Posts Tagged ‘Muscle Building’
Heavy Squatting and a Simple Primal Recipe
I have a love hate relationship with squat day. Maybe it’s because I absolutely love crushing my lower body unlike a lot of folks out there. Maybe I’m just too hard on myself but I think I suck at squatting. My squat strength just isn’t where I want it to be. Progress is being made but patience isn’t one of my best virtues!
Squats will blow you up like no other exercise. That’s why they call them the king and just because I’m not as good as I think, doesn’t mean I won’t stop trying to dethrone the king!
Today’s training session was short, sweet, and intense
1 – Squat 5×3
2 – RDL 3×6
3 – Sled Drag – 5×250′
I pushed the pace on this one and rested no more than 1:30 between sets. Squatting is all about mindset. Before I started I put my frustrations aside and crushed it!
If you’re looking for a huge muscle building primal meal after heavy squatting check out this one I threw together.
2lbs lean ground beef
1/4 onion, or more if you desire
1 cup salsa
1 can Trader Joe’s refried beans (optional) I know, I know, legumes aren’t exactly primal but I couldn’t resist. I need something a little extra.
Cook up the ground beef in a grill pan then drain it. Saute the onions with the ground beef then add the salsa and beans. I heated the beans before I added them to the beef, onions, and salsa. Let everything cook together until you reach your desired consistency and enjoy.
I also grilled tons of zucchini, squash, and more onions on the side. It only took me about 20 minutes to put everything together.
Give it a shot, add other seasonings if you so desire and enjoy.
Beef Up Your Training, Part II
Folks are always looking for ways to beef up their training. Whether it is muscle building, adding, strength, improving conditioning, or fat loss, chances are there is some aspect of your training you feel is lacking. Personally, I’m never satisfied with my training. Maybe I’m just hard on myself but I’m constantly trying to improve all aspects of my strength and conditioning. Hell, if you’re not trying to improve, you’re wasting your time. Below is part two of a three part series on my top 10 ways to beef up your training.
4. Bodyweight Training
I touched on bodyweight training briefly in part one. There I mentioned how valuable using your bodyweight can be for “cardio.” Don’t be fooled! Bodyweight exercise such as pushups, pullups, lunges, squats, dips, and the hundreds off others WILL add tons of strength and muscle to your frame. Think I’m wrong, check this dude out and tell me that bodyweight training isn’t valuable.
Herschel Walker never did anything but bodyweight training and that took him all the way to the Heisman trophy. When you can do a couple sets of 25 pushups and 15-20 pullups, add some weight by throwing on some chains and keep on pulling and pushing!
5. Sandbags
I started using sandbags in my training pretty regularly a few months ago. I don’t know if it will ever replace the barbell as my favorite training tool but it’s quickly becoming a close second. Sandbag training is nearly limitless. You can do just about everything you do with a barbell. Below is a list of my top 5 sandbag exercises.
1. Clean and Catch - Stand over the bag and rip it off the floor. Can you say explosive?
2. Clean and Squat – Again, stand over the bag, rip it off the floor, catch it in a front squat position and drop your ass! Remember to keep your elbow high, push you hips back, and drive through your heels.
3. Shouldered Squat – This one requires a ton of core stability and control. Clean the bag to your shoulder, keep those abs tight and chest up and squat!
4. Clean and Press - This one is much more difficult than it seem as you really have to rip the bag off the floor to get your hands in the right position to press the bag. How hard can it be right? Well, try pressing a 75lb. sandbag over your head and then press a 75lb barbell and tell me which one kicks your rear end more!
5. Shouldering - This one is an awesome conditioning exercise. Stradle the bag and get your hands underneath it. Rip it off the floor and take it straight to one shoulder. Take the bag back to the floor and repeat to the opposite shoulder. Rock 10 totals reps and your lungs will be screaming!
6. Take it to the playground or backyard!
I love backyard or playground training training. There nothing like getting out in the fresh air and sunshine and getting busy. The best thing about backyard or playground training is that you don’t have to follow any rules. You can get a killer workout with just using the jungle gym, monkey bars, parallel bars, etc. If you want to add a little extra to it bring your ropes, chains, tires, and sledgehammer and really get after it.
So, shake things up a bit and go to your backyard or playground and train. Get out in the fresh air! You’ll be surprised how it feels.
