Is it real...or is it Memorex?

HA - remember those commercials way back when?

In case you're too young to know, Memorex was an electronics company. They used to make video tapes (VHS), audio cassettes, and stuff like that. Their claim was that the products could reproduce visuals and sounds so clearly, that you couldn't tell if you were watching/listening to a tape or the real thing.

Hence the line, "Is it real...or is it Memorex?"

Believe it or not, training can be the same way.

Back in my teens, I did mostly bodybuilding-styled training. I've made no secret of that. I always wanted to be as strong as I could be, but I still used mainly bodybuilding principles, and I still cared quite a bit how my physique looked.

One day, my dad and I were talking training, as we used to do quite often. (My dad is where I got all my early training knowledge from.) We were talking about how to build that all-important (and sometimes ultra-elusive) "V-taper" on the upper body.

He asked me how I thought the best way to build a "V-taper" would be. I went on a diatribe about how to build wide shoulders, flaring lats, etc. He just shook his head.

"Nope. Go lose 15 lbs."

Huh? Go lose 15 lbs. What the hell was he thinking? I proceeded to give my old man my best "What you talkin' about Willis?" look.



He then told me to name off guys that had that great "V-taper" look. I named several bodybuilders such as Steve Reeves, Frank Zane, Serge Nubret, etc.

"What do they all have in common?" he asked me. "A small waist."

I started to get it.

"It's easier - and quicker - to lose 2 inches of fluff off your waist, then it is to gain 2 inches of muscle on your shoulders," he told me. "So, if you want that 'V-taper', go lose 15 lbs."

Made a lot of sense.

In training, sometimes the answer to the question we're looking for...the benefit we desire...is in a place that it seems like it shouldn't be.

Who has seen the movie Caddyshack? Everybody has seen the movie - that's who. (At least, anybody that's got any semblance of a sense of humor has.)

Remember when Chevy Chase's character, Ty, is out golfing with Danny Noonan as his caddy? Do you remember what Ty told Danny?

"The shortest distance between two points, is a straight line...

...in the opposite direction."

That's how training can be.

In my "Working Class MMA Workout Program" (which, by the way, you can save 40% on HERE), the very end of the 4-phases is designed to be right before a MMA fight. You are to be at your very best...you're the strongest, the fastest, in the best condition...you're ready to take on any opponent.

Yet, at the end of the 4-phases, you're actually the least amount of overall work than you are in the entire darn program.

Doesn't make much sense, does it?

Sure it does - you're doing the most intense work, you're doing it with the least amount of rest, and you're doing more skills work than ever, so, when doing your conditioning, you need to get 'in and out' as quick as you can, so you can save your time and energy for actual fight training.

But conventional wisdom would tell you that to be in the best shape, you have to do the most work, right?

Nope.

Sometimes that's the case. But not always.

And this is many times what training is all about - doing the opposite of what might make sense. Not because what 'makes sense' is a bad idea, but because there can be quicker ways to go about getting your goals achieved.

If you're not sure when to do what 'makes sense' and when not to, then I highly suggest you CLICK HERE and eliminate all the guesswork out of your workouts.

Train Hard, Rest Hard, Play Hard-
Matt "Wiggy" Wiggins
http://www.workingclassfitness.com