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In recent Burn the Fat newsletters we’ve been talking about the key program design variables for muscle growth.
First we talked about weekly training splits and schedules – 2 day splits like T.N.B-28, 3 Day splits like push-pull-legs or “classic muscle” and then I introduced the “Hybrid 2/3” split.
All are great options, and all these programs are available with Burn the Fat Inner circle membership, including the complete 12-week 2/3 Hybrid MASS (home and gym) program which was released yesterday. Log in or join to get access.
I also discussed the ideal number of reps. I revealed the latest scientific discovery that you can gain muscle with almost any rep range if you do enough volume and train to failure when using high reps (though 6 to 20 reps is a sweet spot).
And I revealed the “magic” number of sets and how to quantify it: 10 sets per week per (major) muscle group is the science-verified minimum for *optimal* gains, and the range runs anywhere from 10 to 20.
I got a ton of great feedback on these lessons, and readers told me, “Keep it coming, Tom.” So today we continue…
Today I’ll briefly share another key principle of muscle growth – it’s the ultimate #1 key to gaining muscle.
Or if we flipped it in reverse…
NOT applying this muscle-building principle is THE biggest mistake that stops your muscle gains.
This ultimate principle for building muscle is…
Consistent hard lifting with progressive overload.
I could stop right there, and let you try to interpret it and chew on it, but let me briefly unpack this for you.
CONSISTENT
A gigantic reason for failure to build muscle is simply not showing up every day that you’re scheduled to show up.
The majority of people lifting recreationally for fitness, health and aesthetics who aren’t making gains simply are not training consistently enough.
You can maintain a nice physique with a very small amount of training, even a couple days a week, but even that (lower frequency) has to be consistent. Most people say “life got in the way” and stop completely (the all or nothing trap).
Building new muscle after you’re no longer a beginner is a whole other story. It takes a higher frequency of lifting, and you cannot miss many workouts and expect much in the way of gains.
You must be consistent, and be consistent over a long period of time because muscle growth is a slow process.
HARD
Even if you’re consistent and you show up every day, if you don’t train hard enough (high intensity of effort), you will not trigger any new muscle growth.
How hard is hard enough? We quantify it with “repetitions in reserve” (RIR). Thats how many reps you have left in the tank in a set before hitting failure.
You want to aim for about 1 to 2 RIR, and occasionally to failure. Ideally, I believe going to failure on the last set of an exercise (where you can do so safely without getting stuck under a bar), is an awesome, almost fool-proof system.
So for example, if you’re doing 3 sets of an exercise, you do the first 2 sets hard (1-2 RIR – leave a rep or two in the tank on purpose, but it’s still a hard effort). Then on the final set, you go really hard – all out to failure.
PROGRESSIVE OVERLOAD
Progression is the master key to muscle growth. Failing to consistently train hard with progressive overload is THE biggest mistake preventing you from gaining muscle.
Not making gains? It’s not because you’re using the wrong exercises.
It’s not because you’re not on the right special training program.
There are hundreds of exercises and workouts programs that can all work.
The catch is, they all work only when you apply consistent progressive overload to them.
There are 2 big ways ways that most people are messing up with overload
1. First, some people really are consistent. They don’t miss workouts. But they’re not getting results.
Because they know they’re consistent, they’re insanely frustrated.
Showing up is not enough.
Once you’re pumping the iron consistently, you have to not only hit it hard, but also do a little more than you did last time if you want to grow – that’s the definition of overload – and that is the secret of secrets: A little more than last time.
2. Second, people mess this up because they confuse progressive resistance and progressive overload.
Progressive resistance means lifting more weight. Progressive overload includes lifting more weight, but doesn’t end there.
Progressive overload is ANY kind of increase in workload.
The giant mistake most people make with overload is when you think that overload only means lifting more weight. You’re doomed to never-ending frustration and failure if that’s what you believe.
The fact is, only newbies see linear, consistent increases in the amount of weight they lift and even then, the honeymoon doesn’t last for long.
