Brad’s BodyBlog

Question: I just started the Body For Life weight training program after about a year and a half doing a full-body program 3 days a week.  If you’re not familiar with the Body For Life program there is a link below, or if you don’t want to click that link I outlined the program below.

http://www.bodyforlife.com/exercise/weighttraining.asp

-  Weight train intensely, three times per week on alternating days with aerobic exercise three times per week. Make sure to hit your "high points" during your workout.
-  Alternate training the major muscles of the upper and lower body.
-  Perform two exercises for each major muscle group of the upper body and lower body.
-  Select one exercise and conduct five sets with it, starting with a set of 12 reps, then increasing the weight and doing 10 reps, adding more weight and doing 8 reps, adding more weight for 6 reps. Then reduce the weight and do 12 reps. Immediately perform another set of 12 reps for that muscle group using the second selected exercise.
-  For each muscle group, rest for one minute between the first four sets. Then complete the final two sets with no rest in between, wait two minutes before moving on to your next muscle group, complete this pattern five times for the upper body training experience and four times for the lower body training experience

The thing I don’t understand with the Body for Life program is how you can only rest a minute between sets. I was trying to do that and keep up with going up in weights and keep up with doing the certain reps. I had so much lactic acid buildup that I needed more than a minute in most cases, sometimes like 2-5 minutes before I fully recuperated, and could move on to the next set. Is this ok to do? Also, after you do the 12 rep set, 10 rep set, 8 rep set, 6 rep set, why do you go back to doing a 12 rep set. Would it be ok if you only did the 4 sets of 12, 10, 8, 6? Also, why do you do another exercise right after that, with no rest, for 12 reps? It seems to me that you’re muscles are just too tired from the last exercise to do another one for the same bodypart, let alone with no rest.  On upper body day it’s taking me about 1 1/2 hours to complete.  That seems too long.  Can I modify this program where it will only take between 45min-1 hour to complete, and if so, how would I modify this and still get maximum benefit?  Thanks for your help.

Answer: Hello Dave and thank you for writing in.

You have just outlined a few of the many flaws I find with the Body for life program.  Among other approaches in the book, this workout is very contradictory to what the American College of Sports Medicine recommends for weight training.

The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) has a "Position Stand" that was published in 2002.  This position stand was made with all of the information published in the medical journal over the last……however many years from the best studies done by the best Universities and groups.  It has been altered over the years as more information is produced frOm the studies done.  So with that in mind here IS what I find contradictory.

ACSM Recommendations
1.)  2 -3 minute recovery periods between sets.
2.)  One major muscle group and one minor muscle group done per workout.  Compound movements precede isolation movements.
3.)  For advanced trainers, training frequency should be every 4 - 5 days.
4.)  For muscle hypertrophy, rep range should be to positive failure between 8 - 12.  Once the desired number of reps is achieved, increase the load 2% - 5%.
5.)  For strength training, rep range should be to positive failure between 1 - 5 reps.  Once the desired number of reps is achieved, increase the load 2% - 5%.

You can view the ACSM full 17 page report at www.ms-se.com
It is boring reading, but if you can skim it and pick out the important aspects, it is very help full.

Alternatively there is a program produced through AST Sports Science that closely follows the ACSM recommendations.  You can sign up for the course free at ast-ss.com.  It is called the Max-OT (Maximum Overload Training) program.  I have followed it for years and I teach it to all my clients.  All of my clients who used Body for Life have switched and never gone back.  You can view my Max-OT training journal at my website to see how to apply it.

So to answer your question, yes modify the program.  The thing about exercise is there is no right and wrong way to do it.  They all work, however they all vary in efficiency.  Like driving across the country.  You can drive 35mph or 75mph.  They both work, the latter will get you there faster though.  Use the same approach to exercise.  Use the 75mph approach and not the 35mph approach.
Comment:I’ll tell ya, you always have the most thorough answers out of anyone. It always seems like you have done a lot of research on the whole subject of weight training. Keep up the great work.

