Is it necessary to go hard or go home all the time? People chase soreness all the time at the gym and in their workouts and they never get results, so let’s unpack this. For me, I like to start everyone with sleep. There are studies out there where individuals lose five to ten pounds just by getting more sleep. Sleep sets the stage for your health and recovery. There are too many things to list here on how important sleep is, which is why I will talk about this more in the future. The other thing about sleep is how it is a huge factor in recovery. There is a reason why athletes optimize sleep for their recovery. It is that big of a deal.
The other factor is going to be nutrition and macros. If you go hard or go home on your workout but have not taken your diet and nutrition seriously, it doesn’t really matter. You cannot out exercise, or out supplement a bad, imbalanced, or sub-optimal diet. Diet and exercise are buddies that must be applied together. The old saying was diet and exercise for a reason. It is a false choice to choose one, since a healthy lifestyle includes both.
So let’s talk about challenges. It’s a big deal. My karate instructor used to say you do not know your limits until you break them. I strongly believe this is a good saying to live by. When actually applying this, it is akin to simply doing one or two more reps, increasing the time under tension, or just lifting a couple more pounds. Small steps.
Volume is king. I am not going to regurgitate research proving more volume works. Sources like the Monthly Application of Strength Sports, headed by Dr Eric Helms and Dr Eric Trexler, have summarized a lot of info on this topic! Doing more is relative, so we do not need to mimic the volume of athletes and professional, or even amateur bodybuilders. Do just a little more. Look at what your goals are and do just a little more, whether it is through sets, reps, time under tension, or weight.
I think it was researcher Brad Schoenfeld who did a meta-analysis that established that 10-20 sets per week are sufficient to meet one’s goals. Subsequently, there are many other people who operate in this manner, but the human body adapts. So if you have reached a point where you are doing 20 sets per body part a week and you are not getting the results you desire, assuming diet and lifestyle choices are in check, it might be a good idea to do more!
In this way, I believe we need to marry research in exercise science with experience! Either one by itself is insufficient. We can keep research in mind while trying to be our own scientist to test different protocols to see what works for us. So I would say work smart and work hard. Get better and do more over time. Keep in mind exercise science and first hand experience from yourself and others! Seems simple enough, right?
