Dear New Members, (and old ones) (and young ones too) :-)
I am SO excited that you are about to begin using what should become your foundation of fitness
going forward. PLEASE realize that there is A LOT of research and
science behind this seemingly simple secret solution to life-long
fitness. The menu to the left ("The Best Way to Exercise")
contains all of the rhymes and reasons for why this program works.
PLEASE READ IT!!! PLEASE READ IT FIRST!!! Nothing will make sense until you do. And I didn't write it for my health, but for YOURS. :-)
In fact, the five separate sections (Books, Muscles, Video Intros, Video Exercises, & Workout Program)
are all integrated and inseparable. There is A LOT for you to learn,
but you only need to learn it once; then, from then on, you will be
able to follow the fastest and most productive workout program on the planet! Please "share the health" with friends and family by teaching them about The Best Way to Exercise!!
In Health & With Thanks,
Doug :-)
Super 7: Secret
As
the owner of one of the largest fitness centers in Fairfield County,
Connecticut, I've been helping to transform physiques and psyches for
over twenty years. In addition to having witnessed thousands of
clients' metamorphoses, I have also broken out of my own cocoon a few times. Looking in the mirror, figuratively or in figure, is never easy. As a fellow transformee, I understand first hand what
it takes to become the new you, but it doesn't always have to be an
overwhelming process with underwhelming progress. You wouldn't do it
if it were. Nor would I.
And as one of my own personal physique transformation clients, I can
attest to the power of focus. While completely recovering from a
crippling bout of forced inactivity and injury, I restored two years of deterioration in only two months.
I've since helped thousands of others to also transform their bodies
from the inside out. Now it's your turn, and we're going to make this
as straightforward as possible. So throw out the excuses and find that
one reason. It's time to put it all together.
When designing a realistic fitness regimen, there are four key components - four super secrets that guarantee victory in every aspect of your program. To work, a long-term routine must be simple, brief, varied, and consistent, allowing you to start up & stick with & strive forward & succeed at. The Super 7 System has it all.
The Super 7 System is a minimalistic workout. While you can always choose to do more, you must never choose to do less. The Super 7 System
already determines the least amount of exercise that you need to do.
Remember, one of my goals is for you to say, "That's it? This can't be
enough." But if performed correctly, consistently, you'll be surprised
at just how much a little bit can actually be.
So, contained in four separate, yet synergistic, simple secrets, your long-awaited outline for exercising Eccentrics comes to life with the Super 7 System in Strength:
Lowering produces force. Slower-ing produces safety. Simply, within muscle, within reason, the slower you lower, the stronger the force, the safer the motion.
As they relate to resistance training, slow motion movements are the
number one method for improving an individual exercise or an
individual's exercise session. Lowering weight is the secret to the system of Eccentrics. Lowering weight slowly is the secret to lowering weight. Slow↓Down! Slow↓Down! Slow↓Down!
If repetitions are performed too quickly, counterproductive forces are
placed on the muscles, tendons, ligaments, and joint capsules.
Everything that could get strained or sprained would get strained or sprained. Furthermore, fast movements, contrary to popular opinion, actually recruit fewer muscle fibers, resulting in weaker results.
However, the opposite end of the speed spectrum is not optimal either. If movement is too slow, you begin to perform no-motion isometric-like movements that fail to create much action to the body or reaction by the body. Fluid movement must occur to induce stimulus throughout a full range of motion.
What's too fast? What's too slow? What's the second secret to weight lowering? 2 seconds is not safe. 12 seconds is not sound. 7 seconds is the super system secret.
Of course it's all right to lower weight a little more or less slowly than 7 seconds; the goal is to activate Your Eccentric Genius by lengthening muscle, by lowering weight, super slowly. Your brain controls your body during each second
of every exercise. As you resist resistance, you can actually feel the
muscles slowly lengthen. Every second of every repetition now
qualifies as exercise on purpose.
Since slowly lowering is the ultimate solution, don't waste your time by also lifting weights slowly. Lifting too slowly squanders your efforts, grants mediocre results, and thwarts Your Eccentric Genius. Remember, the only reason to lift is to lower.
Though the programs promoting super slow lifting are probably better than some of the rest, you are better off training how your body works best. Slow↓Down!
With that said, it's not good to lift weights too quickly either. I recommend taking about 2 seconds to lift a weight during each repetition; then, on the way down, take advantage of the simple secret solution for speed, 7 second slower-ing lowering.
