“The first sign of maturity for people that train is when they stop caring about how much they lift and start caring about how well they lift.”
– Amir Siddiqui
People often ask me how they can get better at an exercise. In almost every case, they are thinking about it backwards. They want to know how to increase the reps they can perform or the weight they can lift, but that is not what it means to be better at an exercise. They’re confusing getting stronger or being better at demonstrating strength with the real goal of an exercise which is to effectively stimulate increases in strength. Exercise is something you do to your muscles with the weight, not something you do to the weight with your muscles.
The purpose of exercise is to efficiently load and fatigue the targeted muscles, to work them as intensely as possible. Lifting and lowering a weight is just a means to that end. The better you are at an exercise, the better your form, the harder it becomes. To perform more reps or lift more weight in a specific manner you must become stronger, which is an entirely different thing than being better at an exercise.
Understanding the difference between the two is the most important part of learning to exercise properly. Almost all of the things people do wrong during exercise stem from confusing the two. Most people break form because they are focusing on how much weight they can lift or how many reps they can perform instead of how well they perform them. How you perform each rep of an exercise is far more important than how much weight you lift or how many reps you perform if your goal is to effectively become stronger instead of momentarily appearing stronger.
If you want to get better at an exercise:
Start by thinking about the above every time you work out until you habitually focus on what you are doing to your muscles instead of what you are doing to the weight. When you do an exercise concentrate on intensely contracting the target muscles and producing the correct body movement. To paraphrase Ken Hutchins, “…the correct approach is to internalize… to think and to behave to make the body perform the proper action. The weight is relegated to merely go along for the ride.”
When learning a new exercise instead of trying to determine the heaviest weight you can lift for your target rep range, start with a weight that is only moderately challenging and learn how to use it to make the exercise feel harder. If doing something a particular way makes the exercise feel easier do the opposite.
If you frequently catch yourself focusing more on the number of reps than the quality use a stopwatch to time your exercises instead of counting or have a training partner or trainer silently count your reps for you (and only count the good ones). This will allow you to focus more on how well you perform each rep and worry less about how many you do.
A workout is not a weight lifting competition. Your immediate goal is not to beat your previous weight or reps; it is to perform each exercise safely and effectively to stimulate increases in strength and improvements in the supporting factors of functional ability. Somewhat ironically, if you are overly concerned with making the numbers on your chart go up and cheat to do so your workouts will be less effective and your actual strength will go up more slowly. If you focus on performing each exercise as effectively as possible instead, the numbers might not go up as quickly because better form equals harder exercise, but you will get stronger faster.
If you work out in a public gym ignore everyone else; don’t compare yourself to others and don’t concern yourself with what they think of you. If you become better at cheating on an exercise to lift more weight it might make you appear stronger than you really are to other people in the gym who don’t know any better, but this skill is specific to the exercise and does not transfer to any other activity. On the other hand, if you really become better at an exercise – if you become more skilled at efficiently loading the target muscles – your real strength and conditioning will improve faster and does transfer to everything else you do.
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All excellent points
Hey Richard,
Thank you!
Hello Drew,
Thanks for being so generous with your knowledge. I am guilty of focusing on the number of reps and weight I can manage from one workout to the next. To the point that if I don’t increase reps or weight in each exercise each workout I start to look at what’s gone wrong (poor recovery, not eating enough etc). I have been following Mentzer’s HIT for years, and have become a bit of a slave to his mantra that you should always see improvement on every exercise every workout, even if it’s just one extra rep or a little weight. I don’t count a rep if I cheat on form – it’s more that I beat myself up and get angry and frustrated if I don’t see improvement. Can you please clarify your post for me – if you don’t focus on how many reps/weight, how do you rate your progress? Rather than being obsessed with weight/reps, should I just trust that best form will produce the best results, and make that my ‘mantra’? Should I focus more on the scales and the fat calipers to gauge progress? I am currently using your High Intensity Workouts book and a home gym (closest commercial gym is 350km away). Thanks again and any help greatly appreciated,
jim
Hey Jim,
Check out the article Workout Performance Versus Progress which addresses a lot of the things you mentioned. Increases in muscular strength and size do not progress linearly, but along a curve that rises steeply at first then gradually levels off as you get closer to the limits of your genetic potential. You should still keep track of reps and weight but it is unrealistic for an advanced trainee to expect to add weight or reps every workout and better to evaluate progress over a longer time frame. Unfortunately this unrealistic expectation has led a lot of people to unnecessarily reduce their volume and frequency too far and progress even more slowly.
Hi Drew, thanks for taking the time to reply. I understand your point regarding the non-lineal nature of progress – it’s logical and yet I hadn’t acknowledged it. I find the fact of genetic potential frustrating, as it is the immeasurable ‘unknown’ that we all must stumble across eventually. In the past I have been worried that my training is sub-optimal, and that I wasn’t progressing as quickly as perhaps I could with volume/frequency/exercise technique improvements and changes. However perhaps I was indeed making good progress within my genetic limitations. In the past I have reduced my volume/frequency too far as a consequence of what I now understand were unrealistic expectations. Using your High Intensity Workouts book I am now completing more sets/time under load than I have for several years, and yet I am making good progress. I shall definitely read the performance v progress article as you suggest. Thanks once again for sharing your knowledge so freely and helping those of us who are committed to high intensity training but still need clear guidance. Regards, Jim
Absolutely! All points important for a long and prosperous training life. If only the young would take this advice and not be forced into it by injuries when older.
