Why Johnny Can't Grow
Back in the mid-1990s, there was a lot of media coverage devoted to the fact that literacy was down. The major book (and subsequently, the popular tag line on these stories) was called Why Johnny Can't Read.
Well, it appears from the advice columns in most bodybuilding magazines and websites that Johnny can't grow muscle either. With the wealth of information available, it seems strange that guys are having a hard time gaining muscle. I was sheltered from reality for a long time since I worked out at home and wasn't witness to what passes for training in most gyms. Now that I am a personal trainer, it is no longer a mystery to me why Johnny can't grow.
Over the past several months, I've been watching gym members, both male and female, and noticing how they train. For the purposes of this article, we must assume they are eating correctly to support muscle growth. So the problem must be how they train. I have identified eight common mistakes that prevent muscle growth for the majority of trainees. I wanted to list ten mistakes, just for the beauty of a round number, but I only found eight that really stuck with me. I'm sure other trainers and coaches could easily add to the list.
So, without further ado, here are the top eight mistakes I've witnessed in the gym.
1) No one does squats. I never have to wait to use the squat cage, while I might have to wait half an hour to get a bench, usually on Mondays (Universal Chest Day). Those who do squats use the Smith Machine, seldom get anywhere near parallel (see #5), or don't work with enough weight to really stress the muscles. These practices render the squat worthless, rather than the best all-around muscle builder available.
For reasons no one can adequately explain, the squat is the master movement, creating a powerfully anabolic environment in the body. Dr. Randall Strossen created the Super Squats program around the idea of a single set of squats, albeit a 20-rep set with a weight at which you can only do 10 reps. These are also known as breathing squats because you will have to take two or three deep breaths between reps when you get past the tenth or twelfth rep. The only other exercises added to this workout are a set of pullovers, two sets of flat bench presses, and two sets of bent rows. This program has added as much as 30 pounds to some trainees in a period of 6 to 8 weeks.
A correctly performed squat directly works the quadriceps, the hamstrings, and the glutes; the squat also stresses the calves (for stability), the lower back, the abdominals (your built-in lifting belt), the shoulders, the forearms (a tight grip is essential), and a host of smaller stabilizer and synergistic muscles. With all these muscle groups activated simultaneously, it's obvious why the squat produces such amazing growth.
In the words of Dr. Fred Hatfield (a.k.a., Dr. Squat): "If you don't have squats in your program, you don't have a program."
2) No one does deadlifts. This could really be 1b -- it's that important. I have only seen a couple of people perform deadlifts at my gym. After the squat, there is no more effective exercise for working several major muscle groups at the same time. Every muscle from the base of your skull to the back of your ankles -- the whole posterior chain is activated by the deadlift. You also work your shoulders, biceps, and forearms, the latter in particular if you don't use lifting straps.
The deadlift hits so many muscles that there is some disagreement as to whether it's a leg exercise or a back exercise. You've likely seen bodybuilders list it as one or the other in their "championship" programs. The truth is that it is both. Few exercises better work the lower back, upper back, and posterior deltoids in one motion. At the same time, the deadlift effectively works the hamstrings, the glutes, and the quads.
Many strength coaches consider the deadlift a hip-dominant movement. Ian King structures a hip-dominant day around this lift, with squat day being a quad-dominant day. If leg day focuses on squats, with leg curls or straight-leg deadlifts for hamstrings, then the conventional deadlift can be a very solid foundation for back day, pre-fatiguing the lats before hitting chins and bent rows.
3) Few people employ any intensity in their workouts. Most people seem to use weights with which it is "kind of hard" to get 10 repetitions in a set. I seldom see anyone straining to get one last rep, especially in any kind of low-rep training (less than 6 reps per set). Those people who push each set to a high level of intensity are often guilty of always pushing their sets to failure, or even employing drop sets, strip sets, or forced reps (see #7).
If people worked each set very hard and used the maximum weight possible for the desired number of reps, they could have more productive workouts and spend less time in the gym. When I first started lifting weights, I used to do 4 or 5 sets of 10 to 12 reps, and although I gained a little muscle in the first few months, I quickly stalled and began losing strength. Few of us can withstand 4 or 5 sets per exercise and 3 or 4 exercises per muscle group. Those who can are either genetically gifted or using pharmaceutical aids, or both.
One of the more popular strength routines is the traditional 5x5. If properly performed, this protocol is effective for building both strength and size. The combination of lower reps and higher intensity is the perfect antidote to high-volume routines.
4) A lot of trainees perform partial reps instead of using a full range of motion. How many times have you seen some stick figure of a guy load the leg press with plate after plate, groaning and grunting through each set, until he has loaded up 700 to 800 pounds? Ignoring your frustration at not being able to find any plates to use yourself, the laughable part of this whole scenario is his 2-inch range of motion. If he is really tough, he might actually have a 6-inch range of motion.
If you look around the gym, you might see the same basic problem with those few people who do squats, overhead presses, chins, or dips (and the rarely seen weighted dips). It's easier, obviously, to use a shorter range of motion, and you can use a lot more weight, but the muscle is only being worked through part of its movement range. For the muscle to grow properly and become stronger, it needs to be worked through its full range of motion.
