Archive for July 2009
17 Strength and Muscle Building Tips
Here is quick list of strength and muscle building tips for you think about as you begin to plan out your training for next week or the next few weeks.
1. Lift heavy. Light weights get you nowhere.
2. Eat, eat, eat. You have to eat to grow. Heavy lifting requires more calories. Start by adding 400-500 calories a day to your diet.
3. Choose compound lifts. Here are a couple of my favorites.
4. Don’t do more than 10-15 sets per workout.
5. Beginners should do 3 full body workouts per week. Bottom line!
6. Full body workouts are always preferred but more advanced lifters can use upper/lower splits.
7. Keep lifting days to 3-4 per week. If you HAVE to do something on the other days choose conditioning and other recovery work.
8. Keep conditioning work short and intense. Too much cardio kills mass and strength gains.
9. If you’re trying to eat more, choose higher glycemic carbs. They don’t keep you as full as long.
10. You MUST squat and deadlift!
11. Squat and deadlift at least once per week. Beginners can get away with more than once per week as they are learning. But, more advanced lifters should only hit these two monsters once per week to allow for max recovery.
12. Don’t be married to the gym! Get out and throw around some sandbags, flip a tire, or drag a heavy sled.
13. Keep your workouts under an hour.
14. Make breakfast and your post workout meal your two largest of the day.
15. Plan your workouts. Don’t go into the gym with no idea what you want to do that day.
16. Get a good training partner. A good partner is invaluable.
17. Don’t neglect bodyweight training. Exercises like pushups, dips, pullups, and handstand pushups WILL get you strong.
Let me know your thoughts on this list. I’d love to keep this list going.
Leave me a comment and I’ll add it to the post.
Dare to be great.
What is greatness? My two favorite definitions are “The state, condition, or quality of being great; as, greatness of size, greatness of mind, power, etc.” and “Remarkable or outstanding in magnitude, degree, or extent, very skillfull or first rate.”
What is discipline, or more importantly self discipline? I came across this definition recently and I think it’s the perfect one! Self-discipline involves acting according to what you think instead of how you feel in the moment. Often it involves sacrificing the pleasure and thrill of the moment for what matters most in life.
Do greatness and self discipline go hand in hand? Of course, both are relative terms, but I don’t think you can have one without the other. You have to work extremely hard to have and achieve both. Whether it be in life or training, you should strive for greatness and self discipline. Undoubtedly, the most successful people in the world have both.
I’m not perfect! Do I have self discipline? I would like to think so. Am I great? Hell no, not yet, that is! You see, I believe you have to dare to be great. I admit, for a long time I thought I couldn’t achieve certain things. I thought these things were too hard and just couldn’t or wouldn’t happen for me. But, I don’t care about that anymore. I’m no longer afraid to fail and I’m going to work my ass off to get where I want to be. No longer will I lead a wasted life!
In his post Life Wasted, Jason Ferruggia talks about this very thing. Read below and find out why he believes Only 5% of all the people on the entire planet have what it takes to achieve greatness in any realm of life.
Check out Jason’s post and let me know your thoughts! Stop by his site and drop him a comment as well.
Life Wasted
by Jason Ferruggia
You’re always saying you’re too weak to be strong.”
– Life Wasted by Pearl Jam
Another summer weekend just came and went and now here we are yet again, on a Monday morning…
With yet another opportunity to change things for the better; to make the dramatic improvements that you have been planning to make for so long.
Maybe you thought about it over the weekend when you drank too many beers or ate too many hot dogs at your neighbors’ barbeque.
Or maybe you were ashamed to take your shirt off at the beach or your friends pool party and you promised yourself that life would be different come Monday morning. That you would finally step up and make the changes you have thought about for so long.
While some of you were nursing your hangover with coffee and a greasy, fried sausage biscuit yesterday morning, the dedicated were doing fasted cardio before sitting down to a healthy breakfast of green tea, organic eggs and fruit. Others slept off the booze lying around on the couch all day while the driven were running hill sprints in the hot sun.
Just like every Monday, you have a choice today. You can realize that weakness is a sin and you must now repent for a life wasted. Or you can continue on the path of mediocrity and continue to let others pass you by.
“I have faced it… a life wasted…
I’m never going back again.”
Sure it sounds good. Who wouldn’t want to be strong , jacked, fit and healthy?
But the question is do you have what it takes to commit to one goal and see it through to the end? Because most people don’t. Those people are the 95%. The disciplined make up the 5%.
Only 5% of all the people on the entire planet have what it takes to achieve greatness in any realm of life.