As always fantastic and inspiring post Drew!!! Many thanks for standing strong for true meaning of exercise.
Always thoughtful insight on what actually matters in exercise!
My trainer has done this for me with the MedEx low back machine to get me back to using my back more and less legs. Has worked well. We’re discussing doing the same, lowering the weight, with a Nautilus lat pull down machine, to see if I can get the work back to the proper muscles. My other machines are your basic Nautilus, leg press, calf press on the leg press, MedEx neck (thanks for that suggestion by the way), row, chest press, ab/adductor “the girly machine”, etc. I recommend the add/abd leg machine for all you guys out there who might slip on the ice! You need those medial and lateral muscles to catch yourself (especially us “experienced” 62 year olds who don’t live in Florida.) Also I like that same machine for tromping around in the mountains on rocks and sticks, hunting my grass fed deer and elk. You and Doug McGuff have changed the lives of my entire family from 30 y.o. daughter to parents in 80’s.
Hey Jim,
When using the MedX exercise lumbar I also find it helps to focus on pulling your scapulae down and back towards your pelvis rather than focusing on moving the pad. I’m glad to have helped your family and wish you all continued strength and health!
Wish I knew this year’s ago although I probably would not have believed it. But I’m glad for the young, and old, who have discovered it. Looking forward to my Form book.
After research and countless years of toying with other exercise protocols, I happened upon HIT principles through Steve Maxwell’s blog. After finding Baye.com, I instantly appreciated the educated approach used to Drew, your approach is undoubtedly one of the best. Thank you for all of the hard work you do. I can say that I’m stronger and injury free, while focusing on the important things. Your website acts as a validation for what many of us who thought they had it figured out, yet didn’t have the facts and information to truly accept our findings.
This post in particular is probably my favorite in a while. Like everything you preach, simplicity is king!
Hey Andre,
You’re welcome, and I’m glad you like the post! If it helps people to exercise more safely and productively I’ve accomplished my goal.
So many gold nuggets in here Drew. Love your writing, I reference you almost daily while training clients and urge them all to read your blog. Thanks for everything. This is a good one!
Owen
Hey Drew,
Thanks for being so generous with your knowledge. I am guilty of being completely obsessed with how many reps/what weight I can lift. This is not to look strong in front of others, as I workout on a home gym because the closest commercial gym is 3.5 hours drive away. However I don’t cheat – if I can’t make the rep in strict form then I don’t count it. I then stress about what went wrong, why I haven’t progressed, if I’ve overlooked something or have a dietary/rest issue etc. Mike Mentzer emphasized that you should always see progress, even if it is just one extra rep or a tiny weight increase, every time you train. I have really taken this to heart (particularly as when I was younger I did the traditional volume training and never made much progress in either – I often wonder what qualification my gym ‘instructor’ had back then when he prescribed me four workouts per week that took me 1.5 hours each to grind through). I train using your ‘High Intensity Workouts’ book, and use a stopwatch every few workouts to check that I am within the ‘time under load’ protocol you recommend. Not trying to be argumentative – just trying to understand – if you don’t count reps carefully how do you know if you are progressing? If ‘Your immediate goal is not to beat your previous weight or reps’, then do you assume you will become stronger if you make sure your form is strict and you train to failure? I would love to be able to break from the necessity to count reps religiously and get frustrated/stressed when I don’t beat my previous best. If you could please clarify this for me I would really appreciate it. Thank you.
Hey Jim,
Mike was wrong to suggest you should see progress every single time you train, and this has led to a lot of people wrongly assuming they were overtraining and unnecessarily reducing their exercise volume and frequency and slowing down their progress even further. It is unrealistic for an advanced trainee to expect to increase their reps or time or add weight on every exercise every time they work out, especially when there are many variables that can affect your workout performance. Advanced trainees should evaluate their progress over periods of several weeks, not from workout to workout.
If you time your sets instead of counting reps the change in time will let you know if you are progressing or not. All else being equal, if you increase your TUL on an exercise you’ve gotten stronger.
Great article Drew. My focus when I work out is to achieve high intensity contractions. I use the weight/resistance to heighten these contractions.
Hello Drew,
Thanks for being so generous with your knowledge. I am guilty of focusing on the number of reps and weight I can manage from one workout to the next. To the point that if I don’t increase reps or weight in each exercise each workout I start to look at what’s gone wrong (poor recovery, not eating enough etc). I have been following Mentzer’s HIT for years, and have become a bit of a slave to his mantra that you should always see improvement on every exercise every workout, even if it’s just one extra rep or a little weight. I don’t count a rep if I cheat on form – it’s more that I beat myself up and get angry and frustrated if I don’t see improvement. Can you please clarify your post for me – if you don’t focus on how many reps/weight, how do you rate your progress? Rather than being obsessed with weight/reps, should I just trust that best form will produce the best results, and make that my ‘mantra’? Should I focus more on the scales and the fat calipers to gauge progress? I am currently using your High Intensity Workouts book and a home gym (closest commercial gym is 350km away). Thanks again and any help greatly appreciated,
jim
Hey Jim,
You should still keep track of your performance for the sake of evaluation, but your focus should be on efficient muscular loading and creating an effective stimulus for growth rather than on beating your previous workout numbers. If you’re getting stronger the numbers will go up despite your best efforts to make each exercise as hard as possible.
