Has The Best Training Method Changed?
QUESTION: Hey Tom! I love your blogs and newsletters. Please keep writing them. I have a question I was hoping you could answer for me: what kind of weight training program are you using these days? It seems like training science has come a long way in the last ten years or so and I was wondering whether your philosophy of training has changed or if you’re doing anything new. I was also wondering if you’re competing any time soon. thanks! Jason C.
ANSWER: Training science has definitely come a long way since I first started in this business 20 years ago. Even in the last 5 years, there has been an enormous amount of innovation in training styles and modes.
This has changed the way I and many other trainers prescribe workouts for other people. You can’t make one blanket recommendation for everyone - each person has to be taken on an individual basis and the right program chosen based a person’s goals, lifestyle, preferences and physical condition. With so many new training tools, techniques and styles, we have more choices now than ever.
Best advice: keep an open mind and keeping experimenting with new things. I don’t think anyone should restrict themselves to one mode of training.
For me, because I’m a bodybuilder, the choice of my standard or “default” training method is a no-brainer. I use the bodybuilding method, the same method I explain in my ebook, Burn The Fat,
Feed The Muscle
The training variables in my workout program change all the time including exercises, sets, rep range, tempo, range of motion, which intensity techniques are used, and so on.
I’ve found that to avoid plateaus, changing workout variables frequently becomes more and more important as your training age increases (training age is how long you’ve been training - I’ve been doing it for 25 years!). So, I’m always changing some variable - even more than I used to.
However, the overall schedule and training frequency I’m using now is the same one I’ve used for years. It’s a 4 day split routine on a 2 days on, 1 day off schedule.This is the 4 day split:
Day 1: Chest, Biceps absDay 2: Quads, Hamstrings, calves (light)
Day 3: Shoulders (incl traps), Triceps, abs
day 4: Back, calves (heavy) This is done on a 2 days on, 1 day off rotation, which means I don’t (usually) do weight training more than 2 days in a row. With this schedule, each body part is worked once every 6 days, with the exception of abs and calves, which are worked about twice a week. Occasionally, I’ll hit arms twice a week if I want to specialize. I’m very aware of the trend away from body part split routines that has taken place over the past decade or so, as well as the recommendations to use full body training or movement- pattern based split routines (vertical pull, horizontal push, rotation, etc, etc,) or “functional training” instead of programs that include “chest and bicep days” Those recommendations make perfect sense if you are talking about sports training, where body part split training is not appropriate or fitness or fat loss training for the ordinary Joe, where bodybuilding routines may not be necessary or practical. In fact, I created a time-efficient, full-body, movement-pattern based training program in my newest book, The Body Fat Solution, because that book was not written for bodybuilders or for bodybuilding goals However, I have to chuckle when I hear training “experts” say that bodybuilding split routines are altogether ineffective or somehow bad for you. Granted, there is a lot of nonsense still being published in the muscle mags (like 20 set bicep routines, and so on), but the 4 day split, 2 on 1 off, is the training program I have used for almost every bodybuilding competition I have ever entered (28 and counting). If you win a competition or if you achieve your physique goal, then how does somebody figure that the training method you used was ineffective? Beats me. Another one of those mysteries of the universe. I could have shelves full of trophies and some critic will still come along and say, “You’re doing it all wrong! You have to do full body workouts and hit each muscle at least 2X a week!” come to think of it, I DO have shelves full of trophies… and critics DO say that, LOL!
One thing I have done for years and still do, is to use some sort of abbreviated “back to basics” type of routine once a year or so, which might be a full body program like Randall Strossen’s Super Squats program or it might be a split routine with low volume, using some type of variation on the classic Mentzer-esque “high intensity Training” (H.I.T) methods.
I’ve found that those briefer routines with less volume improve my strength significantly. However, I’ve also noticed that they don’t give me the muscle size and appearance that the split routines do and I don’t find them as enjoyable, so that’s why they’re not my default method. Clearly, each person is different and if you’re willing to try some new stuff and experiment and then pay attention to the results, you will eventually learn from direct experience what works best for you and what type of training is most satisfying to you.But, make no mistake: Contrary to the rumours, body part split routines are far from dead and they are highly effective for bodybuilding, and I’d like to present myself as proof of that.
