People, Training Tips

Is it Weight Training or Just Manual Labor?

by  •  • 2 Comments

hand-on-barI have never been a fan of the cliche, “less is more” but that is exactly what Olympic and powerlifting coach, Glenn Pendlay of Wichita Falls Weightlifting Club suggests when he says that most people do too much in the gym.

In a very interesting podcast interview, Pendlay lays out a ton of training gems for the few experienced, competitive lifters to the many novice, intermediate and even for the older lifters (I made sure I turned up the volume on my computer so I could hear it).


If you are a non-competitive lifter, Glenn suggests a three day a week program that involves bench press, squats, deadlifts, military presses, pull-ups or chin-ups.

80% of the people in a gym, Glenn states, are not making much in the way of progress in their fitness while they are there.

For the competitive lifter, Pendlay favors training high intensity at a level that doesn’t compromise proper technique and he doesn’t like lifting at percentages of 1RM. He would rather see his lifters have mastery of a weight than maybe successfully complete the lift 1 out of 4 attempts. He much prefers consistency coupled with good technique.

Addressing the the needs of the older lifters, he goes on to say we need to pay close attention to the risk/benefit ratio of pushing yourself. Umm, yeah, ok!

How do you think Pendlay responded the question asking what is the best lift of them all in terms of most benefit. And what about the “is it weight training or manual labor you’re doing” question?

Listen to the interview posted at exrx.net find out those answers and a whole lot more.

Your request timed out. Please retry the request.

  • http://musclebodyworkouts.com BrandC

    The risk/benefit ratio is something die hard gym rats dont even think about. Aches and pains are part of the territory, especially if you are pushing your body to the limits. It’s just something you have to deal with.

  • http://mkonen.com/bblog markfu

    Ha! That sounds like something a young guy would say! You’ll consider the risk/benefit ratio when you get older if you want to stay healthy and minimize injuries. In fact, it is always a good idea, IMO. Aches and pains are a given any way when you train hard; there is no getting around it, but everything in life that’s a challenge is about considering risk vs. benefit. You just don’t need to do high risk stuff in the gym to excel. Training hard and training smart are not mutually exclusive.