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By
Charles Staley, B.Sc, MSS
Director, Staley Training Systems |
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"So many pedestrians, so
little time"
— bumper sticker
There are many excuses commonly
used to explain lack of progress in bodybuilding. Poor genetics.
Poor facilities. No motivation. Illness. Your drug supplier
is incarcerated. The list goes on and on. However, the most
common excuse for chronic ectomorphy is also one of the lamest—
"I don't have enough time."
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Now, this isn't an info-mercial, so
I'm not going to tell you that it takes as little as three minutes
a day (I think Tony Little has a trademark on this phrase, anyway).
But virtually everyone can find adequate time to train, if they
have reasonably good time management skills, and if they understand
exercise program design.
So, if you're one of those people
who always seems short on time, here's where I'd like to start:
Do you really need more time, or more discipline? If you don't have
enough time to train, something is askew on a bigger level. The
majority of people have time to do things which they have assigned
a high priority to.
Training doesn't take a lot of
time— it takes a lot of energy. I believe that 95% of all
people can accomplish their training goals in three hours per week.
Case in point— I recently put over 20 pounds on a 37 year old
competitive martial artist in just over four months of training.
The workouts were performed three times a week, and each session
took about 40 minutes after the warm up.
Can't find three hours a week? Consider
this: three hours amounts to about 2% of your available time every
week! It is approximately 3% of your waking hours every week! Look
at these numbers carefully and then tell me you don't have enough
time to train.
I do realize that some people have
it tough— two or three jobs, family, commuting, and so on.
It is primarily for these people that this article is written.
However, even if you aren't chronologically
challenged, you'll find these suggestions and strategies valuable
for reclaiming more time for other things in life.
I'll use a three step approach in
this article:
1) Step one: How to distinguish between
lack of time and lack of discipline
2) Step two: How to locate time you didn't know you had
3) Step three: How to optimize the time that you do have to train
Do you really have
no time?
The fastest way to determine this
is to ask yourself "How much time do I waste procrastinating,
watching TV, going to bars, etc.?" For a one week period, carry
a small notebook, and every hour, make a short entry describing
what you are doing. Then, review this time log and chances are,
you'll find the time you're looking for.
In my opinion, most people are fairly
inefficient, and through a bit of organization and priorities identification,
can find plenty of extra time in their schedules.
How to find more time
Improve sleep quality
If you still aren't finding time,
consider waking up earlier (and/or going to bed later) in order
to find extra time. Many people do do not sleep well, despite being
in bed for 9-10 hours a night. Eating the wrong foods before bed,
keeping the TV on, and numerous other bad decisions reduce the quality
of sleep.
Try the following suggestions from
the excellent book Science of Sports Training (available by calling
Stadion Publishing at 800-873-6171), and you'll find that you'll
be able to cut an hour off of your sleep time every night with no
ill-effects:
1) In general, do not eat for the
two hours prior to bed-time. Avoid any stimulants, including coffee,
tea, cola's, or garuana.
2) Your bedroom should ideally be well-ventilated, and it should
be dark, silent, and cool.
3) Avoid hot baths, showers, sauna, or jacuzzi's before going to
bed. Cool baths induce sleep rapidly, however.
I would also recommend avoiding evening
workouts if possible, especially eccentric-dominated training.
Another useful tool is a specially
made lamp which gradually becomes brighter and brighter at a pre-set
time, which simulates waking up to the sunrise, rather than being
jolted out of sleep by an alarm clock.
Turn off the boob tube
Television is perhaps the biggest
time-thief in the average person's life. Simply by learning how
to use their DVR, most people can save themselves over an hour a
day simply by fast-forwarding through the commercials!
Watching TV is a hypnotic, self-perpetuating
activity that not only wastes time, but also lowers energy levels.
Many schools have implemented a "No TV" week for their
students. Try it. Many people find they have so much free time,
they don't know what to do with it.
Improve your reading speed
If you do a lot of reading, learn
how to speed-read. A good place to start is The Evelyn Wood Seven-Day
Speed Reading and Learning Program by Stanley D. Frank published
by Barnes & Noble.
Use your computer wisely
While computers are a great tool for
saving time, they are not always used to their best advantage. Chat
rooms in particular can be a huge time drain. If you spend a lot
of time on a computer, consider buying the fastest one you can afford.
Also, if you spend a significant amount of time on the internet,
make sure you have the fastest modem you can afford. A computer
is nothing more than a tool: if used wisely, it will save you time,
if used unwisely, it costs you time.
