Ladies, I’m sorry. Truly sorry. On behalf of every Fitness Professional – sorry.

On a recent episode of Tonos Radio Sabrena and I chatted about resistance training. Specifically, we asked the question: Is there a difference between lifting for long, lean, toned muscles and lifting for bulky muscles.

Let me start the discussion with a brief overview of the fitness industry. The vast majority of gym memberships are never used – somewhere between 70-80%. This is how your standard big box gym membership is so cheap – for every 1 person that uses their membership, 9 people pay for them to do so. Of the 20% or so of Americans that go to a gym, 10% of those do so under the guidance of a coach or trainer – either 1-on-1 or in a small group class. As you can see, the pie of people paying for fitness professionals dwindles quickly.

Enter: Differentiation

Because this space is tremendously competitive, it is important for fit pro’s to differentiate themselves. From experience, I can say that is it very costly and difficult to differentiate on the basis of customer services. So, we need to find other means of differentiation.

Fear is a powerful motivator.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that fear will cause people to throw all logic and science out the window. In the case of resistance training and women, it’s the fear of getting “bulky.” Side note: God forbid we celebrate what our bodies can do instead of some weird aesthetic ideal, but plenty of people more qualified than I have written on this. 

Toned; long and lean.

If I can say that my type of lifting gives you toned and lean muscles, I can say that the other gym gives you a big, bulky, and hulk-like physique. Differentiation.

So what actually affects physique.

When it comes to how someone puts on muscle tissue, there are three factors at play:

1. Genetics
2. Diet
3. Type of resistance training

If we were to give each of these a score equal to 100 to indicate the importance of their role in whether or not you will get “bulky” or “lean” muscles it would be: Genetics – 60, Diet – 30, Type of resistance training – 10.

Since you can’t change your genetics, don’t lose sleep. If your genetics pre-disposed you to put on an inordinate amount of muscle mass when lifting, you likely played sports at a high level in high school or college. Genetics tend to pre-select high caliber athletes. And, if this is you – you’re probably in the I’m more into what my body can do camp.

So, now we look at diet. The “bulky” athletes that you see train for about 6 hours a day and eat somewhere around 4,000 calories. Here is a picture of 4,000 calories. YOU WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO TRAIN THAT MUCH NOR EAT THAT MUCH FOOD. Seriously, I dare you to eat 4,000 calories in one day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We’re left with type of resistance training.

Even though this only accounts for about 10% of your “bulkiness” or “toned and lean” muscles, I’ll address it to. Honestly, it doesn’t even need to be addressed because it is so insignificant when compared to your genetics and diet, but people are way hung up on this.

Training Volume and Hypertrophy.

Muscular hypertrophy is what causes muscles to grow. It is important that your muscle mass increases because that will increase your metabolism. But, we’re here to answer this fundamental question: Do your muscles know the difference between different types of resistance training? Will they become long and lean if you do bodyweight resistance and short and bulky if you touch a barbell? The answer lies in volume. Higher volume = more hypertrophy. Hypertrophy = muscles growth.

Volume = Total Reps x Weight Moved.

Any time you get up out of a chair, do a lunge, do a plank, or do a bench press you’re moving an external load. This load can be a barbell or your own body weight. Your muscles don’t know the difference between a push up and a bench press (we can argue semantics, but for the purposes of volume accumulation assume all things are equal).

I’ll use myself for this experiment and we’ll use the push-up and the bench press as our examples. I’m an adult male who weights 175 pounds. Let’s say – when doing a push-up – I move 70% of my own bodyweight. That’s 122.5 pounds.

Workout A: I do 5 sets of 25 push ups. 125 repetitions @ 122.5 pounds moved – Training Volume = 15,312.5

Workout B: I do 5 sets of 5 bench press at 225 pounds (I wish). 25 repetitions @ 225 pounds – Training Volume = 5,625

Workout B will certainly make me stronger – especially if I progress that training volume. Workout A will cause greater muscular hypertrophy (i.e. grow my muscle size). My chest, arms, shoulders, and triceps don’t know the difference between a barbell and my bodyweight. They only know volume. 

