HARD is not ENOUGH. You've GOT TO BE SMART

Every time I go to any gym or fitness centre, I can always find someone who is working hard. Every time I go there at the same time, definitely I find the same guy busting his butt. Sometimes even I can find two or three guys working hard in there every time I go to the gym. Every time here does NOT MEAN everyday. I DO NOT go to the gym everyday. Probably, those guys do, that is why I will always meet them every time I am there (which is not everyday).

Those guys are working hard. I admire their determinations and willingness. I always find them pumping BIG and HUGE iron plates up and down. But one thing in common from those guys. THEIR BODIES DO NOT SHOW RESULTS. Quite sad isn’t it? They work hard, probably everyday, but they do not get the results (be it muscle growth or fat loss) they “deserve”. Yes, it is sad, but here is the fact. When it comes to build muscle or lose fat, WORKING HARD is NOT ENOUGH. You have got to be WORKING SMART TOO. That is the fact.

I worked hard for one a half years at the school’s gym but yet I was just still a skinny guy. Nobody believed that I worked hard at the gym EVERYDAY, nobody believed that I was strong, because my body did not show it. Finally, I decided to WORK HARD AND SMART.

Then I realized that I MUST NOT workout EVERYDAY. This will DEFINITELY lead to OVERTRAINING, unless you are Kryptonian like Clark Kent, the SUPERMAN. In overtrained state, your body WILL NOT BUILD MUSCLE. Even worse, your body will lose its ability to build muscle optimally, which means your muscle growth will be slower than ever. That means, your body will not be able to replace the muscles broken down during your EVERYDAY workout (which means your muscle mass will decrease EVERYDAY). This will affect your strength growth but more importantly, you lose your fat burning machine (see my previous notes, “How many crunches/sit-ups per day is the best?? -> NOT IMPORTANT”) and as a result, you will gain fat more easily. Also, tons and tons of other problems. I think that’s enough to say that OVERTRAIN is bad and must be avoided. Therefore, WORK SMART is needed in addition to WORK HARD.

So now, how to work smart in building muscle and lose fat? First, before you go back to the gym and start breaking down your muscle, you have to make sure that you have recovered from the last workout. How do you know that? Pay attention to your intensity (exercise tempo, resting/workout duration, weights you use). If your resting/workout duration is longer than the previous workout while in fact you do the same movement with same number of sets and reps and same weights, then you might be on the brink of overtraining. If you can’t increase your workout intensity two times in a row, you might want to take a 3-4 days off. The rule here is simple. Try to improve your intensity in each workout. If you fail twice in a row, then take an additional day off.

Generally, for most people, 48-hour recovery time is enough to recover from 45-60 mins high-intensity weight exercise (For workout with duration 2 hours and above, do not need to worry about this standard. You definitely will experience OVERTRAIN, unless you are using STEROID) This recovery time can be longer/shorter depends on your fitness level, nutrition/diet, and sleep. If you don’t have enough sleep (7-8 hours) during your recovery time, it might be good to add another day off. If you do not eat enough or your diet quality is not high enough, your recovery pace will be slower.

This way, your body will start showing results and people will start asking you if you workout everyday. Only this time, the answer is, HELL NO.

So now, let’s go to the gym fully recovered and start pumping up those iron plates. Only this time, do it smartly.

Till the next newsletter, BE HARD, AND BE SMART.

Tobias KG
AMFPT Certified Personal Trainer
AMFPT Certified Sport Nutritionist
Creator of RoadToSixPack.blogspot.com

Stronger OR Quicker? How about BOTH???

I find that most people have phobia regarding building muscle because they think it will make them bigger and bulkier, but also slower and less athletic. The first question in their minds usually is, “Is getting bigger going to make me slow and less athletic?” Well, I don’t blame you if you have the same question in your mind. I too had such question before I started bulking up myself. I can say the answer to THE QUESTION is “YES” and “NO”

Here is my story. I play basketball and volleyball. You know how much these 2 sports require jumping ability. Also, in volleyball/ basketball court, I am not a tall guy. I am an average joe (172cm, 5 ft. 7 in.). My “disability” plus the nature of the sports require me to be quicker and be able to jump higher than those taller than me. Otherwise, I won’t be a factor at all. So, I shape my playing style according to my “disability”. I play not with power and strength. I play with speed, agility, and finesse.



BUT around 2 months ago, I reached the crossroad. At that time, I weighted 61.5 kgs with 9% body fat (See picture above). I can say I was muscular enough that I can see my six-pack abs. However, my body frame was just small, slim, and skinny that I could be easily harassed/overshadowed by stronger and bigger players. Also, my game depended too much on my quickness, which might not be there once I got tired. My game was simply limited to “small guys region”. I could not play within “big guys region”. So, in my mind, THE QUESTION came up. “I want to build muscle to be stronger, bigger, but won’t it make me slower?” I came up with this answer, “I think it is OK to be bigger and stronger but a little bit slower and jump a little bit shorter” Later you will know that my answer WAS WRONG.



So, with my mindset ready to sacrifice my speed and jumping ability (WHICH IS NOT NECESSARY), I bulked up myself (see picture above). I went from 61.5kgs to 66kgs in 4 weeks (That’s right. I did it the hard way). My body fat went up a little bit, from 9% to 11% (That is why I am in cutting process now). At the same time, I gained 3kgs of muscles (Wet muscle of course), which means I became bigger and stronger.

Then, came the time for try out. I played my first volleyball game as someone weighted 66kgs. First thing I did was jumping in front of the net to see how much my arms could go above the net. Guess what? My arms went 5 centimeters higher. Here is more, the next week, my first basketball game after bulking up. AGAIN, I did not lose my explosiveness A BIT. I was as quick as before, I did not feel slower or heavier at all. MORE IMPORTANTLY, I could compete in STRENGTH and POWER against “used-to-be stronger” guys, but I still had an edge in SPEED and ATHLETICISM against them.

Now, my game just has expanded tremendously. I can play with speed, athleticism, and finesse like I have always been. ALSO, I can play with strength and power. Now, I play “main spiker” position more often in volleyball (In the past, I was never regarded as “main spiker”). In basketball, I used to be guard, but now, I play forward and a lot of times, I am assigned to guard a center player (which is usually the biggest in any team) more often without being BULLIED or OVERPOWERED.

Here is the reason why I can keep my speed and athleticism in much heavier body frame. During my bulking up process, I did not only keep doing weight training regularly. BUT I also made sure that I TRAINED ALL THE MUSCLES in my body. This is what most people miss when they try to become stronger while maintaining their speed and athleticism. In my bulking up days, I trained my core musculature as well. I trained my lower body as much as my upper body. As a result, YES MY BODY IS HEAVIER (which means my lower body must push harder to jump as high as before), BUT NOW MY LOWER BODY IS ALSO STRONGER. This compensates my heavier body. While now my body is heavier, MY CORE MUSCULATURE strength is also higher, which enables me to move as quick as before during my “harassed-by-big-guy” days. That is why, when you are heavier, you can either maintain your speed or athleticism (by keep training your entire body musculature of course) or lose them (by being obsessed to having broader shoulders and bigger biceps).

So now, for those quick and skinny guys living in big-guys world, don’t be afraid to gain muscle and become bigger. It’s time to make those big-guys think twice before trying to overpower you.

Till next newsletter, be strong, be POWERFUL but also be QUICK and ATHLETIC.

Tobias KG
AMFPT Certified Personal Trainer
AMFPT Certified Sport Nutritionist
Creator of RoadToSixPack.blogspot.com