I don’t get why I’m not seeing results. I’m going to the gym every day. I’m lifting for hours on end. And I’m even following the exact program Arnold used in his prime. What gives?
As a coach, I hear stuff like this a lot—from friends, from clients, and even from random people at the gym.
My answer’s always a simple one. We’ll get to it in a second, but first we need a quick reality check…
Odds are that isn’t the workout Arnold did during the golden age of bodybuilding. I know that. You know that. And even they know that. That’s not the reality check. This is:
It doesn’t matter.
Whether it’s the same program or not, it’s not working. And that’s all that really matters—results.
So what gives? Why aren’t people getting the results they want even though they’re killing it (and themselves) in the gym day after day? What should they do? What should you do?
If you aren’t on roids, stop training like a juiced bodybuilder.
See, told you it was simple.
Here’s why…
The Thing Most People Don’t Understand About Steroids
Taking steroids doesn’t make training any easier. Energy, effort, blood, sweat, tears—they’re all still part of the process. In fact, they’re an even bigger part of the process when someone’s physiologically enhanced.
Even if you’re taking something, you still have to put in the work. Fact.
This makes the endless internet accusations of steroids funny. They’re usually a way to discredit someone’s hard work and effort. But people taking roids put in more hard work and effort than natural lifters. Because they actually can.
Quick aside: I’ve even been accused of taking steroids.
Considering I don’t even drink and caffeine is the hardest drug I’ve ever tried, that one’s especially funny. And totally flattering.
Steroids enhance recovery more than they enhance performance.
That’s what most people don’t understand. The performance enhancement is a secondary benefit to enhanced recovery. Better recovery means faster recovery. Faster recovery means more training capacity and quicker results. And quicker results will inevitably improve performance.
But recovery is the real magic.
Without Recovery, There Are No Results
When you train, you break muscles down. When you recover, they rebuild bigger and stronger than before. Regardless of your goals, progress is the result of adaptation to a specific stimulus.
Your training stimulates the adaptation. But your recovery allows for the actual change.
Progress comes while you’re resting and recovering, not while you’re in the gym. That’s why things like sleep, nutrition, and rest days are such critical parts of effective fitness programs. All of these help you actually see the results your training stimulates.
To optimize progress, you need to be just as dedicated to your rest and recovery as you are to your training.
Training like a juiced bodybuilder simply won’t optimize results. (Unless, of course, you’re actually taking steroids.) Without the superhuman roid-recovery, hitting the gym for endless hours of lifting—day after day after day—will hurt more than it’ll help. Both literally and figuratively.
Even if you’re killing it in the gym, you’ll never see results without proper rest.
A training program designed for physiologically enhanced recovery won’t have enough rest for us normal people. Eventually, you’ll burn out. You’ll be gassed. And you’ll be wondering why you can’t break the plateau.
Well, you need to stop training like a juiced bodybuilder.
You need a program designed for you instead of a program that was designed for Arnold in his prime.
Here Are Three Plans So You Can Stop Training Like a Juiced Bodybuilder and Start Getting Results
Information is cool, but actionable advice is better.
That’s why I want to give you three training schedules that are designed for and tested by normal people. No roids necessary to get results with any of the following:
High-Frequency Training Split
I really like high-frequency training (HFT). It’s great for both beginners and advanced lifters. As the name suggests, your training frequency is high. In other words, you hit the same muscle groups multiple times each week.
For beginners, this offers a great training stimulus as well as a lot of quality practice with new exercises. That means both results and ingraining proper movement patterns. Both are huge for any new lifter. For someone that’s more advanced, HFT offers change (and change means progress). Training frequency is an oft-neglected aspect of programming. As such, it’s low-hanging fruit for quick results.
With HFT, you want to focus on total-body workouts each day you lift. Hit all the major muscle groups each session. Add cardio and conditioning during the week based on needs and goals.
Upper/Lower Training Split
A simple upper/lower split is one of the oldest in the book. It’s also one of the most effective. I usually recommend this kind of split to beginner and intermediate lifters.
Each week, you’ll have three lifting days and alternate between two workouts (one upper, one lower). That means that one week you’ll have two upper-body days and one lower-body day and that’ll flip the following week. This allows for a blend of focused, more isolated work with moderately high training frequency. And in turn, results.
Alternate between your upper-body and lower-body each day you lift. Again, add cardio and conditioning during the week based on needs and goals.
Basic Movement Training Split
Because this has a fourth lifting day and even more focused training, I usually recommend it for a more advanced lifter. But advanced doesn’t mean complicated. It’s still simple and effective.
The body’s only got a few major movements: pushing, pulling, hip hinging, and squatting. A basic movement split dedicates a day of training to each of these major movements each week. By doing so, you’ll be able to train each hard and give them plenty of time to recover before diving in the following week. As the focus and intensity of the training increases, recovery time must also increase.
Keep each lifting day focused on the specified basic movement: hip-dominant, pushing, quad-dominant, and pulling. You can see lists of some of my favorite exercises for each basic body movement.
Want Something More Personal?
Good news, I can help with that. The BENTRAINED Coaching Program is all about creating tailor-made programs that are specifically designed for you, your goals, and your personal preferences.
You can ditch the generic program you found online. You can stop following “the same workouts Arnold followed” in his prime. And you can get a workout program that’s made for you.
Your first step to a custom-made plan is applying.
Once you do that, we’ll chat a bit about you and your goals to figure out what’s going to best help you make them a reality.
Let’s get you a personalized plan that’ll give you the results you’ve always wanted…