“Well, I have a 2, 5, and 10 pound dumbbell to use. Is that enough?”
I don’t know why I hear that exact sentence so many times from those interested in personal coaching. I’m beginning to think there’s some genius marketer that sells those three sized dumbbells together, advertising them to “blast fat,” or something. (Who can resist the “blast fat” offer?)
“Probably not. You’re better off diving into body weight skills; handstands, handstand push-ups, pistols, one-armed push-ups, and similar things need to be your salvation — especially if you don’t plan on hanging around barbells.”
As you guessed, that’s generally my response.
Now, doing a one arm-armed push-ups pistol squats, and handstand push-ups may seem like impossibilities at this point, but you have to set high expectations with body weight skills, otherwise you won’t get far.
Here’s why.
WHAT FLIES, WASPS, AND BEARS TEACH US ABOUT STRESS
In order for your body to mobilize (adapt, take action, make any kind of change), the motivator has to be strong enough.
A fly buzzing around your face won’t make you shriek in terror. The only thing mobilizing in light of its annoyance is your arm (swiping the air aimlessly) and your mouth (delivering derogatory comments).
There’s simply not enough danger. What’s a fly gonna’ do?
Now, swap that fly for a wasp. You might be a little more elusive. You might move, duck, or cover. And if you’re allergic, you’re probably out of there so fast you’re challenging Usain Bolt for the 100m record.
There’s some danger with a wasp. No one wants to get stung by a wasp. It kinda’ hurts — especially if you’re allergic.
Now, swap that fly for a black bear. You’ll soil yourself, most likely. If the adventurous type, you might try running. You might as well say “Yeehaw!” as you break for a clearing if for no other reason to have you last words be “Yeehaw!” (Black bears can run like 30mph. You’re crazy if you think you’re escaping that.)
But it would make for a good news headline at least. “Man killed by black bear, yells ‘Yeehaw!’ before death.”
Anyways, the black bear is pretty threatening. It’s going to mobilize you in some way. It’s dangerous.
THE REAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN INTENSITY, VOLUME, AND FITNESS
Light Weight + High Reps = Toned Muscles.
…right?
Those 2, 5, and 10 pound dumbbells you have — those help you tone…
…right?
First, muscles don’t “tone,” they either shrink or grow. Same goes for the fat underneath skin that surrounds the muscle.
“Tone,” the way everyone conceptualizes it, comes from a big(ger) muscle and a low(er) body fat.
So when you’re talking about lifting weight to build muscle, the relationship between stress and adaptation is key.
- Light weights are flies. They don’t do anything. They don’t threaten you. There’s no danger. No matter how many reps you do, the body has no reason to do anything because it’s health — it’s survival — isn’t in question.
- The wasp is the middle of the road — a “medium intensity” of sorts. There’s some potential for adaptation because there’s some danger. Who want’s to get stung by a wasp? But when it’s all said and done, it’s just a wasp. One sting won’t send you to your grave. Perhaps the best training strategy for this middle ground is frequent exposure — intensity isn’t increased by the magnitude of the stress, but rather how often it occurs. (High frequency, high volume.) (Hint: “Wasps” may or may not be most traditional body weight exercises.)
- The bear is most weighted barbell exercises. It provides widespread change, widespread mobilization. It gets shit done.
TEETER WITH SURVIVAL TO SEE GAINS?
Here’s a secret passage from the Skinny-Fat Resource I’ve been working on.
The body won’t do something unless it has a damn good reason to do it. Energy is a precious commodity and the building blocks of muscle aren’t exactly “easy” to come by. To best produce muscle, you have to do the exercises that are quite literally the most “dangerous” to the body. And I don’t mean “dangerous” in an injurious sense, I mean dangerous in a way that has the body signaling “this threatens my survival” because this forces the body to adapt
In an organism that only cares about survival, the fastest way to get “something” to happen is to threaten its survival.
(If you want to be kept in the loop about the release of the Skinny-Fat Resource, sign your life away by throwing your info the form below. You get a whole bunch of other cool stuff too. Members of the Brohirrim always get premium content and news about products [and their sales] first.)
(Just kidding about that “sign your life away” part. It’s always easy to opt-out. I respect your privacy and all that jazz.)
Anywho –
So how do you threaten survival?
- Do things that put the entire body under a load — squats, deadlifts, farmers walks, Olympic lifts, overhead presses, etc…
- Use a load that’s threatening in itself. (For your particular strength level.)
- Do something medium intensity for a high volume/frequency.
