What are you working out for? What is the actual point of your strength-training program? If you've read any of my other articles, sloganeering and carrying-on, you'll know I'm an enormous fan of strength-training for everyone. Especially those over 50yrs of age. There are so many advantages -- visit here to discover why -- to be had that to not strength-train borders on silly. Which is my point: strength-training provides a vital and excellent system of exercise for all.
Strength-training.
Y'know, getting stronger.
...and by getting stronger we not only retain muscle (if not outright increase muscle) but retain and further our ability to not just do the things we've always done, but more besides. Strength-training enables us to engage fully with life due to greater mobility, stronger bones, increased general fitness, a healthier cardiovascular system, better co-ordination, the sort of stuff that makes being alive so much more worthwhile and rewarding. But. You need to know why you're training.
Do you really know why you're working-out? Do you know the results you're heading to?
Because if you're strength-training for the benefits I've mentioned already, you should know what to do and what not to do, which is actually where this article is going. Strength-training is very old, very basic and very easy to both understand and perform: you lift, pull or push a weight a certain amount of times until that gets easier because your body adapts and grows stronger. It gets used to the stress you've placed upon it at which point you need to increase said stress.
You may increase sets & reps, up the weight or do both. Whatever. However you do it, we call this "progressive overload" a phrase which simply means you're increasing the stress upon your musculature, forcing it to adapt and grow further. So for those who strength-train I will always recommed the basic compound lifts of squat, deadlift, benchpress, row, shoulder press (or overhead press) and RDLs. These simple, basic movements are the mainstays of most programs in some form.
They are not new.
I did not invent any of them.
...and yes, yes they do work. Very effectively.
To be honest, you could just squat, row and benchpress and make great gains in fact, I used a program like that once where I did these exercises alone three times a week, and made great progress. Could I continue it forever? Nope, got too intense, but I loved its simplicity and focus: strength. Am I uber strong? Nope, but I'm shit-loads stronger than I once was which not only proves how weak I was, but how much stronger I've become, the point being that I always knew what I wanted: to get stronger.
WHAT NOT TO DO
If you are strength-training, you'll get bigger which is a pretty cool side effect, almost as cool as the other benefits mentioned above. Keep in mind though that four guys doing the same program may experience four different results because they're four different guys. That's normal. Keep in mind too that the program you choose to follow for however long you decide, will have a clear impact upon your results; so refine your exercise choice. Go with those that benefit you aka compound movements. These drag in the most musculature and give the best all-round results. Their spill-over effect is pretty darn awesome too.
I am constantly amazed by the amount of people doing frilly, peripheal movements -- usually isolation movements to be honest, but not limited to -- which aren't necessary. Yet we keep doing these exercises because bodybuilders "recommend them" which leads directly to the question: are you a bodybuilder? No. No, you are not a fucking bodybuilder. Now that we've cleared that deep, ambiguous mystery up, if you're not a bodybuilder then you don't need to train their way, mimic all their moves, or follow all their programs. Here's what I mean...
Wrist curls
Back when I first started with weights I too did wrist-curls. I thought I had to because, um, well, I too thought I had to. I didn't really know my goals and that's okay, hell, I was a newbie like everyone else. My forearms grew extremely slowly and you know what? For the life of me, I can't actually say wrist-curls contributed towards this because for all I knew, said growth was actually due to all the other exercises I was doing and not the wrist-curls because picking, pulling, pushing -- these build forearms too, y'know.
You'd know for sure if you responded well to wrist curls if you cut out all upper body exercises and performed only wrist-curls for three months, but whose going to do that? Try no-one. So how do you know if they're even working for you? How do you know if they're actually doing anything? How? Today, my forearms are just average, because I really don't give a shit. I have completely dropped wrist curls. I think I'll just let my forearms grow normally from regular exercise thank you very much, and what will be will be. Functionality not size.
Wrist curls are a waste of time in my opinion but that's my opinion. I suggest you figure it out for yourself which means doing them 2-3 times per week and seeing what's up because plenty of people have employed wrist curls and gotten good results. Or so I'm told by netspurts and witness amongst online bodybuilders and coaches. However, do I personally know anyone who swears by wrist curls? Not a damn soul, mate. Not a damn soul. Do said online personalities credit their forearms to wrist curls alone? Not one.
Calf-raises
If you search up building calves, you'll find shit loads of articles online because for many, calves are a major lagging body part but again -- are big calves essential to leg strength? No, but strong calves are and guess what? You'll get those through squats and deadlifts. They'll develop naturally and look "right" through regular exercise. Just look at Olympic lifters -- their calves are nowhere near the size of bodybuilders because they develop naturally and in tandem with the likes of back squats, front squats and cleans. Bodybuilders on the other hand just want to look jacked.