Slow motion Eccentrics is the fastest way to exercise, allowing you to work in more workout with less work. And this includes all aspects of less. You can work out less frequently. You can perform fewer exercises. You can complete fewer sets. You can even
From the "Principal Principles" pages, you've learned that a repetition (or rep) is one complete movement of an exercise - one lifting and one lowering of a weight. For us, the secret statistic for the Super 7 System is, of course, the lucky number 7.
I know that 8-12 or 15-20 repetitions might sound more familiar. These
more conventional sets of reps are also fine to do on occasion -
probably with a lighter weight and a slightly swifter speed. With my
own clients, I've even been known to throw in an occasional century set of 100. Ouch! Variety is a great spice, and you can use a healthy measure. Nevertheless, the secret for Eccentrics is 7 reps, especially if you are adhering to the simple rule of 7 seconds down. Here's why:
Without getting into all of the details of muscle physiology and
metabolic bioenergetic pathways, each set of each exercise should take
approximately one minute to complete. On the whole, it's the
best for most bodies. In that minute, the more slowly you move, the
fewer reps you perform. The number of reps that you complete during
each set is directly related to speed of movement.
Let's say
you lift and lower your weight for 2 seconds in each direction, 2-up
and 2-down. This equals 15 reps in one minute - an average set with
ordinary results. Extraordinary Eccentrics, using a 2-up and 7-down speed, only permits 7 repetitions to be performed during each minute of exercise. This is the Super Secret to Brevity. 7 reps, performed on purpose, allow your program to be transformed into a series of super-productive one-minute workouts where every minute counts.
Now, instead of performing set after set of second-rate exercise, you can focus all of your efforts on one super set of seven. When slower-ing lowering to 7 seconds per rep, it only takes one set of 7 reps, performed once, correctly, to be finished once and for all. An 8th rep, if you were to do one, should feel improbable or impossible (or very easy) depending on your goals and how hard you like to work.
Single sets save time and energy. Multiple sets add variety, but provide diminishing returns. One, the best bang for your buck, always gives the most relative change. reduce the number of the most basic variable: repetitions.
VARIETY: 7 EXERCISES
When you slowly lower weight (7 reps at 7 seconds each), your workout is both brief and simple. Yet, to make sure that your program
If you're reading this book from cover to cover, front to back, you
have already learned 42 different exercises - 21 basic movements with 2
options each. If you have also watched my "Healthy IntroDougtions to Strength Training" video clips, you know all of the idiosyncrasies for each exercise. There is a lot to learn, and if you're not quite yet on the same page, flip back, rewind, and catch up at any time.
For the most part, and for the purposes of this book, exercises should
be grouped and organized according to function and movement - PUSH,
LEGS, and PULL.
Each of these three workouts is comprised of, you guessed it, 7 exercises.
For most busy people, and definitely for me, 7 is the ideal number of
sets to perform during each workout session. It's not a lot - but not
too much either. Considering that each set takes only one minute, 7 minutes of on-purpose exercise is all that you need for Eccentrics in Strength, leaving plenty of time for stamina and stretching.
Hopefully, you'll have the ability to incorporate all 42 of the exercises described in this book. If not, don't worry about it. Instead, do your best with what you have. The secret is to perform 7 sets per session and to incorporate as many different movements as possible. Though one set of 7 different exercises is ideal, if you don't have access to some of the movements, do more of those that you do. Multiple sets for some of the exercises make perfect sense in this scenario.
Still, always try to add variety on a very regular basis, doing what you have not done recently. If not, you will become psychologically and physiologically stale.
Going back to "It's Show
Time," the previous section, you can add some variety by alternating
the two exercises featured for each muscle, on each page. For example,
use the Dumbbell Biceps Curl this week and the Machine Biceps Curl next
week.
Even with absolutely no equipment whatsoever, you can still
realize tremendous results with variety. If you only have Push-Ups for
PUSH Day, then only do Push-Ups. However, perform sets of every single
Push-Ups angle in your arsenal: regular, kneeling, staircase,
counter-top, and, of course, Eccentrics. Devise variety! stays fresh and on target, it's time to incorporate the principle responsible for striving forward forever: variety.
Which do you think takes more effort - shaping up or shipping out? With Eccentrics, at least compared to conventional exercise, getting in shape is really no big deal. Yes - it takes effort, but it's relatively easy. But even better, getting out of shape is downright difficult. Eccentrics presents the best to both worlds.
Becoming more fit with the Super 7 System is easy and effortless; becoming less fit requires tremendous determination and lack of effort. It's harder to detrain because the benefits of Eccentrics are persistent. They last longer. You can take more time off. You are able to work out less during exercise and rest more during recovery.
