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It’s Boring, But It Builds An Athletic Physique — Transcript

by Abi Champion · 3,582 words · 509 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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0:00The strongest, fittest, most athletic
0:02women I know aren't necessarily the ones
0:04doing the most. They aren't the ones
0:06doing the most sessions per week,
0:07choosing the most complicated exercises,
0:09or spending more than 2 hours in the gym
0:11at a time. And to be honest, I noticed
0:13this in my own fitness journey, too. The
0:15things that actually transformed my
0:17physique and got me to where I am now
0:19weren't extreme, nor were they exciting.
0:21They were pretty boring on paper, but
0:23they worked better than anything else.
0:25And today, I'm going to share them with
0:26you. Four boring things to implement in
0:28your training to actually start seeing
0:30real, tangible results. And trust me
0:32when I say these four things will get
0:34you way further than any 30-day ab
0:36challenge or HIIT workout ever did. When
0:38I first started going to the gym, I had
0:40no idea what a good workout looked like.
0:43What I had was a note on my phone with a
0:45big, long list of exercises that I had
0:47screenshotted off Instagram. And every
0:49time I went into the gym, I would just
0:50pick five or six of those exercises that
0:53I fancied doing that day. And it felt
0:54productive. I was going to the gym
0:56consistently. I was training hard. I was
0:58sweating. I was sore the next day. I was
1:00ticking all of the boxes that I thought
1:02needed to be ticked. But I did that for
1:04nearly 2 years, and my body never
1:06changed because I was never doing the
1:08same thing twice. I was always just
1:10chasing the next best exercise. Whatever
1:12exercise went viral that week is the
1:14exercise that I would do. So, I never
1:16did anything for long enough to actually
1:18get good at anything. And the fix wasn't
1:20a better list of exercises. It was
1:22realizing that I didn't need a list at
1:24all. How your body moves can be split
1:26into seven patterns. If you've watched
1:27my other videos, you will already know
1:29this, but if you're new here, let me
1:30fill you in. The seven movement patterns
1:32are squat, hinge, lunge, push, pull,
1:36rotate, and carry. Almost every
1:39meaningful exercise in the gym is a
1:40version of one of those seven. A leg
1:43press is a squat pattern. A deadlift is
1:45a hinge. A row is a pull. And
1:47ultimately, making sure that you're
1:48covering these seven patterns matters
1:50more than the actual exercises that you
1:52pick. If you just have a list of
1:54different exercises to target different
1:55muscles, you will leave gaps in your
1:57training and you probably won't even
1:59notice it. Muscles with obvious exercise
2:01names get trained constantly and the
2:03movements that actually build an
2:05athletic body, the hinging, the
2:06carrying, the resisting rotation, fall
2:09off your program entirely. If you
2:11program by movement pattern, you
2:12physically can't leave a gap. There are
2:14seven boxes and they're either ticked or
2:16they're not. And the best part about
2:18this is that there will always be an
2:19exercise for where you're at in your
2:21journey right now. Whether you're a
2:23complete beginner or you've been
2:25training for over a decade like me. For
2:27the squat pattern, if you're completely
2:28new to training, you might start with a
2:30goblet squat, then move on to a leg
2:32press, then a barbell back squat and
2:34then eventually a Zottman squat. I'm not
2:36going to go through every pattern
2:37because we would be here for a while,
2:38but I'll put some examples on screen for
2:40you to screenshot. Now, the movement
2:42patterns will never change because the
2:44way your body moves doesn't change.
2:46You'll just pick more advanced
2:47variations within each pattern as you
2:49progress and get stronger. And before
2:51someone comments it, no, the seven
2:53patterns don't cover literally every
2:55exercise ever in the gym. A calf raise
2:57doesn't neatly fit into a movement
2:59pattern and nor does a cable abduction,
3:01but those are isolated accessory
3:03movements, so they should be used in
3:05addition to the seven patterns, not
3:06instead. And you could build your whole
3:08program without them. You could pick
3:10accessory exercises that do neatly fit
3:12into the seven patterns and there
3:14wouldn't be any gaps in your training.
