"Train Smart Not Hard by Doing the Minimum"

Discover why you need to wise up and train smart not hard.

Headmaster Ritual

You've likely heard this many times before: "Train hard, then go home." And such advice can work, up to a point. But is there a more effective way to progress in the gym without killing yourself?

Yes. There is. And the lesson you're about to learn promises to send you straight to the top of the class...

It's called doing the minimum.

Doing the Minimum

Brendan Chaplin is an accredited strength and conditioning coach through the UK Strength and Conditioning Association (UKSCA). With a masters degree in strength and conditioning to his name, he is also a qualified wrestling and boxing coach as well as a purple belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.

This wealth of experience led Brendan to pen the bestseller It's Not About Sets and Reps. And inside his training guide, he talks about doing the minimum, explaining how it can help you.

Brendan writes: "Doing the minimum required is not something that most people have an appreciation of. Society says it's wrong. We should work harder and longer. As coaches we need to give people extra volume to promote change and to make them feel like they've done some serious training. You only get better by working hard, right? That last statement is a grey area but the rest is clearly nonsense. Our job is simple, to promote the optimal response using the minimum effective dose. That's it. Done."

Train Smart Not Hard

And that last part demands repeating: "Our job is simple, to promote the optimal response using the minimum effective dose."

Brendan talks a lot of sense. Yet how many of us fall into the familiar trap of training too hard or doing too much? And here is the desperately sad part: this booby trap isn't so difficult to navigate and can be easily avoided.

I write about the amazing abbreviated training benefits of doing the minimum in my latest book Wolverine Strength Secrets.

So give this helpful weight training lesson a try and head straight to the top of the class!