Still focusing largely on movement and specific muscles. You don't have to lift millions of pounds! Just get the muscle engaged, work it hard, fill it with blood, repeat.
First up is flat bench, using the smith machine. We're using two different positions on this exercise, one with the bar aligned with your chin, and one with the bar aligned with your nipples. We did 4 working sets, alternating the alignment with each set. As usual, no counting reps, just go until you really feel worked, nearly going all out on each set. When your form falters, stop. We used only 50 pounds on each side of the smith machine. Trust me, you will feel the light weight.
Moving straight to incline bench, using the smith machine. Again using two variations, this time two different grips. The first two sets were using wide grip, focusing on a short stroke to keep the muscles under tension the whole time, concentrating on the chest. Loose hands. The second two sets were done with a very close grip. Again, focusing on those chest muscles!
Now to flat bench dumbbell flys. I used 15 pound dumbbells. Short stroke, never get your hands within a foot of each other at the top, to ensure chest engagement throughout each rep each set. Two second count lowering, one second holding the stretch at the bottom, two seconds back up. 4 sets of as many reps as you can complete without losing form.
Last chest exercise of the day: DB chest presses. Holding the DB's with your palms facing each other, the tops of the dumbbells should be aligned with your nipples. You do short movements, focusing really hard on the chest, and using nothing but the chest. I need to video this particular movement, to ensure everyone is doing it properly. It's very effective. 4 sets.
Moving to triceps, I have two grip attachments, one straight bar, and one V bar. Using proper, slow movements, do 4 sets, alternating between bars for the sets.
Finishing up with short-stroke skullcrushers. Two different hand positions, close grip and wide grip. 4 sets, alternating between grips on sets.
You should be full of blood, and spent! Get good sleep, tomorrow is biceps and lats.
Monday, October 29, 2012
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Bicep concentration, and Ab wall work
Sticking to the theme of lighter weight and heightened concentration on the working muscles, we move to biceps and abs tonight.
Stretch and warm up!
Using much lighter dumbbells than you're used to for bicep curls (I used 20's), use the palm up technique to begin. Before moving, concentrate on your bicep. Relax everything else, even your hands. Engage your bicep before any movement is done, and keep that connection to your mind, while keeping the rest of your body loose. Alternate arms, and use slow, controlled reps. Your arms should never go much past parallel with the ground, to keep the biceps in constant engagement throughout the exercise. Keep reminding yourself to keep your hands and all other muscles but the biceps loose. Once you get to the point where you can't do more reps with the same quality (doesn't matter the number), switch to hammer curls, with the same weights, no break. Keep that loose grip, loose muscles, focus on the bicep contraction, like you're flexing it and using that flex to move the weight.
Do 4 sets of this, with one minute rest between each set. It should take a while, due to the slow reps and the fact you're not counting your reps, you're going until your muscles have been engaged and worked, however long it takes. The slow speed of the reps, keeping in constant tension, and the concentration will more than make up for the light weight.
Now, to seated preacher curls. Again, use less weight than you normally would, much less. I used 15 pounds on each side of the EZ Curl bar. Before starting, get into proper position. Armpits at the top of the pad, arms stretched completely out, butt as far backwards on the lowest seating position you are comfrotable with. Keeping your hands and every muscle other than the biceps loose, do slow and controlled curls, short range at the top to keep tension, and stretch all the way down on each rep. Look at your biceps, ensure you are using them to their fullest and are eliminating any other muscle use to move the weight. You will know when you've done enough reps, as a 3-count raise becomes impossible after a while. :) Do 3 sets, with one minute rest. Your rep number (that you're not counting anyway) will drop significantly.
You will be surprised how spent your biceps will be after those two exercises. Now, to abs.
Two different 3-exercise sets, performed three times each.
First set:
-Cable crunches. 10 reps, 180 lbs. using the rope, holding the rope ends at your ears while you do the crunch, placing your forehead on the floor using the abs.
-Cable crunches... 10 reps, 120 lbs, using a single hand attachment. Hold it in the right hand at your right ear while you crunch your head to the floor.
-Cable crunches!! 10 reps, 120 lbs, using a single hand attachment. Hold it in the (you guessed it) left hand at your left ear while you crunch your head to the floor.
