The other day at the gym a guy similar in weight, and strength levels softly accused me of using steroids. He was saying I train too much, and that i should recover more. I told him when i train crazy like this that i just start eating far more, and from dirtier sources.He was trying to tell me upping the calories wouldn’t work, that the only way what I do is possible is if i was upping a steroid dose. Firstly that makes me wonder, does he use? But it also begs the question of why are so many scared to do more work. Many seem to think overtraining will strike, and they’ll lose ALL of their gains should they do any more than their low volume program calls for.
Shit like that frankly irks me. You see I quickly outgrew that mindset, and started getting far better results when I stopped doing a written program and simply trained hard, often on the same lifts over and over. If something went stale, I’d switch it up, hit the same part with another lift, or simply use my PT to hit that part for a while.
It seems like gym goers are always afraid of doing too much work, but never look for ideas of what is physically possible at elite levels i.e. at Westside Barbell, the Chinese weightlifting team,any NFL team, or simply stop and think about how much work the average construction worker does. Many place limits on what/how much can be done in a manner that’s ridiculous. Wouldn’t it be better to ride to the edge,and once you start losing your pop, back off and find yourself far more capable than if you had simply done a program as written?
People think nothing of a high schooler having football 2 a days, or of a kid lifting and playing hours of basketball daily. I personally did PT in class 2-3 days a week(JROTC) played basketball every Friday, wrestled/track, and still lifted 2-4 days weekly. I ran myself into the ground while in high school, have squatted with very high frequency, and have done pushups almost daily for about 9 years. I’d done so much work when I was a teen that my recovery is simply very fast. Was running myself into the ground the best for my athleticism? No, I did overdo it in school somewhat,and was not as successful an athlete in high school as i could’ve been. Doing all this built a great work capacity though. In my mind that’s a fair trade off. I’m reaping it’s reward years later.
Simply you recover as much as your work capacity allows. It is easier to build when younger, but hey, everything is possible. You can do more. You may simply have to eat a bit more, and/or sleep a bit more. Not rocket science. Eventually your body will adapt. It will adapt to anything you throw at it for long enough. Hell it can even adapt to low sleep, low calories. Life happens, your situation will always include snags.
Know any laborers who outwork just about everyone? I do. My father is a prime example of this. He’s never lifted weights, but can comfortably be on his feet and active all day long. Why? It was his job for a significant part of his life, and he never thought that he’d go too far, if he had to take frequent off days he would’ve lost his job. Eventually he adapted, and the work isn’t near as hard as it was the first day. Again, adaption is not rocket science.
Basically the standard gym thinking about physical ability is wrong. Too many are scared to stray from their program, and truly find out what they are capable of. The human body is far more capable than most would realize. In an ideal world where you can sleep, train, and eat as much as possible the amount you would become capable of is staggering. Look to history, there are many examples of break back all day work building juggernauts. The gym has become far too comfortable for most.
Do More Work, and don’t accuse those that are capable of more as having to be on steroids. Naturals are capable of far more than standard thought suggests. But only if they change their mindset from “I’m Natty, that’s why i suck,steroids!?!?!?”, to “I train hard, and will outwork you bitch!”
Does doing 500 pushups one night then benching the next morning seem unreasonable to you? How about impossible? Trust me it’s not. In fact it’s pretty easy.
If you want to train for hours have at it. The worst that can happen is you’ll need to back off. Be smart and don’t get injured, not that you can in a gym anyway. Recovery and ability are far more mental than physical . I love training and therefore do lots of it. If I can, so can you.
Train hard, become a beast. No excuses, push the envelope.
-J