If you've read my other article How big can I get? you'll recall my mentioning we're all genetically dependent upon our parents for the size, length, shape and insertion of our muscle bellies. These could be excellent, average or shit. Throw in your personal amount of fast twitch vs slow twitch muscles and how they're distributed across you own build, and you start getting a pretty clear idea why you look the way you do. When people say they can "turn that around in insert-amount-of-days-weeks-here," they're bullshitting you (losing weight is another thing entirely).
The reason some bodybuilders have average calves is because they've only got a certain amount of muscle to work with. You can't just "add" to muscle, you can only grow the muscle you have further. Oft times this can be very demanding, take an enormous amount of time, effort and energy and quite possibly for very little reward. I did standing/seated calf raises, bodyweight calf raises, toes pointing in, out and around and after a few years thought y'know what? Fuck it. I am over this shit. I'm going to go with functional over sizeable and just get on with life.
So I did.
My calves are average but a few female colleagues have told me my legs look nice so I believed them. Wifey has told me the same thing and I am good with that. For my height and build, my legs are just fine and I bet for your height, build and shape, your legs are just fine too. So are you aiming to get stronger for longevity's sake or to get bigger simply for the sake of looking bigger? Again, it's up to you. I have long since dropped all calf work because they develop as part of overall leg musculature through squats and the like. If you're still doing calf raises, are they actually doing anything -- and is it really that essential to your end goal?
Neck raises
Sure, if you have a pencil-neck then yeah, you may wish to target it. The easiest way to do this at home is simply get a 5-10kg plate, fold up a tea towel (dish cloth), place this under the plate and on your forehead and facing upwards on a bench with your head hanging off the end, raise and lower your head at a steady tempo. Boom. Then flip over and do the same thing -- if you know anything about the musculature of the neck, you'll know you don't need to do side-raises as the muscles either side of your neck coverge at the front.
However, do you really need to do neck raises?
If your neck looks fine as is, why would you even bother? Seriously.
You may be one of thousands of people who find that shrugs and deadlifts (separately or together), build their neck just fine all by themselves. You may be one of thousands of people who find that heavy benchpress and bent-over rows alone build their neck just fine too. But. You won't know till you do these exercises for a decent six months. Maybe you didn't need to rush off to buy that head-harness to hit neck with. Maybe if you'd just worked out for a 6-12 months your neck will be sweet. Or maybe, maybe you're obsession with all this frilly peripheal bullshit is getting out of hand.
THE OBSESSION WITH MORE
If you're not physique-focused, why waste time on movements better used for those which you know will deliver? How will wrist curls, calf raises or a bigger neck add to your quality of life? By all means, if these are areas that genuinely concern you and which you want to work on, knock yourself out. Just do me one, simple favour: if after six months the results are neglible (or worse, you're not even sure the results are due to the isolation work you've selected) drop the exercise. It's an irrelevant time-waster. Accept you just might not be perfect and come to the light.
One of the biggest no-no's in the fitness industry is admitting you're not getting anywhere with x-y-z-program or worse, admitting they're not working for you. The usual reply is something along the lines of you're not doing it right, not giving it enough time and intensity; you're not doing enough (of what's not working) because you're unfocused; better yet -- and a real favourite of mine -- if Arnie-slash-Dorian-slash-Frank-Zane-slash-your-fat-aunt-Betty-with-the-glass-eye-and-silver-buttplug did it, there's no excuse for why you can't.
...or won't.
The end result of such impoverished thinking is that everything must be quadrupled; you must now do everthing harder and longer and more often. In other words, it's not the x-y-z-program that's failed, but you. I'm calling "bullshit" here, folks. There's a whole lot of self-flagellation going on but little if any logic because cookie-cutter programs simply don't work for everybody and if your routine has movements that aren't working, why keep them? I regularly tweak established programs for my own personal style and preference all the time and guess what?
The tide still comes in and goes out.
The sun still rises and sets.
...it's mind-boggling.
Do you know what rugby players do if they find a movement doesn't add to their skill set? They drop it. More of the same ineffectual movement isn't better, its just stupid. Be better than stupid. It's almost as bad as watching 30yr-olds on Youtube with their grinding heavy metal, back slapping, ammonia-sniffing grunts, head-rattling and man screams as they set up under the bar rattling it like the Ultimate Warrior entering the ring for whatever-the-fuck it is in their artfully, graffiti-themed sweat shops. Drop the ineffectual programs, movements and exercises and just move the damn weight.
:: CONCLUSION
Go back to your program. Figure out what it is you want to achieve. If possible, narrow your goal(s) down to 1-2 specific reasons in the understanding that the resulting spin-offs from these may well be broad, may well encompass a diverse range of benefits but the point is, you have your goal firmly entrenched in your mind. You know exactly why you're doing what you're doing. Go with one of my favourite acronyms: KISS or Keep It Simple Stupid. Don't over-think shit mate, stay basic. Refine your exercises so that there's no wasted movements. Seriously. Get your shit done and go out there and enjoy life. Kia ora whanau.