Rest for 1:00 between sets, no time between exercises.
Next and final ab trio:
-Hanging leg raises. 10 of them. Do your best to not swing any part of your body. Keep your knees straight, and raise your legs above parallel with the ground.
-12# medicine ball russian twists. Basically sitting on the ground with your knees bent and feet off the floor, hold the medicine ball in the air, and touch the ground next to your hip with it on each side, going from side to side quickly. 20 total ground touches- go fast!
-Lying flat on the floor with your feet touching a wall, crunches. Two movements- crunch your head and engage your abs, then using your feet to press against the wall, raise your back off the ground. These are brutal.
Rest for 1:00 between sets, no time between exercises.
Although we only did two bicep exercises, this workout took longer than average.
Get good sleep! Eat well- track your food intake and carbs, fat, and protein. Knoweldge is power!
Stretch and warm up!
Using much lighter dumbbells than you're used to for bicep curls (I used 20's), use the palm up technique to begin. Before moving, concentrate on your bicep. Relax everything else, even your hands. Engage your bicep before any movement is done, and keep that connection to your mind, while keeping the rest of your body loose. Alternate arms, and use slow, controlled reps. Your arms should never go much past parallel with the ground, to keep the biceps in constant engagement throughout the exercise. Keep reminding yourself to keep your hands and all other muscles but the biceps loose. Once you get to the point where you can't do more reps with the same quality (doesn't matter the number), switch to hammer curls, with the same weights, no break. Keep that loose grip, loose muscles, focus on the bicep contraction, like you're flexing it and using that flex to move the weight.
Do 4 sets of this, with one minute rest between each set. It should take a while, due to the slow reps and the fact you're not counting your reps, you're going until your muscles have been engaged and worked, however long it takes. The slow speed of the reps, keeping in constant tension, and the concentration will more than make up for the light weight.
Now, to seated preacher curls. Again, use less weight than you normally would, much less. I used 15 pounds on each side of the EZ Curl bar. Before starting, get into proper position. Armpits at the top of the pad, arms stretched completely out, butt as far backwards on the lowest seating position you are comfrotable with. Keeping your hands and every muscle other than the biceps loose, do slow and controlled curls, short range at the top to keep tension, and stretch all the way down on each rep. Look at your biceps, ensure you are using them to their fullest and are eliminating any other muscle use to move the weight. You will know when you've done enough reps, as a 3-count raise becomes impossible after a while. :) Do 3 sets, with one minute rest. Your rep number (that you're not counting anyway) will drop significantly.
You will be surprised how spent your biceps will be after those two exercises. Now, to abs.
Two different 3-exercise sets, performed three times each.
First set:
-Cable crunches. 10 reps, 180 lbs. using the rope, holding the rope ends at your ears while you do the crunch, placing your forehead on the floor using the abs.
-Cable crunches... 10 reps, 120 lbs, using a single hand attachment. Hold it in the right hand at your right ear while you crunch your head to the floor.
-Cable crunches!! 10 reps, 120 lbs, using a single hand attachment. Hold it in the (you guessed it) left hand at your left ear while you crunch your head to the floor.
Rest for 1:00 between sets, no time between exercises.
Next and final ab trio:
-Hanging leg raises. 10 of them. Do your best to not swing any part of your body. Keep your knees straight, and raise your legs above parallel with the ground.
-12# medicine ball russian twists. Basically sitting on the ground with your knees bent and feet off the floor, hold the medicine ball in the air, and touch the ground next to your hip with it on each side, going from side to side quickly. 20 total ground touches- go fast!
-Lying flat on the floor with your feet touching a wall, crunches. Two movements- crunch your head and engage your abs, then using your feet to press against the wall, raise your back off the ground. These are brutal.
Rest for 1:00 between sets, no time between exercises.
Although we only did two bicep exercises, this workout took longer than average.
Get good sleep! Eat well- track your food intake and carbs, fat, and protein. Knoweldge is power!
Monday, October 22, 2012
Mid and upper chest, and triceps. Building!
Change the pace, switch your rep range, your cadence, trick your muscles. All ways to stay away from plateaus!
Tonight is chest and tris, and it's a focus night. As in, focus directly and make a mental connection with the muscles you're working.