Question:Good afternoon Brad
iv been going to the gym now for about 5 years but iv only starting to get good results in the last 6 months iv been doing a bit of study on hypertrophy training and my program is 4 set 10-12 rep with 01.15min rest i do chest and tricept on monday and Thursday back and bicept on tuesday and Friday legs and shoulders  Wednesday and Saturday 4 activity on the bigger muscle and 3 on the smaller ones. Why am i going backward in lifting weights im getting one or two less reps out than i was lifting two weeks ago? I’m eating heaps and good food. I’m 102kg and 189cm what is a good weight for me aswell?

Answer: Hi Cheyne….Thanks for writing in.

I am wondering why you are training your large muscle groups twice in one week?  Is that something some one gave you, or did you read it in a magazine?  It sounds like the kind of routine body builders who use steroids follow and unless you are using anabolics, I would not recommend the same for you.

The muscle can only gain size and strength if it is able to completely recover from the trauma of your workouts.  Studies published by the journal of applied physiology have shown that there is still muscle damage 5 days after intense overload exercise.(1)  So if you are training your chest on Monday, there is still loads of muscles all torn apart by Thursday when you are trying to overload them again.  Unless you are taking anabolic steroids, which speed up the recovery process 10 fold, this is not the best way to do it.

When in doubt, follow what the Sports Medicine Journals recommend.  That is what I do and with consistent results every year.  Train one major muscle group per day using basic compound movments for a total of 6 - 9 sets.  Use a weight that allows you no more than 6 reps.  If you can get 7, go up.  Then train one minor muscle group using basic isolation movements for a total of 2 - 4 sets in the same 6 rep range.  Then let these muscles rest for 5 - 7 days and train your other body parts.  So a good chest and triceps day would look like this.

Incline Barbell Press - 3 sets, 4 - 6 reps or to failure.
Flat Dumbbell Press - 3 sets, 4 - 6 reps or to failure.
Decline barbell press - 3 sets, 4 - 6 reps or to failure.
Tricep Cable Press downs - 2 sets, 4 - 6 reps or to failure.
Suping Tricep Presses - 2 sets, 4 - 6 reps or to failure.

I got all this information from the American College of Sports Medicine Position Stand on resistance training(2)  I would say the reason you are lifting less and less weight and less reps is you are overtraining.  It is hard for your body to recruit the maximum amount of muscle when much of the muscle is still damaged from the prior workout.

As far as what is a good weight for you, who cares.  Focus instead on what is a good look for you.  Perhaps even more on body fat.  I don’t care what my weight is as long as I am 12% body fat or less.  In my case, since I am a body builder, the heavier the better, but not at the cost of greater than 12% body fat.

Hope that helps Cheyne.  Let me know if I can help you further.

(1) J Appl Physiol, Oct 2002; 93: 1280 ¨C 1286
(2) MS-SE, 2002 Position Stand

Question:Brad I have been Bodybuilding since I was 13. I have been a Master fitness trainer in the military. I have been a MMA fighter. Now I am in a RUTT I do my work out as usual I am 5′6 190 pounds doing 50 pound one arm dumbell curls fixing to move up. My strength is increasing but my size isnt. so my ? is.  Without steroids what more can I do to increase my size on my bicipes and tris’?

Answer:Thank you for writing in.  I feel honored that an athlete of your caliber is asking ME for advice.

The one aspect of body building is that day by day, even month by month, it is a thankless endeavor.  You can bust your butt in the gym drilling yourself into the floor to put size on.  You can eat perfectly, taking in lots of raw fruits and vegetables, and supplement your protein intake with Whey.  Then you can deprive yourself of lifes’ pleasures like Pizza, Krispy Kreme, and those awesome Ultimate Cheese Burgers and all for what, your arms measure the same size as always.  DAMN THOSE BODY BUILDING GODS!

