Hey team,
I’ve said it time and time again… When you are at bootcamp, to achieve your fat loss goal, your main focus is to become as strong as you can be.
You will achieve this by progressively lifting more weight over time. The stronger you become, the harder your body will work to lift that heavier weight. (I know…intuitive right!) With a progressive increase in the amount of weight you lift, your body will progressively adapt to be able to lift this weight. It is no coincidence that generally the best bodies in the gym are the strongest.
Muscles are sexy! Muscles are built as an adaptation to the stress imposed on the body (weights). Lifting little weights will not force the body to adapt. This is the number 1 reason why The Bootcamp Effect kicks every other bootcamps ass. They just don’t provide you with enough weights to change your body the way you want to change it. If I want to get the best body I can, I am not going to get some 10lb weights and do bicep curls till I’m blue in the face… And I’m not going to do anything differently with you!
Always remember what work is! Defined, it is equal to force (the amount of weight you are lifting) times distance. Just a lil’ something for you to ponder next time you are at bootcamp…
It can be difficult sometimes to know when you are ready for an increase in weight. A good approach is the 2 for 2 rule.
The 2 for 2 rule explained.
In June, your rep goal is to lift for 12 reps. With this in mind, what you lift in week 1 should be different in week 4.
If you can complete 2 more reps than the rep goal in the final set of an exercise for 2 consecutive workouts then you should increase the weight. IMPORTANT: This 12th rep should be challenging and you should feel as if you cannot do more reps.
If the workout is goblet squats and you are lifting 15lbs in week 1…
Week 1
First set – 15lbs x 12
Second set – 15lbs x 12
Third set – 15lbs x 12
Week 2
First set – 15lbs x 12
Second set – 15lbs x 12
Third set – 15lbs x 12
Now in week 3, you would move up to 20lbs on all your sets. If you failed to do at least 2 more reps than you were supposed to on the final set each day, then we would not increase the weight for week 3. This is progressive overload. And this needs to happen! If more weight is being lifted overtime, you will not meet your training goals.
The bigger the muscle, the bigger the engine, the more fuel consumed. It should not feel comfortable lifting your weights, it is a teeth gritting, grunting, being exhausted kind of thing. And then you do it again.
And you love it.
Good lifting,
Josh Saunders
The Bootcamp Effect
