There are three common mistakes that the beginner who trains without guidance can make:
- under-training
- over-training
- straining
Even when a beginner does follow a well-designed course of instruction, it is important that he is able to recognize the signs of all three so that there will be no doubt in his mind that he is making the best results.
It is a common human failing for many people to believe they know more about lifting than they actually do, and after a few weeks on a good course of instruction they drift away from the original design and devise one of their own. Just why this is so, I cannot possibly say, but I feel that for the most part it is caused by impatience on their part to improve more quickly, often combined with, for want of a better description . . . "a little learning is a dangerous thing."
Under-Training
Under-training will hold back a bodybuilder's progress. If he under-works for a long time, his muscles will not grow much in size and strength. It is fine for a beginner to under-train for a while, but after a few months of training he should make certain the poundages used in his exercises are enough to stimulate great muscle size and power. The signs of under-training are as follows . . .
After a certain exercise the muscles involved do not feel pumped up or strongly invigorated. The final repetition performed in an exercise is almost as easy to perform as the first. Not enough energy, time and commitment is put in to the program, a program that is usually far from intense, lengthy enough or schweaty enough to do much of anything. This is not good, not really good for much of anything at all. No, not good. The mind wanders during an exercise and it is not concentrated on the exercise. In the heavier exercises such as squats or deadlifts, no breathlessness accompanies the last few repetitions. This is not good, no, not good. After the workout there is no glow of power or feeling of invigoration. The next day there is absolutely no trace of muscle soreness. Not good.
Now, under-training will not do you any actual harm, but it will not do the job of building a better physique either. In time, you will become discouraged with your lack of progress and may give up training entirely. Therefore, under-training must be avoided if you ever expect to obtain the results you desire.
While under-training produces little in the way of increased muscularity and power, over-training can show good results for a time, but eventually a reaction sets in and the lifter grows stale. The signs of over-training are as follows . . .
Persistent muscular soreness. Loss of power in certain exercises, making it necessary for you to reduce the amount of weight used to complete the desired number of repetitions. This is not good. Lack of enthusiasm for your workouts. Very not good. A general feeling of tiredness and a desire to sleep and rest a lot. There is a total lack of enthusiasm and a low feeling of discouragement. No, this is not good. Sometimes nervousness manifests itself and even a lack of desire for wholesome food and a lessened appetite overall can result. This is bad.
Over-training results from performing too many repetitions, doing too many exercises or sets of exercises, using too-heavy weights, or traning too long and/or too often. Is this good? No. This is bad. The complete beginner should follow not more than 15 exercises each workout. He should perform not more than one set of each. He should use a weight which permits about 10-15 repetitons, and the final few should find him muscularly tired, but not to the extent of exhaustion.
If you feel that you are over-trainded, then take a rest of a week or so from your training, and then go back to it fresh with the suggestions I have made, and train only three times per week.
Over-training can also be the result of doing too much in other physical endeavors, all added to the stress of lifting. The beginner will never make the results he desires if he is too active in other sports and this should be avoided because it is . . . not good.
Straining is the most serious, though fortunately the least common of training indisretions. Contradictorily, while it is dangerous for a beginner to overly strain on any exercise, the advanced bodbuilder actually must strain in his training in order to continue improving. In the case of these more advanced men, many years of lifting preceded their arriving at this point.
Since this article is meant for the beginner, and since the training of the beginner must differ from that of the champion, despite what I have related about the necessity of very heavy moves for the advanced man, the beginner must avoid all such moves.
Straining in the case of the beginner consists of using poundages which are too heavy for him to properly perform the desired number of repetitions with. This number for beginners is between 10 and 15 reps in the majority of exercises. He either uses a weight which is too heavy to permit this and has to stop at 5 or 6 repetitions, or else he cheats in the exercise to permit a full number of sloppy reps.
This cheating can consist of rounding the back and leaning forward in squats, bending back in the standing press, swinging the body in curls, etc. No. This is not good for our beginner. When the beginner resorts to such training errors to complete the number of repetitions required in any exercise, he is probably straining. Therefore, the beginner must make certain that he performs each move exactly in its correct manner, and uses a weight which permits the appropriate number of repetitions to be performed.
Straining can also come from trying limit lifts before you are ready for them. The beginner is often anxious to see how much he can press, deadlift, or clean. He might enter into competition with his training partners in these or some other lifts. He must not do so for at least the first six months of training; he must learn how to properly perform the lift and be shown how to warm up for and approach a maximum lift.
John Davis, the great heavyweight lifting champion, warms up for a full half hour in this training before he tries any near-limit weights. He does this to avoid any possible muscle strains. Therefore, it is obvious that the beginner cannot step onto the gym floor and in a few moments attempt a limit weight on any lift or exercise. If he does, he is bound to strain himself.
Therefore, the beginner can eliminte straining if he does not try his hand at limit weights yet, if he uses weights he does not have to cheat with to perform the desired number of repetitions in, and if he uses weights which will permit approximately 10-15 repetitions to be followed in most moves. 10 for the upper body, 15 for the abdominal area, lower back, and legs.
Now that you have learned how to recognize under-training, over-training, and straining, and know how to spot them and avoid them, the final step is to know when you are training correctly.
Correct beginner training consists of following about 15 exercises, three times a week, with a routine that exercises every major muscle in the body. The weight used should be heavy enough to permit the correct number of repetitions to be performed without cheating or strain, but still considerable effort should be required to correctly complete the full number of repetitions.
In the heavier moves such as the squat and deadlift, a natural heavy breathing will be evident during the final 4 or 5 reps. After each exercise the muscles should be pumped full of blood and feel firm and hard. At the finish of the workout you should be comfortably tired, but after the shower you should feel full of pep and raring to go.
The next day you should have just a slight trace of muscle soreness. Not enough to make you uncomfortable, but just a little which will wear off during the day.
Eack workout should be a pleasant treat to you at this stage of the game, and you should regularly show somewhat larger muscles, firmer muscle texture and gradually increasing strength.
If any of these improvement indicators are lacking as a result of your training, then you may be certain that you are training incorrectly and this is not good but can be improved upon.
Enjoy Your Lifting!
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