The World's Best Hand & Grip Strength Training Instruction
Bad Workout? No Problem... Here's What To Do (Part II)
Yesterday we went into a couple different ways to deal with a bad workout. One thing to keep in mind is that bad workouts don't just happen, there is always an explanation.
Today we are going to look at a few of the factors outside of the actual training that may be contributing to your training problems and what to do about them:
1. Too much training, not enough rest - This seems pretty straightforward and it is a bit of a refresher from yesterday's email.
but this is a advice that always bears repeating. For some reason, when it comes to grip training, many people tend to throw logic out the window.
For example, it is a commonly held belief by many people that “because the hands and forearms are small muscle groups they will recover faster and
I can train them hard every day.”
This is a big mistake.
When you train as hard as you possibly can (or even only moderately hard), you
can't lift every day and hope to make any kind of meaningful progress. You just can't...So don't even try. If you do happen to be making some progress with a daily lifting schedule such as this, you
will probably go a lot farther by cutting back. Trust me on this.
2. Sleep to grow - Are you getting enough sleep at night or staying up to the wee hours playing video games
(or otherwise screwing around) when you should be resting?
Several weeks of restful sleep every night can make you grow like a weed.
Eight hours is recommended though I know that with so many things going on in your life, sometimes that just isn't going to happen.
For the amount of sleep you are able to get, try to make that as restful as possible.
For other sleep tips and useful information, I highly recommend checking out The Promise of Sleep by William C. Dement (ISBN 0440509017)
3. Feed the machine - How about your diet, good wholesome food or pop and potato chips?
A Ferrari isn't going to run as well as it can when you pump it full of low quality fuel and neither will your body.
If your diet is a case of “pergamentum init, exit pergamentum” (Garbage in, garbage out) then you have to make a change.
There is nothing better than wholesome, real food. Also don't make the mistake of trying to live off supplements only.
They are called supplements for a reason, because they supplement the real food you eat.
4. Don't underestimate the impact of stress from work/school/family etc. - Darn, there's real life getting in the way
of my workout again! With some things, you just have to do what you have to do. If you are under a lot more stress
lately than you have had to deal with in the past, there is a good chance that you are going to have to adjust your workout.
Of course a workout can be a great stress reliever on its own but don't assume that you can train the same way under
high stress situations than you did when things were going a lot smoother. For example during exam week, I always had to cut
my workouts down by about half. I knew I had only so much energy to expend and needed to devote it to studying. That way I could keep
making good progress in my workouts, even if only in a few things, as well as get
my studying done.
5. Alcohol or tobacco? - You'd be better off dropping these altogether for a lot of reasons.
I won't go into all the ways that these will put a big time damper on your potential.
It should be pretty obvious. I have seen plenty of strongmen drink themselves weak.
6. Active rest & Cardiovascular work - There is no doubt that It is important to recover between workouts but you will actually
hinder your progress by "veg-ing" out on the couch too often. I have always found that being somewhat active between workouts helps me
to recover at a much greater rate.
This helps get the blood pumping, warm up the joints and get rid of the lactic acid and other waste products in the blood. It doesn't take much
even just a light jog can work wonders for this kind of thing.
7. Stretching and active rest for the hands - This one is building off #6 and is directed specifically toward hand and grip strength development.
Yes, I feel the same rules apply as in #6, some active rest work between workouts will go a loooong way as far as enhancing your progress. BUT this kind of thing
is very easy to put off and I know that I have that problem at times. We will have a full stretching and recovery
guide specifically devoted to the hands finished shortly which will outline some of the very best ways to do this.
There are other factors but I would say these are the most straightforward. If you say you want to be the best, then
mean it and don't be a hypocrite.
Last week, I sent out a great quote by the Old Time MEE-shi-gan football coach Fielding Yost. Here is another one great one:
“To me, no coach in America asks a man to make any sacrifice.
He requests the opposite: to live clean, think clean and come clean.
To stop doing all the things that destroy you mentally, physically,
and morally, and begin doing those things that make you
keener, finer, more competent.” -Fielding H. Yost
If you are truly serious about your training and reaching your goals, you will stay committed inside of the weight room and out. Tomorrow, we are going to go into the third and probably the most important aspect
of dealing with a bad workout, conquering the mental side.
John Wood
P.S. With a set of the Captains of Crush hand grippers, strong hands will be in your future.
Get 'em here.
