Non-Lifting Workouts

Extra Workouts for Improving Recovery, Enhancing Performance, and Maximizing Gains

     When lifters think about workouts, it’s usually either lifting or bust.  It’s either hard and heavy barbell and dumbbell sessions or nothing.  But it shouldn’t be this way.  No matter how “hardcore” of a lifter or bodybuilder you are—perhaps you’re one of those guys that thinks anything over 5 reps is “cardio,” as I once certainly did—you need to do some stuff other than just heavy weight training.  The truth is that the more serious you are about lifting, even more do you need to take advantage of non-lifting workouts.  These extra sessions might very well be the difference between gaining another 10 pounds of muscle or not, or between winning your powerlifting meet or just coming in 2^nd place.  When it comes to being your very best, it is the little things that matter.

     I first started lifting as a teenager, more than 35 years ago.  At the time, I didn’t think about doing “extra workouts” outside of my lifting sessions.  But I really didn’t have to, either.  I had been training in a traditional Japanese martial art since I was 9 years old.  At that time, I was getting all the extra workouts I needed.  The issue then, as it is now, with those kinds of extra workouts is that they were too intense, at least from the standpoint of aiding muscle growth and strength.  In fact, I had to cut down on my martial arts training at times in order to pack on extra mass.  But that is different and that is not the kind of extra, non-lifting workouts that I want to discuss here.

     I don’t think I thought about the benefits of extra workout sessions as aids to muscle growth and strength until the mid ‘90s.  At that point, I was already a regular contributor to IronMan magazine and MuscleMag International.  And even though I would say that I was a “good” writer, knowledgeable and a bit different than other writers for those magazines, I basically thought that lifting boiled down to two points: 1) train hard; and then 2) give your body plenty rest between training sessions—doing as little physical activity of any kind as possible—before repeating another hard, heavy, “intense” session.  But then something important happened to me: I started competing in powerlifting.  Now, I’m a bit OCD (or perhaps more than just a bit OCD; more like all the way OCD, but that is neither here nor there), and powerlifting was no different.  I didn’t want to just be a “good” powerlifter or even a “champion” powerlifter.  Nope.  I wanted to be the absolute strongest MF’er walking the planet at my bodyweight.  And to do that—armchair scholar that I am—meant that I read absolutely everything I could get my hands on from (or about) the great powerlifting (and other strength) coaches over the decades.  I discovered Sheiko, Smolov, Zatsiorsky, Starr, and last—but by no means least—Louie Simmons and his famed (but little known at the time) Westside Barbell.  If you don’t know, then let me tell you something about all those guys: none of them were from the school of “train hard, rest plenty, then repeat.”  Not at all.  It was more like the school of “train hard, rest and recover from doing light workouts and rehab/prehab work, and then repeat often.”

     Here, I want to share with you some of the ways you can incorporate extra sessions and non-lifting workouts into your programs.  Some of it will come from Simmons, Starr, and the aforementioned Russians, and other ideas from things I picked up here and there over the decades.  This essay is not all-encompassing, but I think you will find it (hopefully) informative and will give you some ideas you can incorporate into your training.

GPP Work

     GPP work, or “general physical preparedness,” is a term made popular largely by Westside barbell, though it wasn’t a term they invented.  It had been around for a while, especially in the countries of the former Soviet bloc.  I had never heard it, however, until I encountered Simmons’s articles for Powerlifting USA in the ‘90s.

     Here is how Simmons explained it, and though his words are directed towards, as you will see, powerlifters, it applies to other lifters who take an approach of “lifting only”: “General physical preparedness (GPP) is a term that refers to a degree of fitness, which is an extension of absolute strength. Many don't believe in it at all. Here, I am referring to the people who say if you want to be good at the powerlifts, just practice the powerlifts. Of course, this leads others to say that powerlifters are out of shape, and the above-mentioned group is. 
    “Many times, the ones that advocate only the classical lifts are the very ones that complain that powerlifters are out of shape. We all squat, yet we are not built identically. Some develop large quads, some develop big glutes and hips, and others may have very powerful hamstrings. It's obvious to me that if one muscle group is developed to a greater degree than another, then the smaller muscle groups are holding back your lifts. 
    “What's the answer? You must do special exercises for the lagging muscle groups. But before you can pursue an increase in volume by way of special exercises, you must be in excellent shape. General physical preparedness raises your ability to do more work by special means.”*

     Simmons’ GPP work largely consisted of loaded carries and other similar “odd” lifts.  Sled dragging, farmer walks, sandbag carries, and wheelbarrow walks are all good for GPP.  Westside liked to do most of their GPP work at the end of their lower body days and the day immediately after.  On the 2^nd day, they would decrease to 60% of the weight used on the first day.  Simmons said this contributed greatly to their restoration.