Flat bench- light 2 set warmup. Then, MUCH lighter weight than you're used to for flat bench. I used a mere 135lbs. The goal here isn't to do a lot of weight, it's to recruit a lot of muscle fibers, fill them with blood, stretch them, and repeat.
Concentrate on form here. Arch your back on the bench. Bring your shoulder blades together before starting. Stay in the "loaded range", which means to never fully extend your arms, always keep a tension on your chest. Do slow, 3/1/3/0 timing reps. 3 seconds to lower the weight, one second pause at the bottom, 3 seconds to raise the weight, and 0 seconds at the top- to keep tension on the chest, again. The number of reps you do doesn't matter. Focus on your first working set, and go until complete failure. You should be able to do a few more reps after you think you feel you are failing, due to the lighter weight than normal.
Do only two sets of this. Alllllllll your power should be spent in the first set, so the second set should be much shorter, due to muscle exhaustion. This is the way we will do all of our exercises tonight.
Next, is flat bench flys. Again, go lighter than normal, my working sets were done using 20 pound dumbbells. Here, focus on arching your back, keeping your elbows pointing to the floor, and really get a good chest stretch (and hold it!). Never let the weights touch, and you probably don't ever want to have them even as close as a foot apart, again, keeping tension on the chest. The timing of these reps is 3,3,3,0.... 3 second spread, 3 second hold while stretched out, 3 seconds to bring them back together, and a 0 second hold at the top, so you go straight into the next rep....keeping the chest engaged the whole time. Really focus on your chest muscles here. You should be twitching and failing before you drop the weights. Again, only two sets, so REALLY kill the first set. :45 seconds rest, then the next set.
On to incline DB presses. Use the incline setting that is slightly more angled than a flat bench, don't sit up too straight. Same form, arched back, shoulder blades together, really focusing on your upper chest here. As you press the DB's up, they should move in a straight line from the starting position to the finishing position at the top. Again, do a "short stroke" on the exercise to ensure that you keep the muscles engaged and never rest weight on your bones. The timing here is 3,0,3,1. 3 seconds to raise the weight, 0 rest at top, 3 seconds to lower, and 1 second to stabilize at the bottom and refocus. Do two sets, absolutely killing the first.
I used 50# db's here. Again, lighter than normal, your reps are slow, and you're not counting them even. Just go till it kills.
Triceps! Barbell skullcrushers. This one is good to have a partner. I used much less weight than normal, a 55# barbell. I lower it to my forehead slowly, and my partner resists the raising portion with both hands, pretty forcefully, just enough so I'm moving it back up, but struggling. After 9 reps, I had him let go and did one more slow rep. On my second set, I only got to 6 before he had to stop resisting me, and I did one more slow, painful rep.
To finish the day, we did some cable tricep extensions with 3 different grips. Focused on really flexing the triceps at the bottom of each pushdown, and short stroking the movement at the top to keep tension on the tris.
Your chest and tris should be shot. Sleep well! (it's important for recovery and muscle building!)
Tonight is chest and tris, and it's a focus night. As in, focus directly and make a mental connection with the muscles you're working.
Flat bench- light 2 set warmup. Then, MUCH lighter weight than you're used to for flat bench. I used a mere 135lbs. The goal here isn't to do a lot of weight, it's to recruit a lot of muscle fibers, fill them with blood, stretch them, and repeat.
Concentrate on form here. Arch your back on the bench. Bring your shoulder blades together before starting. Stay in the "loaded range", which means to never fully extend your arms, always keep a tension on your chest. Do slow, 3/1/3/0 timing reps. 3 seconds to lower the weight, one second pause at the bottom, 3 seconds to raise the weight, and 0 seconds at the top- to keep tension on the chest, again. The number of reps you do doesn't matter. Focus on your first working set, and go until complete failure. You should be able to do a few more reps after you think you feel you are failing, due to the lighter weight than normal.
Do only two sets of this. Alllllllll your power should be spent in the first set, so the second set should be much shorter, due to muscle exhaustion. This is the way we will do all of our exercises tonight.
