I’m no personal trainer so I wasn’t able to develop any workout plans for you but I hope that my tips helped you along the way. I gave you some pretty specific and expert tips to mix up your workouts. As I said in my first post, plateaus are some of the most aggravating experiences in weight lifting and can be the hardest periods to break.
Everyone knows the basic, simple workout plan. Hit every muscle group once a week, do a few exercises per muscle group and do 10-12 reps. This will give you your initial results but eventually you will flatten out. Hopefully I have helped you push through the tough days and get results. I have even helped myself. As I am trying to develop new posts, I am doing research and finding things that I have never used or heard of before.
This only proves one of my points even better. I am an extreme advocate of research. I believe that research is the most beneficial thing when it comes to weight lifting (and almost anything else too). You WILL find new ideas and tactics to help blow you up.
If you are still discouraged for whatever reason do not give up. Weight training is one of the best ways to prevent injury, increase strength, size, and definition. It also improves your mental focus and will power. Lifting is also a great way to reduce stress and is a place where you can just “get away”. No matter how much of a rut you get in, you can somehow always get out of it. It all depends what body type you are and as I’ve said before, everyone is different; you just need to find what works for YOU.
Well this is it and I really hope I have helped even only one person get bigger, stronger, or just restore hope. Keep lifting and stay motivated.
Friday, June 17, 2011
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Get your core strong
I am no ab freak. I don’t have a raging 6 pack and I hate working them out after a workout. However, I do understand the importance of having a strong core. It is healthy for you to have strong abs, obliques, and lower back. Also, having a strong core overall increases your lifting potential in every other workout.
The key to ab workouts is variation. Change your workout everyday so your muscles cannot develop muscle memory to the workout and stop improving. Be sure to use equal amounts of upper and lower ab workouts along with obliques and lower back. Also, use heavy lifts that require you to stand up while holding the weight. Squats, deadlift, cleans, and shrugs are all examples of workouts that seriously engage your core. Almost every workout requires your abs even just a little bit but that shows how important your abs are.
Also, doing 50 crunches is not going to give you abs. Abs are just like every other muscle in that you wouldn’t do 50 curls or 50 bench press reps. You should stick to 15-20 reps and use exercises that are more difficult than the standard sit up. I’m not here to give you a workout plan but just some basic ideas. Just change up your workout plan by throwing some of these ideas in there.
The key to ab workouts is variation. Change your workout everyday so your muscles cannot develop muscle memory to the workout and stop improving. Be sure to use equal amounts of upper and lower ab workouts along with obliques and lower back. Also, use heavy lifts that require you to stand up while holding the weight. Squats, deadlift, cleans, and shrugs are all examples of workouts that seriously engage your core. Almost every workout requires your abs even just a little bit but that shows how important your abs are.
Also, doing 50 crunches is not going to give you abs. Abs are just like every other muscle in that you wouldn’t do 50 curls or 50 bench press reps. You should stick to 15-20 reps and use exercises that are more difficult than the standard sit up. I’m not here to give you a workout plan but just some basic ideas. Just change up your workout plan by throwing some of these ideas in there.
Low vs. High reps
In my opinion, weight lifting contains more false ideas and myths than any other activity. I could go on for hours listing off things that are not true at all but that many people still believe and form their workouts around.
I will focus on the differences between low rep/high weight and high rep/low weight workout styles. Many people think that they will burn fat and get more defined by working out with high repetitions. Now, naturally you will burn fat by doing high reps (10-15) because you are increasing your heart rate and it is active physical exercise. However, this is not the best way to become defined. The most effective way is by not increasing your repetitions but by decreasing the time you rest between sets.
Decreasing the rest time keeps your heart rate up and keeps your muscles under constant stress. High repetitions are most effectively used for increasing size. Since muscle are made up a very tiny protein fibers that tear when you workout and repair after you are done working out. This repair stage is what builds muscles. The harder you work your muscles the more fibers that will rip and need to repair afterwards. Therefore, more repetitions will maximize your muscles workouts and repair the maximum amount of muscle.
Low repetitions (3-5) will increase strength and power. Your muscle will be used for the purpose of heavy lifting instead of lifting lower weight. Your muscles will naturally, not increase the amount fibers but the actual strength of the muscle because that is what they are being trained for.
Many people will object to these ideas because of their personal experiences. Someone may say that the did high reps and did not get bigger. Or that doing low reps never increased his strength. No two people get the same results from the same workouts. Some people can't increase their strength anymore and some people pack on muscle more densely so they can't increase their size much.
