Time-out

When working out in the gym most people will do more than one exercise. And usually they will do more than one set of each exercise. That begs the question “How long should I rest between sets/exercises?” After all, if you had no rest then doing 3 sets of 10 reps would be the same as doing one set of 30 reps. How much of a difference does it make to take rest between sets, and how much rest should you take? The answer to those is “A lot” and “it depends”. 

When training in the gym we are looking to make specific changes to the muscles being worked. Weight to lift, speed of lifting and rest periods will be different depending on whether the goal is to get stronger, bigger or more stable. Rest period is one often overlooked factor in this equation.

The purpose of rest between sets is to allow the muscles being worked to recover sufficiently to allow you to perform the required number of sets at the specified intensity. But more than this the rest period will influence the hormonal changes taking place in the muscles to deliver the effect the program is trying to achieve. If the rest was simply here to give your muscles a break to recover you would think that taking half an hour off between sets would allow you to lift more weight. True, it would, but because the hormonal balance within the muscles cells would not be affected in the same way you wouldn’t see the same results as having a rest period of say 1min. 

The same holds true for endurance training. During an interval workout the length of the recovery period completely shapes the nature of the session and dictates how fast you can run each interval and how many of them you can do.

Determining the appropriate rest period for the targeted training response is an essential part of any program design. If it is not included in a program you are following make sure you ask the question of how long you should rest!

Growing Pains

Picture this, you start a new weights program full of enthusiasm. You can picture the fantastic new body you will have. For 2 weeks you work hard, you sweat, you ache all over and you look forward to that new body that is just around the corner. And then you look in the mirror again, stand on the scales again, and nothing has changed. Has all the hard work been for nothing? 

This is a story we hear from many of our clients. They star an exercise routine with the best of intentions, even enthusiasm, but when their body is tired from the training and there is no difference to see they lose heart. This is not due to a lack of effort on their part, most people work extremely hard in the gym. Often it is from doing the wrong exercises or dong things at the wrong intensity, but there is always the element of expectation as well.

When starting any exercise program you need to have an idea of what you are expecting to change and in what timescale if you want to judge if that exercise program is doing its job. If your goal is muscle growth/toning then you need to give the body enough time for the tissue to actually grow. This takes 8-12 weeks. 8-12 weeks of consistent training providing stimulus to the same tissues with a progressive overload. That is simply how long it takes for muscles to grow.

That is not to say you won’t see benefits before this. Improvements in flexibility, posture, strength, coordination, balance and abdominal function can all happen faster as they don’t rely on muscle growth. So, after 2-3 weeks of training consistently you should start to see a few benefits in terms of feeling better and performing better. You may be able to lift slightly heavier weights than when you started, you may find that your hamstrings are not quite as tight as they were before or you may notice that your shoulders are a little further back when you stand up. All these little things can make a big difference, but the muscle growth will take longer. 

The moral of the story is that if you want to make long-lasting changes in your body you need the consistency of training over an extended period. Working hard for 2 weeks and then taking a week off will not get the results. And changing your workout at every session won’t get results either. But if you stick to a well designed program and perform the exercises consistently and at the right intensity your body will adapt and you will reach your goals, and possibly a few more besides.

Guinea Pig Workout Week 8 - by Carrie Adamson

I just finished my last build week before my race on April 18th. What I am lifting now I don’t think I would have even considered I could have seven weeks ago. Don’t get me wrong, my workouts are tough and by no means easy but the weights feel natural and like I am getting a good workout, but I am still able to walk and lift my arms while getting results. Each day had a music theme to match the days I worked out: Metallica, White Snake, Freddy Mercury. Is it possible Alan loves his job too much? Nah, don’t think so. I am still hoping I have enough time to learn my party trick before my training ends. Both my weight lifting and running program Corina developed have me in a recovery/taper phase from here on out to stay strong and fresh for Boston, but not leave me exhausted. 

I have recovered from my minor niggles and sore bits of the last couple weeks and was able to run my long run of 24.4 injury free. After my long runs I have gotten soft tissue work to work out the trouble spots, but this time it went by too fast because I wasn’t hurt. I almost want to hurt myself so I can get more massage. No, I am just kidding I don’t want to be hurt before my biggest race. This was the first time I had Corina work on me and she didn’t have to be the mean one. In a couple of my past massages Alan has called her in to work on the sore areas making me grimace while he continued with the general muscle therapy. During my massage Corina did tell me they were working on changing up my last couple weeks to add some bounce to my runs. Both are excellent masseurs so booking with either would do your body good.

