Archive for June 2009
A Beginner’s Guide to Training
Coming up with and starting a training plan can be very daunting and intimidating for beginners. Many beginners often get overwhelmed with the plethora of information out there.
Trust me, it can be confusing. My philosophy is simple for beginners. Pay close attention training newbies, you’ll want to remember this SECRET!
KEEP IT SIMPLE! TRAINING PLANS DO NOT HAVE TO BE COMPLEX!
Joe Hashey and I have very similar philosphies when it comes to beginners and training. I had the opportunity to meet Joe at the Fast Track to Fitness Millions event back in May. He knows his stuff. Reading his blog over the past few months and meeting him in person, I’ve learned so much.
Below is Joe’s take on what beginners should focus on when beginning to train. Get to his site and read it everyday!
Beginners Guide To Training – The 8 Rules
June 25, 2009 on 7:08 pm | In Strength Training |
I get a lot of questions about dead lifting and squat from guys that are 100 percent new to training. I love dead lift and squat, don’t get me wrong, but I hate when people try to go heavy with no form and relative body strength. It looks terrible and the only results they get are injuries.
However, I can’t always blame them. You glance at the magazine rack and its packed with bodybuilder and star athlete’s training programs. Ask yourself this, who are they marketing to? Do they expect other start athletes to pick up the magazine and try out the programs? No!
They are marketing to youth and guys that are new to lifting. Unfortunately, these programs SUCK for someone at that strength level.
I’m going to try to lay the ground work that these new lifters SHOULD follow, not some marketing BS!
The Great 8 Rules of Strength Training
1. Relative Strength – Some people might call this ‘a strength base.’ What I am talking about is an ability to control your own body weight through exercises like push ups, pull ups, dips, body weight squats etc.
Long story short, don’t bench if you can’t do push ups well. Don’t squat if you can’t do bw squats efficiently and with good form.
2. Compound Lifts - Focus on compound lifts for quicker results. Don’t get obsessed with all the fancy machines. Keep basic.
3. Form - Especially with compound lifts, form is essential for maximum gains and safety.
4. Plan - Write down your workout before you go to the gym. Don’t just choose a body grouping and go.
5. Test - How strong are you now? What’s your goals? Choose a few lifts and test them. Perform your strength training program and then test to see if you are stronger. If not, it’s time to re-evaluate your program.
6. Don’t Obsess with Numbers - Compare yourself to yourself, not to some pro athlete or someone that has trained for months. Along with #5 and #6, don’t lie to yourself. If your bench is 50 lbs, don’t write down 100. Keep things relative.
7. Don’t Train Like a Pro - I don’t care how the top athletes train via their magazine articles (which is only a glimpse at their program, if that). Train to your own strength.
8. Ask Questions - Get on sites like this and ask your questions! Check my post on Top Strength Sites, but don’t get overwhelmed, that’s why I’m stopping at 8.
Follow these simple rules to set up your program. There is no doubt that this will be effective.
Final words of wisdom – enjoy training, be passionate, work hard AND smart.
- Joe Hashey, CSCS -
If you couldn’t tell by my list name, I enjoy a good rhyme (I’m one of those guys that thinks all poems should ryhme, get that “near rhyme” garbage out of here…but we will leave English class out of this). GET TO TRAINING!
What I did this weekend.
I took a stroll up the Jersey Tpk to see my man Zach Even Esh at his Underground Strength Gym in Edison, NJ.
I went up there for Operation Thunder! It was a closed door business seminar. If I told you what went down I’d have to kill you!
I CAN share with you some kick ass training. Take a peak inside the underground for a taste of the type of training that goes down.
It was an awesome couple of days. I got to train at the underground, learn a lot and meet some cool new folks.
Time to take action with all I learned!
5 Fat Burning Tips
Everyone wants to burn a little extra fat at times during their training.
Check out these 5 fat burning tips
1. Eat breakfast EVERY MORNING! Mom knew what she was talking about when she told you, breakfast is the most important meal of the day. When you wake up in the morning your body is in a fasted state. Eating breakfast revs up your metabolism and gets you energized to start your day. There is a reason most people feel sluggish in the morning.
