Posts Tagged ‘Patience’
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.
How to improve your Pull Ups and Chin Ups
Pull ups are your best friend if you want to develop rugged upper body strength and a muscular back. I’ll be honest with you, pull ups and chin ups are HARD! They are often a neglected exercise because they are so difficult and most people just are not good at doing them. But, just because something is hard doesn’t mean you should shelve the exercise! Here are few tips to help improve your pull ups.
Practice, Practice, Practice!
The only way to get good at pull ups is to do pull ups. With pull ups especially, practice makes perfect. Focus on sets with low reps. For example, if your max is 5 consecutive pull ups, try performing 3-5 sets of 2-3 reps. This will give you plenty of practice and sets of low reps will help you build strength and confidence.
Frequency is key as well. Perform pull ups or chins at least a couple of times per week. Remember, stick to your multiple sets of low reps. Try to add a rep to each set every week. If the first week you performed 5 sets of 2 reps (10 total pull ups), try to complete 5 sets of 3 reps. Don’t worry if you don’t get all 15 pull ups. Record the total number and keep working until you can get all 15 reps.
Set a Goal
Another way to improve your pulling power is to set a goal. Pick a total number of pull ups you want to complete and try to get to that number in as few sets as possible. If your target number is 30 and you knock them out in 6 sets, go for 5 sets next time.
Patience and Progression
Like I said above, people get discourage because they aren’t good at pull ups or they don’t think they’re improving. You are not going to go from from only do 5 consecutive pull ups to doing 20 in a couple of weeks or months. Improving a skill, such as performing pull ups takes time.
Don’t get discouraged. Even if you do just one more pull up than you did last week you ARE getting stronger. As long as you’re increasing your volume (either more sets or more reps per set) you’re progressing and getting stronger.
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