3:16Whereas if you didn't hit all seven
3:17patterns and just did a load of random
3:19exercises, there would be gaps. Now, if
3:21you want the total body strength that
3:23comes with hitting all seven movement
3:25patterns, but you also want to bias a
3:26particular muscle, you would build the
3:28base of your program on the seven
3:29movement patterns and then you would add
3:31isolated accessories. If you want to
3:33bias your shoulders, you might do
3:35lateral raises. If you want to bias your
3:37glutes, you might add kickbacks or cable
3:39abductions. And if you want bigger arms,
3:41you might add curls or dips. But the
3:43order here is key. The seven movement
3:44patterns should always come first before
3:47the isolated accessories because if your
3:49body is built on the seven movement
3:51patterns and then you add glute work on
3:52top, you get an athletic body with a
3:55glute bias. Whereas, if your program is
3:57pretty much exclusively glute isolation
3:59work, you'll get glutes with nothing to
4:01attach them to. And this is why so many
4:03women train hard for so long and still
4:05don't look the way that they expected
4:07to. So, in practice, this is what a week
4:09could look like. And it goes without
4:10saying, but I'm going to say it anyway,
4:12whatever program you land on, you need
4:14to repeat that for weeks, ideally
4:16months. Okay, so two to four sessions
4:18per week, full body, 45 to 60 minutes.
4:22One big lower movement, one big upper
4:24movement. Then your accessories, which
4:26can either be more pattern work or
4:28isolated movements for the areas that
4:30you want to bias. And then finish with a
4:32carry, rotation, or both. Spread those
4:35sessions throughout the week however
4:36your life allows. And that's the other
4:38thing about training this way, it
4:39actually survives real life. Because you
4:41will miss sessions, you'll get ill,
4:43you'll get busy, you'll have holidays.
4:45When you're following a rigid list or a
4:47body part split where you're doing
4:48glutes one day and chest the next, a
4:50missed session can feel like a failure,
4:52which is usually the reason a lot of
4:54people end up quitting. When you're
4:56following the patterns, you can just
4:57look at the week and go, "Right, I
4:59haven't hinged and I haven't pulled this
5:00week, so that's what I'm going to do in
5:02my next session." And then the week is
5:04completely fine. So, that's your
5:05framework sorted. No random exercises
5:08and no throwing stuff at the wall and
5:09just hoping that something sticks. But
5:11you could have the perfect framework on
5:13paper and still get nowhere because that
5:15isn't the only thing that people get
5:17wrong. Let me describe something to you
5:19and you can tell me if it sounds
5:20familiar. It's Sunday, you get out of
5:22the shower and you stand in front of the
5:24mirror. You turn to the side, suck in a
5:26bit, have a little look, and decide
5:28whether the last few weeks have been
5:30worth it. I did that for years, every
5:32single week, and I want to be really
5:34clear, I'm not telling you to just not
5:36care about how you look. I started going
5:38to the gym at 16 because I wanted to
5:40change my body. Most of us start there
5:42and there's nothing wrong with that. But
5:44when every decision that you make around
5:46your training is aimed at achieving a
5:49certain look. You end up choosing
5:50exercises based on what burns the most
5:53and what makes you the most sore. The
5:54problem is that burn and soreness are
5:57not the things that get you your
5:58progress. And also, I'm just a big
6:00believer in the fact that if you're
6:01doing something from a negative place,
6:04i.e. hating your body and solely
6:06exercising just to change that, it's
6:08going to be a lot harder to be
6:09consistent than if you're doing it from
6:11a more positive place. And that's where
6:13the next boring thing comes in. It's
6:15flipping your perspective on your
6:16intention behind your training. Stop
6:18training solely for what your body looks
6:20like and start training for what your
6:22body can do. It's not easy at first and
6:24I know that you can't just switch off
6:26those physique goals, but the more that
6:28you focus on your performance, the
6:30easier all of this will be. And then I
6:32promise you, the shape will show up as a
6:34byproduct anyway. Now, when I say
6:36athletic training or training for
6:38performance, I know that sounds scary,
6:41but it's not. It does not mean that you
6:43have to be an athlete. You don't need to
6:45be training until you're sick and you
6:46definitely don't need to be training to
6:48compete in an event. It just means that
6:50you are training for what your body can
6:52do. Total body strength, coordination,
6:55mobility, stability, balance, how well
6:58your whole body works together rather
7:00than just how much a muscle can sting on
7:02a Tuesday. And the reason that this
7:04changes everything is the mirror is the
7:06slowest feedback loop that you've got.
