I'm going to skip the foreplay here, the key is "Stimulate don't annihilate." That's a quote from bodybuilder Lee Haney. I heard it a while ago, and it has resonated on many levels. Now it saves my ass on a regular basis.
However, let me start with this, I annihilated the sh!t out of myself for decades before I heard this quote, and I'm glad I did. You see, every crazy strong athlete I know out there has done everything in their power to annihilate themselves while climbing the ranks. So if you are a relative newb, don't think you can get away with the bare minimum and make maximum gains. It's training like life depended on it while risking and actually tearing things off myself that got me to the level of being a top ten lifter for over a decade.
So where does the stimulate versus the annihilate thing come in? That's a great question, and I'm glad I asked it for you. However, I can't tell you. It's going to be different for everyone. It didn't happen for me until I was about 45. Even though I have been pushing my training for a very long time, I have done a ton of recovery work over the years. It's just been the last couple years where I realized my body can no longer handle the annihilate training philosophy.
Some of the best instances where the "Stimulate don't annihilate" concept works is with injuries. First, it's with the actual recovery. I still have lingering hip, back, and shoulder issues. I find that I can often over stretch or overdo therapy. I figured if I could fight through the pain I'd recover faster. Yeah, that doesn't work. Same goes for after you recover and begin your training, "Stimulate don't annihilate." Take it slow when you come back. The weights will be there, don't rush back. Strength training is a marathon, not a sprint.
Lastly, for the aging lifter, "Stimulate don't annihilate." Let me tell you, this is really hard on the ego. However, I have learned taking a blow to my ego and still being able to train is a lot better than me trying to show my body who's boss only to get laid up for months at a time. It sucks being robbed of doing what you love. So keep this handy phrase in your back pocket for when you need it. I say it out loud to myself for training, injuries, recovery, and even conditioning where necessary. There's a time and place for simply stimulating, just figure out when is right for you.