YOU DON’T NEED A GYM!
YOU DON’T FANCY EQUIPMENT!
Even the most seasoned and advanced lifters can benefit by taking it to the backyard. You can use your own bodyweight for a killer training session or you can use some simple homemade tools like in the video below to get strong and build slabs of fat burning muscle.
Check out these videos I put together in my own backyard!
Let’s hear those comments on how you like to beef up your training. I don’t know everything so I want to learn from you guys as well!
Beef up your training
Folks are always looking for ways to beef up their training. Whether it is muscle building, adding, strength, improving conditioning, or fat loss, chances are there is some aspect of your training you feel is lacking. Personally, I’m never satisfied with my training. Maybe I’m just hard on myself but I’m constantly trying to improve all aspects of my strength and conditioning. Hell, if you’re not trying to improve, you’re wasting your time. Below is part one of a three part series on my top 10 ways to beef up your training.
1. Compound Lifts
I think all training programs should be based around compound movements. They are the building blocks of establishing a strong foundation of strength. Compound exercises pack on tons of muscle and tend to release the most growth hormone which is essential for muscle and strength gains. My favorites are the deadlift, clean and press, squat, and barbell rows.
2. Bodyweight Conditioning
This is my favorite form of “cardio.” At least twice per week I like to finish off training sessions with a little bodyweight conditioning. This type of conditioning is also good for your off lifting days or for extra work. It won’t make your sore, making it great for recovery work as well as general conditioning. There is nothing like pushing and pulling your own weight or sprinting up a steep hill to rev up your metabolism and start incinerating fat! Below are two sample bodyweight conditioning sessions.
Find some open space and set your timer for 20 minutes and and alternate periods of 40 seconds or work with 20 seconds or rest
1) Jump Rope
2) Squats
3) Burpees
4) Jump Lunges
5) Bear Crawl
or try this…
A couple in that circuit aren’t bodyweight moves but you get the point!
3. Density Training
Charles Staley literally wrote the book on density training. While I don’t follow it right down the line, it’s a great way to get a lot of work accomplished in a short amount of time. I like to take two non-competing movements, usually an upper/lower combination or an upper body push/pull. Set the timer for 10 or 15 minutes, perform 5 reps or each exercise and see how many total reps you can complete for each exercise. Next time try and see if you can beat your previous rep record or add some weight! Below is one of my favorite density training sessions.
Not only is this great for muscle and strength building but it’s awesome conditioning work as well. I know, I know, my technique isn’t perfect but it’s getting the job done I think!
Please feel free to add some of your favorite tweeks you use to beef up your training. Just drop a comment below and let’s keep this list going.
Stay tuned for part 2…
Muscle Gaining Secrets – A must have for every training library!
Jason Ferruggia is one of my go to guys when it comes to training. He’s one of the best in the industry and for good reason. He’s trained over 700, including 90 from organizations you may have heard of like the NFL, NHL, and MLB. In fact, he’s helped over 53,000 hardgainers and skinny dudes build muscle and add mass all while staying ripped. How does he do it? His book Muscle Gaining Secrets is one of the best training manuals out there. It is a must have for any training library.
I got my copy over 18 months ago and it totally changed the way I was training. It helped me get back to my roots of lifting heavy using compound exercises to pack on slabs of muscle.
FOR THE NEXT 3 DAYS ONLY. Muscle Gaining Secrets is on sale w/ 3 incredible bonuses. Trust me, these bonus are not going to last long. Click here to get your copy of MGS and claim your 3 out of this world bonuses.
Below is a little taste of the high quality content Jason puts out.
Muscle Building Secrets
By Jason Ferruggia
In the quest to unlock the world’s most powerful muscle building secrets I have tried nearly every training system and diet there ever was. Through many years of trial and error I have finally developed a surefire way to build enormous amounts of muscular size and strength rapidly in even the most painfully skinny hardgainer.
The first thing that needs to be addressed is training session frequency. One look at male gymnasts or Cirque Du Soleil performers will tell you that a higher frequency of training than the typical “once-a-week-per-bodypart” recommendation is in order for rapid muscle growth. Whenever you want to improve something in life you do it frequently. It doesn’t matter if it’s improving your golf swing, learning an instrument or building muscle; you have to do it more than once per week.