7:08Body composition changes slowly and you,
7:11the person that sees yourself in the
7:13mirror every single day, will always be
7:15the last one to notice it. So, when you
7:17give a program eight weeks, look in the
7:18mirror and see the exact same person
7:21staring back at you, you conclude that
7:23it isn't working. When actually, it was
7:25working. You just used the least
7:26reliable measure of progress. Now,
7:28capability and training for performance
7:30doesn't do that. It gives you feedback
7:32every single week that you simply can't
7:35ignore. Your first unassisted pull-up,
7:37deadlifting your own body weight,
7:39squatting your own body weight, full
7:40range push-ups from your toes, Carrying
7:43half your bodyweight for 40 m without
7:45putting it down. Every one of those
7:47things is a line that you cross on a
7:49certain day. You can't argue with it.
7:50You can't talk yourself out of it, and
7:52no amount of bad lighting can take it
7:54away from you. And and this is where the
7:56physique comes in as a byproduct, you
7:58physically can't go from not being able
8:00to hold your own bodyweight to doing
8:01unassisted pull-ups without your back
8:03changing shape. So, like I said, the
8:05physique still arrives, it just arrives
8:08as a side effect from something that you
8:10were already enjoying. Not something you
8:12were doing as a chore to fix how you
8:14look. You start training because you
8:16want to. You want to see how capable you
8:18really are, which means that you stay
8:19motivated, which means you stay
8:21consistent, which is the only reason
8:23anyone has ever got results from
8:26anything. And that's exactly why I build
8:28my training programs the way I do.
8:29They're about learning to enjoy the
8:31process of training and then getting the
8:32aesthetic results as a byproduct instead
8:35of solely focusing on aesthetics, hating
8:37the process, and then never truly
8:39becoming consistent. I mean, there's a
8:41reason that so many of you have emailed
8:42me specifically to tell you that these
8:44programs are the thing that got you your
8:46love for the gym back. But anyway, let's
8:48keep going because there are a couple
8:49more boring things that you need to be
8:51doing in your training. The next one is
8:52the one I'd bet most people are doing
8:54wrong right now, and it's the difference
8:56between people who look like they train
8:58and people who don't. If I stood behind
9:00you during your last set on any
9:02exercise, I could probably tell you
9:04exactly what's going to happen. You'll
9:06get to your last few reps, it'll start
9:07to feel properly hard, your breathing
9:09will change, and then you'll put the
9:11weights down. If that's what you do,
9:13you're not training hard enough. Now,
9:14don't get me wrong, I'm not telling you
9:16that you're intentionally putting in
9:17less effort than you should be. I did
9:19this for years. Most of us learned to
9:21train in a culture of light weights and
9:23high reps, so we've never actually been
9:25taught what a hard set should look like.
9:27So, when you finish your set, your
9:29muscles feel warm, and it feels like
9:30you've put a good amount of effort in,
9:32you think you're training hard enough.