Many thanks for this!
Awesome Article. Thanks for telling the truth about exercise over and over. Your voice needs to continue to be heard.
Hi Drew,
This winter we had a few major snow storms. I shoveled and used a heavy snowblower one day, for 3-4 hours, and felt strong and in shape. But two days later, the area around my tailbone is so sore (and paralyzing) it affects almost all of my major movements. I’m approaching week three of soreness (finally feeling recovery), and am wondering what I did wrong. I train to your HIT protocol going on at least my second year, and I was very form conscious when shoveling. I train the dead lift and squat and am wondering if ham strings or maybe STC on a simulated shovel position is something I should do prior to winter season? Any suggestions? I don’t want this to happen again lol …. really set me back in normal active life.
CF
It’s normal to experience soreness when performing any kind of demanding physical activity your body is not accustomed to, and the harder and longer you do it the more soreness you’ll experience. This doesn’t mean you’re not in good condition, just that you’re not used to the specific activity. It might be better to break the job up over a few days next time, only clearing the areas you absolutely have to at first.
Drew, I am curious as to why you do not include much direct arm work into the workouts that i have seen on your blogs? Would an A-B alternating routine disrupt, or pro-long the neuro and skill adaptation phase in any way? Would you also recommend an A-B alternating routine for a beginner? Thank you for you response. Shane
Hey Shane,
I don’t include much direct arm work because it doesn’t appear to make much difference in most cases when a person is already performing compound pulling movements, and most people ought to focus more on those when starting out.
hey Drew,
I have been going to physical therapy for a pinched nerve in the neck and the therapist has be doing exercises with a 2 sec positive, 5 second hold and a 2 sec negative for about 8 – 12 reps and 3 sets
what is your opinion of this TUT method at only 1 set to failure
Hey Dan,
I recommend a slower repetition cadence, at least four seconds to perform the positive and four to perform the negative. I also only recommend one set in most cases.
thanks Drew, I will lower the weight and try that cadence for one set of each exercise
thx again, dan
Dear Drew, u often recommend starting with 3 days a week, then reducing it slowly.
For example, I do only weighted dips for my chest. When I did unweighted, I did three days, as I added weight I did only two days. Now I can do 4-6 reps of weighted dips (25 kg). Is it time to do just ONE weekly workout, then?
I am assuming as we increase load, better to reduce frequency. Is my logic correct?
Hey Al,
I usually recommend starting with three days per week because I also recommend that people start with a low to moderate intensity so they can focus on learning and practicing proper form before attempting to train more intensely and as a sort of “break in” period to gradually become accustomed to training. Frequency should be reduced if you find after learning to train more intensely that you are not able to make a reasonable degree of progress without more rest. This requires some experimentation and evaluation of exercise progress over a period of weeks and months rather than on a workout to workout basis. Read Workout Performance Versus Progress.
It is so easy to slip into the “doing things to the weight” mindset, that I started skimming this post or your other one called “Getting The Most Out Of Every Rep” before each workout.
My workouts are so much more effective when I’m keep the focus of using the resistance to stimulate improvements. This makes a huge difference when training with my bodyweight using your Kratos program.
Thank you Drew.
You’re welcome! I have recently adopted some changes to the way I train that seem to help with this that I will be writing about after some more experimentation.
Hello mr Drew… nice article as always… Quick question. At what age should someone stop training very low reps? And should stop training all out type training? Am asking those questions from a joint/injury and from heart charged prospective
There is no reason to ever stop training with a high intensity of effort, because intensity has nothing to do with risk of injury. Proper strength training is safer than traditional endurance activities for someone with compromised cardiovascular function, and in most cases intensity does not need to be reduced for that either (although a change of exercises may be necessary).
Drew,
I work out with a metronome on my phone, but find that I tend to focus on the numbers (tempo, rep number) more than the exercise itself. Do you recommend stopping using the metronome and just “feeling” the muscles during the exercise instead in this case? I work out alone so I’d have difficulty counting TUL – should I just not worry about the exact TUL?
The important thing is that you are moving slowly enough to be able to maintain proper positioning and the proper path and range of movement, reverse direction smoothly with no bouncing, yanking, or jerking, and be able to focus on intensely contracting and maintaining tension in the targeted muscles. You still need to measure performance to evaluate progress over time, and TUL is the best way to do this when you’re not using a specific, consistent repetition cadence. This can be done using a stopwatch on a smartphone or tablet with numbers which can be easily seen and placing it somewhere you can see it without compromising head and neck position during the exercise.