Change or Die

           I have developed many reiterations of my Furyan sets over the course of its development and I can pretty much guarantee you that I will not be performing this exact routine between the time of writing this post and the time it gets published. As I have mentioned, the human body is remarkably adaptive. You begin by “teaching” your body what you want it to do. Once it understands the basic dynamics of an Arnold Shoulder Press and you have perfected your form, this is when you will start to see dramatic gains in the amount of weight that you can lift.

           Because of this adaptability and the previously referenced Law of Diminishing Returns, you have to keep finding new and different things to work into the rotation. Even now, as I am writing this I am experimenting with Shotgun Rows to attack my lat muscles and a variation of the squat called a Landmine Squat for my quads. You have to always be on the lookout for new exercises to try.  

           Some exercises, like the One-Armed Linear Jammer, look freaking intimidating on paper but once you execute them, you realize they are really fun and explosive to do. Now, it is the first thing I do in my Shoulder & Lat day but when I started, it wasn’t even in my arsenal.

           You might look at a Hanging Leg Raise and scoff. Trust me, you will get there eventually. So you have to keep looking for new and exciting things to do. My splits and my antagonistic sets are probably never going to change because I feel it is a very solid philosophy. But don’t let the list that I have provided be your sole set of exercises.

           Be constantly expanding in your quest of fitness health. Find exercises that you really like and then build a program around them. Maybe you have health issues or medical problems that are going to limit what exercises you can perform. That is absolutely fine. Adapt. And this is where it is very nice to have access to a personal trainer that can help you design a program around such medical limitations.

           There is also nothing wrong with doing some research and experimenting. Give something a try. You never know what may fire your imagination. Let me stress this as well. Have FUN! The more fun you have, the more likely you are to keep this up.

           When I first was getting started, squats were murder and deadlifts literally made me want to puke afterwards. As a result I dreaded leg day. This is where you have to experiment with weight and reps. Before I understood hypertrophy, I was doing squats at a lower weight for 12 reps. And I thought that was the way to go with deadlifts as well.

           Then I changed my thinking. Why keep muscle under tension for such a tremendous amount of time, when it was an exercise that I hated? Instead, I thought, Let’s just pack the weight on and get in and out as fast as possible. I started doing sets of 5. I started to see real legitimate gains and suddenly getting to 8 reps was not nearly as torturous. Now, I can do sets of 10 and not feel like vomiting.

           You have to be constantly adapting and changing because your body is going to adapt and you will start seeing diminishing returns. Just remember, if you want to increase your bench press, you don’t just do bench press. You do a variety of chest muscles that will stimulate growth and strength. So, keep things changing to see more improvement.