Everyone hits weight overload plateaus, and adding any weight to the bar at all gets more and more difficult the longer you’ve been training.
I get bombarded with messages from frustrated readers who say things like, “Tom, I don’t understand how I’m supposed keep adding weight every week.”
You’re not supposed to!
You’re simply supposed to overload. Adding one more rep is progressive overload. You can almost always add one more rep.
Is adding weight the most effective way to overload? Yes, there’s no question.
But since we can’t always do it, we need to use other ways to overload, and they all have to do with increasing volume (total work performed)
If you want more muscle, then I want you think about applying all kinds of overload. There are 3 big ones – which is why you hear me recommend “triple progression.” And if we subdivide #3, it’s actually 4 ways:
Types Of Progressive Overload
1. Weight progression
2. Rep progression
3. Set progression (volume #1)
4. Tonnage/volume load progression (volume #2)
You have just been given the ultimate secret to muscle gains… hard consistent overload… and the overload can come in any of these forms.
Lifting more weight is always #1, if possible, but you do not have to lift more to overload and build muscle, you simply have to do more work than the last time.
If you CAN increase the weight, then increase the weight.
If you can’t increase the weight, then increase the reps.
If you can’t increase the weight or continuous reps, get more reps with rest pause sets or drop sets.
If you can’t increase the weight or reps, then increase the sets (or exercises).
If you can’t increase the weight, then increase the total volume load (product of sets X reps X weight)
You will have many sessions where adding weight is not an option, especially when you get older and or near max genetic potential. But there will never be a session where overload is not possible.
When this concept sinks into your training mindset, and you really GET it and APPLY it, you’ll be fixing THE most gigantic mistake most people are making that explains their lack of muscle gains.
You will be blown away when you apply this overload principle to all your workouts and combine it with the other important program design factors like the right intensity of effort, the right sets (volume), the right reps and the right training schedule and frequency.
The principle of overload is so important, I wrote an entire e-book about it (The Ultimate Guide To Building Muscle With Progressive Overload Training)
And it’s so important, that I build progressive overload right into all of our new training programs, including the newest one, 2/3 Hybrid M.A.S.S.
The new 2/3 Hybrid MASS program puts together all the critical elements of muscle building program design – the ideal sets, reps, and overload, as well as a new and unusual (2/3 hybrid) split routine that combines strength building and muscle building in the same week.
Best part of all:
The complete 2/3 Hybrid MASS program is finally available!
The first beta version was a single 12-week program launched back in May for members only. The new (V2.0) 2/3 Hybrid MASS program contains two 12-week programs, one for the gym and one for home that you can do with simple free weights and comes with a training manual, training calendar, and exercise guides, all downloadable.
This program is still not available to the public to purchase separately.
However, 2/3 Hybrid MASS is available for FREE…
.. with a Burn the Fat Inner Circle membership.
If you’re already a member, you can go grab it now (there’s no extra charge – it’s in the members area):
Members: Log in and download 2/3 Hybrid MASS (complete program) for free CLICK HERE
If you’re not a member yet, join us and you’ll find this new training plan in the members-only area.
Non members: Join us and get access to 2/3 Hybrid MASS – CLICK HERE…
2/3 Hybrid MASS will be selling in the Burn the Fat store soon (probably next week), but when you consider the price is going to be $37 and Inner Circle membership is only $9.95 a month and you get so much more when you join us, it’s a no brainer.
Train hard and expect success,
Tom Venuto,
Author, Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle
Founder, Burn the Fat Inner Circle
Follow on Instagram: www.instagram.com/tomvenuto/
PS. Don’t forget – the Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle Body Transformation Challenge is only a month away! Set your goal now and plan to enter … January 1st, 2022!
=> Countdown To Burn The Fat, Feed the Muscle New Year Body Transformation Contest: Jan 1st 2022<=
The post The #1 Biggest Muscle-Building Mistake appeared first on Burn The Fat Blog.
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