9:33In reality, you're probably finishing
9:35most sets with another six or seven reps
9:37in you until you reach true failure. So,
9:40how do you figure out how hard you
9:42should be training? The way we measure
9:44this properly is called reps in reserve,
9:46which is a fancy way of saying how many
9:48more reps could you have done if you
9:50were going to complete failure. For most
9:52of your working sets, you want to be
9:53finishing with anywhere between one and
9:55three reps left in the tank. But, you
9:57can't accurately estimate reps in
9:59reserve if you've never truly gone to
10:01failure. So, you need a reference point
10:03and there is only one way to get one.
10:05Take a single set to genuine failure.
10:08Now, you want to pick something safe
10:10where the rest of your body is supported
10:12and nothing could land on you. And
10:13ideally, if you can, have someone there
10:15to help you as well. A leg press is a
10:17perfect example. Of course, make sure
10:19you warm up properly before this, but
10:21then take one set to genuine failure
10:23where you could not do another rep even
10:25if you wanted to. It's horrible, but you
10:27only have to do it once. From that day
10:29on, every set you do, you can ask
10:31yourself the question, "How far was I
10:33from that feeling?" Remember, you want
10:35to be one to three reps away from that.
10:37Now, when you know you're training hard
10:38enough, you also need to make sure that
10:40you're training harder over time.
10:42Because a body that isn't being asked
10:43for more has no reason to change. I'm
10:46sure you've heard people saying that you
10:47need to be progressively overloading,
10:49but I know that can feel confusing. So,
10:51I'm going to give you two methods that
10:52you can choose between depending on how
10:54you train. If you're writing your own
10:56sessions, use double progression. This
10:58is where you pick a rep range, usually
11:00between six and 12, and then pick a
11:01weight where you can hit six reps with
11:03two left in the tank. Then every week
11:06you try to add a rep. So, six becomes
11:08seven, seven becomes eight, and so on.
11:10Then, when you're hitting 12 reps on all
11:12of your sets with a couple of reps left
11:13in the tank, that's when you'll increase
11:15the weight and drop back down to six
11:17reps. You'll then repeat that process of
11:19adding a rep every week until you get to
11:2112, add the weight, and drop the reps,
11:23and repeat. I know dropping the reps
11:25back down makes it sound like you're
11:26going backwards, but you're actually
11:28going forwards because you're lifting
11:30heavier than you were four weeks ago.
11:31Now, if you're following a program where
11:33the sets and reps are done for you, like
11:34in my programs, this is what you're
11:36going to do. Let's say you've got three
11:37sets of eight programmed and you can do
11:3940 kilos with two reps left in the tank.
11:42Week one, do all three sets at 40 kilos.
11:45Week two, do sets one and two at 40
11:48kilos and then increase your final set
11:50to 42.5. Week three, do set one at 40
11:53kilos, set two at 42.5, and set three at
11:5642.5. And then week four, do all three
11:59sets at 42.5 kilos. So, your reps stay
12:02the same, but over the weeks you're
12:04gradually increasing the weight. Now,
12:05this is not going to be perfectly
12:07linear, so I don't want you to panic
12:09when it isn't. This is just a general
12:11guide. If you're doing the same number
12:12of reps, how you can slowly increase
12:14your weights without it being too much.
12:16Sometimes though, you'll be able to
12:18increase your weights way more
12:19substantially or way faster. Other
12:21times, you might be stuck on the same
12:23weight for a few weeks and that is fine,
12:25especially on your bigger lifts or if
12:27you've been training for a long time.
12:29The point isn't necessarily that the
12:31weight goes up every single week. It's
12:33that you are actively training hard
12:35enough and you know what you're trying
12:37to beat. Now, for the fourth boring
12:38thing that you need to be doing to get
12:40an athletic physique, and if this one's
12:42off, everything else we've spoken about
12:44in the video so far is kind of
12:46redundant. And it is your nutrition. And
12:49I know it's annoying to hear. I know you
12:51know this, but it's really, really
12:54important. And you've probably already
12:56tried the extreme approach to nutrition.