Takeaways

• Your genetics and diet play a much larger role in your muscle appearance than the structure of your workouts.
• Training Volume plays a much larger role in your muscle size than the implement you happen to be using to accumulate that volume.
• Find something you love to do, have fun doing it, eat reasonably, and you will see a positive change in physique.

 

I received another “CrossFit makes me nervous…” message on our website the other day.

Like, for the 10,000th time. I try to put on my empathy hat each time I receive that message over and over and over and… well you get the idea. I’ve addressed the “CrossFit is scary and expensive” comment so many times that I’ve built out a whole slew of canned automated responses on various apps. You know, the typical points:

• CrossFit is actually 3x safer than jogging
• We have an extensive on-boarding program
• CrossFit can be scaled and modified
• Hey, check out this video of a grandma over there doing CrossFit
• CrossFit’s not expensive – your gym is cheap because no one goes there
• You’d spend $2,000 on a month on a personal trainer to get the same level of service you get in a small group CrossFit class
• Blah, blah, blah, blah

I’m not trying to be old man grumpy Scanny here. It’s just… I don’t know how many times I have to try and talk people off the ledge of something that millions of people have been doing everyday for almost two decades now.

But, then I was smacked in the head with a different perspective.

In an interview I recently did I was asked about some of the most influential experiences in my life and what they had in common. A lot of it related to travel and putting myself in pretty uncomfortable situations; even scary situations. I’ll share with you a few of these:

I was 17.

I went to an event with a friend at an indoor skate park. At the end of the event a speaker gave a 20 minute talk about community involvement and whatnot; a “what do you want to do after you graduate high school” talk.

The guy worked with Habitat For Humanity in the Dominican Republic. He spoke about the living conditions in some of the poorest parts of the Dominican Republic and Haiti. This was the first time I had considered a world drastically different than my own.

I knew I had to go see what’s up. I got the guy’s card and called him the next Monday saying I want to go there over my winter break of my senior year of high school. I wasn’t taking no for an answer.

My first step was to get my folks to sign off on it. Reluctantly, they gave consent since I wasn’t yet 18 (sorry, Mom). They hated the idea I’m sure. I made travel plans, found a Cuban family to host me, and started working to pay for the whole adventure.

I was scared out of my mind and spent every dime I earned on the trip. And the experience fundamentally changed my life forever.

I was 18.

Growing up in Kansas, I longed for the mountains. I wanted to live, camp, hike, and snowboard in the Rockies. So, I applied for a job at a remote conference grounds in southern Colorado. The only position that was available was that of a wrangler… yup, a horse wrangler. This would’ve been the perfect job for me had I ever been on a horse in my life. 

You see, the majority of the staff were on a transition from college to career. I was still in high school when I applied for the job. That winter, the person that had my job tore her ACL in a snowboarding accident. A week after my application was denied I got another call asking if I’m still interested and if I had any equine experience. I lied.

So I got the job and, the day after I graduated high school, I shipped off to Colorado.

Showing up to my first day of work in basketball shorts and skate shoes, I was scared out of my mind; of horses, of being found out, and letting down the team. I was really scared. This fear drove me. I would wake up an hour early (on a ranch this is a 3:30am alarm clock) and stay two hours late until I learned all the knots, how to wrangle a horse, and how to put on a saddle. I finally figured it out. I had to figure it out. Had this been a super-comfortable, familiar experience, I likely wouldn’t have put in that extra work.

I’ll Open a Gym.

I just had the pleasure of spending the weekend with my brother-in-law who lives in China. He also owns his own business and relies on it as his sole source of income for his family. I enjoy our time together because there’s a bond that only entrepreneurs share – sleepless nights, unending decisions, stress, paranoia, fear, and an absolute the-buck-stops-here attitude. It’s one of those experiences that is so nerve wracking that it creates an instant bond amongst those stupid risk-tolerant enough to do it.

This was – bar none – the scariest thing I’ve done; jumping off a cliff with a few kettle bells and some debt. I didn’t sleep much those first few years. The fear really drove me. I had to figure it out.

