Why are you lifting weights?

[tubalard]

Why are you lifting weights?

I admit it seems like a funny sort of question at first.
After all, we all know why we’re busting a gut in the gym (or in the home-dungeon) - we’re building muscle and building strength right?

Well, not really.  Here’s the big problem – lifting weights doesn’t build muscle and doesn’t build strength. Yep, you read that right, lifting weights will not build an ounce of muscle nor will it make you any stronger.  In fact, lifting weights will do the opposite; it will break down your current muscle and it will make you weaker !

Now, before you all click away from this article, and send up prayers for my lost sanity, pray stick around for just a few moments longer...

Are you still there?

Cool.  Here’s the scoop – it’s not lifting weights that does us any good (in fact in the short-term, a weight-lifting session is a stressor that causes catabolism of muscle tissue, central nervous system weakness, and hormonal chaos - cortisol cascade anyone?) - the only positive element of lifting weights is the body’s long-term adaptive response to the stress imposed by the weight training.  Without this adaptive response, the severe duress imposed by weight training would simply be a stress that causes bodily deterioration, and ultimately death (as with over-worked and underfed POWs).

But you all knew that right? So, here’s the interesting part.

Maybe it’s a good idea to start designing our training sessions in exactly the opposite way to the way most people design them – i.e. instead of planning what kind of damage we’re going to do (“I’m gonna blast/smash/destroy my chest today bro”), maybe we should focus on the kind of adaptive response we’re trying to get out of our body.

Fine, but what does that mean in practice?  Well, first we have to nail down a couple of things.

The first of these is determining whether we are in a pro-anabolic or a pro-catabolic phase of our body composition cycle.  In other words, are we training in the context of a calorie surplus, adequate rest, low stress (typical in a bulking phase); or are we training in the context of a calorie deficit, inadequate rest, and high stress (typical of a dieting/cutting phase, particularly in the later stages)? Let’s call the first state P-Ana and the second state P-Cat.

Once we’ve sorted that out, we need to determine what our adaptive possibilities are for each state.  Now here’s where it gets really crucial to understand the difference between the body’s adaptive capacity while in P-Ana versus its capacity while in P-Cat.  Basically, while you’re in P-Ana, you’re in a very happy place – it’s the training equivalent of the land of milk and honey; the birds are singing, the sun is shining, and you walk around sporting an inexplicable idiotic grin.
 
In P-Ana, the adaptive possibilities generated by each weight training session are favourable:
1) Increased muscular strength;
2) Myofibrillar hypertrophy; and
3) Sarcoplasmic hypertrophy.

Now, I’m not going to go into what all of these categories mean – if you don’t already know then immediately consult your Google machine.  But suffice it to say that when you’re in P-Ana, you have choices as to whether to train for strength or size (or both), and you therefore have a broad range of training methods at your disposal.

When you’re in the dismal land of P-Cat, things are different (think Melbourne on a cold winter’s morning).  Now, depending on the depth of your misery in P-Cat (e.g. how long you’ve been dieting, how lean you are, how restricted your calories are), the range of adaptive possibilities to weight training are a lot less attractive:
4) Strength maintenance;
5) Muscle maintenance;
6) Strength deterioration; and
7) Muscular atrophy.

Now, unless you’re going for the heroin chic look (that’s so yesterday, darlings!), you probably want to be avoiding options 6 and 7 like the plague.  Which leaves option 4 or 5 (or both) as your possible goals for weight training while in P-Cat*.
 
Now, here’s where some folks start to go wrong.  They either (A) train in a way that mismatches their body state (P-Ana or P-Cat) with the range of adaptive responses that are likely to occur (1 through 7 as above); or (B) they train with no clear intent as to which response they are shooting for.
 
Let’s look at mistake (A) first.  Generally, this occurs when trainers in P-Cat keep training as if they were in P-Ana.  In short, they train their guts out shooting for responses 1-3, when in reality, they only have a shot at achieving responses 4 and 5.  This usually results in some, or all of the following: unnecessary muscle wastage, overtraining, loss of motivation, and in the worst cases, complete cessation of training.
 
To avoid this, trainers must ensure that the volume of their training when in P-Cat is reduced to accommodate their body’s lack of recovery capacity.  The experience of elite lifters shows that, provided lifting poundages are kept as high as possible (i.e. the weights you use per set), lifting volumes can be reduced down to 40% of highest volumes (i.e. the total sets and/or total weight lifted in the whole session) while still maintaining muscle mass and strength.

You’ll note that folks will often do the exact opposite of this (i.e. they’ll reduce their poundages, while increasing the total amount of work they do).  This is just a recipe for wasted, weak muscles.  Bottom line – it makes no sense to afflict your body with more total stress when it’s least capable of adapting to it.  Keep it short and sharp, and you’ll be apples.