The opposite of the 6-inch range of motion for leg press or squats is the bench presser who bounces the bar off his chest. He can't move the weight, under control, through the full range, being weakest at the bottom where the triceps really need to help reverse the movement of the weight. So he bounces the weight off his chest to get a little extra "help" with the lift. The cure for this is a controlled negative and a one-second pause with the bar just touching the chest. Of course, he'll have to reduce the weight on the bar, which could injure his ego (Bench Press is also the Universal Measure of Masculinity; see #8), but better an injured ego than a cracked sternum.
5) Most people perform isolation movements instead of using compound movements. Just today, I noticed someone doing upright rows with about 60 pounds or so -- in the squat rack, of all places. He was a skinny guy, maybe 150 pounds soaking wet. If he ever wants to be BIG, he'll need to learn about compound movements. The upright row isn't a pure isolation movement, but compare it to the high pull, the hang clean, or the power clean, and it looks more like an isolation movement than not.
Somehow, back in the history of bodybuilding, someone created the myth that you need to isolate a muscle to train it effectively. This may be the source of more stagnant training routines than any other foolishness ever presented as truth. Look at power lifters, or especially Olympic lifters, and you will see the size and strength that compound movements can create. Obviously, these guys aren't training to be pretty on a stage, but they are strong and their muscles are huge.
Isolation movements can keep you in the gym two hours a day just to work a couple of muscle groups. I like training, but I also have a life outside the gym. For anyone who isn't competing as a bodybuilder, I will always recommend compound movements. And whenever possible, I will recommend full-body workouts rather than split routines, but that's a different article.
6) Too many people use sloppy form. The cliché for this mistake is the guy doing barbell curls who looks like he's doing some hybrid of a barbell curl, shrug, and upright row in a single movement. Although sloppy form can be harmless when it comes to barbell curls, sloppy form in the squat or deadlift can end a lifting career.
The single greatest cause of sloppy form is using too much weight. For guys, this is an ego thing bordering on a disease. The cardinal rule should be that if you can't lift the weight in good, strict form, then it's too heavy. Of course, an experienced lifter knows when and how to use a "cheat" form to get one or two last reps, but this is a situation where you shouldn't break the rules until you actually know them.
When form breaks down, not only are you at greater risk of injury, you also cease to work the target muscle(s). If you are leaning too far forward in the squat, the tension is less on the quads and glutes and more on the lower back -- a great recipe for herniated discs or severe muscle strains.
This article isn't the forum for teaching proper form. If you have questions or doubt that your form is as tight as it should be, find a professional who can teach you proper, safe form. Learning proper form will aid in muscle growth and strength acquisition, as well as preventing injuries.
7) The people who take a set to failure do so on every set for every exercise. This is the opposite extreme of the people who can't muster any intensity in their workouts. I have been guilty of this one in my lifting career. Working to failure is good and should be a part of every workout, but should not be employed in every set in every workout.
Going to failure, arguably, is necessary for maximum muscle growth. But if every set of every exercise is taken to failure, the stress on the muscles and on the central nervous system eventually will cause over-training -- sooner or later, depending on your recovery capabilities or supplement use. This is where the idea of periodization should come in for most trainees, though few use it or even know what it is. If you design a 12-week program so that you begin working with 70 to 75 percent of your 1RM and slowly build to 90 or 95 percent by the end of the cycle, you are slowly increasing intensity over a period of time (thus the term periodization). During the first couple of weeks, few sets, if any, should be taken to failure. By the last week, you might be working with heavy doubles or triples, taking each set to complete failure.
Even if you don't periodize, take a rest week or a light week every 8 to 10 weeks. During an "active rest" week, work light sets for higher reps and stop two or three reps short of failure. A complete rest week, or even a light week, will provide much needed rest for your muscles and CNS, and will aid muscle growth. Likewise, you can structure each workout so that only the last set of each exercise reaches failure. Either way, allow your body some rest here and there to ensure adequate energy to fuel recovery and growth.
8) Every day seems to be chest and biceps day for some people. You've seen these guys in the gym. They have huge chests, big biceps, and toothpick legs. Most of them have shoulders that are rounded forward, and they look slightly hunchbacked. They never train their legs, rarely train their backs, and have a lot of useless, non-functional size in two muscle groups.
The biceps and chest are known as "beach muscles," the male show-off muscles -- roughly equivalent to a woman with big breasts or a perfectly rounded ass. It's mostly young guys who fall into the trap of focusing on these two muscle groups. Bench press is the Universal Measure of Masculinity, the final measure of male virility. No one asks, "How much do you squat?" The question is always, "How much do you bench?" Hormones, ego, and youth can make the brain slow and dull.
Once this imbalance is created, the only way to fix it is to stop working those muscles and focus all your energy on working the back and legs. For maintenance purposes, you can perform one work set for the dominant muscle groups each week. Once balance is established, you can begin working chest and biceps again, but only as part of a balanced program. The rule should be one or two sets of back work for each set of chest work. And legwork should always be a foundation of your program (see #1).
Conclusion
Those are the eight most common mistakes I see in the gym. None of them are fatal, and if any of them apply to you, take heart -- you can be saved. At some point most trainees who study the science and art of strength training will begin to value functional health and strength over "looking good naked." On the bright side, if you pursue functional strength, you will look good naked, and you'll be healthy, as well.
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