"Simplicity Is The Key To Brilliance"
- Bruce Lee
I was driving up to Diamond Gym on a cold winter night. It was just past 5 PM and I was sitting in a boat load of traffic, literally, moving nowhere. I was stressed out of my mind, up to my ears in work for Grad School, teaching, coaching wrestling and trying to manage it all.
It was the FIRST time in my life I was truly finding it difficult to find the time to train....
I was dreading the fact that I was gonna have to train at a "normal gym" and leave Diamond Gym behind.
I had been training at Diamond Gym for about 7 years and it was looking like the end of the straw for me.
Traffic wasn't moving and I inched my way across the highway as I stressed out and felt my heart beat racing. I cut off my fair share of cars, took the nearest exit, turned around and went home, defeated, stressed and depressed.
I went home and mapped out a training routine to fit my insane schedule of teaching, finishing Grad school & coaching Wrestling.
I was heavily influenced by Dorian Yates' style of HIT (High Intensity Training), aka Heavy Duty.
I had always responded well to training every other day while others were training 2 - 4 days in a row so I wasn't overly concerned with training less than what the magazines said you should be doing.
My routine was gonna be bare bones minimum and looked like this:
Tuesday: Legs
Sunday: Upper Body
My other days were spent working as a teacher, coaching wrestling and studying my ass off for Grad school.
This was the only way I would be able to make my training work with my busy schedule and to my shock, it worked very well.
I still got stronger, still got bigger and contrary to what many would assume, my metabolism didn't slow down.
I stayed lean and mean. It was a matter of eating clean, plain and simple.
In addition, being a Physical Education teacher I was very active throughout my day. I never had a moment to sit down.
Above, The Photos of Dorian that inspired me to cut back my training volume and embrace recovery.
I am currently back to hitting minimalist training again, for a few reasons:
- I've been on a very high volume training plan for a while now, since March or April of 2012. My body will reap the rewards of the added recovery.
- Like life back in the day, I am in a very hectic, busy time. Life stress is often times tougher on the body than training stress.
- When my volume of training gets very high I tend to lose focus on balancing all my training with mobility and proper recovery. My rest days are getting this attention at home, using various methods to improve health, mobility and recovery.
As you can see, there are Many benefits to minimalist style workouts.
Here's my Top 5 Reasons Why You Should Embrace Minimalist Workouts At Least SOME of the Time:
1) Maximum Recovery - As much as I encourage you to kick ass and take names in training, not enough of you do the right things outside the training to ensure you reap the rewards of hard work. Proper nutrition, ample sleep every night, etc. are the game changers to getting you jacked and lean.
2) Laser Like Focus - When you know you're only training 2 or 3 x week you are less likely to allow that workout to slip into becoming a mediocre workout. You know you're gonna focus and treat each and every rep like your last.
3) Time Is Of The Essence - Remember when Mom did your laundry and cooked dinner every night and you took a daily nap? Yes you DO! ha ha Well, with minimalist workouts, you hit 2 - 4 exercises per workout and you KNOW it's not gonna put a dent in your day and you'll still have a life. Get in and get out.
I'll be back with Part 2 soon enough to finish Tips 4 & 5.
Till then, start implementing a minimalist training program and see how you feel.
Till the next time....
Live The Code
--Z--
Underground Strength Inner Circle Members:
Get The Minimalist Training System HERE
Non Members:
Take The $1 Trial for 30 Days HERE
20 Responses
Minamilist has been the name of the game for the last year and half. This article I found really interesting, Chad Waterbury definitely knows his shyt too. One of my favorite fitness authors out there.
http://chadwaterbury.com/total-body-training-twice-per-week/
Its a great plan for gaining on a tight schedule.
Yes, and, his volume approach is also damn cool!
“This is hardcore! It’s Blood and Guts!” opening line to his training video. My boys love it!
There is an interview where he states that he trains three hours. The interviewer asks if that is per day. He responsed, “No per week. I get in. Do what I have to do. And get out.” His attack was specific and to the point.
He is the reason I started lifting!
Today the training sessions are similar to Yates. Get in and push it hard for 20-30 minutes. Being old does force you to spend more time rehabing with roller and stretches.
Toss in Westside principles in relation to accessory exercises and GPP everything is going well and getting stronger.
I remember watching that on VHS over and over and over!
I have an old photo of me shaking Dorian’s hand on the streets of NYC in the summer of 95′!