Very briefly, it is possible, but far less common for mistake (A) to occur in the other direction; that is, when folks train for responses 4-7 when they’re in P-Ana.  I don’t really have much to say about this except; MOVE YOUR LAZY ASS !

Now, mistake (B) is probably not quite as debilitating as mistake (A), but it is probably even more common in the average lifter.  This is not all that surprising, when you consider that many gym-goers think that lifting weights can only either make their muscles bigger, or stronger, or ‘toned’ (I’m not even going to go there; it takes me to a very dark place). 

In fact, depending on the methods used, lifting weights in P-Ana can do a whole lot things, including the two types of hypertrophy (did you look up Google, dear reader? - if not, be off with you...NOW!) as well as a whole bunch of strength attributes including absolute strength, power, speed-strength, strength endurance etc.
 
Now, as with most things strength-related, you do tend to get a bit of over-lap with your methods (e.g. lifting close to your 1 repetition maximum will go towards some other attributes like myofibrillar hypertrophy, but will mainly influence absolute strength), but it is always advisable to know what response you’re shooting for when picking your training methods.

So, next time you get the itch to pick up something heavy, don’t just go ahead and scratch that itch with no further thought.  Ask yourself:
1) What state is my body in?
2) What is the potential range of responses I can reasonably ask of my body while it’s in this state?
3) What are the appropriate training methods to encourage these responses?

Well, that’s the guts of it.  I hope the general framework I’ve outlined will be of some use to you all when planning your training.  As for the specific means that you can use to achieve these responses, I may write more on that on a future occasion.
Until then,
Tubs

*Before people start bashing at their keyboards in a furious race to be the first to share stories of people who actually gained muscle and strength while dieting, here’s a proviso – it is POSSIBLE to gain strength and size while in P-Cat, especially if the subject is (a) untrained, (b) detrained, (c) obese, (d) using anabolics.  However, for the average reader (i.e. trained, relatively lean, natural), this possibility is rarely achieved.

[Myst]

Fantastic article mate!

I will keep this in mind for my future training sessions.

[The Blob]

Great overview Tub, well written.

Now, unless you’re going for the heroin chic look (that’s so yesterday, darlings!),

I would hope that there is no-one who falls into this category on this site!

  This is not all that surprising, when you consider that many gym-goers think that lifting weights can only either make their muscles bigger, or stronger, or ‘toned’ (I’m not even going to go there; it takes me to a very dark place). 

Ha ha... GOLD!

There is no such thing as firming or toning, there is only stronger or weaker

Anon

[tubalard]

Fantastic article mate!

I will keep this in mind for my future training sessions.

Thanks Myst, much appreciated.  As I say, it's just a general framework, but I'm sure you can craft a number of applications that will suit your particular phase of cutting.

There is no such thing as firming or toning, there is only stronger or weaker

Anon

Ha ha. The Party approves, comrade! 

[Zok]

Interesting read mate, well written too! Not something I'd really thought much about but after reading that it does make quite alot of sense.

Could you give examples of routines one would use when training for each adaptive possibility in P-ana and P-cat phases? I imagine something like a 5x5 routine might be for strength or possibly size, but what would one use if they were training for muscle maintenance or purely size, for example?

[tubalard]

Interesting read mate, well written too! Not something I'd really thought much about but after reading that it does make quite alot of sense.

Could you give examples of routines one would use when training for each adaptive possibility in P-ana and P-cat phases? I imagine something like a 5x5 routine might be for strength or possibly size, but what would one use if they were training for muscle maintenance or purely size, for example?

I certainly can  .  Read on:

Following up from the previous piece, I want to give a very brief run-down of the various means you can use to encourage the 7 adaptations that are possible while in P-Ana and P-Cat.

For the 3 potential options that are available while in P-Ana, trainers have the choice of either specialising on one of these adaptations, or on using a conjugate (i.e. sequenced), or concurrent (i.e. simultaneous) approach.

Whether you choose to specialise or not will depend on your broader goals.  Those with a pure body composition goal (e.g. bodybuilders, summer-time beach-bod coveters) will tend to go for a specialised approach, while those more interested in performance (e.g. athletes, sportspeople, powerlifters) will tend to go for a conjugate or concurrent approach (n.b. I'm using the term 'conjugate' in the technical sense here; not to be confused with the looser way Westside Barbell use the term - when they actually mean 'concurrent' !).

For specialising on option 1 (muscular strength): train 3 - 4 sessions/week, hitting each lift at least twice/week.  Focus on compound lifts (e.g. squat variations, deadlift variations, bench variations, dips, chins, pull-ups, rows, overhead press variations) - do not focus on bodyparts. Lift mostly in the 75-90% of 1RM range, with the occasional foray into circa 100% territory.  Training volume should be progressive for beginners, and cycled for intermediates and advanced.  Volume should average 60 -80 lifts/session (at the previously mentioned percentages).

