Training variety
. Some people stress the importance of training variety as a means to prevent
overtraining. If they mean rational training variety within the confines of
what works for the drug-free typical trainee, fine. But if they mean, as they
usually do, to change the routine every so often despite the training vol-
ume, frequency and/or intensity being beyond the recovery abilities of the
trainee, that is no good. And if they mean chopping and changing exercises
every week or few, that is training suicide to a hard gainer.. Hard gainers need to stick to a pool of safe major exercises, and a fixed sen-
sible training format for a sustained period of months before making any
changes. Only in that way can they get full value from each exercise. How
can you get the most from an exercise, or a rep or set format, if you do it for
only a few weeks? You will forever be getting used to exercise changes—i.e.,
learning or revising the grooves, finding the right working poundages, and
familiarizing yourself with changes. You will never have sufficient time to
dedicate to consistent workouts to build up your poundages into new per-
sonal bests.. e most important factor behind sustained training motivation is sus-
tained progress, and excessive variety will kill your gains.Combining the training variables
. Find the minimum volume, intensity and frequency of training that will
deliver consistent gains. en you will have a margin for error so that you
can stay below the threshold of overtraining. In this way you will minimize
the chances of being so near the edge that just a little more work will push
you over it. Most people design their routines with the attitude of doing as
much as they can get away with. Some just manage to keep it a tad under
overtraining, but most do not, which is why most non-beginners stagnate
for years on end.. Be on the lookout for warning signs of overtraining, and act on them imme-
diately if or when they appear—to nip overtraining in the bud. Do this to
get control over your bodybuilding and strength training. Never surrender
control to another person.