Well, whether we like it or not , month 2 of 2025 is in full swing.
I’ll potentially be launching a new program within this quarter .
I had some positive feedback and some downright bad feedback.
The excellent is probably what you’d expect, which I’ll tell you more about in a future email, but the bad?
Well… it was generally something like this:
“I couldn’t complete the program because I got injured.”
“I couldn’t complete the program because I had an injury going into it, and I thought I could overcome it.”
Now, let me just say this upfront:
THERE IS NO GOOD REASON YOU SHOULD GET INJURED TRAINING .
But “Bad Reasons?”
There are plenty of them.
Trust me, I understand .
I’ve been injured plenty over the years. (The exception being the last 15 years where I’ve been injury free.)
So what are these “Bad Reasons?”
They fall into Training one of three categories.
The first?
[1] Poor Recovery:
Again, for the umpteenth time, we need to remember, it’s not how much work you do that builds strength …
It’s how much you can recover from that work.
Many guys get into trouble because they think “more work = faster results .”
If you’re using PEDs, then almost certainly yes.
But for the rest of us - almost certainly not.
As a baseline, you need at least seven hours of sleep. Period. End of story. Amen.
(Less than 7 hours increases fat retention and cannibalizes muscle tissue [1] - the exact opposite of what we want.)
If you’re not getting at least that, then you’re “suffering” from Poor Recovery.
Next, eat protein. Lots of it. (We’ll cover more on this some other time.) THEN…
TRAIN HARD on THREE different days during the week. That’s it.
Not six days a week, two hours a day, like Ah-nold (Schwarzenegger) recommended in his Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding.
That works perfectly for steroid-using guys in their 20s with no families and no responsibilities - which is what Arnold was when he was competing in bodybuilding…
But it doesn’t work in the real world for guys like us who have jobs, run businesses, and have families.
In truth, back in the “Olden Days,” the 1930s through the 1960s, most of the strong men, like those on the US Olympic Weightlifting Team, including the legendary Tommy Kono, (2x Olympic Champ, 6x World Champ) trained -
And repeat after me if you’ve heard this before -
INTENSIVELY on 3 non-consecutive days of the week. ;-)
So if it was effective for guys back in the pre-steroid era, it can work for us - for you too.
The ONLY “hack ” or “work-around” I know to this if you really want on training more frequently?
To increase the number of days you train a week to 4 or five, or even an intense six…?
Is to cut your training duration in each session by a third to 50% .
For example, 3x 30-minute sessions (90 minutes) becomes 4x 20-25 minute sessions or 5x 15-20 minute sessions.
This “ divides the effort ” which for many, helps you better cope with, even speed up your recovery.
But, I want to strongly recommend you -
If you haven’t committed to a FOCUSED, HARD, THREE, Non-consecutive days of the week training plan might do for you …
Test it out for yourself.
I think you’ll be surprised what slowing down, getting 7+ hours of sleep a night, adequate protein, and “only” training 3x week can do for your strength, muscularity, and conditioning.
Next time, we’ll talk about a issue I see on forums, social media, and Zoom sessions that’s rampant in Kettlebell-land.
Stay Strong,
Geoff Neupert.