The other night while I was in the kitchen, my son (5) and my daughter (16) were playing Monopoly at the table in the Dining room.  My son had accumulated quite a few $1 bills and my daughter, being the banker, needed some for the bank.  She offered to give him a $10 bill for ten $1 bills.  My son adamantly refused.  She fell back on option number two: she gives him a $10 bill and he gives her nine $1 bills.  Again he refused.  His counter-offer?  He’d give her one $1 bill for one $10 bill.

He didn’t understand that one $10 bill was the same as ten $1 bills.  He thought that since he had MORE bills, he had MORE money than she was going to give him and was losing out on the deal.  I always find the logic of a 5 year-old interesting.  In fact, so much so that it inspired this post.

The same theory he was using in monopoly is the same theory I see people using in the gym.  In fact, I was guilty of exactly the same thing when I first started.  That theory being that more means better. 

Get four for the price of one!

One area I see people applying the ‘more is better’ theory is in their choice of exercises.  Your body parts don’t work in isolation so why train them like they do?  I’m not saying that isolation exercises don’t have their place but a routine based around isolation exercises is very inefficient.  Look at it this way.  Let’s say you do three sets of leg extensions (machine), three sets of hamstring curls (machine), three sets of calf raises (machine), and three sets of leg presses (machine).  Most people would consider that a full leg workout.  That’s twelve total sets.

Now let’s look at what would be more efficient.  The squat works your quads, hamstrings, calves, and glutes. Wait, didn’t you just work all of the same muscles in one exercise as you did in all four of the other exercises?  Exactly.  If you’re looking to build muscle, gain strength, and lose fat, the squat wins hands down.  Not only is it more efficient but all of the involved muscle groups are working together to perform the exercise which leads to improved functional performance. 

Make it burn!

If 10 reps give you and increase in size, then 30 reps would be better!  Ummmm, no.  It’s the weight you move and the amount of fatigue on the muscles that make the difference.  It is generally accepted that low reps (3-6) works best for strength, medium reps (8-12) works best for hypertrophy  (gaining muscle), and high reps (15-20) works best for conditioning.  For each of these, you should be barely able to finish your last set but, at the same time, you should be able to finish your last set.  If you don’t know what weight that is, don’t worry.  It won’t take you long to figure it out.

I work out for 5 hours a day!

There are those that feel that the more time they spend in the gym, the better the results.  This is really subject to the law of diminishing returns.  At some point, and that point is different for everybody, you will stop seeing improvements for your time investment.  The more you increase the time you spend working out, the more you run the risk of over training.  You will stop seeing progress and could even see loss in strength and conditioning.

When you’re first starting to workout, it can be easy to assume that if a little of some things are good, the more would be better.  Try to resist the temptation.  Not only could you limit your strength gains, muscle gains, and fat loss but you could also injure yourself.

Please feel free to add any comments below.