So to piggy back off of an earlier post of mine about core values I want to take this time to explain to you a bit about my training core values or my Training Philosophy.
Much like core values, training philosophy is essentially a list of guidelines that I fall back on when I’m writing a training program, an individual workout or when learning something new. These values aren’t static, I try to revisit them as often as possible but as of now (April 7,2020) this is what I believe in……and I reserve my right to change them in the future….this is America damn it.
- Strength First: no matter the goal, strength is going to have the greatest impact to everything we endeavor in.
- Start Light: you can always ad weight to the bar, be patient and master your technique.
- Use Big Movements: prioritize the movements that target the most muscle through the most effective range of motion.
- Consistency: a program you can’t adhere to is useless. Be honest and realistic, consistency will get you where you want to go.
- Work Your Weaknesses: maximize your strengths and chip away at your weaknesses everyday.
Since the name of this website is cbstrength.com it would be silly to not have strength prioritized in my training philosophy. It’s simple, getting stronger with barbells builds strength both in and out of the gym. I’ll get into the weeds a bit on why strength is so important in a later post.
Starting light might seem to contradict the first tenant of this philosophy but the truth is we all have to start somewhere. No one every walked in the gym and on day 1 and squatted 500lbs….except maybe Frank Dux is Bloodsport. Start with a weight you can handle and as you develop your technique add incremental amounts each time so you not only get stronger but your technique gets better too.
Use big movements and more specifically use barbells. If you’ve never used one, great, if you have then keep doing it but find someone who can help teach you. There’s more to the squat, press, bench press, and deadlift then just grabbing a bar, loading it up and yelling “LIGHT WEIGHT”. These movements train the most muscle mass over the longest effective range of motion and should be the main stay of your training. Whether your 16 or 70 there’s a way to use them.
Consistency is king. The person who workouts 3 times a week 50 weeks a year is going to log 150 workouts that year. A lot of people think they need to work out 5, 6 even 7 days a week. But let’s be honest, how long can you maintain that? Pick a plan that works for you or better yet find someone to help MAKE a plan that works for you and get movin’.
Possibly the most difficult thing for any of us to do is work on things we suck at or don’t like to do. I know for me I hate doing any type of cardio, but I force myself to do it at least one day per week. It’s important to maximize your strengths but you can’t ignore the things you don’t like or aren’t good at. Maybe you just haven’t found what works for you, or a strong enough reason to validate doing it. Find your weaknesses and work on them.
All in all this sums up my beliefs pretty briefly. If you are interested in more then give me a shout and let’s do this, together.
CB Strength and Conditioning 