Is there a “best” training program out there today? Yes, I believe there is. I believe that the best training program is the one that safely gets YOU the results YOU want and the one YOU are passionate about!
After 25 years of training and 20 years of competing, my training passion is the same as it’s always been - bodybuilding - and I look forward to continuing with competition.
Train Hard and Expect Success! Tom Venutowww.BurnTheFat.com
06 February, 2009 posted in Training & Exercise
Comments
Thanks Tom I have to say this really helps, you saved the day.
Its amazing how much "crap" is on the internet and all the short cut fads about training and so forth but when you really check, only results can speak for themselves.
Over an hour ago I was reading about a product from someone who was criticising the split routines and bodybuilding techniques such as described in your book and then he mentioned that he didn't get ripped until he was 40.
I was getting tempted I must confess, because of wanting quick results sometimes, until I realised why would I listen to someone who didn't get ripped till he was 40? I dont have that much time he must have done something wrong!
And I looked at your pics and thought that guy did something right I better keep going.
Sorry to be so long winded I just think it was so powerful to put your competition pic up there and to talk of how your trophies speak for themselves.
Thanks Tom and keep up the good work
Posted by: Pretty | February 6, 2009 3:47 PM
Hi Tom:
Good article...I just have to ask: when do you do cardio?
Thanks Tom.
Posted by: Reuben Zepeda | February 6, 2009 6:23 PM
reuben, when i do my cardio varies; I dont believe there is a one magic time, although i do allocate my energy to weight training first and foremost, so cardio is never before weights in the same session. If i do cardio and weights in same session, cardio is always after weights.
Ideally, I like to do cardio in a separate session to better allocate my energy. Prior to competitions, i often do a cardio session first thing in the morning. Sometimes I do an evening cardio session, and on occasion, i do a brief cardio session right after my weights in the same session
Posted by: tom venuto | February 6, 2009 11:41 PM
Hi Tom
Thank you for all the wonderful info that you have been supplying over the years, I always check my mail to see if the next Blog post is out.
I recently started my body transformation and thus far it is going great. I have lost 7 Kg (15 Pounds) in the past 5 weeks. I am also doing the split routine at the moment but I do try and change it every 3 weeks to keep my body guessing.
Reuben, thank you for the cardio question, I was also wondering about cardio and how often it should be done.
Thank you for all your great info and I look forward to sending you my before and after photos.
Best Regards
Nico
Posted by: Nico Fourie | February 7, 2009 4:38 AM
Thanks Tom...six years ago I started following you. I have to say you have been a tremendous influence in my life. Your introduction to Bob Proctor and Brian Tracy has led me down the road of self development in so many areas of my life. It's quite an adventure. I just wanted to say Thanks. You were the one that planted the seed. .... I know the blog here has more to do with fat loss but I really apprecaiate your intellect and mental insights.....maybe a little off subject but the content above inspired me enough to pipe up and give you a thumbs up from N. Calif.
55 years young / 9% BF and going strong....
Paul R.
Posted by: Paul R. | February 7, 2009 4:39 PM
Hi Tom,
Great article! I am finishing a cycle of a 2 on 1 off routine like you described, expect my progression was back/chest and triceps/ carido and abs/quads, hams and calves/shoulders (including traps) and biceps, cardio and abs. It made sense to pair chest with triceps like a push routine. Do you separate chest and triceps on purpose? Also, doing abs on cardio day allowed me to concentrate on them, instead of doing them at the end of a routine, when I'm tired. I like how you work calves twice per week. I'm going to focus on fat loss for the next few months to shed the last 10 pounds. Morning is my best, and sometimes only, time to workout. Therefore, I plan to cut each day back a little (sets or exercises) and end with 20 minutes of cardio or sneak in 20-30 minutes of cardio at night. if possible. Wii Boxing works up a sweat quickly. I'm not a fan of cardio, so I'll be employing HIIT often. I hope that makes sense.
Great teleseminar! Thanks again!
Mike
Posted by: Mike | February 13, 2009 2:50 PM