Next, is flat bench flys. Again, go lighter than normal, my working sets were done using 20 pound dumbbells. Here, focus on arching your back, keeping your elbows pointing to the floor, and really get a good chest stretch (and hold it!). Never let the weights touch, and you probably don't ever want to have them even as close as a foot apart, again, keeping tension on the chest. The timing of these reps is 3,3,3,0.... 3 second spread, 3 second hold while stretched out, 3 seconds to bring them back together, and a 0 second hold at the top, so you go straight into the next rep....keeping the chest engaged the whole time. Really focus on your chest muscles here. You should be twitching and failing before you drop the weights. Again, only two sets, so REALLY kill the first set. :45 seconds rest, then the next set.
On to incline DB presses. Use the incline setting that is slightly more angled than a flat bench, don't sit up too straight. Same form, arched back, shoulder blades together, really focusing on your upper chest here. As you press the DB's up, they should move in a straight line from the starting position to the finishing position at the top. Again, do a "short stroke" on the exercise to ensure that you keep the muscles engaged and never rest weight on your bones. The timing here is 3,0,3,1. 3 seconds to raise the weight, 0 rest at top, 3 seconds to lower, and 1 second to stabilize at the bottom and refocus. Do two sets, absolutely killing the first.
I used 50# db's here. Again, lighter than normal, your reps are slow, and you're not counting them even. Just go till it kills.
Triceps! Barbell skullcrushers. This one is good to have a partner. I used much less weight than normal, a 55# barbell. I lower it to my forehead slowly, and my partner resists the raising portion with both hands, pretty forcefully, just enough so I'm moving it back up, but struggling. After 9 reps, I had him let go and did one more slow rep. On my second set, I only got to 6 before he had to stop resisting me, and I did one more slow, painful rep.
To finish the day, we did some cable tricep extensions with 3 different grips. Focused on really flexing the triceps at the bottom of each pushdown, and short stroking the movement at the top to keep tension on the tris.
Your chest and tris should be shot. Sleep well! (it's important for recovery and muscle building!)
Saturday, October 20, 2012
Back, Biceps, and Abs. Solid end to the week.
This workout is going to test your muscle endurance as well as strength.
Stretch and warm up.
Starting with T-Bar rows:
2 sets of 10 reps with light weight to get your muscles awake and alert. Then, on to the working sets:
6 sets of 15 reps, and one set of 10 reps. The goal is to only rest for :30-45 seconds between each set. This gets really tough, really fast, but do your best to push through. If you have to do rest-pauses to complete some of the sets, so be it. We loaded the bar up with two 45# plates, and got going.
I was able to barely get the 14th and 15th reps up on the 6th set, and the 7th set, the 10 reps, felt like 20. Great start to the workout.
Now, a superset. (this is when you move from the first exercise directly to the second exercise, with as little time between the two as possible) The two movements are reverse grip seated rows with a straight bar (grip the bar with palms facing the ceiling), and neutral grip lat pulldowns. (neutral grip is using the bar shaped like I----I so your hands hold the bar with your palms facing each other)
3 sets of 20 reps of each item. 20 reps of the rows, followed directly by 20 reps of the lat pull downs.
We used 140 on each for the first set, and 150 on each of the next two sets.
Now, triple position static hanging "pullups". Here, you pull yourself nearly all the way up, and hold there for 10 seconds. Then, lower yourself about 3" and hang for another 10 seconds. And again, lower yourself another 3" and hold for another 10 seconds.
Do this twice. It's brutal.
On to bicep burnouts. Using a straight barbell, pick a weight you can do for about 10 reps. The goal here is to do as many reps as you possibly can, and on the rep that you fail on, your partner helps you complete that rep, then you set the weight down and rest exactly :30. Then you do it again. And again. And again, and again, until you cannot do one single rep without help.
Keep in mind that your biceps are already hit from the exercises you've done, so don't be too proud about the amount of weight you use. It doesn't matter. No one is watching you anyway. :) Focus on form!
I used an 85# barbell, and my sets were something like this: 10 reps, 8 reps, 7, 6, 4, 4, 3, 3, 2, 2, 1
On to abs! (yay!)
We did two different 3-exercise sets. We did each set 3 times with no rest between.
First trio: Decline situps with 25-pound barbell held at arm's length. Then right arm only cable crunches, and then left arm only cable crunches. We used 140lbs on those. 10 reps each of the 3 exercises, 3 sets.
