I have been thinking about why I do the
power lifts, why someone who doesn't want to be a powerlifter would
want to, why focusing on upper body or isolation exercises is
inefficient for a “novice,” etc.
(“Novice”, for the purposes of this
post, is not someone who is necessarily new to, or inexperienced in
fitness, but rather someone for whom linear progression (LP) is still
attainable. If a lifter is able to recover from a workout in 24-72
hours, and repeat a lift from that workout, but add weight to it, and
still complete the workout, then he or she is said to be making
progression in a linear fashion: graphing weight lifted over time
creates an upward trending straight(ish) line. (It will not remain
straight, obviously, as diminishing returns sets in, and linear
progression is exhausted.)
I am not a personal trainer, a doctor, a physical therapist, or fitness professional, nor do I have any formal training in any related field. These are my thoughts based on my personal experiences, the personal experiences of those I know who have tried many different approaches in the gym, and reading many many articles, some even scholarly/peer-reviewed.
I personally, anecdotally, have been working out one way or another for 22 years. I have listened to every gym bro, every coach or wannabe fitness guru, read a ridiculous number of articles in magazines designed to sell you something rather than actually get you fit or strong, and I have tried them all. Through the years I have taken time off of being consistently in the gym often enough to "reset" back to the beginning that I am a bit of a self-proclaimed expert on what works for "novices." Additionally, over the years I have also had several workout partners of varying ages, sizes, fitness acumen, goals, genetic predispositions, and yes, even genders. Again, these weren't controlled scientific environments, and are anecdotal in nature, but I think I have enough experience.
This will be written in a stream of consciousness sort of babbling manner – I have neither the time nor inclination to organize or proof-read it to any great degree, but I welcome comments and will engage with them. I also am happy to be corrected and learn from you.
The nice thing about lower body workouts, especially free-weight exercises that focus on functional, multi-joint systems rather than isolating muscles, is that they benefit the whole body in several ways.
Like with anything you wish to build, your body needs a good foundation - a literal and a metaphorical foundation. Full body strength, what should be the goal of any person trying to get stronger and healthier, begins from the ground up. Even shoulder presses and bench presses, properly performed, will have the feet on the ground, contributing to one degree or another. Upper body strength requires a strong upper back to maintain a healthy balance and avoid injury. A strong lower back is required to balance out and support a strong upper back. A strong core and strong glutes are necessary for a healthy and strong lower back... and so on to the hamstrings, quads, etc. And just like any good building, you don't focus on the beautiful windows, vaulted ceilings, etc. and THEN put down the foundation once you got everything else, you start with digging the hole and pouring the foundation.
Doing a back-squat will work your quads, your posterior chain, and your core – all things needed for a strong foundation. But additionally it will also help work your shoulders somewhat indirectly, just keeping the bar on your back. It will work your upper back, keeping your shoulders back and form tight, as well. It is a proper full body workout, to a degree, and any shoulder press or rows you do will be positively affected by a regular dedicated back-squat.
Similarly the Deadlift will strengthen your posterior chain, core, but also strengthen your upper back, your traps, and your grip, which helps with wrist and forearm strength.
Isolation exercises, besides being inefficient with time and energy, also are ineffective when you consider the stabilizing muscles that get left out, or need to be hit with their own exercise. And, even if you do hit them with their own exercise, the synergistic benefit of those muscles being practiced and worked together as a system is lost – this forfeits a hugely beneficial aspect of your workout.
Then, there is the metaphorical foundation... Your body responds in many different ways to stimuli. When it comes to your body's reaction to physical exertion, one of the ways is chemical/hormonal. The chemicals and hormones your body needs to recover from, adapt to, and build muscle after a workout, are produced based on, and in proportion to, the type, amount, and intensity of that workout. For example, your body will adapt and respond differently from a set of wrist curls than it will a set of rows or deadlifts... not just the caloric output and the specific muscle(s) worked, but much more. One hormone, as you well know, that your body will naturally increase its production of in response to a workout, is testosterone. The amount it increases, and the duration of time it remains increased, is often in proportion to the size of the muscle being worked, and the degree to which it was worked. One single set of 5-10 heavy deadlifts, which involved many large muscles including the quads, hamstrings, glutes, and back muscles, will stimulate this hormonal response much more effectively than several isolation exercises. But, because that change in body chemistry will affect the whole body, when you do upper body exercises the next day, those muscles will be recipients of the beneficial increase in testosterone that was stimulated the day before... so, contrary to what may be intuitive on the face of things, squatting and deadlifting will actually help increase your upper body strength indirectly as well as the direct effect already discussed.