So long as your program conforms to these principles, arrange things any way you prefer.

For specialising on option 2 (myofibrillar hypertrophy): train 3 - 5 session/week, hitting each lifting plane* twice/week.  Focus on compound lifts, but include some isolation moves at the end of each session (75% compound/25% isolation is a reasonable split).  For compound moves, lift mostly in the 70 - 85% of 1RM range, with the occasional foray into some doubles and triples @ around 90%.  For isolation lifts, do not go lighter than 8RM - we're still trying to build contractile muscle here - not just fill it up with gloop ! Training volume should be progressive for beginners, and cycled for intermediates and advanced.  Volume should average 90 -120 lifts/session (including the higher repetition isolation sets).

For specialising on option 3 (sarcoplasmic hypertrophy): train 3 - 6 sessions/week, hitting each bodypart twice/week.  Focus equally on compound and isolation lifts, including machines. Lift mostly in the 40-70% of 1RM range (which basically means that you'll be performing at least 10 reps/set).  Volume should average 250 - 350 lifts/session.  Oh, and by the way, if you're specialising on this option, you are dead to me.

For combining options 1 through 3: train 3 - 4 sessions/week, hitting each lifting plane twice/week. Focus on compound lifts, but include some heavy isolation and light isolation moves at the end of the workout (65/20/15% is reasonable). Compound lifts should be mostly in the 5-7RM range. Volume should be 120-150 lifts/session.
There are heaps of good training templates out there that exemplify this approach including 5x5, DC training, and Westside for skinny bastards.

Now, for the (relatively) less enjoyable land of P-Cat

You'lll notice that these approaches are simply derived from options 1-3, and just involve manipulations of volume

For specialising on option 4 (strength maintenance): as with option 1 except -  Progressively revise volume downwards as you begin to lose strength. At final stages of diet, you can go as low as 24-32 lifts/session.  Keep poundages in the 75 - 90% of 1RM territory.

For specialising on option 5 (muscle maintenance): as with option 2 except - Progressively revise volume downwards as you begin to lose strength. At final stages of diet, you can go as low as 36-48 lifts/session.  Keep compound lift poundages in the 75 - 90% of 1RM territory.  Remember, we're not trying to build muscle here - the only purpose of training while in P-Cat is to encourage the body to preference fat catabolism over protein catabolism.  Too much training will do the exact opposite of that.

For specialising on option 6 (strength deterioration): Ensure that you reduce your poundages as you start to get weaker from the diet.  This will down-regulate neural output and enhance weakness and lethargy. It also helps to dramatically increase cardio; this enhances protein breakdown and loss of anaerobic power.  Throw in some sleep deprivation, and you'll be as weak as a kitten in no time.

For specialising on option 7 (muscular atrophy): as with option 3, only train lighter and more frequently (6 session/week is ideal).  It is imperative that you do not attempt to lift anything heavy in this time, as this may encourage your body to preserve lean body mass.  It is also crucial that you do not allow your body any opportunity to rest and recuperate; you must pummell it with mercilless workloads and frequency, and then you must humiliate it with hours of energy-sapping cardio.  Consistency is the key here; if you can keep it up, you'll be stringy and flat before you can say "Clarence Bass".

Hope this helps.  If you're looking for specific programs that conform to these principles, check out this link:

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?p=490796901

Cheers
Tubs

 
* A lifting plane is the broader movement category into which specific movements fit.  For example, you have horizontal push (which includes bench press, dips, dumbell inclines etc.) and vertical pull (which includes chins, pull-ups, lat-pull-downs etc.).  You also have lower body push (squats, leg preses, lunges) and lower body pulls (deadlifts variations, good mornings).

[Myst]

Haha love the humour at the end Tubs

[The Blob]

Great article Tub, stick worthy indeed.

Where did you get the info about the volume / intensity when training in P-Cat?

Classic at the end mate, I was trying to work that one out!

[tubalard]

Where did you get the info about the volume / intensity when training in P-Cat?

The reduction of volume (coupled with maintenance of intensity) is a classic Eastern Bloc solution to fatigue/limited recovery capacity.  It's also been picked up by Western hemisphere coaches including Bill Starr, Mark Rippetoe, Lyle McDonald, and of course, our (naturalised) friend Pavel.  I've had great success with it myself (i.e. keeping a whole lot more muscle than previous cuts, with less total effort expended) and with my clients (many of whom are astounded that it can actually be 'so easy' in terms of the brevity of exercise - the dieting is still an effort, however  , but that too is able to be manipulated if you know what you're doing  ).

It's also a great technique for body composition goals while in restricted calorie contexts. Essentially, the intensity provides the signal to preserve your lean body mass, while the reduction in volume avoids the excessive catabolism that accompanies traditional bodybuilding approaches to cutting (e.g. high volume, lighter workouts + cardio).

Cheers
Tubs