2. Have a post workout meal. Your post workout meal should come within an hour of you finishing your training. This will ensure your muscles get refueled and aren’t used as fuel for the fat burning workout you just finished. Focus on getting fast digesting protein and carbohydrates for this meal. In fact, your post workout meal should be your largest meal of the day with breakfast running a close second.
3. Resistance Training. More lean muscle equals a higher metabolism. The more muscle you have, the easier it is for you to burn fat. The best way to build muscle is to incorporate compound lifts like the deadlift, squat, and clean and press. Compound lifts deliver the most bang for the buck in terms of building muscle and burning calories. Focus on sets of 5-8 reps to increase lean muscle. Sticking exclusively with high rep training is one of the biggest fat loss myths. Per John Alvino…
Using high reps exclusively can actually cause you to lose muscle mass during a fat loss phase. This will have a negative impact on your metabolism, thus making it that much harder for you to lose your next pound of fat. Even further, this type of resistance training will cause you to lose strength and power, for the exact same reasons that low intensity cardio does.
4. Conditioning. Low intensity cardio gets you nowhere! Instead focus on high intensity conditioning and interval training. Focus on output during your cardio sessions. Get your money’s worth and get it done. Too many people focus on calorie burning during their session when in fact higher intensity interval sessions will burn far more fat. To read more on my thoughts about low intensity cardio versus high intensity conditioning click here.
5. DONT SKIP MEALS! This is one of the biggest mistake most people make. They skip meals and limit their caloric intake too much. As I’ve discussed above, you need energy to train hard and heavy and make it through high intensity conditioning sessions. Skipping meals leads to less fuel which leads to less energy equaling less output during your workout. So, you’re burning even fewer calories. Taking in too few calories also slows down your metabolism. Try trimming your calories 10-20% for no more than 4-5 consecutive days. Staying in a caloric deficit will cause your metabolism to slow as well. Make sure your caloric intake on those other days are at maintenance levels to ensure your continued fat burning.
Incorporate these five tips and you should see a near immediate improvement in your energy levels, lean muscle mass, and fat loss results.
Your No Frills, Body Weight, Fat Burning, Strength Building, Father’s Day Workout!
Happy father’s day to all the dads out there!
Everyone knows I love hill sprints. Hills are my favorite conditioning tool! Check out the butt kicking conditioning workout I did this morning.
2 hill sprints + 10 pushups x 10 rounds.
It took me about 22 minutes to complete. Give it a shot. Find a hill about 50yds long and perform two sprints. After the second sprint, knockout 10 pushups. Repeat 10 times for a total of 20 hills sprints and 100 pushups.
It’s an awesome fat burning workout that get results in very little time.
Sometimes I replace the pushups with burpess!
That’s it for today. I just wanted to share the quick training session with you. If you’re a dad enjoy your day with your family!
No More Chicken Legs! Add these moves to your lower body training for new growth and strength.
You’ve all seen it. You know, the guy in the gym that hits is upper body three times per week and trains his legs maybe once.
And when he does, it’s leg extensions and leg curls and calf raises! This is also the same dude that bitches about his legs not growing! Do me a favor.
DON’T BE THAT GUY!!!
Add these moves to get rid of those transform those chicken into tree trunks!
1. SQUAT, SQUAT, SQUAT!!!
If you don’t squat, there may be NO hope for you.
2. Deadlift
This one is my favorite. There are many variations of the deadlift. Check out these two videos for form and technique.
3. Sled Pulling and Dragging
You can do these forward and backward to blow your legs up! You can use a regular sled or make your own with an old tire.
If you’re serious about adding slabs of muscle and crazy strength to your lower body you’ll add these moves to your training.
If you’re already using some of these but haven’t had the greatest success, then switch it up a little bit.
Try squatting and deadlifting on the same day.
Throw in a 20 rep set of squats as your last set. I recommend doing this sparingly as it takes it toll on you!
Finish off your training with some sled work. Drag the sled uphill forward, backward, or sideways.
It doesn’t really matter how you shock your legs just do it and the results will speak for themselves.
You can bet your ass this chick doesn't go for a guy with chicken legs.
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