Additionally, your body is the result of eons of evolution. The way your body bends over to pick something up, or squats down under a load, is the way it PREFERS to do it - nay, the way nature/God DESIGNED it to do it. Your body recognizes these stimuli, and responds/adapts accordingly. When we work our bodies as systems – in so-called “functional” movements – our body responds better than when we sit in a machine that restricts our movements to single joint exercises leg extensions or hamstring curls. As a novice, you not only need adapt your body (or re-adapt it, if you've been out of the gym a while, and are again a novice according to the above definition) to the basic, systemic movements before moving on to other assistance workouts, but your body will benefit from them more than the extraneous movements.
Furthermore, when in the novice stages, the weight we put on our bodies when doing all the multi-joint exercises, including the upper-body movements like standing press and bench press, as long as we are using free-weights, our stabilizing muscles are engaged sufficiently for them to get the workout they need. The idea that we need to get the smaller, weaker points of our muscles developed before we do the big movements betrays a fundamental misunderstanding of how our bodies work: the big movements will be moved primarily by the bigger muscles, but our smaller muscles, and stabilizing muscles, still get worked, and because there is more weight on the bar, they will get worked, most times, better than lighter movements designed specifically for those smaller muscles. Because our bodies are able to adapt quickly due to the relatively low weights of a novice, there is no need for three movements isolating the anterior, lateral, and posterior heads of the deltoid, for example. Rack pulls and paused stiff-legged deadlifts are unnecessary for someone who can still make 10, 5, or even 2.5 pound jumps in their conventional deadlift every other leg-day.
So, we've discusses how hitting our lower body more frequently will actually directly and indirectly benefit the
entire body. We have discussed how multi-joint systemic movements
are superior to isolation exercises.
It should be mentioned also that novices are leaving a LOT of progress on the table when they only devote a single day per week for legs, one for shoulders, one for back, etc. You are able to handle doing both Shoulders and Squats on the same day, or both Bench and DL on another, for example. And, if you're doing multi-joint “functional” movements, then you're saving time from doing several isolation exercises to hit the same muscles, and therefore you'll have time to do multiple muscle-groups in a single session.
One objection I get to these thoughts about hitting our muscles hard, heavy, and often, progressing and adding weight as often as we can, often from women, is that they don't want to get “big” or “bulky.” What people don't understand is that most women's hormone profile and genetics are insufficient to bulk without purposely designing their program (AND DIET) around such a goal. If you look at the women in Crossfit, many of them still look VERY feminine, and those that do not are VERY purposeful in their programs and what they put into their bodies.
Some of my points are covered in this video from Mark Rippetoe, and it is very much worth listening to. It just came out the other day - very timely. If you're not trying to get as strong as possible as quickly as possible, and/or if you have health concerns that have gotten you to a point where you like your diet, please ignore his part about a gallon of milk a day (GOMAD)... his point remains: your protein and caloric input has to exceed your expenditure if you're to build muscle, so you are probably not eating enough.
It should be mentioned also that novices are leaving a LOT of progress on the table when they only devote a single day per week for legs, one for shoulders, one for back, etc. You are able to handle doing both Shoulders and Squats on the same day, or both Bench and DL on another, for example. And, if you're doing multi-joint “functional” movements, then you're saving time from doing several isolation exercises to hit the same muscles, and therefore you'll have time to do multiple muscle-groups in a single session.
One objection I get to these thoughts about hitting our muscles hard, heavy, and often, progressing and adding weight as often as we can, often from women, is that they don't want to get “big” or “bulky.” What people don't understand is that most women's hormone profile and genetics are insufficient to bulk without purposely designing their program (AND DIET) around such a goal. If you look at the women in Crossfit, many of them still look VERY feminine, and those that do not are VERY purposeful in their programs and what they put into their bodies.
Some of my points are covered in this video from Mark Rippetoe, and it is very much worth listening to. It just came out the other day - very timely. If you're not trying to get as strong as possible as quickly as possible, and/or if you have health concerns that have gotten you to a point where you like your diet, please ignore his part about a gallon of milk a day (GOMAD)... his point remains: your protein and caloric input has to exceed your expenditure if you're to build muscle, so you are probably not eating enough.
