TAKE IT EASY

We’re misguided into believing that we need to go 110%— GO HARD OR GO HOME— I’ll sleep when I’m dead— NO PAIN, NO GAIN— Harder Than Last Time!

But in reality, the vast majority of your training— if your program is structured and well designed— IS PREPARATION.

When building up to get as big as possible, we know training volume & hypertrophy are directly correlated, assuming we’re talking about EFFECTIVE HIGH-QUALITY VOLUME and not JUNK VOLUME.

Do you think you can go there hit MRV—MAXIMUM RECOVERABLE VOLUME AKA 100% of your work capacity for a muscle group— FOREVER!?!?

Would you think that it is wise to go to the gym and squat your true 1RM, multiple times, every single workout!?

Maybe you’ve heard about the Bulgarian Method, developed by the mythical weightlifting coach Ivan Abadzhiev, where people did exactly just that, max effort EVERY DAY, and produced several Olympic Gold Medals in Weightlifting.

So yo, sounds like a good idea, doesn’t it!?

But what you might not know, is that Abadzhiev was also introducing copious amounts of steroids to allow his athletes to survive his stupid program, an injection of DECA + 180 DBOL tabs weekly, and also the competition special, 200 Dianabol tabs AT COMPETITION DAY.

And even with enough drugs to potentially morph a human into The ManBearPig, he was still nicknamed “The Butcher”, because only a few genetic elite athletes were able to survive his methodology.

If you want to introduce a KICKASS approach, the vast majority of your training should be SUBMAXIMAL— PREPARATION.

Let’s create the analogy that this quest towards J-J-JACKEDNESS is a race— imagine your effort as the gas pedal in a racecar— it’s one of the primary determinants of how fast your car moves around the track— YOU WANT TO GIVE AS MUCH EFFORT AS POSSIBLE— but tell me what would happen if you try to go pedal to the metal in a tight turn?

If you’re lucky, you’ll spin, lose some time, readjust, and get back to the race— if you’re not, you’ll crash and burn, and no more racing for you, my G.

So how does a good racer deal with a tight turn?

He hits the brakes— STRATEGICALLY— reduces the speed-the effort and goes through the turn at a speed that allows him to safely go through that portion of the racetrack, and when a straightaway presents itself, that’s the time to go PEDAL TO THE METAL— until the next turn presents itself.

Your effort in the gym has to follow that same principle— YOU TAKE WHAT IS THERE— and nothing more, you don’t force a weight that is screwing up your technique, that is hurting you, that you’re not confident in moving THAT DAY, just because you’ve hit it before in the past.

Your days are not equal, your strength day in and day out is never the same, your sleep, your stress levels, your relationships, what you shove inside your body, all factors of your lifestyle that you can and cannot control impact your performance, and knowing when to hit the brakes and just cruise, and when to go BERZERKER is a skill in itself that will determine if you’re going to complete the fucking race or not.

So rejoice on the days you can go 110%, but don’t turn it into the goal of your workouts ‘cause if you really want to go as fast as possible, you’ll have to go at 50% in some turns —THEM DELOADS BABY— on other segments you’ll go at 70%-80%-90%—THAT WAVE LOADING BAD BOY.

PERIODIZATION.

You want to get as big as possible!?

Start with 70% of your usual volume, TAKE IT EASY, and slowly ramp it up week after week until you’re at your peak weeks where you’re challenging the limits of your recoverability, then DELOAD, and restart the process.

Wanna get strong!?

Same deal, start with 70% of your 3-5RM, TAKE IT EASY, increase it by 5% each week, until you’re at 100% again— Test your new max, and voilá, PR TIME for the vast majority of lifters, then DELOAD, and restart the process.

The vast majority of your training cycle, should be submaximal, shouldn’t be about challenging your absolute maximum ability, but slowly building you up into a new normal, getting you accostumed to living in the 70-80-90% effort range, to then sporadically challenging your 100%.

It’s about living to fight another day— being strategic so CONSISTENCY IS EVEN AN OPTION.

So take it easy, MY BRUDDAHS!

AND STAY ON THE IRON PATH!

Big KISS

THE POTATO MAN