Using your time as efficiently as possible
After you get an accurate estimate
of how much time you really have available to train, let's consider
how to use this time as wisely as possible.
1) Concise warm-ups: many trainees
spend far too much time warming up. In most cases, 6-8 warm-up sets,
with 15-30 seconds rest between sets, is plenty. Many people will
start their warm-ups with, for example, an easy 135x10, and then
rest 3 minutes! Another mistaken notion that your last warm-up set
must consist of at least as many reps as your first work set. The
purpose of the last warm-up set is to make an accurate determination
of the correct weight for your work sets— it should only take
a rep or two to make this decision.
2) Utilize periodization: very
brief workouts work much better if you can occasionally do longer
ones. For example, you might perform 30 to 45 minute workouts for
3 weeks, and 60 minute workouts for one week, and repeat. Rotate
long and short workouts for each muscle also. In other words, for
three weeks, you might use 4-5 sets per workout for chest, but only
1-2 sets for back, and then for the next three week phase, reverse
the pattern. In this way, each muscle group experiences a "development"
phase and a "maintenance" phase, which, when you think
about it, is far superior to a continuous maintenance phase.
3) Don't skimp on frequency:
Your workouts can be brief, but you must maintain optimal training
frequency for best results. Training a muscle for 25 minutes twice
a week is far superior to training it for 60 minutes once every
two weeks.
4) Train opposing or antagonistic
bodyparts back to back: All muscles are paired with another
muscle (called an "antagonist"), which (ideally) is capable
of opposing its force. Training muscles in antagonistic pairs is
time-efficient on several levels:
• Because antagonists are usually
located close to each other, a set for one muscle becomes a warm-up
for the other.
• For various neurological reasons,
when you perform a set for one muscle (say, the biceps), the antagonist
(the triceps) becomes facilitated for a better contraction.
• Compared to training all sets
for one muscle, and then all sets for the second muscle, training
antagonists "back to back" allows for twice as much rest
between two sets of the same exercise. For example, if you're performing
bench presses and chin-ups with two minutes of rest between sets,
you'll actually get over four minutes of rest between two successive
sets of bench presses.
5) Use a home gym: For many
people, using a home gym saves an average of 20 minutes per workout
in travel, parking, and changing. If space and cost is a concern,
consider the following home gym:
- Swiss ball from Sissel (aprox.
$30)
- Power Block dumbbell set from SportStrength
(aprox. $650)
- 6x8 foot 3/4" thick weightroom
mat from Bigger, Faster, Stronger (aprox.$115)
- 300 pound Olympic barbell set (aprox
$100)
- Chin-up bar (aprox $40)
This home gym, which allows you do
do a huge variety of exercises, costs less than $1000, and takes
up only 48 square feet of space. Much of this equipment can be picked
up second-hand for a significant reduction in price.
6) Emphasize compound movements
for the posterior kinematic chain (glutes, hams, low back) It
is well known in the strength training community that squats, deadlifts,
and their numerous permutations have the greatest return per unit
of investment than any other type of exercise.
The Workouts
General Notes:
1) These workouts should be used as
suggestions, not iron-clad laws. It's more important to understand
the principle behind them than to try to perform them literally.
If you do not have the experience, facilities, or health status
to perform these exercises, select an appropriate substitute.
2) If you have a muscle or muscle
group which is already well-developed, concentrate on other areas
3) Dips can potentially be damaging
if you already have existing shoulder problems, particularly if
you have ever experienced a dislocated shoulder.
4) Although I have outlines specific
repetition brackets, it is important to emphasize volume (through
the use of higher reps) and intensity (through lower repetitions)
sequentially, utilizing one method for 3-4 weeks, followed by the
other for 3-4 weeks.
5) The Olympic lifts and their modifications
are often my first choice for efficient training tools, however,
I realize many readers do not have a training background in these
lifts. If you do have experience in these movements, you can substitute
them where appropriate in the following workouts.
