:

• Squat 2×6
• Chin Ups 2×6
• Bench 2×6
• Reverse Lunge 2×8

Working Out When You Feel 110%

For the day you are feeling out of this world, you should take advantage for these days are few and far between. For example:

Planned:

• Squat 4×6
• Chin Ups 4×6
• Bench 4×6
• Reverse Lunge 3×8

Adjusted:

• Squat 4-6×6
• Chin Ups 4-5×6
• Bench 4-6×6
• Reverse Lunge 3-4×8

Keep the working weight the same. If you are feeling good, meaning the bar speed is staying the same throughout the movement and form is maintained, do a few more sets until you feel either the bar speed drop or your form starts to regress. This method will allow you to get in a few more working sets on the days you are feeling good.

The Takeaway

About 80% of the time you will be able to run your normal workout, but sometimes life doesn’t go as planned and you feel off. You need to know it is OK to tweak your plan. The body is ever-changing and a program that was made weeks or months ago needs to be able to change with you, as well.

The post The Benefits of Intuitive Lifting appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Know that you are not alone, but understand that you can do better. You can learn how to overcome a hectic lifestyle while still staying on target with your health and nutrition this year—let me show you how.

When you are a busy person, like most of us are, sometimes you eat whatever is most convenient. That could be leftovers, a fast food drive-thru, snacks from a gas station, or something you can just throw into the microwave.

Know that you are not alone, but understand that you can do better. You can learn how to overcome a hectic lifestyle while still staying on target with your health and nutrition this year—let me show you how.

The Structure of an Ideal Plan

I believe that if you are honest with yourself you could fit this structure into at least one or two days during a typical week. Ideally, you would have your meals prepped for the next day the night before or at minimum know ahead of time what you are going to eat. Having a plan will help you avoid grabbing the closest edible looking thing your hands can reach. It is critical that you plan ahead, and here are some take-away points to help set yourself up for success:

1. Shop for the Week

Do you shop for the week and plan out what you are going to have for dinners? Do you have a few food ideas for breakfast and lunches? Consider how many days a week you can plan for, and be realistic. Then create a menu that you can prepare meals for to meet those target days. Writing down this menu is helpful and if will be preparing food for your family, you can post it so they know what to expect.

If you don’t enjoy making a complicated meal, don’t plan one. Start simple. Remember, there is nothing wrong with simple and easy.

2. Make More Than You Need

It can feel like a daunting task to prep all your meals at the beginning of the week. Luckily, you don’t have to. Instead of making each meal individually or making all your meals at the beginning of the week, try making more of the meal you are already preparing and portion it into containers for future meals.

For example, you are making homemade chicken soup. Make enough for your family for dinner and for the next day’s lunch. When you are cutting up vegetables for a salad, cut up a few more of your favorite veggies and pack them away for snacks on the go for that week.

This is called batching your time. You are already preparing the meal and it will only take an extra few minutes to make more for throughout the week. Everything you need is already out and ready, so you don’t waste time getting it all out again to prepare for additional meals.

3. Prep the Same Foods

For example, prep one snack for the whole week so it is ready and available each afternoon. A good example of a mass-prep breakfast is to take five jars and make some overnight oats for the week. If you struggle with lunch, make layered salad in jars and get a small container of dressing that will last all week.

Understand the Role of Macronutrients

Remember what you are trying to accomplish. You are trying to fuel your body with healthy sustenance and feel full throughout the day. The goal is not perfection, but a sustainable plan.

The best way to sustain your plan that is to choose foods that are high in protein. Protein takes longer to break down and because of this it will help you to feel and stay full for longer. Your goal is to get 20 grams of protein per meal when on the go.

Once you have your protein chosen, choose vegetables to add volume, then choose your starches and fats. Remember that fats will leave you satisfied longer while carbs will not satisfy you for very long. By creating a balanced nutrition plan, you will be less likely to choose a convenience food as an unplanned snack.

Have a Lunchtime Emergency Plan

If you find yourself at work with no lunch, what do you do? Do you starve? Hell no. Do you grab some takeout? Most likely, but use caution.

If you find yourself without a lunch, have a few menus at your desk or workplace that have options you like and fit within your nutritional needs. Highlight the meal options that you like and that are healthy. Salads with protein are usually a good choice. Skip calorie dense additions, like extra cheese or heavy dressing.

By picking what you are going to eat ahead of time when eating out, you set yourself up for success. You don’t have to go through the decision process because you have already done the work ahead of time when you chose the menus to keep at hand.

Have a Gas Station Emergency Plan

It is never ideal to find yourself looking for sustenance in a gas station, but it does happen. If you are caught desparate for a meal in a convenience store, you should look for foods in this order:

1. Protein: Hard boiled eggs, cheese, protein bar, beef jerky, and yogurt
2. Vegetables: Salad or carrots
3. Carbs: fresh fruits or fruit salad
4. Fats: mixed nuts, hummus, peanuts

Be Mentally Prepared for Your Meals

Being mentally prepared is just as important as the actual food preparation. You can do all the planning needed, but if you are not mentally ready to follow through with eating the meals, there is a good chance you will revert back to your old choices when a stressful circumstance arises.

Remember that unplanned eating on the go is never ideal, but it happens. By planning ahead, you will less likely run into these situations. Life may get away from you at some point, but just remember this simple guideline to nutritional success: protein first, then vegetables, lastly carbs and fats.

The post A Practical Guide to Eating on the Go appeared first on Breaking Muscle.