12:58I feel like most of us have. The plain
13:00chicken and broccoli, the cutting out
13:01carbs completely, the eating like a bird
13:04Monday to Thursday and then wanting to
13:06eat everything in sight by midday on
13:08Friday. I feel like we've all been
13:10there. But your nutrition is exactly the
13:12same story as your training. The extreme
13:14version isn't failing you because you
13:16don't have willpower. It's failing you
13:18because it is simply just not
13:19sustainable. Changes to your nutrition
13:21will only work if you can actually stick
13:23to them for years, not days, not weeks,
13:26not even months. So, here's a rapid-fire
13:28lesson on the boring but effective
13:30version of nutrition for an athletic
13:32physique. The first is the 80/20 rule.
13:3480% of your food is whole, mostly
13:36unprocessed, and ideally cooked at home.
13:39The other 20% is the meal out, the glass
13:41of wine, the birthday cake. That 20%
13:43isn't you being naughty or falling off
13:46track. It is there for a reason. You
13:48need to have foods that you enjoy so
13:50that you can stick to the other 80%. The
13:52second is protein. You need this if
13:55you're training hard. It's going to help
13:56you with your recovery and actually
13:58building the muscle that you want to for
13:59the toned look that you're after. You
14:01want a decent source of protein at every
14:03single meal. And you can tell if
14:05something is a significant source of
14:06protein by looking at the protein to
14:08calories ratio. If the amount of protein
14:10in grams is 10% or more of the number of
14:13calories, it is a significant source of
14:15protein. So, for example, if something
14:17is 400 calories and 40 plus grams of
14:20protein, it would be considered high
14:22protein. Protein is what your body
14:23actually uses to rebuild after you've
14:25trained. And as a bonus, it's the most
14:27filling thing on your plate, so the
14:29hunger side of things gets a lot easier,
14:31too. Third, and please hear me out on
14:33this one, stop skipping carbs. Carbs are
14:36what fuel the sessions that we've just
14:38spent this whole video talking about.
14:40So, you need to make sure that you are
14:42having them. If you've ever wondered why
14:44your energy dips halfway through a
14:45workout or one week you can lift really
14:47heavy and the next you can't, carbs
14:50might be the answer. If you're skipping
14:51carbs, you cannot expect to have the
14:53energy to train hard enough. And as you
14:56now know, training hard is an essential
14:57factor to making the progress that you
14:59want to make. And the last thing you
15:01need to do with your nutrition, which is
15:02the thing most people aren't having
15:04enough of, is simply just having more
15:06fruit and veg. Almost everyone I speak
15:08to is under eating on this, and so many
15:10people consider buying a greens powder
15:12before they consider just buying some
15:14broccoli. So, before you spend 40 quid
15:17on a tub of green dust, just make sure
15:19that you are having a substantial
15:21portion of fruit or veg with every
15:23single meal. And if the bit you find
15:25hardest is knowing what to actually
15:27cook, I have a recipe ebook. It's all
15:29the meals I actually eat. They're all
15:31high protein and they're all enormous,
15:34which is perfect if you've got a big
15:36appetite like me. There's also a build
15:38your own meals guide if you'd rather
15:39learn the formula and stop needing
15:41recipes at all. Both are linked in the
15:42description. So, those are the four
15:44boring things that will actually get you
15:46an athletic physique. Follow a program
15:48around the seven movement patterns
15:50instead of body parts, train for what
15:52your body can do, not just what it looks
15:54like, actually push your sets and
15:56progress them properly, and fuel
15:58yourself like someone who trains. None
16:00of that is exciting, none of it will go
16:02viral, and it certainly isn't going to
16:04change every 6 weeks. And that is
16:07exactly why it works. If you want the
16:08training mapped out for you, 12 weeks,
16:10every session written, a video demo for
16:12every exercise, and three progressive
16:14blocks, that's exactly what my training
16:16programs are. There's a home version and
16:18a gym version. The links are in the
16:20description, and if you want both, you
16:21get 75% off your second program. That's
16:24it from me, and I'll see you in the next
16:25one.

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