Then, the second trio: Hanging front leg raises (10), situp machine with 120lbs (10), and giant gym ball crunches (10). Do that trio 3 times with no rest between.
Brutal!
I really needed and immediately felt the Muscle Pharm Re-Con post-workout drink today. Glad I have two days to rest the muscles before the next workout! Have a great weekend, all.
Stretch and warm up.
Starting with T-Bar rows:
2 sets of 10 reps with light weight to get your muscles awake and alert. Then, on to the working sets:
6 sets of 15 reps, and one set of 10 reps. The goal is to only rest for :30-45 seconds between each set. This gets really tough, really fast, but do your best to push through. If you have to do rest-pauses to complete some of the sets, so be it. We loaded the bar up with two 45# plates, and got going.
I was able to barely get the 14th and 15th reps up on the 6th set, and the 7th set, the 10 reps, felt like 20. Great start to the workout.
Now, a superset. (this is when you move from the first exercise directly to the second exercise, with as little time between the two as possible) The two movements are reverse grip seated rows with a straight bar (grip the bar with palms facing the ceiling), and neutral grip lat pulldowns. (neutral grip is using the bar shaped like I----I so your hands hold the bar with your palms facing each other)
3 sets of 20 reps of each item. 20 reps of the rows, followed directly by 20 reps of the lat pull downs.
We used 140 on each for the first set, and 150 on each of the next two sets.
Now, triple position static hanging "pullups". Here, you pull yourself nearly all the way up, and hold there for 10 seconds. Then, lower yourself about 3" and hang for another 10 seconds. And again, lower yourself another 3" and hold for another 10 seconds.
Do this twice. It's brutal.
On to bicep burnouts. Using a straight barbell, pick a weight you can do for about 10 reps. The goal here is to do as many reps as you possibly can, and on the rep that you fail on, your partner helps you complete that rep, then you set the weight down and rest exactly :30. Then you do it again. And again. And again, and again, until you cannot do one single rep without help.
Keep in mind that your biceps are already hit from the exercises you've done, so don't be too proud about the amount of weight you use. It doesn't matter. No one is watching you anyway. :) Focus on form!
I used an 85# barbell, and my sets were something like this: 10 reps, 8 reps, 7, 6, 4, 4, 3, 3, 2, 2, 1
On to abs! (yay!)
We did two different 3-exercise sets. We did each set 3 times with no rest between.
First trio: Decline situps with 25-pound barbell held at arm's length. Then right arm only cable crunches, and then left arm only cable crunches. We used 140lbs on those. 10 reps each of the 3 exercises, 3 sets.
Then, the second trio: Hanging front leg raises (10), situp machine with 120lbs (10), and giant gym ball crunches (10). Do that trio 3 times with no rest between.
Brutal!
I really needed and immediately felt the Muscle Pharm Re-Con post-workout drink today. Glad I have two days to rest the muscles before the next workout! Have a great weekend, all.
Friday, October 19, 2012
Leg and shoulder isolation exercises
As I hurt my right LCL about 4 weeks ago, today is my first day back at legs. So, I did some body weight exercises to get some burn and to see where I'm at.
4x15 bodyweight Box squats (I used one of the large balls instead of a box, to ensure constant leg tension) do the reps slowly, keeping your back straight, not bending your waist, almost to the point of losing your balance backwards....and if you do, there's the ball to sit on if you make a mistake. No worries. Keep a wide stance and focus on pushing up off of your heels. Your quad 'teardrop' muscles should feel the burn.
Next is 4x15 bodyweight calf raises. I put my toes up on a piece of equipment to enable full range of motion on the calf raises. There are two different distinct ways to do the calf raise: one is with the majority of the work being done by the big toe and that side of the foot, and one with the majority of the work being done by the outside of the feet and the smaller toes. I like to alternate 1,1,1,1, ect.
Next is leg extensions. 3x15, but each rep should use a 3-count raise, and a 3-count lower, for a 6 second rep. Never let the weight stack hit, so constant tension. The first two sets were 65 pounds, and the third set ws 80 pounds. Don't think that weight is light until you try it. :)
Now, shoulder isolations. Seated front double dumbbell raises. Alternating each rep between holding the DB's horizontal, and holding them vertically. There are 10 sets of the following reps: 50, 40, 30, 20, 10, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50. The goal is to do as many reps with the weight you start with, then drop if necessary. Here's how my night went with this exercise:
50: 40 reps with 10# db's, and 10 reps with 5# db's.