The next thing that needs to be looked at is training session length. When you allow your workouts to stretch any longer than 45 minutes, you are actually doing yourself more harm than good. Research has shown that testosterone levels are shot after 45 minutes of training. They actually peak at 27 minutes, so stopping at 30 minutes might even be a better idea. Beyond the 45 minute mark, cortisol production increases dramatically as testosterone levels plummet. Cortisol is the stress hormone and actually eats muscle tissue and increases bodyfat storage.
Another one of the most important muscle building secrets that I have discovered over the years is that it is crucially important to cycle your training. The body eventually adapts to any one set routine after a while. The trick is to switch your routine just before your body starts to adapt to it and your gains come to a halt but not so soon that you don’t allow for significant progress. Switching too often is just as big of a problem as not switching things up often enough. If you constantly switch programs too frequently you will never make steady progress because you will always be confusing your body and you will just end up spinning your wheels.
Some experts argue that overtraining is the biggest problem most drug free lifters face. Others say that undertraining is actually the main problem for those who fall into the hardgainer mindset. The truth is that both camps are right and wrong. You need to push yourself, sometimes to the brink of overtraining, and then adjust things at just the right time and back off for a while. Eventually, if you back off too long, you will enter a state of undertraining. The key is to ramp up your training again before that happens. When you train like this you will never experience plateaus.
Finally, I must point out that no matter how well you cycle and plan your training you will never experience any significant muscle growth if you use the wrong exercises. The most effective exercises are those that allow you to move your body through space (as opposed to just moving your limbs). Those include chin ups, dips, pushups, handstand pushups, inverted rows, squats, single leg squats and deadlifts. Stick with those exercises and their different variations and you will build massive amounts of size and strength.
Now that you have the knowledge it’s time to put these muscle building secrets to work and get your butt to the gym and start growing like a weed.
Good luck and train hard.
Jason Ferruggia is a world famous fitness expert who is renowned for his ability to help people build muscle fast. He is the head training advisor for Men’s Fitness Magazine where he also has his own monthly column dedicated to muscle building. For more great muscle building information, please visit http://www.musclegainingsecrets.com/
17 Muscle Building Nutrition Tips
Last week I posted 17 muscle building tips. I thought I’d follow that up with 17 muscle building nutrition tips. Nutrition isn’t rocket science. I realize many people get confused with all the information and or misinformation out there today. So, I’m laying out some simple, non-misleading nutrition tips.
1. Make breakfast and your post workout mean your two largest of the day. You’ve probably read that a couple of times already!
2. Get plenty of healthy fats. Make sure 30% of your diet comes from healthy unsaturated fats.
3. Avoid foods that leave you bloated and gassy. This will likely make you not want to eat.
4. You have to eat to grow.
5. Eat higher glycemic carbs that digest quickly. You digest these carbs pretty quickly, making you ready for another muscle building meal.
6. Eat 6-7 times per day.
7. Consume high calorie shakes. Nobody can sit down and eat a solid meal 6-7 times per day. Shakes will ensure you get the neccessary calories you need to build lean muscle.
8. Consume calorie dense foods like seeds and nuts. These pack a mean nutrition punch, providing you with high quality calories, protein, and fats. They are a must if you’re looking to increase your caloric intake.
9. Get 6-12 grams of fish oil every day. Again, more healthy fats.
10. Rice, yams, quinoa, and oatmeal are your friends!
11. Get plenty of high quality protein from sources like eggs, fish, chicken, and lean red meat.
12. Plan your meals. This will also ensure you’re getting the calories you need.
13. If you’re going somewhere that’s not close to any food, carry something with you. It’s not the end of the world, but if you’re looking to up your calories, skipping meals really isn’t an option.
14. DO NOT SKIP A MEAL!
15. Eat protein with each meal. It doesn’t have to be a piece of meat or a powder. Foods like beans, almonds, soybeans, and natural peanut butter are packed with protein.
16. Make sure 90% of your calories come from whole foods.
17. Avoid junk foods. While these foods sure are tasty, they do little aid your recovery or provide you with the quality calories and nutrients you need to build some serious muscle.
Now, I am by no means a nutritionist or dietician but everyone knows the greatest training in the world doesn’t mean sh*t if it’s not backed up with solid nutrition.
I’d love to hear some of your best tips that didn’t make my list.
Drop me a comment and let’s keep this list growing.
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