Unless you really want to focus on one of these styles, it is best to use all of them. If you want to have overall performance, it is best to mix it up. This can simply be done by changing the repetitions every week. One week do 8-12 reps, next week do 3-5, and the week after do 15-20.
I will focus on the differences between low rep/high weight and high rep/low weight workout styles. Many people think that they will burn fat and get more defined by working out with high repetitions. Now, naturally you will burn fat by doing high reps (10-15) because you are increasing your heart rate and it is active physical exercise. However, this is not the best way to become defined. The most effective way is by not increasing your repetitions but by decreasing the time you rest between sets.
Decreasing the rest time keeps your heart rate up and keeps your muscles under constant stress. High repetitions are most effectively used for increasing size. Since muscle are made up a very tiny protein fibers that tear when you workout and repair after you are done working out. This repair stage is what builds muscles. The harder you work your muscles the more fibers that will rip and need to repair afterwards. Therefore, more repetitions will maximize your muscles workouts and repair the maximum amount of muscle.
Low repetitions (3-5) will increase strength and power. Your muscle will be used for the purpose of heavy lifting instead of lifting lower weight. Your muscles will naturally, not increase the amount fibers but the actual strength of the muscle because that is what they are being trained for.
Many people will object to these ideas because of their personal experiences. Someone may say that the did high reps and did not get bigger. Or that doing low reps never increased his strength. No two people get the same results from the same workouts. Some people can't increase their strength anymore and some people pack on muscle more densely so they can't increase their size much.
Unless you really want to focus on one of these styles, it is best to use all of them. If you want to have overall performance, it is best to mix it up. This can simply be done by changing the repetitions every week. One week do 8-12 reps, next week do 3-5, and the week after do 15-20.
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Safety First
Safety is key in the gym and if you do not practice it, you can be seriously hurt. There are many ways to stay safe in the gym and it’s pretty much common sense but some people still fail to take the correct precautionary measures.
First, let’s discuss spotters. Spotters are anything that prevents the weight from falling on you if you cannot lift it. Spotters come in two forms: someone you workout with that can catch the weight or metal bars can be used, usually on the squat racks. Lifting with a partner is very beneficial when you have workouts that you could potentially drop the weight. Not only do spotters have the ability to lift the bench press bar off your chest but they can help you finish your last rep if you can’t quite push it up. Every week I have to run over to someone who doesn’t have a spotter and pull the bar off their chest. Luckily no one with real heavy weight has ran into that problem (that I’ve seen atleast).
Another potential safety precaution is something you wear, such as a weight belt. Weight belts are wide, stiff belts that keep your back straight. Weight belts should be worn anytime you are lifting heavy weight and you’re lower back can be bent. Dead lifts, squats, shrugs, cleans, etc. are all exercises that require a weight belt.
Another basic safety measure is as simple as drinking water. It is very easy to get dehydrated during exercise and dehydration can have serious repercussions. I have seen people pass out in the gym because they were dehydrated and slam their head into metal weights when they fell.
Finally, DON’T LIFT MORE WEIGHT THAN YOU CAN HANDLE. That is how most people get hurt. Forcing your body to do something it can’t do by overloading it with weight is a bad idea. It’s one thing to push your muscles to the end by struggling to get 10 reps with 225 lbs, but when you try to get one rep with 315 lbs, your chance of injury is extremely high.
It’s not hard to stay safe in the gym. Use your head and common sense. If you truly have a question about something, ask someone who knows what they are doing or someone who works at the gym for a spot or for advice.
First, let’s discuss spotters. Spotters are anything that prevents the weight from falling on you if you cannot lift it. Spotters come in two forms: someone you workout with that can catch the weight or metal bars can be used, usually on the squat racks. Lifting with a partner is very beneficial when you have workouts that you could potentially drop the weight. Not only do spotters have the ability to lift the bench press bar off your chest but they can help you finish your last rep if you can’t quite push it up. Every week I have to run over to someone who doesn’t have a spotter and pull the bar off their chest. Luckily no one with real heavy weight has ran into that problem (that I’ve seen atleast).
Another potential safety precaution is something you wear, such as a weight belt. Weight belts are wide, stiff belts that keep your back straight. Weight belts should be worn anytime you are lifting heavy weight and you’re lower back can be bent. Dead lifts, squats, shrugs, cleans, etc. are all exercises that require a weight belt.
Another basic safety measure is as simple as drinking water. It is very easy to get dehydrated during exercise and dehydration can have serious repercussions. I have seen people pass out in the gym because they were dehydrated and slam their head into metal weights when they fell.