40: 25 reps with 12# db's, 10 reps with 10# db's, and 5 reps with 5# db's.
30: 20 reps with 15# db's, 5 reps with 12# db's, and 5 reps with 10# db's.
20: 16 reps with 20# db's, 4 reps with 15# db's.
10: 10 reps with 25# db's.
10: 10 reps with 25# db's.
20: 8 reps with 25# db's, 6 reps with 20# db's, 6 reps with 15# db's.
30: 20 reps with 20# db's, 5 reps with 15# db's, 5 reps with 12# db's.
40: 20 reps with 15# db's, 8 with 12# db's, 7 with 10# db's, and 5 with 5# db's.
50: All 50 reps with 10# db's. After the last rep I held the DB's straight forward in a static hold for as long as I could. It was like 9 seconds. You SHOULD be spent!
Had the Muscle Pharm Assault pre-workout, Muscle Pharm Re-Con at the gym immediately after finishing the shoulders, and a serving of BSN's Truemass when I got home. Dinner was seared seasame tuna with broccoli and brown rice. Delicious and nutritious!
4x15 bodyweight Box squats (I used one of the large balls instead of a box, to ensure constant leg tension) do the reps slowly, keeping your back straight, not bending your waist, almost to the point of losing your balance backwards....and if you do, there's the ball to sit on if you make a mistake. No worries. Keep a wide stance and focus on pushing up off of your heels. Your quad 'teardrop' muscles should feel the burn.
Next is 4x15 bodyweight calf raises. I put my toes up on a piece of equipment to enable full range of motion on the calf raises. There are two different distinct ways to do the calf raise: one is with the majority of the work being done by the big toe and that side of the foot, and one with the majority of the work being done by the outside of the feet and the smaller toes. I like to alternate 1,1,1,1, ect.
Next is leg extensions. 3x15, but each rep should use a 3-count raise, and a 3-count lower, for a 6 second rep. Never let the weight stack hit, so constant tension. The first two sets were 65 pounds, and the third set ws 80 pounds. Don't think that weight is light until you try it. :)
Now, shoulder isolations. Seated front double dumbbell raises. Alternating each rep between holding the DB's horizontal, and holding them vertically. There are 10 sets of the following reps: 50, 40, 30, 20, 10, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50. The goal is to do as many reps with the weight you start with, then drop if necessary. Here's how my night went with this exercise:
50: 40 reps with 10# db's, and 10 reps with 5# db's.
40: 25 reps with 12# db's, 10 reps with 10# db's, and 5 reps with 5# db's.
30: 20 reps with 15# db's, 5 reps with 12# db's, and 5 reps with 10# db's.
20: 16 reps with 20# db's, 4 reps with 15# db's.
10: 10 reps with 25# db's.
10: 10 reps with 25# db's.
20: 8 reps with 25# db's, 6 reps with 20# db's, 6 reps with 15# db's.
30: 20 reps with 20# db's, 5 reps with 15# db's, 5 reps with 12# db's.
40: 20 reps with 15# db's, 8 with 12# db's, 7 with 10# db's, and 5 with 5# db's.
50: All 50 reps with 10# db's. After the last rep I held the DB's straight forward in a static hold for as long as I could. It was like 9 seconds. You SHOULD be spent!
Had the Muscle Pharm Assault pre-workout, Muscle Pharm Re-Con at the gym immediately after finishing the shoulders, and a serving of BSN's Truemass when I got home. Dinner was seared seasame tuna with broccoli and brown rice. Delicious and nutritious!
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Off Days.... aren't really "off" days.
My current workout split is Monday and Tuesday on, Wednesday off, Thursday and Friday on, and Saturday and Sunday off. It's a good cycle for building, gives your muscle groups proper recovery time. This "recovery time", is also considered "off" time for many people. Sure, you're not working out, but you should still be working towards your goal.
