Tips for Bigger, Faster, Stronger: Installment #1

I’ve wanted to start this series for quite some time now. Little thoughts and ideas run through my head all day as I train and program for clients. Most often it’s about what I can do better and what I can recommend the athlete do better in order to achieve the results we both desire. Sometimes it’s a matter of changing exercise selection, tweaking a set and rep scheme, progressing or regressing certain exercises, or simply just giving them an extrinsic “kick in the ass.”

There are a lot of reasons people don’t achieve desired results in their strength and conditioning programs. It can most often be attributed to a lack of work ethic and consistency. There are a few cases, however, where people get to the gym on a regular basis, work hard, and just can’t seem to achieve continued progress. Just as it does in economics, the law of diminishing returns exists in human performance. The stronger you get, the harder it becomes to get stronger. The faster you get, the harder it becomes to get faster. That’s why it’s so nice to work with detrained individuals. 7^th and 8^th graders can get results so fast they think you’re a wizard!

But on a serious note, if you’re struggling to progress, this might be a good read for you. There are so many theories and modalities out there that you may not be taking advantage of. Just applying one or two of them may be exactly what you need to get over the hump. Here’s my first installment to Tips for Getting Bigger, Faster and Stronger.

1.    Surprise Yourself More Often

This one seems simple, but you’d be amazed how little people who are running their own strength and conditioning programs come out of a set with this look on their face:

Photo from: Cute Daily.http://www.cutedaily.com/baby-surprise/.2014

It should happen more often. Most people just enter a set with a weight and a rep scheme that they know might challenge them, but also that they’ll easily be able to easily finish with. I’m not recommending that you take your core lifts to the limit every day. In fact, in that respect I think a strict set and repetition scheme is always best. But I always tell my athletes; the best way to get strong is to get curious. Picking out a weight that you’re not absolutely positive will have a “sunshine and rainbows” ending can be a good thing. If you don’t challenge yourself with curiosity, you may never figure out what you’re capable of. If you do, you might find yourself finishing sets like this more often:

Photo from: http://www.wallpaperhi.com/Sports/Football/soccer_celebration_fc_barcelona_el_clasico 

2.    Train to the Effect More Often

This again is subjective. You shouldn’t be taking your Olympic lifts and power lifting exercises to the limit without a plan in order to do so. Very rarely do I hover over a heavy deadlift or power clean unless I’ve planned it. And the plan is NEVER “I’ll just go until I feel like dying.” I usually schedule what I call hypertrophy weeks every 4 weeks. That means I have a coordinated set and rep scheme that I follow for my deadlifts, power cleans, squats, presses, etc. 3 weeks prior. This usually gives me a good baseline to come in and move heavy shit on the fourth week. On that same token, however, you’ll rarely set yourself back by pushing yourself through some accessory exercises. I recommend you pick one exercise per day. It could be pull-ups, push-ups, rows, bicep curls, triceps extensions, etc. Just pick one, and train only to effect. By that I mean don’t count your reps, just work hard and train until you achieve a desired stimulus.

            3. Take Your Warm Up Seriously

Even though this is #3 on my list, this may be the one thing that is holding people back the most. At my gym I have 8 foam rollers, 8 tennis balls, dowels, and a 60-foot strip of turf. All of which would allow for a very thorough and effective warm up. I also have a foam roll routine and a dynamic warm up written on a white board that would be applicable to everyone. And guess what I still see out of about 90% of my members? This:

 A warm up should reinforce proper movement mechanics prior to entering the weight room, help work out kinks from workouts earlier in the week, and help establish an intensity to take with you to the weight room. Find a few movements that work for you, make you feel better, and get you sweaty.

4.    Use Single Leg Exercises

Single leg exercises are the bee’s knees, cat’s pajamas, and the bag of potato chips. During a bilateral (two legged) exercise, it’s easy to compensate for one side with the other. Put yourself in a single leg exercise and you don’t have a choice but to use your weaker side. You’ll almost always notice a difference from one side to the other. In this sense, they can help iron out muscle imbalances and are generally much more applicable to athletic performance. When competing athletically we’re rarely doing anything important with both of our feet in contact with the ground. Take my word for it and add some single leg lifts to your program. You’ll learn to love them. Here are a few of my favorites.

 That concludes my first installment of Tips to Bigger, Faster, and Stronger. I hope it gives you a few ideas as to what you can do to achieve big results with your training. I look forward to making more installments to the series in the future. I would love to hear some feedback as to what you might want to hear more about. As I grow and learn more and more each day, I’d love to share and help as much as I can. Please feel free to hit me with any questions. I’ll do my best to give you an answer, or find the best possible answer for you. Thanks for reading.

Caleb Heilman

“The only thing I know is I’ll never know everything.” – Jason Green