Finally, DON’T LIFT MORE WEIGHT THAN YOU CAN HANDLE. That is how most people get hurt. Forcing your body to do something it can’t do by overloading it with weight is a bad idea. It’s one thing to push your muscles to the end by struggling to get 10 reps with 225 lbs, but when you try to get one rep with 315 lbs, your chance of injury is extremely high.
It’s not hard to stay safe in the gym. Use your head and common sense. If you truly have a question about something, ask someone who knows what they are doing or someone who works at the gym for a spot or for advice.
Friday, June 10, 2011
Pain=Good
Anyone who has done super sets at the gym knows they suck. Period. In case you are not familiar with super sets, they are when you do two separate exercises in a row with no break. For example, you would do 10 repetitions on the bench press and immediately drop to the floor and do a max set of push ups.
Luckily, super sets work just as much as they suck so they are worth the pain. The closer you push your muscles to failure, the more results you will enjoy. Because your muscles are already tired after the first workout, the second workout hurts that much more. In my experiences, I prefer to do the heavier of the two workouts first, and the workout requiring less weight afterward. If you tire your muscles out with the lighter lift first, you will need to take too much weight off of the other one. You will lose the benefit of the heavy weight.
If you have never done super sets before you will hurt a lot but you will gain a lot too. However, you cannot exclusively use super sets in your workouts. Just like anything when it comes to weight training, you need variation in your workouts. I usually use 1 or 2 super sets each workout. Because of the fact that super sets tire you out so much, I like to do them at the end of the workout. Sometimes I will mix it up and do a super set for my first exercise to make the rest of the workout much harder. I also like to do between 8-12 reps for both workouts because too many reps will keep you from doing enough weight to get any real gains in and if you do too little weight , you won’t get the proper muscle fatigue.
Here are some suggestions for each muscle group:
Chest – Any workout and push ups. Dumbbell press and dumbbell fly’s.
Back – Pull down and push downs.
Shoulders – Any combination of trap exercises. Upright rows and front raises.
Legs – Leg press and calves. Leg extensions and leg curls.
Arms – Super set any two workouts for bi’s or tri’s.
If you’re really feeling brave you can take on giant sets which are 3 or more workouts without a break. Not fun.
Luckily, super sets work just as much as they suck so they are worth the pain. The closer you push your muscles to failure, the more results you will enjoy. Because your muscles are already tired after the first workout, the second workout hurts that much more. In my experiences, I prefer to do the heavier of the two workouts first, and the workout requiring less weight afterward. If you tire your muscles out with the lighter lift first, you will need to take too much weight off of the other one. You will lose the benefit of the heavy weight.
If you have never done super sets before you will hurt a lot but you will gain a lot too. However, you cannot exclusively use super sets in your workouts. Just like anything when it comes to weight training, you need variation in your workouts. I usually use 1 or 2 super sets each workout. Because of the fact that super sets tire you out so much, I like to do them at the end of the workout. Sometimes I will mix it up and do a super set for my first exercise to make the rest of the workout much harder. I also like to do between 8-12 reps for both workouts because too many reps will keep you from doing enough weight to get any real gains in and if you do too little weight , you won’t get the proper muscle fatigue.
Here are some suggestions for each muscle group:
Chest – Any workout and push ups. Dumbbell press and dumbbell fly’s.
Back – Pull down and push downs.
Shoulders – Any combination of trap exercises. Upright rows and front raises.
Legs – Leg press and calves. Leg extensions and leg curls.
Arms – Super set any two workouts for bi’s or tri’s.
If you’re really feeling brave you can take on giant sets which are 3 or more workouts without a break. Not fun.
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Push It
No one can argue that proper form will give you less results than wrong form will yet some people still fail to exercise it. I have had many experiences where using proper form gave me noticeably larger gains than my previous methods. This can be said for both high weight and low weight exercises.
First, and probably the exercise that is most commonly done improperly, are squats. My legs have never been strong and probably never will be. I’ve always hated working my legs out and I never did legs until last spring. When I would squat, I wouldn’t get low enough. I would barely hit 90 degrees and sometimes I wouldn’t even go that low. After 4-5 weeks of lifting legs, my strength hadn’t increased significantly, and I could only squat 315 lbs for one repetition and even that single repetition wasn’t a very quality rep. Due to my less than passionate feelings for legs, I stopped working on them until this semester.