But, through this experience I’ve learned more about productivity, people, and myself than most people do in a lifetime. I’ve made a lifetime of mistakes in a 5-year period and learned a lifetime of lessons as a result. It’s been truly transformative. But, without the fear, there is no transformation. If the success rate for new businesses were flip-flopped – 80% failure rate in the first five years – would the light at the end of the tunnel be so sweet? Hell no.

This is CrossFit.

You should be a little nervous about CrossFit. Because, at the edge of transformation should be a little fear. Every part of your brain wants you to remain super-comfortable, not break a sweat, not meet new people, and opt for fast food over vegetables.

There was a time in human history when this came in handy. For our ancestors, newness – especially physical newness – meant a threat. It typically meant that food was scarce or a threat was imminent. This nervousness is a defense mechanism. But in an age where a full inbox is the most stressful part of our days, this has become a disadvantage.

No matter what you’re scared of, embrace that nervousness. It probably means that a lasting change is right around the corner.

When we first start training and working out consistently, we see – what I like to call – early #gainz. You’re hitting PR’s all the time, the number on the scale is plummeting, and you’re seeing muscles “pop” that you’ve never seen before. And… then… the plateau. You don’t PR every time you lift. Weight loss has stalled – if not reversed. And you’re no longer seeing new muscle definition.

WHAT DO YOU DO?!?! “Well I guess I need to do some ‘extra work'” is usually the answer.

So you start to do crunches in the corner after class. Run a mile before a WOD. Do some extra intervals on the Assault Bike. Start a squat cycle. Double up and do 2-a-days. Do “competitor” style training (I mean, if Rich is doing it). It only makes sense – do more of what worked in the first place.

But that’s the easy stuff. It’s easy to do more. It’s easy to add on 20 minutes to your WOD. It’s easy to throw on a vest to do box jumps. But, more doesn’t (necessarily) make you fitter. It’s the hard stuff that makes you fitter. What’s the hard stuff? Sleeping more, drinking less, eating well, and avoiding stress. THESE are the hard things that are GUARANTEED to improve your fitness, help you lose weight, and see muscle definition (trust me – your “core” is strong enough. Knock it off the extra crunches and eat some vegetables).

Most people don’t go the route of doing the hard stuff because it requires a pretty honest look in the mirror. So, do a little personal inventory before you go adding to your programming. I’ve created one for you. If you can answer “yes” to each FOR A PERIOD OF 12 WEEKS, then I think extra workouts may benefit you.

1. I get 7, uninterrupted hours of sleep a night.
2. I eat 6 (ladies) to 9 (fellas) servings of vegetables a day.
3. I eat an appropriate amount of lean protein daily.
4. I drink 3 or less (ladies) or 5 or less (fellas) alcoholic beverages a week. Remember: for 12 weeks 🙂
5. I do not make mention of – or complain about – my workload, schedule, or stress levels to anyone but my spouse or significant other.

If you’re a four-to-five out of five, you may benefit from “extra work” or “competitors programming” – otherwise you’re probably digging yourself into a hole for which you don’t have a shovel to get out.

 

Coach’s Corner – Do I need to do “Extra Work” from TheHillKC on Vimeo.

Are you scaling your workouts appropriately? If your intent is to make them EASIER, then the answer is a definitive NO. In our programming, the Lifestyle track is programmed in a way that the participant matches the intensity of the seasoned veteran by adjusting movement patterns to elicit the same response. Here are some examples of how to go about this.

 

Coach’s Corner: How to Scale Appropriately from TheHillKC on Vimeo.

Here’s the biggest mistake that we see when it comes to scaling workouts: A scaled workout IS NOT AN EASIER WORKOUT. In fact, the point of scaling is to adjust movements and reps so that the participant reaches the same level of intensity – safely – as the elite athlete.

 

Coach’s Corner: re-thinking Scaling Your Workouts from TheHillKC on Vimeo.

What if you’ve done 10,000 pull ups and only 100 of them were mechanically sound. How many pull-ups have you done? Well, 10,100. But only 100 of them are going to help you progress. Don’t think that all effort is equal. If you want that next “thing” – muscle, pull-up, bar muscle-up, handstand push up – start practicing perfectly even it it means you’re not at the top of the leaderboard.

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