Understanding the principle of diminishing returns

As you begin to understand the principle of diminishing returns, you will think twice about the phrase “More Is Better” when you train hard.

We do not always study training principles in depth; this time, we will discuss the principle of diminishing returns, but what does it mean?

To begin with, performance gains are related to each individual’s training level. Put simply, athletes who have never participated in a training program before may see enormous performance gains and muscle growth, which is motivating in turn.

On the other hand, bodybuilders or athletes who have worked hard for several years will achieve only smaller gains over longer periods of time. So far, this is logical and something we all know, but what does it have to do with the principle of diminishing returns?

As an athlete approaches their genetic potential, performance gains become much harder to achieve. In this scenario, the key is to continue progressing, especially by making improvements in areas where they are weak, such as flexibility, speed, focus, and, of course, lagging muscle groups.

The same thing happens in all sports, but we will focus on bodybuilding as an example to explore the principle of diminishing returns in greater depth.

Principle of diminishing returns: how can it be explained?

For bodybuilders and power athletes, this would be the so-called “law of diminishing returns”… well, principle, law, whatever you want to call it…

According to the principle, you work harder and harder and train more and more, but each time you exercise, you get fewer benefits.

Advocates of the principle of diminishing returns often cite the fact that humans have genetic limits to muscle growth.

Although this is true, advocates blatantly omit the fact that if you do not train as intensely, briefly, and infrequently as your body requires to reach this upper limit, you will never come close to it.

Instead, they follow the same training—or the same type of training—year after year (too long, too frequently, and only moderately intensely), and end up seriously overtraining, which not only results in short-term injuries but also problems ranging from mental health to the musculoskeletal or digestive systems.

These athletes, of whom there are many, are guided by influencers or snake-oil salespeople without stopping to consider the actual effects of their actions.

They choose to blame the principle of diminishing returns, but they never analyze the limitations of human evolution to determine whether they are the victims or the perpetrators.

 

The reality: how things work

As a survival mechanism, the human body has evolved to develop protections against various types of stress.

• Your skin increases its melanin levels in response to the stress of solar radiation
• Your muscles increase in size and strength in response to the highly demanding stress imposed on them.
• When muscular strength and growth are induced through exercise, it is the body’s response to high-intensity stress.

As Mike Mentzer consistently pointed out, a person will not experience increases in muscular strength and size until their body has recovered from the intense stress of exercise and had sufficient time for overcompensation to protect the body from possible additional stress.

When we analyze the principle of diminishing returns, we focus on a mistake many people make when they hear the reasoning above: they definitely do not apply it to their own bodies.

• When you take every exercise to muscular failure, your body is subjected to very high levels of stress, which is precisely what you genuinely want.
• At this point, the body will respond to this stress by becoming more muscular and stronger.

However, you must remember that although the concept—high-intensity bodybuilding—remains the same, there are things you should know because there are principles to respect.

The principle: how muscles grow

Most people remember that they need to train at 100% intensity to increase muscular size and strength.

By keeping workouts from being too long and frequent, you will increase muscular strength and size.

The ratio of muscle and strength gains cannot be measured.

You may be able to increase your bent-leg deadlift from 100 to 300 kg, but you certainly are not adding 200 kg of muscle to your body as a direct result of training at that level. This clearly illustrates that the amount of stress your body must withstand to continue training at 100% intensity increases exponentially.

Even if you gained 25–35 kg of muscle as a result of such an increase in strength, the amount of stress your new tissue would be subjected to would still be incredibly damaging and exhausting.

To continue gaining muscle and strength, you would have to rest much, much longer after performing a 300 kg deadlift to failure than after taking a 100 kg deadlift to failure… we are talking about “frequency”...

Regarding the principle of diminishing returns, if you keep this consciously in mind when considering how many exercises you should do per workout and how many rest days you will need afterward, you are very likely to continue limiting the number of exercises you perform and increasing the number of days you rest in order to reduce soreness and grow… YES, grow while resting…

• The choice is simple: You can accept the “principle of causality” and use Heavy Duty to reach your genetic limits, or
• You can use the principle of diminishing returns to comfort yourself while deliberately limiting your “genetic capacity” for muscle growth.