Ever wondered if your workout is actually working out for you? And how you can make it better?
My workout used to SUCK, a lot and I was wasting my efforts and time performing unproductive repetitions. There are good training structures during your workouts and then there are bad ones that can lead you down a long and unfruitful road. So what is a good training program/structure?
The bottom line is: Do the MOST DIFFICULT skill first then proceed to the easier ones.
How it works:
Understand your Central Nervous System (CNS)
What you have to understand is this thing called your central nervous system, or CNS. In any workout session, your brain is firing signals, weak and strong to your muscles to move your body. During the course of your workout, these signals become weaker and weaker.
Why Performing the Most Difficult Skill first works
Performing the most difficult skill first requires your brain and CNS to be at its freshest, so you can output 100% of your strength and effort to perform that skill. Perform such skills with low repetitions and longer rest. Then as your CNS becomes more fatigued, you perform easier repetitions but with more repetitions. You might not be able to output at a 100% strength, but you could output at 70% for many repetitions.
Hypertrophy comes later
Then you can transition from building purely strength at the beginning of the workout, to building muscle and endurance later on. Building muscle and endurance usually requires more volume which means more repetitions, which is perfect for a slightly depleted CNS. This is because for an exercise that you could perform with more repetitions, you are most likely not firing your CNS at more than 70% of its threshold.
This way, you get to train for strength, muscle growth, as well as endurance. At every stage, your body is able to handle the load, maximizing the benefits gained from every workout.
One Liner Summary:
Remember, if you find it hard to understand the fancy jargon here, it simply means: Doing the MOST DIFFICULT skill first, then doing the easier skills later on with higher repetitions. Happy training!