Guinea Pig Workout Week 4 - by Carrie Adamson

This is the week I started noticing changes. It has been only a few weeks of working with Corina and Alan, but for the first time I really started to see and feel changes in the shape of my body. I am finally recovered from my cold and had a full workout our week of training in the gym and running. At the Wolf Studio I had two leg workouts and upper body in the middle of the week. It was Wednesday and I was on my first set of bent over rows. I am watching myself in the mirror on the first repetition and when I am pulling the bar in towards my chest I notice a cut in my arms that I have never seen before. Staring at my arms throughout the movements I am thinking, “Wow, look at my arms!” I commented to Alan that I noticed the new definition and that working on machines for over a year and half I never seen results like what I am getting now. I have been back to running my training schedule and last week I actually felt comfortable running my hill repeats, a part of training that is new to me. I remember being in the car and happened to put my hand on my leg and being amazed at how solid the muscle felt. I was on a fitness high feeling good about feeling fit and realizing my body is making changes. I have gained more definition working with Corina and Alan in four weeks then I have in using the machines at the gym in a year!

I have a bit of a confession to make to Alan and Corina. This is from my Friday workout when we worked lower body. I made it through my four sets of squats and was on to the four sets of walking lunges. After the first set Alan asks, “what did you have for dinner?” I had my dinner staple, a burrito made with a whole wheat tortilla, black beans, and chicken breast. His reply was that he noticed my belly was distended and my abs were not engaging like they normally do and should be on the exercises and he got Corina’s confirmation it was true. I hadn’t noticed this myself in the morning, I actually though I was looking good in the morning when I got ready. The part I left out about my dinner was that I had some chocolate cake, M&Ms and Girl Scout cookies for dessert. I didn’t want to say that I had a big dessert because I knew as soon as I said it I would feel guilty for the over indulgence. I try to limit my cheat meal to once a week, but that night my self control was lacking. One thing I have to say about this is that wow Corina and Alan know their professions, the human body, and even my body after just the few weeks we have been working together. Soon I will be giving up my sweets to really get ready for my race, that is what I want more than eating a few cookies: to perform my best at Boston.

Deceptive Appearances

UFC, the mixed martial arts sport, is one of my guilty pleasures. As a martial artist and exercise professional I can appreciate the physicality and skill of the fighters. I love watching the fighters on TV though I would never actually participate. It is interesting to try and predict the winner of the fights beforehand, and even though the fighters are divided by weight group, like boxers, there are often big differences in size and shape. Bigger is not always better, the guy with the awesome body does not always win and sometimes a guy that is utterly dominant can be knocked out by a single punch, in essence; appearances can be deceptive. I love the idea that you cannot judge a book by it’s cover, and we called our business The Wolf Studio because Corina and I see ourselves as wolves in sheep’s clothing.

Last week I went to dinner with 4 other gentlemen from the dojo where I train. As I approach 3 decades in the martial arts it is not often that I am the lowest grade at the table. None of us looked in the slightest like your stereotypical martial artists, there was a doctor, a lawyer, a university professor, a teacher and me, hardly the knuckleheaded stereotype you may expect. We are all polite and calm, in the dojo the transformation is unbelievable. It is unwise to judge a book by it’s cover.

I am embarrassed to admit that I once taught a class where one of the students was a short, attractive blonde beauty therapist. I immediately thought, dumb, vacuous, eye candy… Actually she was one of the best students I have ever taught, she had excellent hands, an inquisitive brain and showed a real talent. If she was over here I would have her working for me, no question. SO LESSON LEARNED!

In the gym we often see guys who look great, they have big muscles and look great in the mirror, but they can only lift light weights. They are the classical example of guys who have the form without having the function. The classic example of this that I always quote is the story of a chap that I was doing some medicine ball training with. The client was a big muscular chap with a great body, he would throw the medicine balls out and Corina would pass them back while I coached him on his technique. Problems arose when he realized that Corina was throwing the medicine balls back easily after he had put in 100% effort, in essence he was being out done by a skinny blonde girl! He had the body, but not the functional strength. The opposite can also be true, I trained a 4’10 100lbs 40year old home economics teacher, she was tiny, yet in the gym she could out-lift the local rugby guys by squatting well over twice her body weight.

When it comes to Corina who is a tall blonde she often gets labeled as the dumb blonde, but once she opens her mouth you soon realize that she is highly educated. Corina holds a first class honors degree in physics and is one of the most highly qualified practitioners in her field, she even wrote most of the code for this website! In running shops I see pepper spray for female runners and I think that this is a good idea, Corina though carries more than 20years of martial arts experience with black belts in Judo, Karate and Okinawan Weapons, not an easy target.

For me I am short and stocky, I am a quiet, polite introvert. I don’t look like a typical personal trainer, I am not  a ‘beefcake’, I don’t go round shouting “good job!”, I certainly don’t count reps aloud. However I am highly educated, and I am an award winning presenter, though I don’t conform to the stereotype I am very successful as an exercise specialist, therapist and teacher. I have great hands, maybe from all of those years doing Judo, and massage is easy for me, in fact after all of the years training and gaining high-level qualifications I still think that my relaxing massage is my best professional talent.

When we get clients into our studio we ask a lot of questions because we know that you are more than just a stereotype, if you are a runner we won’t just print you off a generic running program. Just because you are a runner doesn’t mean that you have tight hamstrings, as we proved during our last workshop, so we measure your body we don’t guess.

We won’t underestimate you, don’t underestimate us!

Alan