WarriorFX

Deep within the bodybuilding magazines’ lore of successful bodybuilding tactics lays an often misunderstood truth: successful bodybuilding requires increases in power to generate maximum development. But what is power and how do the concepts apply to human physiology?

In general physics terms, power is the average amount of work done or energy transferred per unit of time, again, per unit of time. When you perform resistance exercise you are generating power that can be easily measured with the often neglected variable. Many training logs record sets, reps, loads, some girl’s phone number - but most neglect the start and end times.

You show up to the gym with your game face on, ready to make some improvements. You warm up with some flat barbell bench presses, preparing for your first working set. Time to get it on; you push out 10 repetitions of 225 pounds for 4 sets. If you did the exact same thing last time, could you have progressed? Certainly, but the extent lies in using the time to completion as part of the overall equation judging progress.

If you lift 225 pounds for 10 repetitions, you lifted 2250 pounds total. If you do this for 4 sets; you lifted 9000 pounds. But it doesn’t stop there. Last workout, from beginning to end, you did this in 10 minutes. If you divide 9000 by 10 you get 900 pounds per minute. If you did the same work in 9 minutes this workout; you lifted 1000 pounds per minute - a nice gain of 100 pounds per minute! You are continuing to develop your musculature by performing the same work in less time.

Remember the infamous question, “how much can you bench?” The correct response from this example would be 900 pounds per minute. Not the conventional answer, but one that refers to this misunderstood concept.

The body needs a reason to adapt. Simply going in and adding more weight to the bar - or going in completely blind to what defines progress - can leave you feeling hopeless, when in reality, you may be gaining. Short rest intervals can leave you re-training a muscle before it has been able to completely recover from the last set, but this is where true progress occurs. It’s the sweet-spot of your physiology. You must find loads, reps, and sets that lead to you performing more power over the same length of time.

Next time you are in the gym, think about this. Think about how many times you sit around staring at the mirror as if you could mind-build greater musculature; when you should be preparing for your next set. Bodybuilding is about short rest intervals and training that creates a demand for increased power. These workouts can be brutal, sometimes straight up nauseating, but they create a powerful growth cue for the body.

Stop sitting around, start a training log if you haven’t yet, and get moving - the clock on the wall is tickin’ and you should be sweatin’.