By the end of the summer, we’re waiting for this time of year so we can trade
our bathing suits for hoodies and the grilled chicken salads for steak and
potatoes. It’s bulk season, right? And this year you’re serious! With every
bite, you’re one forkful closer to the beastly physique you’ve been striving for
every season. Just think…that bacon cheeseburger is building your cobra-like
lats and that cheesecake at the Christmas party? Massive forearms and brute grip
strength will be yours! Pint after pint of holiday cheer pushes your abs out in
massive distended glory! Or…
Could this be one of those rare incidences where quality does trump
quantity? Considering that you can only naturally put on up to 0.5 pounds of
muscle a week and around 10–15 pounds a year, is it completely necessary to pack
on massive amounts of weight in the “off season?” Even when gaining size and
strength, the male body isn’t required to go above 12 percent body fat to do so.
Wanting to put on muscle is no excuse to get fat. This might be very
disappointing for some but consider this. The more extra body fat you put on,
the sooner you'll have to start dieting in spring and the tighter your nutrition
will have to be. That’s right. Forget the cheat meals. But there’s good news.
I’m not trying to tell you what not to eat. Hell, it’s the holidays. But what I
can help you with is turning your body into even more of a food burning
machine. Not only will this compliment your caloric influx, but it will give you
an opportunity to condition weak areas and boost your recovery time. So if you
find yourself knee deep in eggnog with a mouth full of sugar cookies, read on.
As a female powerlifter competing in the 123 lb weight class, I work to stay as
lean as I can while consistently increasing my lifts. I need to make the most of
every pound of body weight in order to be successful in each meet. I have four
world records and two American records to defend. Needless to say, I take my
condition very seriously. It can also be a challenge to keep the holiday pounds
off to save me the trouble of dieting later to make weight. Even though you
might be looking to pack on some size, our goals are not so different. The
beauty of general physical preparedness (GPP) intervals is that there is no end
to the possibilities no matter what your specific goal may be. They are ever
adjustable. As Louie Simmons writes, they can even be used to specifically
condition your weaker areas while increasing your overall work capacity.
No matter the season, pre- or post-contest of any sort, you need to keep your body conditioned. GPP is necessary in all stages of the game. We use the term GPP to describe the process of increasing the body’s work capacity. We also use it to avoid dirty words like cardio or calorie burning. There are infinite possibilities and combinations. For our holiday purposes, the idea is to combine any conditioning movements in an interval style. The term interval refers to short intense bursts of exertion followed by a brief recovery period. This training pattern will push you mentally and physically to new limits.
The interval style allows your body to work intensely and get much more work
done in a shorter period of time. Training this intensely has proven time and
again to keep the heart rate elevated long after the training session is over,
even up to 24 hours! So while you’re sleeping and eating, your body is still
struggling to recover. For you, that’s a great thing. The longer and harder your
body has to try to recover from intense exertion, the higher your heart rate
stays. The end result is that you burn more calories per hour on the couch.
Meanwhile, you’re spared the boredom and tediousness of steady state cardio
(generally reserved for very low carb diet phases anyway). Your glucose stores
are plenty full so tap into them and get bigger, stronger, and faster and
stay leaner.
These
GPP/interval style sessions should be put at the end of your workout,
never before. If your regular workout takes longer than 45–60 minutes, it would
be best to save this workout for later or even 24 hours after a major workout to
boost recovery. This is truly multitasking at its best. But keep in mind, after
45–60 minutes, your testosterone level falls off a bit and you just won’t have
the tenacity you need to reap the full benefits of this bonus workout. The
GPP
interval sessions can range anywhere from a “no excuse five minute quickie” to a
30-minute slaughter. But no longer! Remember, intensity is the key to keeping
the heart rate elevated longer and increasing your overall condition.
Here are some general conditioning examples but don’t be afraid to get creative. I encourage you to mix some of your own exercises with conditioning movements to work on your specific trouble areas that could use some catching up.
General conditioning examples:
Upper body assistance example:
Lower body assistance example:
Tight hips?! Work on flexibility! Try 24 total alternating reverse lunges from a platform, 15 bridges, and a 30 second plank.
Juliet Deane is a strength and conditioning specialist at Fit for Life Personal Training in Marlboro, New Jersey. She is RKC and Club Coach certified, and she uses a variety of training methods to increase her clients’ physical performance as well as her own. Juliet is a competitive powerlifter in both the AAU and WNPF leagues and currently holds four world records and two American records. Lifting raw in the 123 lb weight class, her best lifts include 182 lb squat, a 135 lb bench, and a 276 lb deadlift. She can be reached at juliet_deane@yahoo.com.
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