Regardless of any mental limitations you may be putting on yourself, your workout, your nutrition, your very life style as a body builder is working.  It just takes its’ time for you to see the results, and it may not be the type of results you are expecting to see.  I will use myself as an example.  In 2003 I competed in my first Natural Body Building Competition.  I was curling 65 - 70lb dumbbells, admittedly with a little body english, and my arms were 16 inches.  Now in 2007 I can curl 75 pounds with the same amount of body english and my arms still measure the same 16 inches.  However, my arm looks nothing like it did in 2003.  There are lines and separation on my inner biceps that I have never had.  I can clearly delineate both attachments in my lower biceps, and my triceps is developing a "split" between the medial and lateral heads.  So even though my arms measure the same size, they look much bigger, harder, and as I get leaner, even more "freaky."  God just made my arm to be 16 inches and no bigger, but that does not mean that it has to look the same.

So with that in mind, the million dollar question is how do you make the most of your time in the gym?  As you probably know, nothing beats progressive overload.(5) The weight on my curl may have only gone up 5 or 10 pounds in 4 years, but that is about 1.1 - 2.2 pounds a year.  On a one limb, isolation movement like the curl, that is huge.  Additionally, that strength equals about a 50 pound increase in my bench press and bent over barbell rows.  You don’t have to make huge jumps in weight, you just have to go up.

Lastly is nutrition. If it is one thing I have learned in the last year, it is that good clean fuel going into your body is even more critical for building muscle than for losing fat.  When losing fat, you have to limit the amount of good clean food you are eating.  When building muscle, you have to stuff yourself with good clean fuel.  I always try to keep in mind that food is our fuel like gas for a car.  You don’t put water in the gas tank of your car, it won’t run.  So don’t feed your body bad fuel, it won’t run right either, much less build good quality muscle.  I try to find way to get as many raw vegetables I can stomach in.  I make my own low calorie dressing using salsa and butter spray, I pile it high with olives, mushrooms, shredded carrots and cabbage and I always top it with about 4 -5 ounces of chicken, shrimp or turkey.  If I use salmon or other fatty fish, I use about half.  Those EFA’s (Essential Fatty Acids) are very important for building muscle as well.  Large doses of EFA’s have been shown to have a tremendous anti-catabolic effect which is super important when restricting calories.(2)(4)  Additionally those same doses of EFA’s help insulin to transport nutrients into cells for those times when it seems you can’t get enough good clean fuel to build muscle.(1)(3)So if you can’t get enough fish, flax or other natural source of EFA’s for some reason, get a good supplement with a generous dose.

Sorry I got so long winded, I love to talk about body building and I tend to just go off.  In any case I hope this helps.  Thank you very much for allowing me to coach you and good luck with all your sports.

1. J. Nutrition 132: 3508S-3512S, 2002.
2. Nutr Cancer 40 (2):118-24, 2001.  
3. J. Nutrition 17:751-755, 2001.
4. Cancer Res 61:3604-3609, 2001.
5. ACSM - Position Stand 2002.

Hi Yiannis……thank you for writing to me.

There are a lot of studies that have been published in exercise and sports journals on stretching.  However the only concrete research that I am aware of is that stretching does not alleviate muscle soreness, and over stretching before exercise leads to decreased strength.

According to Paul Cribb, Ph.D., CSCS at Victoria University in Australia, “a comprehensive review of the scientific literature on this topic shows that stretching before or after exercise has little or no effect on muscle soreness.”

Additionally, a study published in 2006 showed that college age males and females that stretched extensively before a workout show a significant decrease in muscle strength and force.  Look it up in Res Quart Exerc Sport 76;500-506, 2006.

I find it hard to believe that stretching at any time could be “harmfull.”  However in light of this information, I do not stretch before and after working out.  I do like to move a lot and try to use a nice full range of motion for a warm up, but I would not say it is stretching.  However, stretching is too important to overlook and not include in a persons life.  I like to stretch at night when I have returned home from work.  I hold about 6 stretching exercises for about 30 seconds each 4 - 5 times a week.  I would advise your athletes to stretch about an hour after the workout, the hard part is getting them to comply.

Hope that helps, thanks again for writing in to me, I feel honored!!