In fact, more than any other form of activity, Eccentrics has the potential of overtraining your body with virtually no exercise. You have to admit, 7 seconds for 7 repetitions borders on being no exercise. Is it really possible to overdo something that you have hardly even done? Emphatically, eccentrically yes!
If you repeat the same movement, the same way, inside of 7 days, you have probably done too much, too soon. Eccentrics is the best, but only if you rest.
The Super 7 System of Eccentrics is, if anything, over-enthusiastic. While most programs advocate training each muscle with resistance twice or thrice a week, the Super 7 Secret is training each muscle only once a week, and not at the least, but at the most. Consistency is vital, but you can definitely get too much of a good thing.
While the rule of training once per week per muscle works out for most people, you may be even extra special, and require even extra
Another point to consider is DOMS, Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness.
There's a notion that lack of soreness is an indication of full
recovery. That notion is not true. If you are sore, you definitely haven't recovered. If you aren't sore, you probably haven't recovered, at least not for 7 days after your workout. Don't forget that, in addition to causing soreness, Eccentrics actually preventshurt, doesn't mean that your body has been healed. Regardless of how your muscles feel, you need 7 days of rest to recover, repair, and rebuild.
In a nutshell, the Super 7 Secret to consistency is training each major muscle group of the body once every 7 days - no more, and perhaps even sometimes less.
rest. If you feel that you need a bonus day or two off between
workouts, trust your feelings and take it easy. soreness. Just because
your body doesn't
SUPER 7: SYLLABUS
In keeping with our simple Super 7 System, the super-straightforward schedule is:
Day 1: PUSH Day 2: LEGS Day 3: PULL
The key to consistency is constancy. However, even a perfect plan can't be realized if it's not realistic. So, the Super 7 System allows a few outs for your workouts.
In an ideal world, you can exercise PUSH, LEGS, and PULL on Mon, Wed, & Fri. In the real
world, however, Monday is manic and you'll probably wait until
Tuesday. No big deal. You can even have a complete meltdown in the
beginning of the week and do a double-up, performing PUSH and LEGS
together on Wednesday or Thursday. Working in two workout days in one day is often the only way.
In any case, consistency requires training each muscle group once every
7 days. While it is best to split your body into sections so you can
focus your attention and efforts on each muscle group, you do have options. If you must, you can even put off Day 1 and Day 2 until Day 3, and work PUSH, LEGS, and PULL all at once. Three days
in a single day may seem daunting, but it only equates to 3 groups of 7
exercises - 21 total minutes - quite feasible for even the busiest or
laziest of lives.
The secret to workout consistency is once per week per muscle. When is up to you.
And with that, that's it! You can now slide all of the pieces together and fully appreciate the complete picture of the Super 7 System for Eccentrics in Strength:
· Always begin by warming up with cardio-type exercise or Eccentrics in Stamina.
· Select 7 different exercises for the target muscle grouping (push, legs, or pull).
· Try to use variety for each basic movement (dumbbell/machine/body weight).
· Perform 7 total sets, ideally 1 set of each of the 7 different basic movements.
· A lighter warm-up set is suggested before performing any more intense sets.
· Perform 7 repetitions per exercise, at a slow count of 2 lifting, 7 lowering.
· Stretch each muscle either after each exercise or every muscle at the end.
If you have limited access to equipment, it's no big deal. Just do your best with what you have. If necessary, you can perform multipleany
given exercise to make up the difference, still completing a total of 7
sets per workout. For example, PUSH, with no formal equipment, could
consist of: 3 sets of Push-Ups + 2 sets of Lateral Raises + 1 set of
Tabletop Triceps + 1 set of "Upper" Abs. It still equals 7.
Ultimately, the proof is in the putting in of effort; however, your work ethic and workout should also be documented in a data day diary (sorry - I couldn't resist).
The Super 7 System superbly squeezes Eccentrics, 120 pages and 240 minutes of respective text and video, into these final two sheets, this one & that→. Accordingly, these three separate workouts of PUSH, LEGS, and PULL should never be put on the shelf. Either follow these three workouts to the letter or use them as an official outline for your own novel adaptation to Your Eccentric Genius.
The Super 7 System, even when not used verbatim, should always serve as the firm foundation for the program principles proving Your Eccentric Genius in Strength. Thus, if you ever rethink the routine, you must never forget to remember the rules.
Principles precede programs. Eccentrics is all principle. Super 7 is one program.
Full-sized color workout charts are available for purchase via our publisher, Lulu.com