Here I am doing my own sled dragging GPP work a little over 10 years ago.  It greatly enhanced my powerlifting progress.

     Even for bodybuilders, the idea of doing 2 days straight of training, working roughly the same muscles is a good idea.  If you do a hard quad and hamstring workout, follow it up the next day with some sled dragging, walking both forward and backwards.  Your legs may even get a pump on the 2^nd day similar to your weighted workout the day before, but this pump (because of the exercise used to induce it) will allow you to recover quicker.  If you do a hard chest, shoulders, and triceps session, follow it up the next day with some pushups for 3 to 4 sets of 15 to 20 reps.  If you do a hard back workout, then follow it up with a few sets of chins or inverted rows the day after.

“High Intensity Recovery” Days

     The term “high intensity recovery" might be a bit oxymoronic—which it is—but it’s also a highly effective method of non-lifting workouts.  I stole the idea from Dan John.  The term is his.

     The idea is that, on some of your off days, start the day with a long walk.  Get in the “standard recommendation” of 10,000 steps in one morning walk.  I personally like to trail hike for my 10K steps, as going up, down, over, and around varied terrain gives your body a different—and I would argue “better”—stimulus than just walking around your neighborhood or the local track.  When you’re finished with your long walk (or hike), spend the rest of the day doing different rehab/prehab work as needed.  Get in a sauna or take a hot bath.  Take an ice bath or a cold shower.  Do some mobility work or stretching.  Get down on the floor and roll around, stretching out all your muscles, especially the ones that seem overly tight.

     You may be quite shocked and find that it’s something of a “game changer” at how much this aids in muscle growth, strength, and/or performance compared to just taking the day off completely and doing nothing other than lying around and relaxing.

“Freestyle” Walks

     “Freestyle walks” is a term I came up with, based on how I do a lot of my walks on my “off” days.  I don’t think it’s anything new, and I’m sure that some writer somewhere has written about it—or something quite similar—before me.

     In live in the woods, on a few acres of rolling hills here in the Deep South of Alabama.  On some of my off days, I walk around the property, up and down the hills, and “play” the entire time.  By “play,” I mean that I simply do things spontaneously on the walk as they come to me.  I may sprint up the hills and walk the rest of the time.  I may walk up or down the hills backwards.  I stop occasionally to do some martial arts, yoga stretches, or some tai chi.  I may stop and “sit” in a horse stance for a few minutes throughout the walk.  And I may do one or all those things a couple of times or fifty times.  I don’t plan anything.  I just do whatever “comes up” in my mind.  It’s entirely and completely spontaneous.

     If you try this or something similar, the only thing that I would plan is the length of time you engage in it.  I typically do it for an hour, though you could decide that 30 minutes is plenty.  In fact, you may want to start with 30 minutes and see how it goes.  If you find that 30 minutes is too short, then go for 45 minutes or an hour instead.  The point is to select a duration for your walk and stick with it.

Yoga, Tai Chi, and Other “Gentle” Exercise Forms

     Speaking of yoga or tai chi, they can both be effective on their own as good non-lifting workouts.  I wrote “other gentle exercise forms” because you could also include such things as Pilates or qigong here as well.

     Yoga can actually be quite intense, depending on the form(s).  That may be either good or bad, depending on the lifter.  If you have never done yoga before, start with a “simple” beginner’s class or a class that is designated as “gentle.”  You can also simply look up a series of 4 or 5 poses, try them out, and see how you feel after a couple of weeks of doing them.  At that point, you could then try a class or just stick with your handful of movements.

     Dan John swears by Bikram, or “hot”, yoga.  I would not just “jump in” to this form of yoga, but it might be good if you’ve been doing a gentler style for a while beforehand.  Here is John in his own words about it: “There are several reasons I recommend Bikram Yoga for my athletes, and none of them relate to the hype. I know the founder has been on 60 Minutes and he drives expensive cars, but there’s much to be said about the actual classes. First, the classes are ninety minutes long. If you decide to go twice a week, that’s three hours of stretching, pulling, twisting and relaxing. For most, that’s two hours and fifty-nine minutes more than we typically stretch and relax in a week. Next, I must say the intense heat — nearly always above 103 degrees and often around 110 — and the humidity does “something” for the body. For me, I sweat. A lot. Seriously folks, I’m talking about sweating that confounds the law of thermodynamics. During the session, I can tell you exactly how many pieces of salami I ate at the snack counter during the day’s meeting, because I swear the damn things are coming out of my forehead. And there’s no question the heat allows me to stretch out that injury I swore I would take care of in 1977. During Bikram Yoga classes, I find the time to deal with four decades of misuse.”**

     Now, here’s something, however, that I would like to say about yoga and anything else that involves “intense” stretching: Do NOT overdo it if you are already highly flexible!  Stretching is often thought of or recommended as a good way to heal injuries or to keep one injury-free in the first place.  And I believe this to be true, but primarily for those who are naturally quite “stiff.”  However, if you are naturally very flexible, it can cause some injuries or, at the very least, aggravate preexisting ones.  I write this from personal experience.  I am very flexible.  Even in my 50s, I can do a full split after a thorough warmup.  When I was younger, I could do a full split between two folding chairs, with weights on my thighs to increase the tension of the stretch.  But this ability has, over the long haul, I believe, contributed to the fact that I’ve had multiple back/neck surgeries.

