Greetings from Reston VA right outside DC where the flying germ tube delivered your truly nerdy to his shady-ass hotel for a prompt 1:30 am bedtime. haha.

As I mentioned before, I am out here for a 2 day Coaching Mastermind lead by the one and only Coach Kav (see the podcast we did HERE).

Sleep was not the best as I woke up early to get some work done including a stop at the nearby Target for supplies. If you want to see what I picked up, you can go to my IG for a short video.

Another fun game that I don't like playing in the AM in the hotel is

"Hey, is that fresh blood on the carpet or ketchup?"

I think it is blood.

So much for their advertised 10 point cleaning check list. And for the record, I booked this one after attempting to do my due diligence online and I am sure Jodie would have done a much better job.

Ever look at a picture or video or heck, even trust online reviews and then realize the reality is nowhere close to that at all? That is this hotel.

All is good though as I will not be here much, I am bringing everything with me and if they want to burgle my back death metal shirts and underwear while I am out, I guess they needed it more than me so have at it.

This is similar to program design where you see the latest fancy whizzz bang program, then realize it takes 2 hours to do and even then was poorly designed.

Looks great in theory, but is dog doo doo in practice.

The good part is once you understand the principles behind what works for better body comp via mo' muscle and less fat, you can adjust them to meet your needs.

The big principle here is overload - which can be volume (aka the work done), density (volume / time ) or intensity (how heavy of a load).

When you are strapped for time, getting more work done is going to be hard due to time constraints. Your option is then to go for a better density with a bit of intensity

Here is an example of how this shakes out.

In fact, I did this the other day in South Padre as I only had 40 minutes to lift (post rowing) at the gym since I was getting ready to fly out to here.

I did my RPR warm up, my row and then picked the two main exercises where I could move the most load. I really love barbell and DBs here.

Since it was more of an upper body focus, I went with DB Incline Bench and 1 Arm DB Rows.

I worked my way up to a heavier load alternating between the two and pushing the rest period a bit for a better density.

I also like to keep the overall load lifted (intensity) close to my rep max in the past since my goals are more on the strength side than hypertrophy per say.

I worked up to a single top set of DB incline bench with the 85s x 4 - I was hoping for 5 but not dice, all sets up to that point were 10-15 reps, alternated with 1 Arm DB Rows at 100s x 11 reps - controlled eccentric, no straps and fast concentric on both.

These were not my all time PRs by any means, but the goal was to reach and touch a single set of heavier load. Post main lift I just added some machine work for the last 10 minutes with short rest.

The keys here when you are pressed for time are:

1) Pick exercises that all allow the use of more load, thus getting more volume and density is easier. DB and barbell exercises are money here. DB 1 arm preacher curls, not so much.

2) Work up to a single heavier set. Hit and quit.

Now if you have more time, then I would recommend doing more volume. However, when time is short, this method works wonders and is light years above not doing a session.

Much love and lifting!

Dr Mike

PS--If you want more on methods when time is short, the nerds at MASS have put together a no cost PDF for you that you can download right below

>> Time Efficient MASS-ive Training PDF << full PDF here

This is in honor of their 30% off sale. If you are interested in my favorite continuing education monthly PDF, this is it.

MASSive sale deets at the link below

​https://miket.me/mass​

​

_____________________

Mike T Nelson CISSN, CSCS, MSME, PhD
Associate Professor, Carrick Institute
Owner, Extreme Human Performance, LLC
Editorial Board Member, STRONG Fitness Mag

Mike T Nelson is a PhD and not a physician or registered dietitian. The contents of this email should not be taken as medical advice. It is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any health problem - nor is it intended to replace the advice of a physician. Always consult your physician or qualified health professional on any matters regarding your health.

..