And then you can even think about this on a muscular level:
- What exercises most threaten an individual muscle? (Hint: There’s a reason concentration curls can build big biceps.)
- A lot of bodybuilders use some body english on lateral raises started so that they can use heavier weights. Sure, form has to stay good enough and stress has to be focused into the targeted muscle, but these momentum tricks go a long way.
BUT REMEMBER…
If you threaten your survival to maximum capacity, you need time to regenerate. Too many bear run-ins and you’re going to be overwhelmed.
You don’t want to make your training unbearable…
…
…
lol.
Photo Credit: dumbbell
This is one of the best comparisons I have ever seen regarding intensity and “forcing” the body to adapt. Great job taking an abstract idea and making it tangible and relatable. Brilliant.
Thanks Adam.
Yes, good comparisons. You actually serve a better chance not moving when a bear is right next to you. So to still support the case, you have a high sense of stress and adrenaline being right next to the bear. Just as doing exercises with elevated stress and adrenaline. either way, either way : – )
Maybe you would have a panic attack?
Always great articles. And they are getting better and better.
I agree, they are getting better.
Thanks.
Thanks Jason.
Really good and insightful. Would love to show this to many people I know, only if they could understand English.
Hah, teach them! Or translate it?
Great post mate – love the abstract analogy of the 3 motivators.
Thanks Clint.
I too loved the analogies. Great stuff. I love the simplicity with which you give out advise. Keep it up! I liked this bit: “Black bears can run like 30mph. You’re crazy if you think you’re escaping that.” A man can only dream.
It’s interesting that you mention how this advice can be applied to individual muscles. I used 25 pound dumbbells the other day instead of a machine for biceps curls and I still feel a pump in my muscles. It is enough to convince me to start using heavy-ass dumbbells for isolation work. I think it was a result of increasing the stress on my biceps. I’m sure I could progress using a machine for biceps work, but it feels more limiting than using dumbbells. With the dumbbells I can not only use heavier weights, but I can reap the benefits of a fantastic range of motion. The range of motion on machines can be a little awkward at times, you know?
No, actually, I don’t. I don’t use them.
Ahaa, touché!
There are so many opinions on what is high frequency and high volume. How do you define these for bodyweight exercises? Also, could you flesh this out a bit…”Hint: “Wasps” may or may not be most traditional body weight exercises.”
Thanks for another great article.
There isn’t clear cut definitions. High frequency is usually training a muscle group or movement three or more times per week. High volume is usually above eight or so reps, or above 30 or so reps total per training session.
The hint is sarcasm. It is most traditional BW exercises.
I’ve found a way to make 2 pound dumbbels useful:
http://www.huntingtonbuzz.tv/view_article.php?article_id=413
Pretty crazy. Like a light and more hopping farmers walk.
Invalid.
Anthony – fantastic post/site. Have been following you regularly past year. I’m in a similar boat with regards to training style (“warmup” is the workout, athletic movements, walking around, etc.). Recently, I got a pair of olympic rings and have just been obsessed with them, starting AND finishing each workout with ring dips, tucked levers, chins, etc.
Is there a point of diminishing returns (i.e. can these bodyweight movements, particularly if done via the instability of olympic rings, become too many “wasp stings”)? Obviously if my joints ache or I feel out of it then I’ll take a few days off but so far its been smooth sailing.
For reference, I’m basically training 6 days a week, start each workout with some warmup/activation, then rings, then a compound barbell “foundation/strength” section, then more rep outs on rings or isolation.
Sometimes at the end of workouts I get this insane surge in motivation/energy (particularly if I caffeinated heavily prior) and can literally train for an hour more, doing sets of chins, leg raises, jumps, bear crawls, etc. I get this heightened/euphoric feeling and no appetite post workout….this feels great until the next day when I often feel performance go down the drain.
Thank you for reading and your thoughts.
Well, yeah, you can exceed your capacity to recover if overdone. But that’s all individual. If you build yourself up to not being afraid of wasps, nor of their stings, you can handle more
But this is all worked up to over time, so I don’t know if you have done so. For instance, transitioning from 3 days to 4 days in a few months time. Then to 5. Then do 6. Transition is the key word.
Going from no training to 6 days is a little hefty.
You also have to consider your progress. Sometimes training more actually hinders your long term progress, so you have to make sure that isn’t happening.
Lastly, one of the dangers of using caffeine prior to training is training LONGER than capable, not necessarily more INTENSE. So I’d watch if you’re extending beyond normal and make sure your head is still screwed on straight.