Here is another one from the archives. Eric Cressey asked me to give him my top ten pieces of training advice that would help the readers of his newsletter become leaner, stronger, faster, and more muscular? Here's my respsonse.
1. Set goals - SMART goals so that you know where the journey is going to take you and how you are going to get to your destination.
2. Keep a training diary - You need to track your progress.
3. Train consistently - Set a plan and stick to it. It's all too easy to say, “Hey, I'll train today.†If you don't schedule a time to train, chances are you will get to the end of the day and you will have missed your session.
4. Recover well - anyone that follows my blog will understand why!
5. Concentrate on the 98% - Everyone is so busy trying to find the extra 1 or 2 percent that they forget about the other 98%! - Do the basics well - repeat!
6. Include conditioning work - (prehab/remedial/injury prevention....call it what you like....my choice is conditioning) in your training session. Superset between the main lifts - that way the work gets done and you will be on the way to becoming “bulletproof.â€
7. Replace steady-state running with high intensity intervals - Come on, do I really need to explain this one? Intervals will give you more bang for your buck than slow steady-state running.
8. Don't get hung up on TVA recruitment - Isolating a muscle will not necessarily transfer to improved core strength during athletic movements. Train how you are going to perform; make sure you hit all of the major muscle groups (rectus abdominus, obliques, erector spinae, etc.).
9. Learn to handle your bodyweight - I've worked with elite gymnasts - these guys are super strong. I don't really care what your bench is if you can't even handle your own bodyweight with good form. Don't neglect the basics (see my point 5).
10. Whole body hypertrophy programmes - I'm with Alwyn Cosgrove on this one. Why go for split routines when you can get a greater training effect from a whole body hypertrophy routine?