The 45 minute workout
If you're able to train 3 times a
week for 45 minutes, try the following approach:
Monday
00:00 to 00:05: Warm-up
00:05 to 20:00: Incline Dumbbell Press on Ball; Stiff-leg Deadlift:
Perform back to back, 5 sets of 6-8 repetitions each, using a 4-5
second tempo and resting 90 seconds between each set
00:20 to 45:00: Ball Crunches; Seated Dumbbell Curls. Perform back
to back, 5 sets of 6-8 repetitions each, using a 4-5 second tempo
and resting 90 seconds between each set
Wednesday
00:00 to 00:05: Warm-up
00:05 to 20:00: Front squat; Lying Dumbbell Tricep Extension: Perform
back to back, 5 sets of 6-8 repetitions each, using a 4-5 second
tempo and resting 90 seconds between each set
00:20 to 45:00: Military Press; Leg Press Calf Raise. Perform back
to back, 5 sets of 6-8 repetitions each, using a 4-5 second tempo
and resting 90 seconds between each set
Note: As the bar is already on the
rack from front squats, I have chosen military presses for deltoids
to minimize set-up time.
Friday
00:00 to 00:05: Warm-up
00:05 to 20:00: Chin-up; Dips: Perform back to back, 5 sets of 6-8
repetitions each, using a 4-5 second tempo and resting 90 seconds
between each set
00:20 to 45:00: Bent-over Row; Seated Leg Curl. Perform back to
back, 5 sets of 6-8 repetitions each, using a 4-5 second tempo and
resting 90 seconds between each set
The 30 minute workout
If you're able to train 3 times a
week for 30 minutes, try this approach. It utilizes circuits of
3 exercises per session. For the following workouts, perform 4 sets
of 8-10 repetitions with a 4-5 second tempo and rest 60 to 90 seconds
between each set, depending on the reps and tempo you use (the higher
the reps and the longer the tempo, the shorter the rest).
Monday
00:00 to 00:05: Warm-up
00:05 to 00:30: Three exercise circuit:
Set 1: Pull-ups
Set 2: Back Squat
Set 3: Seated Dumbbell Press
Wednesday
00:00 to 00:05: Warm-up
00:05 to 00:30: Three exercise circuit:
Set 1: Flat Dumbbell Bench Press
Set 2: Standing Calf Raise
Set 3: Seated Dumbbell Hammer Curl
Friday
00:00 to 00:05: Warm-up
00:05 to 00:30: Three exercise circuit:
Set 1: Stiff leg Deadlift or Reverse HyperSet 2: Dips
Set 3: Ball Crunch
The 15 Minute Workout
Let me state right off the bat that
if you're reading this and can only find 15 minutes to train, your
life is out of balance! However, if you truly are able to train
3 times a week for only15 minutes, try this approach. It utilizes
one exercise per session.
Monday
00:00 to 00:05: Warm-up
00:05 to 00:15: Squat or Deadlift
Wednesday
00:00 to 00:05: Warm-up
00:05 to 00:15: Flat Dumbbell Bench Press or Dips
Friday
00:00 to 00:05: Warm-up
00:05 to 00:15: Chin-up or Pull-up
The "Busy during the week, but weekends are
free" workout
This is a situation that many people
find themselves in: the weekdays are a race against time, but the
weekends are relatively peaceful. This workout is designed with
longer workouts involving large muscle groups over the weekend,
and a shorter session involving smaller, less energy-intensive muscles
on Wednesday. The "nuts & bolts" should be fairly
intuitive— just utilize the same principles and acute training
parameters as the previous workout schedules.
Saturday (Chest & Delts)
Sunday (Legs & Back, & Abdominals)
Wednesday (Bi's, Tri's, & Calves)
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General
references on time (and life) management
The 90 Minute Hour by Jay
Conrad Levinson (©1990, The Penguin Group, New York,
ISBN:
0-452-26596-7)
First Things First by Steven
Covey (©1994, Fireside, New York, ISBN: 0-671-86441-6)
Organize Yourself! by Ronni Eisenberg & Kate Kelly (©1986,
Macmillian Publishing Co., New
York, ISBN: 0-02-028420-9)
Unlimited Power by Anthony
Robbins (©1986, Fawcett Columbine, New York, ISBN:
0-449-
90280-3)
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About
The Author
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His colleagues call him
an iconoclast, a visionary, a rule-breaker. His clients
call him “The Secret Weapon” for his ability
to see what other coaches miss. Charles calls himself
a “geek” who struggled in Phys Ed throughout
school. Whatever you call him, Charles’ methods are
ahead of their time and quickly produce serious results.
His counter-intuitive approach and self-effacing demeanor
have lead to appearances on NBC’s The TODAY Show
and The CBS Early Show.
Currently, Charles competes
in Olympic-style weightlifting on the master’s circuit,
with a 3-year goal of qualifying for the 2009 Master’s
World Championships.
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