Confessions: sometimes I do too much

We’ve all seen the new guy on the forums who has a question about his new workout routine.

“What do you think?” He asks. “I’m going to do squats and heavy cleans on Mondays, deadlifts on Tuesdays, high intensity track sprints on Wednesdays, squats and heavy cleans again on Thursdays, chins and dips on Fridays, followed by a specialist bench workout on Saturdays and some fun cardio on Sundays.”

The correct answer, of course, is “I think you’re probably doing too much.”

A more helpful, and less weary, response might be “cut out half of it and it might work, depending on how good your work capacity is and how much you are prepared to eat.”

Squats and cleans, a digression

(Personally, I think if you can do squats and heavy cleans with good technical form then not only should you do them but I believe that you have an obligation to do very little else. But that’s just me having sour grapes about being a really bad squatter and having poor mobility. I suppose there is something much sexier about squats and full cleans than about pull ups and dips. Ah well, the grass is always greener).

But I digress. It’s so easy to get caught up in the excitement of doing something extra in the hope of additional rewards.

I am guilty of doing too much

Well, I confess that I am also guilty of doing too much.

I start with a simple programme, of say, single leg squats, pull ups and dips. But then I want to improve my bench so I add that in. But I need to balance that with some rows, so in go some one-arm rows.

After a while, I get irritated by the lack of progress on my bench so I try some pressing instead. At the same time, though, I can’t bring myself to let go of the bench pressing, so I end up with bench press and press in the same workout. More rowing ensues.

All the while, I know that unless I practice my front lever regularly, it won’t straighten out. So that has to go in too. Because if I don’t keep it in, then I will never be able to start work on my one-arm front lever and one day have my own Wikipedia page, just like John Gill…

And so it goes on and on. The voice in my head is like a dealer pushing the fitness drug.

How about some hybrid cardio?

I saw this great article yesterday about adding in additional cardio to avoid fat gain while bulking and straight away I was re-evaluating my routine. Could I fit in some more farmers’ walks? I ask myself. Perhaps I could go for a short walk around the block with a weighted rucksack before work? Maybe after work? No? Before bed, then?

No? Just a few sprints then

I have this great hill just 5mins jog from my house that I can run sprints up. It’s probably around 150m long and the gradient is even all the way up. It’s not a through-road so it’s quiet (unless there is a golf tournament). I read an article a while back about hill sprints being great for improving hamstring strength and now whenever I stall on glute-ham raises, I’m dying to go and let rip up the hill instead.

Don’t forget to ride your bike!

We’re planning a cycling holiday in March so I feel the need to keep some miles in my legs. Just a little ride on a Saturday morning, only 25 miles. And the same again on Sunday? Why not? Look, you’re not really doing anything on Thursday evenings, so how about another one then? It all keeps adding up.

Wrist curls don’t count though, surely?

I read an article about improving grip by working on wrist strength a while back. Soon I found myself wondering whether to include some weighted wrist curls and extensions in a “feeder workout” or after a lower body session. It’s a small body part, I argued. It won’t impact on my recovery very much. A feeder workout! My subconscious will try anything to prolong my pernicious gym habit!

Enough is enough!

I try to keep my enthusiasm in check by writing workout plans and then sticking to them. If I want to try something new, I might mess around with some light weights to get the feel of it but ultimately if I want to load it up then it has to go into the plan. By writing it down, I prevent my workouts from escalating too badly.

It’s not really working 100% but it’s a step in the right direction, I feel. Let me know if you have any other tips for keeping your workouts under control!

Chris Beardsley's Garage Gym