Mike Boyle is considered by many of the most respected coaches in the field and to be one of the pioneers of modern strength and conditioning.  The following is very interesting and applicable for most average gym-goers:

Mike Boyle: You Need To Train Lower Body First and Do “PRE”

My friend Alwyn Cosgrove says that Monday is International Bench Press Day. All over the world men flock to the gym to perform the most sacred of rituals — the heavy bench day. As Sunday is to church, Monday is to benching.

As a strength and conditioning coach I realized long ago that my primary job was to battle human nature. In fact, I realized I could actually leave the bench press out of workouts and athletes would simply stay longer in order to perform it. My conclusion was simple: The first day in the gym has to be a lower body day.

That means Monday is squat day, not bench day. What heresy! Miss Monday? Then Tuesday is squat day. Sick both Monday and Tuesday? Wednesday is squat day. You get my point. The first day in the gym should be a lower body day. No excuses.

Here’s my simple advice for lower body day. Do front squats or trap bar deadlifts for 3 sets of 8 reps. Two sets are warm-ups. Set three is your best set of eight done to technical failure. (This means with perfect form.)

From this point forward use a form of advanced periodization called Progressive Resistance Exercise or PRE. This novel concept was discovered by Delorme and Watkins in the fifties and calls for the use of something called a 2.5 pound plate.

In the Progressive Resistance Exercise you simply slip 2.5 pounds on each side of the bar every week. Here’s the frightening part: If you simply did this every week starting with 135 x 8 you would do 395 x 8 in the front squat at the end of one year.

People are just in too big a hurry. Don’t get fancy, just use the small plates and PRE.

If you want to learn more about the squat or any other exercise, fell free to take advantage of our Friday night open gym.

Call 603-520-8058 or email Tony@FunIntelligentTraining.com to learn more.

Tags: Education, exercise, fitness, informational, lifting, results, video, Workout