Results are about 30% gym and 70% nutrition. I'm currently working out for about 6 hours each week. That means I'm not working out for 162 hours each week. During those 162 hours, I can do more for my physique than I can in the 6 hours I'm in the gym.
Your body can synthesize about 27 grams of protein every two hours. So, if you're trying to gain muscle, breaking them down in the gym is necessary, as is feeding them so they recover and grow. You want to get as many of these oppotrunities to synthesize protein as you can. I find that using supplements is the only way I can consistently (and affordably!) get the protein I need every day.
If you're not tracking your calories, fat grams, carb grams, and protein grams every day, you should start ASAP!
Try not to "cheat". If you make small changes at first, and keep changing, you'll get to your food goals in no time. And then those food goals will help your muscle building/fat cutting goals. Eat better carb sources, like brown rice and sweet potatoes. Cut soda OUT if you care about your health and goals.
If you need specific help, just ask! I'm glad to help, and I'm damn good with the numbers side.
Have a good night, getting in quality sleep is key, too.
Results are about 30% gym and 70% nutrition. I'm currently working out for about 6 hours each week. That means I'm not working out for 162 hours each week. During those 162 hours, I can do more for my physique than I can in the 6 hours I'm in the gym.
Your body can synthesize about 27 grams of protein every two hours. So, if you're trying to gain muscle, breaking them down in the gym is necessary, as is feeding them so they recover and grow. You want to get as many of these oppotrunities to synthesize protein as you can. I find that using supplements is the only way I can consistently (and affordably!) get the protein I need every day.
If you're not tracking your calories, fat grams, carb grams, and protein grams every day, you should start ASAP!
Try not to "cheat". If you make small changes at first, and keep changing, you'll get to your food goals in no time. And then those food goals will help your muscle building/fat cutting goals. Eat better carb sources, like brown rice and sweet potatoes. Cut soda OUT if you care about your health and goals.
If you need specific help, just ask! I'm glad to help, and I'm damn good with the numbers side.
Have a good night, getting in quality sleep is key, too.
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
10/16/12, intro and Ab&Tri workout
You shouldn't need a nutritionalist or a personal trainer. If you align your workouts with mine, I can and will help you reach your goals. (especially if you want to gain muscle, and lose fat!)
My current goals in the gym and kitchen:
-Gain size
-Bulk phase (slightly dirty bulk-it's ok!) During bulk phase, I intentionally eat more calories than I'm going to burn. It's a caloric excess that will get you growing. A defecit will have you cutting, obviously. Just like with a workout, be 100% honest with yourself 100% of the time in the kitchen.
Tonight is a tricep and abdominal workout. Remember, time your workout! It's one thing to be able to do all of the exercises and reps, but it's another thing to do it in a shorter time period. Similar to going up in weight, if you go down in workout time (even staying at the same weight) you will see gains in strength and muscularity. I train with a partner, and when I'm done with a set, he starts, and vice versa. It's a good way to keep a good pace in the gym.
On to the workout. FORM is more important than WEIGHT. If you have to move the weight down, do not get discouraged. This isn't a program to make you lift the most weight all time, it's designed for appearance and strength. Concentrate on your form, try not to "cheat" in any way on the exercises. You are accountable to YOU, and your results depend on YOU. As will be the norm, please feel free to contact me with any questions about my workouts, nutrition, or anything you feel I can assist you with. :)
Stretch! On most days in the gym, I'm the only person I see stretching. I'm also the person working the hardest....keep these things in mind when looking for results! As today is triceps and abs, those will be focused on during stretching. I always stretch the full body, but get specific with the muscles I'm working as well.
Tonight we start with Abs. A simple 3-exercise set, 12 reps each exercise.
-Lying knee raises (lie flat on your back, heels 2" off the ground. Bring your knees up so your calves are parallel with the floor. Then bring your knees to your chest. it's a 2-part movement) 12 reps
-Giant exercise ball crunches (position the ball mid-back, so you can get a full crunch and stretch on each rep) 12 reps
-Weighted straight arm crunches (I use 10# weights in each hand. Lying flat on your back with knees bent and feet on floor, extend your arms straight up so they are perpendicular to the ground. Do your reps while keeping your arms straight) 12 reps. Do that set of 3 exercises 3 total times.
