Hard to go easy
9/9-2015
In a recent post (31/8) I said I was going to spend the next few weeks working out in accordance with the following guidelines: 1. Low volume. No more than 10 sets per muscle group in one session – and no more than 6 reps in any set. 2. Finishing each set far from failure. 3. Most often only two different exercises per muscle group in one workout session.
This is an approach that is significantly easier and much lower in volume than my usual routine. However, yesterday I found that it can be really hard to keep things easy. I was targeting my arms with the intention of performing only a few sets of inclined biceps curl and seated Rocky extensions, but only 30 minutes into my routine I had already done three times the amount of work that I had intended for the full session – and when I left the gym I did so after performing more than 40 intense sets. Today both my biceps and my triceps are not only sore, but actually quite bombed out in a manner that will forbid any further arm training for at least 72 hours.
Why did I abandon my plans and went the opposite way? The fact is that this was a spur of the moment improvisation that came about simply because I was enjoying myself too much. So, instead of mourning my failed intention I choose to regard today´s soreness as a tribute to my passion for the iron game – and, furthermore, I would like to urge any reader sharing my appetite for weight training to always be ready to follow your heart at the gym. If you are having a good day - where you find yourself in tune with your body and the waves of endorphins start to go through you already at the warm-up - then do not quell this fire just because your pre-formulated plans tells you to; instead make sure to nurture this grand feeling of being at your best. Make the blood sing all it can about the joys of life!
Hmm… A bit over the top there at the end? Maybe. But then again, is there anything more poetic than the feeling of a really good biceps pump?
For a summary I’ll throw the following words of wisdom at you before ending this post with a photo taken last week: a plan is a good thing, but sometimes the best plan is to improvise completely.
