Iron Garage Wisdom, Thoughts, and Tips Part 2

BLUF: 1. When you feel energized, go for it.
2. Performance correlates with calorie intake
3. Flexible workout programming is more realistic and productive than rigid programming.
4. The best plans usually fail as soon as the first shot is fired, first punch is thrown, or first rep is executed. Have a plan B, C, and D.
5. Listen to your body when you have the experience to do so.

Last night's workout went way better than I thought it would. The workout consisted of a warmup: 2 minutes sanddune stepper march in place, 1 set of standing band chest press x 20, 1 set of standing band chest flyes x20, 1 set of bench press 135x10. Followed by light stretching. Then slingshot bench press sets of 225x11, 235x8, 245x8, and 255x5. Rest periods between sets was 2-5 minutes for maximizing ATP/CP cycle replenishment. The original plan was to do 4x5 with 235.

 
I felt really good and energized from the beginning. I know from experience that when I feel this way, I need to do more than my original plan intended. Had I stuck with the original plan, I would have had success and a good workout but would have missed the opportunity to do better.

 
225 is my baseline assessment weight on the bench press for me and my clients. Decades of experience have taught me that 225 is a true indicator of where you are at fitness wise (for males). 5 reps or less means that you suck and need to do better. 6-8 reps means that you suck less but need to do better. 8-10 reps means that you are doing good so keep at it. More than 10 reps means you are on track and need to build upon where you are at.

 
How much you eat directly impacts performance. Simple version: If you have been eating big, your performance will be much better. If you have been eating light you will be sucking wind in the gym. Macronutrient ratio and total calorie intake based upon goal requirements are very important to track and understand.

 
Using the wrong rest periods and under eating will kill performance and progress. Also understanding the 3 main metabolic energy pathways and how it impacts and relates to your training is important to learn and understand. Inexperienced people who say that they listen to their bodies and flow based upon how they feel usually do not maximize progress and potential.

 
Your body is programmed to protect you and always seeks homeostasis. This unfortunately does not take your performance goals into consideration and will usually cause you to come up short. I don't know how many times I've heard people tell me that I wasn't hungry so I didn't eat, or gurus telling people to eat until you are satisfied.

 
Performance doesn't care how you feel. Your body as a machine, needs fuel and raw materials to achieve the goals that you have set. If you don't provide the right amount, of the right fuel, at the right time, the machine cannot produce the desired result. How you feel about that does not matter. 

Until next time-Go eat and hit the weights!

Eric Dempsey

MS, ISSA Master Trainer