From there, move to cable crunches, using the rope. We did 3 sets of 20 reps, with a 4th set as a double failure dropset. 160/180/200 pounds for the 3 sets. Then 220/140 for the dropset, I was able to do 11 reps of the 220 and 22 reps of the 140.
On to triceps. First exercise was the Jay Cutler tricep pressdown, flared elbows. We did 10 sets, of 15/12/10/8/6 reps over each shoulder. Weights were 140/160/180/200/230
Followed those up with two sets of dumbbell tricep kickbacks. First set was a dropset, 30# for 8 reps and 20# for 4 reps (each arm). Then I did burnouts with the 20's for a second set with each arm.
Moved on to single arm cable tricep pulldown, reverse grip. 3 sets with each arm, 12/12/12 reps. 15/20/25 weight for the sets.
Done! We completed this workout in 1:02. As always, I consume a serving of Muscle Pharm Re-Con in a shaker with 12oz water, immediately upon finishing the last exercise in the gym.
Feel free to ask for clarification on anything. Also, if you'd like a custom nutrition schedule based on your personal weight and body fat%, I can help with that.
My current goals in the gym and kitchen:
-Gain size
-Bulk phase (slightly dirty bulk-it's ok!) During bulk phase, I intentionally eat more calories than I'm going to burn. It's a caloric excess that will get you growing. A defecit will have you cutting, obviously. Just like with a workout, be 100% honest with yourself 100% of the time in the kitchen.
Tonight is a tricep and abdominal workout. Remember, time your workout! It's one thing to be able to do all of the exercises and reps, but it's another thing to do it in a shorter time period. Similar to going up in weight, if you go down in workout time (even staying at the same weight) you will see gains in strength and muscularity. I train with a partner, and when I'm done with a set, he starts, and vice versa. It's a good way to keep a good pace in the gym.
On to the workout. FORM is more important than WEIGHT. If you have to move the weight down, do not get discouraged. This isn't a program to make you lift the most weight all time, it's designed for appearance and strength. Concentrate on your form, try not to "cheat" in any way on the exercises. You are accountable to YOU, and your results depend on YOU. As will be the norm, please feel free to contact me with any questions about my workouts, nutrition, or anything you feel I can assist you with. :)
Stretch! On most days in the gym, I'm the only person I see stretching. I'm also the person working the hardest....keep these things in mind when looking for results! As today is triceps and abs, those will be focused on during stretching. I always stretch the full body, but get specific with the muscles I'm working as well.
Tonight we start with Abs. A simple 3-exercise set, 12 reps each exercise.
-Lying knee raises (lie flat on your back, heels 2" off the ground. Bring your knees up so your calves are parallel with the floor. Then bring your knees to your chest. it's a 2-part movement) 12 reps
-Giant exercise ball crunches (position the ball mid-back, so you can get a full crunch and stretch on each rep) 12 reps
-Weighted straight arm crunches (I use 10# weights in each hand. Lying flat on your back with knees bent and feet on floor, extend your arms straight up so they are perpendicular to the ground. Do your reps while keeping your arms straight) 12 reps. Do that set of 3 exercises 3 total times.
From there, move to cable crunches, using the rope. We did 3 sets of 20 reps, with a 4th set as a double failure dropset. 160/180/200 pounds for the 3 sets. Then 220/140 for the dropset, I was able to do 11 reps of the 220 and 22 reps of the 140.
On to triceps. First exercise was the Jay Cutler tricep pressdown, flared elbows. We did 10 sets, of 15/12/10/8/6 reps over each shoulder. Weights were 140/160/180/200/230
Followed those up with two sets of dumbbell tricep kickbacks. First set was a dropset, 30# for 8 reps and 20# for 4 reps (each arm). Then I did burnouts with the 20's for a second set with each arm.
Moved on to single arm cable tricep pulldown, reverse grip. 3 sets with each arm, 12/12/12 reps. 15/20/25 weight for the sets.
Done! We completed this workout in 1:02. As always, I consume a serving of Muscle Pharm Re-Con in a shaker with 12oz water, immediately upon finishing the last exercise in the gym.
Feel free to ask for clarification on anything. Also, if you'd like a custom nutrition schedule based on your personal weight and body fat%, I can help with that.
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