Although I was natural, I followed Dorian’s approach to getting in and getting out of the gym and it always worked great with respect to strength and adding muscle mass.
Good stuff Zach. Let me know how your body thanks you with the extra recovery. Minimalist is always fun.
yea bro, fighting that insane flu bug as we speak, and I think with all my work going on it’s gonna be great!
Great point, I am a Medic in FL, gotta keep that Immune system up!! Nutrition+recovery= 🙂
Bu-yea! Simple is the way to go! I’m getting ready to move out to Colorado this spring And I’m already hacking complex stuff from my life to get ready.
The simpler I make my workouts the harder I can work.
Matt right on – they key is to do just enough and no more. Gonna be FUN!
Yah, this is something I always struggle with, I often go into a workout with a minimalist program, but always fall prey to the rush and go longer and longer, and then adding things to add intensity/density. Then once I set a precedent I feel the need to do as much or more the next time. Strength always suffers.
Even though I may know better, I was up to close to a thousand burpees a day (sets of 50 or 30 in between everything) several days in a row a few days back + squatting 8 sets per workout, or 10sets chins,, over 500 vups etc… It can become addicting, and this is on top of Med school, work, and living a primal lifestyle ( no junk food, processed food, and needing weight gain)
Thanks Zach , hope you can help me dial back and get progress not exhaustion.!!
Brandon – ur such a BEAST Dude, it’s NOT even funny, Burpee BEAST!!!
I am psyched to see your numbers in strength are UP
5 x 5 pull ups and 8 x 3 squats at 185 is solid work
I still wanna see a balance in your pulling to pushing!
Keep growing strong, brutha man!
Oh and Zach,
What about bodyweight workouts (do you count those toward total per week?)
Say doing 6×6 each of pistols, dips, chins, + jumps/burpees…
with burpees as conditioning during/after? once per week then
would you count that with- say-
two weight workouts (one squat/one dead lift oriented, then vertical and horizontal press/pull (1 movement each per workout) total about 20 sets-
2 x per week as “enough” for a goal of muscle-strength gain/conditioning
Brandon I see you’ve adapted to all this high volume training where as for me that would count as a workout.
Minimalist workouts is never more than 3 x week my man!
Mad props to you man,
went from 1-2 chins to now banging out 5-6 no prob within two weeks!!
Funny I can do fingertip chins just as easy as full grip?
Still I was doing Ok with the BEAST program, but once I got to the split workouts I fell off the wagon and started the OCD adding, adding,
today was going to be off but went:
AM) pushups 5×25+back bends 4x1min
pull-ups off a overhang at school/work 5×3-5 through day
STRENGTH-Later
burpees 100 in 5min 45 sec
Deadlifts 5×5 w/ 240 PR!!
A1) Push-press 5×5 w 90 (gotta get that right arm nerve pinch back to par)
A2) decline situps 5×12 round the worlds
A3) chins B/W 5×5
then 3×15 each arm DB /kttb swings 50lb -45sec rest after one cycle of both arms
3×10 stand to stand back bends
Later:
burpees 30, pullups 5, diamond pushups 10
burpees 30, pullups 5, D pushups 10
burpees 40+, pullups 5, D pushups 10
Yeahhhhh Z,
I never took any shame into hitting a big compound lift for the day. Sometimes, when I am really cramped on time-I end up just squatting for the day. Just benching. Just deadlifting or power cleaning. It’s better to attack one of the big lifts with intensity, than to do nothing at all. Even if you did one big lift 6 days a week, it all adds up. Minimal—you bet. Maximal results, fkin’ A.
1 lift a day is also powerful, been there!
Yesterday I did KB snatches and finished with 100 lb d ball shouldering.
2 exercises per workout has been the method I’m on the past few weeks!
I have been using minimalist training for a while now by using kettlebells and sticking to circuit workouts. Right now I am on military orders and the body builder in my unit is surprised by my size and definition with only using my 50 pound kettlebell. I enjoy the minimalist approach because I am too busy to be sitting in the gym for such a long time and I like the idea of looking like a monster with only doing 20-30 min workouts. Great read Even-Esh!
Nic Diesel heading to Military?
No more teaching? Much respect, brotha, pls keep me posted!
Z, I am stronger and leaner since I cut my training back to 2 or 3 days a week.
More sleep, better food, anc less stress are all helpful too.
Frank that is awesome, sounds like you have the lifestyle locked down as well!