Kim here and today I am talking about a very common question I get asked. It usually goes something like this:
“Kim my motivation is in the toilet right now. Got any advice? I want to pack on an extra 20lbs of lean muscle, but it seems like no matter what I do, I just can’t grow….so part of me just says screw it because I feel like I’m spinning my wheels.”
This is a common problem I hear all the time. You train harder and harder, but no matter how hard you seem to train or how much you push it, your body refuses to grow. In fact it may seem paradoxical – the harder you train, the fewer results you see.
However, your analogy may be right on target. You are indeed spinning your wheels and not moving. Lets take that a step further and look at a literal example. Lets say your car’s stuck in a mud hole. What’s going to happen if you step on the gas? Wheels are gonna spin, but you’re not gonna move. What you need to do is ease on and off the gas real gently to get your car rocking back and forth a bit until you’re out of the hole. And when you’re out, that’s when you can slam on the gas again.
Your body is probably overtrained. You’ve trained too much, too often, and now you’re stuck in a hole. Best thing to do is to back off from hard training for a while. This doesn’t mean you cant come to the gym, but it means give yourself a few days of rest, and when you come back, take it easy. One or two sets of exercise per body part. That again, one or two sets per body part. This doesn’t mean 2 sets of bench, 2 sets of cross overs, and 2 sets of incline bench. It means just 2 sets of cross overs, then you’re done with your chest. Repeat that for back and shoulders, and you’re finished. You wont sweat much, you wont work hard, and you wont be there long. You’re easing on the gas and giving yourself a chance to rock out of that hole you trained yourself into.
Here’s an example of what to do.
Monday (chest, back, shoulders, biceps, triceps, forearms)
Warm up: Treadmill 5 minutes
Bench Press – 10 reps / 2 sets
Wide grip bent over rows – 10 reps / 1 set
Wide grip pull ups – 10 reps / 1 set
Overhead dumbbell press – 10 reps / 2 sets
Bicep curls – 10 reps / 2 sets
Wrist curls – 10 reps / 2 sets
Reverse wrist curls – 10 reps / 2 sets
Thursday (Lower back, legs, abs)
Warm up: Treadmill 5 minutes
Front Squats – 10 reps / 2 sets
Good mornings – 10 reps / 2 sets
Weighted crunches – 10 reps / 2 sets
Calf raises – 10 reps / 2 sets
Additional Notes: I’m aware of the lack of direct tricep work on Monday. It’s made that way since 2 sets of bench and 2 sets of overhead press are fine for triceps when you’re backing off. Further I’d suggest you casually bring yourself near failure – that means do not fail mid rep on anything. If you know you’re going to fail on the next rep, then go ahead and stop the set. This works even better if you don’t bother with anything containing caffeine or listening to music. Both of those get your adrenaline pumping, and we’re trying to let your body to include your adrenal glands rest a while.
A week or two of taking it easy is just what you need to perk back up. You’ll feel better and your motivation will return. While you cant completely avoid getting yourself into an overtrained state (getting stuck in a hole), you can increase how long your program can last before you do overtrain by boosting your testosterone. One supplement I recommend to everyone (I really do) that can do this is Mass FX The Destroyer. So long as your diet is in check (high protein, good fats balanced with bad fats, plenty of green leafy vegetables, and other common sense things), this will definitely help keep you out of a rut. And if you find yourself back in a rut, you’ll know what to do.
Hope this helps.
Kim “Swole” Williams