Be it in their job, their personal lives or a physical endeavor of any sort. Think that’s an exaggeration? Take a look around you. Go to Major League ballpark tonight. Tell me I’m lying. The 5% are on the field (and are represented in the pictures in this post) while the others are sitting in the stands stuffing their faces. After observing closely you may even think I’m giving more people more credit than they deserve. Maybe it’s one percent.
Where do you fall?
Each and every Monday morning represents a new beginning and a chance to turn things around and finally join the 5%.
We all know that only the strong survive. We know that to get bigger or leaner or to become a better athlete or stave off illness and disease we need to get stronger. But what steps are you taking to get stronger every day? What are you doing to escape your life wasted?
“I escaped it…a life wasted…
I’m never going back again.”
Did you get enough sleep last night? Or is late night TV more important than high testosterone levels, improved insulin sensitivity and enhanced overall health?
Did you avoid inflammatory foods this weekend? Or is the taste of sugar, wheat, soy, corn, dairy and saturated fat worth a life of pain, disease and incredibly slow recovery?
Did you order a foam roller or at least use the one at your gym religiously several times last week? Did you get a massage recently? Ah, what’s a little scar tissue, right? Let it keep building up. Moving freely and without pain is overrated anyway.
Did you throw out your posture destroying, injury causing Nike Shox and get a pair of Free’s or better yet, Vibram Five Fingers? Did you trash your fancy Italian loafers and replace them with something like a Sanuk? Or maybe your knees, hips and spine just aren’t that important.
Have you been taking 6-12 grams of high quality, pharmaceutical grade fish oil every day? Or maybe it’s too expensive. Besides you need money for beer on Friday nights.
Did you eat fruits and/or vegetables with every meal this week?
Have you been doing mobility work every morning? It’s probably the most important factor in musculoskeletal health and you’ll miss it when it’s gone; replaced by arthritis medicine and a walker.
What about cardio/conditioning? How many times did you push the prowler or run sprints this week? Being big and strong is great but not if your cardiovascular health has to suffer.
Did you order a jump rope to use at home on your off days?
What about a band or strap to help you stretch with at home? Stretching is boring and tedious and nobody likes to do it. But without it many of you will never get out of pain or even be able to perform a single rep of squats or deadlifts properly. Who needs those lifts anyway, right? Let me know how those leg extensions and leg curls work out for you.
Have you been eating by the clock, force feeding yourself when you’re not hungry? Choking down tablespoons of olive oil at the end of every meal to get more healthy calories? Counting protein grams and total calories? Drinking a gallon of water per day religiously? Cutting carbs at night and on off days?
Have you been taking advantage of the nice weather and walking several mornings per week while everyone else is still asleep? And if you have what will you do in a few months when the winter rolls around? Put your fitness on hold until the spring or put on a few layers and brave the cold weather while everyone else gets an extra half hour of sleep?
Did you throw out all the junk food in your house yet?
Have you started meditating on a regular basis?
The 23 hours per day that you spend outside of the gym are just as important, if not more so, than the hour you spend in the gym. Dedication is a 24 hour a day commitment. There are 168 hours in a week. Nobody, and I mean nobody, has ever gotten even remotely decent results from being dedicated for only three to four hours per week.
But those three to four hours are crucially important. You need to make sure you are keeping a training journal and tracking your progress; always trying to beat your previous best. Every workout is a battle; you against your log book and you must do all you can to emerge victorious and lift more weight or do more reps than you did last time. If you train with partners your job is to crush them and be the top dog at each and every workout. Competition is a healthy part of life and without it you are an organism that is not truly living, but slowly dying.
Do you have what it takes to get under a bar loaded with so many plates that it actually scares you? A weight that could crush you with one wrong move? Are you willing to do whatever it takes to move that weight and make it your bitch? And add five pounds to the bar next week?
Do you have what it takes to really fully commit to that goal? To stop questioning what you’re doing and wondering if there’s a faster, easier way? To realize that brutally hard fucking work is the only way to achieve greatness?
Because if you don’t you will never be among the 5% and you will be the one who has to live with your regrets. I know I have mine, and they eat away at me. I have made many mistakes over the years and know I could be a lot further along in my training then I am. I could have made better strength gains than I have but I slipped up and made mistakes along the way. But I take full responsibility for that. And I know I have to accept those mistakes, move on and promise myself that I will never make the same mistakes again.
It’s up to you to do the same. Don’t wait til tomorrow because it will be too late.
“Having tasted… a life wasted…
I’m never going back again.”