Here I am around 20 years ago, demonstrating my flexibility with a high side kick.  I was not kicking but simply holding my foot in the air while the pic was taken.  Being flexible, I believe, both helped and HURT my lifting as I got older.

     Several years ago, I had to go to the spine doctor for a facet joint injection in my lower back.  We were discussing flexibility once he discovered just how flexible I was.  He explained to me that being flexible is great up to a point.  But he said that my flexibility was “too much.”  He explained that I was so flexible that it had caused me much more harm than good over the years because of the unnatural flexion that our bodies simply aren’t “made for.”  As an example, he said that his clients with the most pain and injuries were former gymnasts.  Point is, take it easy.  At least in the beginning.  Once you find the stretches (or yoga) are helping and not hurting, you can increase the intensity.

     Tai chi is different.  It’s always gentle.  It doesn’t involve stretching—at least, very little.  It’s slow and easy.  Unlike yoga, however, you can’t really learn it on your own.  Anyone who thinks they can learn it from a YouTube video or some internet “school” is a fool.  Like all martial arts, it requires you to learn in person from a qualified instructor.  Once you learn the basics and can do them sufficiently, however, it is then that you can do it more on your own.

 

Integrating Your Lifting and Non-Lifting Workouts

     Now that we’ve discussed the what let’s look at the how.

     Just as with your regular lifting, there are different ways that you can program your extra workouts.  Below are a couple of ideas that I think work well.  As with the above suggestions, these two suggestions are not all-encompassing, as it’s mainly just some stuff from the top of my head.

Alternating Between Workouts

     The easiest way to get started would probably be to just alternate between a day of lifting and a day of non-lifting workouts.  I’m a fan of full-body training—which you probably know, unless this is the first essay of mine you’ve read—and I think they would work well here.  You can train on a full-body program on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and then do your non-lifting sessions on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.  Yes, that’s 6 days of training, but you will be able to handle it because of the therapeutic benefits of the non-lifting days.  In fact, you may just find that you’re stronger and just get a better workout in general from this approach as opposed to doing nothing other than relax on your off days.  A schedule might look something like this:

Monday: full body

Tuesday: high-intensity recovery day

Wednesday: full body

Thursday: yoga

Friday: full body

Saturday: high-intensity recovery day

     Don’t worry, if you like to train with a split program, you have some other options.  If you were to use an “upper/lower” split, then a good schedule might be more like this:

Monday: lower body

Tuesday: high-intensity recovery day

Wednesday: upper body

Thursday: GPP day

Friday: lower body

Saturday: high-intensity recovery day

     On the following week, you can keep your non-lifting workouts the same but reverse the order of the two-way split so that you train upper body on Monday and Friday and lower body on Wednesday.

Train 21, Rest 7

     This is a riff on a method used by Vince Gironda.  He would often recommend that a bodybuilder train on a program for 3 weeks then take off for a week.  Over the 3 weeks, you progressively did more and more work, and then you took off for 7 days of relaxation and recovery.  Here, you’d do the same thing but instead of just lounging around for 7 days straight on your 4^th week, you spend that week doing only non-lifting workouts.  The only thing I wouldn’t do on your off week is the GPP work.  Do your GPP during the 21 days of lifting.  A brief rundown of the schedule might look something such as this:

Week One: train moderately hard

Week Two: train hard

Week Three: train “balls to the wall” (as the saying goes) – You should be absolutely ready for a recovery week after week three.

Week Four: recovery week

·         Monday: high-intensity recovery day

·         Tuesday: yoga or another “gentle” practice

·         Wednesday: freestyle walks

·         Thursday: high-intensity recovery day

·         Friday: freestyle walks

·         Saturday: yoga or another “gentle” practice

·         Sunday: off completely

 

     Try utilizing some of the ideas I’ve presented here.  If you take your non-lifting workouts as seriously as your lifting ones, you may just find they’re the game changers you’ve been looking for.

 

     If you enjoyed this essay, please consider purchasing my latest book “Ultimate Mass and Power Essays.” It’s available in both e-book and paperback versions.

 

 

 

*Simmons, Louie. General Physical Preparedness.  Deepsquatter.com/strength archives.

**John, Dan. Never Let Go: A Philosophy of Lifting, Living and Learning (pp. 265-266). On Target Publications. Kindle Edition.