Last week I offered a few reasons to prioritize strength training in your fitness program. In this and next week’s tips I’ll cover a few concepts about how to train for strength and why those principles work. And the following week I’ll finish this mini “strength series” with some practical numbers to consider when you’re actually tossing around weights during your upcoming training sessions.
Let’s get to it!
Slow Productivity applied to strength
As with most topics, fitness-related or otherwise, the science and practice of strength development is both detailed and nuanced. So as I began thinking about writing this tip, I recognized that jumping straight to the numbers (e.g. sets, reps, weight) would be minimally helpful and definitely overwhelming without first covering some high-level principles for getting stronger.
And as I thought about what those principles are, I realized they’re basically the same as those from a book I recently read on a completely different topic: productivity. (If you hadn’t noticed from previous tips, I’m fascinated when similar principles exist across dissimilar topics, and I think we should probably pay special heed to those principles due to their universal-like nature.)
In Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout, Cal Newport, a professor of computer science at Georgetown and author of Digital Minimalism and Deep Work (two other NYT’s best-sellers), suggests three productivity guidelines with regard to knowledge work (i.e. work that requires creative and cognitive effort as opposed to repetitive tasks):
- Do fewer things.
- Work at a natural pace.
- Obsess over quality.
Here’s the super-simple synopsis of the principles and how they also apply to strength…
Do fewer things
Cal’s productivity premise here is that human multi-tasking is actually (not-so-)rapid task-switching, task-switching is mentally inefficient, and doing fewer things allows us to more effectively prioritize and make progress on what is actually important.
Applying this principle to strength requires understanding one specific related idea: Strength is a skill.
I’ll discuss that idea more next week. For now, know that your nervous system’s ability to activate a muscle (i.e. a skill) affects strength more than a muscle’s cross-sectional area (i.e. its size).
So if strength is a skill and if skills develop faster and to higher degrees when focused upon, then doing fewer things should enable us to more efficiently improve our strength just as it would with any other skill. In this context, that can happen at both the micro level—choosing a few exercises that cover multiple bases instead of five different exercises for a single muscle group—and the macro level—choosing to focus on a small number of characteristics, skills, or activities at any given time instead of trying to be a jack of all trades or improve every physical characteristic at once.
Work at a natural pace
Regarding productivity, Cal says that important work should “unfold along a sustainable timeline, with variations in intensity, in settings conducive to brilliance” instead of being rushed. He emphasizes that working extra prior to a looming deadline is fine so long as some R&R follows its completion instead of another deadline and that similar “oscillations” should optimally occur on hourly, daily, weekly, quarterly, and annual schedules.
Regarding strength (I say)…
“Unfolding along sustainable timelines” means, on a micro level, resting long enough between sets to remain as fresh as possible for as long as possible into a workout (because strength is a skill and skills are better developed when fresh). On a macro level, it means recognizing that plateaus are a normal part of the training process (more on this next week) and not rushing to use heavier weights before the body is prepared to handle them.
“Variations in intensity” means using different rep, set, and weight combinations (more on this in two weeks) within a workout, week, and month in order to remain fresh while also spending as much time as possible under weights that are heavy enough to promote progress.
Finally, “oscillations” mean spending time on targeted recovery practices within a week, month, year, and when completing any specific training program (usually every 8-13 weeks).
Obsess over quality
Cal’s main productivity point about obsessing over quality revolves around being comfortable with potentially missing out on short-term opportunities while producing output that is so good that we’re able to leverage the results to gain more freedom and better opportunities in the long-term.
The idea applies similarly to strength.
You may be familiar with the “10,000-hours to mastery” idea, popularized by Malcolm Gladwell, which says that achieving a high level of mastery in any skill requires, on average, about 10,000 hours of practice. While that’s technically accurate, the underlying research indicates that what’s required isn’t just “practice”, but rather “intentional practice with a conscious desire to improve”.
When it comes to strength training that means we’ll improve faster by using the best technique and movement quality of which we’re currently capable and consistently using better technique as we become more capable. (Because strength is a skill!)
As I’ve said before, simply showing up and doing something is far better than nothing when it comes to fitness, in general. And focusing on quantity at the expense of quality might burn a few extra calories (or whatever) today. However, showing up and obsessing over quality will lead to greater strength (and more freedom and better opportunities) in the long run.
Bonus: quantity is important (if the other guidelines are followed)
While Cal doesn’t include this principle is Slow Productivity, I’m relatively certain he’d agree that quantity of output is not irrelevant, for productivity or strength development.
Still, I’ll save further discussion on this principle for a couple weeks. I just didn’t want to let you finish reading this tip having adopted the idea that quantity doesn’t matter at all.
Because it does. At least, it does as long as the other guidelines are also followed.
Putting it into practice
If you’ve been strength training for awhile, take some time to consider how you might be applying or ignoring any of the principles above. Then, as I often suggest, choose one area in which you’d be willing to make some adjustments, decide on one or two changes, and implement and measure your progress.
If you’re more of a beginner to the strength world, remind yourself before any upcoming session that what’s important isn’t how much you can do or how quickly you can do it, but rather (1) moving with purpose on (2) a select few multi-benefit exercises while (3) staying as fresh as possible while slowly building your quantity (of reps and weight).
Whatever your experience, applying these principles will prepare you for years of progress on your strength journey.