What is YOUR Motivation to Stay Strong? What Keeps YOU Disciplined? – Part II
Hey guys!
I just finished a killer conditioning workout full of hill sprints, sled dragging, and sandbag shouldering. I had my tire sled, sandbag, rope, and cones set up on the street in front of my house! I’m sure my neighbors were wondering what in the world I was doing. I love getting up early on Sunday’s and hitting a tough conditioning workout. I know most people like to use their weekends to sleep in. But I’m a morning person and I love putting in some hard work while most folks are still sleeping.
It’s all about motivation and discipline. If you have it in training as well as life, you’ll no doubt be successful in both. Read my earlier post on motiviation and discipline to find out what keeps me going.
I also want to share with you an inspirational and though provoking post I read this morning by Zach Even Esh. He offers his thoughts on why you MUST be strong.
Read my post on motivation and discipline here.
Read Zach’s post on my you have to be strong here.
I’d love to here your thoughts on both posts.
Have an awesome day!
NO MORE EXCUSES!
I get asked training questions all the time. Usually the questions come from people I know are beginners and may be struggling with adding muscle and/or burning fat. And believe me, there is nothing I enjoy more than talking training with someone who is genuinely serious – they have specific goals and a decent plan on achieving them, they just need a point in the right direction.
But one thing that really bothers me is when someone comes up to me and tells me they’ve been training for x number of months or years and they just can’t seem to get where they want to be with their training, but they have no real goals and no real plan. They tell me they just wing it when they get to the gym. Then they immediately balk at some of my suggestions, saying “I can’t do that” or “those exercises are too hard” or “I don’t have time.”
I HATE EXCUSES!
I admit it, I used to make excuses for the reasons why I couldn’t get where I wanted to be with my training. But one day I got so fed up with myself, I vowed NO MORE EXCUSES! I’ve never looked back and my training has taken off like I never thought it would.
So, to cap off this rant, here are my top 10 reasons why your training sucks!
10. You don’t eat! Whether you are trying to add muscle, burn fat or both, you have to eat. Feeding your body gives you enough fuel for muscle building workouts. Not eating slows muscle growth and your metabolism which will kill your fat loss.
9. Beach Muscles! Training your beach muscles will NEVER add the muscle to your frame that you want. Focus on heavy pushing and pulling exercises and you’ll kill two birds with one stone.
8. You don’t have a plan. If you don’t have a plan, you’re planning to fail. Write out your workouts before you get to the gym. Write down what you need to eat in order to build muscle and burn fat. Winging it just plain sucks!
7. Slow, boring cardio. Get off the treadmill and hit some hills sprints to skyrocket your fat loss.
6. You think dumbells can’t get it done. Put down the barbell and see what you can do with that 100lb DB in your gym!
5. You’re lacking passion! Adding muscle and losing fat require heavy lifting and intense conditioning. You’ll never get where you want to be if you don’t love ripping a heavy barbell off the floor or setting a new PR for your favorite conditioning circuit.
4. You don’t squat. I’m not talking about pansy half squats, I’m talking about putting a bar on your back and taking it to parallel.
3. You don’t deadlift. Nothing adds size to your body like the deadlift.
2. You don’t used your bodyweight! I could go on for days about the importance of bodyweight training. Just get to work on those pushups, pullups, dips and any other bodyweight exercise you can think of.
1. You make too many excuses! I’m tired. I’m sore. It’s too heavy. That exercise is too hard. My ___ hurts. I can’t eat that way. Excuses are bullsh*t. If you’re making them you might as well forget about the other things on this list.
I could’ve stopped this workout. I could have not even started this workout. Hell, I didn’t even feel like working out at all. But I remembered my vow of no excuses and got it done.
Let’s hear your thoughts on this one folks. What gets you fired up? How do you stay motivated, passionate, and excuse free with your training?
The Chop Circuit and a Bulgarian Sandbag
A couple of months back, my man Joe Hashey posted an innovative and killer core conditioning circuit on his sight Synergy Athletics. The best thing about it is, it can be done anywhere. Take a look for yourself.
There isn’t anything I don’t like about this circuit. It incorporates stabilization and rotational movements. Rotational exercises promote strength as well as flexibility.
Also, check out this video by Matt Wichlinksi. In this video he shows you how to make your own bulgarian sandbag. He also demonstrates some great rotational core exercises.
The bottom line is, if you’re not incorporating rotational moves in your core training you should be, NO QUESTIONS ASKED!
These two cheap and easy to use tools will help take your core strength and flexibility to a new level.
Follow me in these Social Networks