For the past 4-5 weeks I have been lifting legs again but with a new strategy. Instead of trying to get more reps, I have been focusing on getting quality repetitions. I drop down below 90 degrees and I immediately noticed the results. In 5 weeks, I went from squatting 315 lbs once to doing it 4 times. The results are clear that better form equals more results.
I’ve experienced this with bench press as well so it’s not just a one time thing. If you don’t drop the bar all the way to your chest when you’re benching you need to. I guarantee that you will be lifting more weight in no time. To be seriously successful you need to check your ego at the door into the gym. Anytime you change your workout style like this, for the first few weeks you won’t be able to lift as much weight because your muscles are not used to being used to being pushed so hard. Only people who can suck it up for a few weeks while they lift less weight will excel in the long run.
I hope that this will inspire you to push your body to new limits and help you break through your plateau as I have in the past. It’s worth it, believe me.
First, and probably the exercise that is most commonly done improperly, are squats. My legs have never been strong and probably never will be. I’ve always hated working my legs out and I never did legs until last spring. When I would squat, I wouldn’t get low enough. I would barely hit 90 degrees and sometimes I wouldn’t even go that low. After 4-5 weeks of lifting legs, my strength hadn’t increased significantly, and I could only squat 315 lbs for one repetition and even that single repetition wasn’t a very quality rep. Due to my less than passionate feelings for legs, I stopped working on them until this semester.
For the past 4-5 weeks I have been lifting legs again but with a new strategy. Instead of trying to get more reps, I have been focusing on getting quality repetitions. I drop down below 90 degrees and I immediately noticed the results. In 5 weeks, I went from squatting 315 lbs once to doing it 4 times. The results are clear that better form equals more results.
I’ve experienced this with bench press as well so it’s not just a one time thing. If you don’t drop the bar all the way to your chest when you’re benching you need to. I guarantee that you will be lifting more weight in no time. To be seriously successful you need to check your ego at the door into the gym. Anytime you change your workout style like this, for the first few weeks you won’t be able to lift as much weight because your muscles are not used to being used to being pushed so hard. Only people who can suck it up for a few weeks while they lift less weight will excel in the long run.
I hope that this will inspire you to push your body to new limits and help you break through your plateau as I have in the past. It’s worth it, believe me.
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Ease Up
I will admit that I take supplements that increase my testosterone levels. Increasing test levels are one of the main goals of my supplement taking but not the only goal. Now, I do not take steroids and I never have and never will. I don’t judge people who do take steroids. I believe that steroids get a negative stereotype from the exaggerated side effects usually only encountered by people who abuse them. I’ll leave this discussion for another day though.
I regularly take natural supplements such as protein, amino acids, and vitamins, but I have also taken artificial supplements that have more direct and noticeable effects. These products increase my testosterone levels and any effects related to testosterone (manly stuff). Now I didn’t start growing insane amounts of facial hair but some things did change.
One of the things that increased, or decreased depending on how you look at it, was my temper. This probably affected my girlfriend more than anyone. Looking back on it I really am sorry I had her go through my ridiculous mood swings. Making her deal with me putting my fist through doors and yelling like a maniac was nothing short of madness. I have to give her props for putting up with my foolish antics.
I’m not posting this to scare you away from supplements because everyone reacts differently. My roommate has taken almost all the same supplements and never experienced the same negative effects as I did. Experiment with them and slowly work your way up, trying more potent supplements only after you have tried the basic, simple ones. You do not even need to use supplements. Many people have gotten strong, in shape, or big without any supplements. I do not take anything artificial currently and, because of the effectiveness of my workouts, I am still enjoying consistent gains.
I regularly take natural supplements such as protein, amino acids, and vitamins, but I have also taken artificial supplements that have more direct and noticeable effects. These products increase my testosterone levels and any effects related to testosterone (manly stuff). Now I didn’t start growing insane amounts of facial hair but some things did change.
One of the things that increased, or decreased depending on how you look at it, was my temper. This probably affected my girlfriend more than anyone. Looking back on it I really am sorry I had her go through my ridiculous mood swings. Making her deal with me putting my fist through doors and yelling like a maniac was nothing short of madness. I have to give her props for putting up with my foolish antics.
I’m not posting this to scare you away from supplements because everyone reacts differently. My roommate has taken almost all the same supplements and never experienced the same negative effects as I did. Experiment with them and slowly work your way up, trying more potent supplements only after you have tried the basic, simple ones. You do not even need to use supplements. Many people have gotten strong, in shape, or big without any supplements. I do not take anything artificial currently and, because of the effectiveness of my workouts, I am still enjoying consistent gains.
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