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While you have most likely already laid out your personal training program, knowing and understanding the "7 Granddaddy Laws" offers a great insight into reviewing your training and making sure you are always progressing...
1 Principle of Individual Differences.
A tendency people have, when they start working out, is to copy, the “big guy” in the gym or the most fit girl on the treadmill, and expect to have the same results as they have been struggling for.
Unfortunately that is not always whats going to happen, and after a period of time, they get more and more desperate, because of the lack of results.
Strength training, is not only a question about lifting weights, but also a learning in how to listen to your body. How to feel your body. And how to get most out of your genetic blueprint. We are all born with our differences, for some people, its very easy to build muscles, and for others very difficult. You can make a big step on the way, by listening to your own body, read some science, and not always believe in Gym Science.
2 Overcompensation Principle
This is a very simple principle, but yet very important. Muscle fibers grow in size in response to training. An example is calluses in your hand, what happen if you use your hands a lot ? You get more calluses on your hands. the same goes for muscle fibers
3 Overload Principle
If you always have the same amount of weight and use the same amount of reps in your exercises, your improvement will stop according to your body's adaption, and to the amount of stress you put to your body thru weight and reps.
To improve further you have to go beyond the point which your body already has adapted to.
One way is to add more and more weight for each time you work out, and thereby put more stress to your muscles and body.
This you can do, to a certain point, until your body cannot recuperative, and you will end up over training , or just get used to the stress.
At this point in your training, you should go to a split system, example, front and back, a 2 split. Later even a 3, 4 or 5 split. because your body will demand it to go even further. If you stay In the same training regimen, you will hit a plateau or being over training. other way to keep improving I will mention later in this article.
4 SAID Principle
Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demands. if you want to go for increased muscle mass, you train for increased muscle mass, if you want endurance you go for endurance, or if you want to improve your cardiovascular system, you train your heart and lungs by doing cardio, not by doing heavy weights.
This principle tells you to train after what your goal is.
A general rule in weight training is 12-15 reps is more like endurance, 6-12 is muscle mass, and finally 1-6 is strength. Keep that in mind when you plan your work out,and remember to take principle number 1 into consideration as well.
5 Use/Disuse
Use or lose it, that's simple, if you train to a certain point, and stop training, you will by time loose all what you have been fighting for. an actually it goes faster than you think. But the good point is, that our muscles have a memory, so it does not take so much time to get back to it again.
Certain training systems as the HST systems uses this principle based on that the strength curve drops much fast than your mass curves. Which means after a break you train with less weight but you still have the same size.
6 Specificity Principle
This principle means you start out with fundamental training, basic work out, and by time you move on to more specific work out. We all have our weak muscles and spots. example you have been working out for 3 years and have develop great upper body, but your legs are behind. there for to reach your final goal, you have to specify and go more in depths with your leg training, and include some squats for example.
7 GAS Principle.
General Adaptation Syndrome
This principle states, that after a period of hard high intensity training, a period of low intensity training, or a complete rest period must occur, In order to recover your body.
This is very important in order for the muscles to heal and recover and to be fully strong and recovered for the next period of high hard intensity training.
There can be a little confusion because some tissues and cellular component, may not need any rest at all. But muscles especially when heavy weight training has occurred, need time to recovery, and you do not necessary go that heavy next time you work out.
These principles offer a good guideline next time you plan your work out, keep them in mind and use them wisely.
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