Category: Fitness

4 Tips to Master Your Bench Press

Posted on by alwayshungrypt

WHEN I first entered a weight room with my friend Manuel, the first exercise we did was dumbbell chest press and he handed me the 25lb. dumbbells and said, “let’s do 3 sets of 8.”  After looking at him dumbly, he explained what he meant and we got started on our 1st of 3 sets in which we would perform 8 repetitions of the exercise known as dumbbell chest press.  

Little did either of us know, 25 lb. dumbbells were going to be a LITTLE too much for me, until we got to around rep 5 or 6… on the first set.  At the time my ego was hurt, but looking back I know it was a stepping stone that led to much greater things.  Over the years, I’ve done countless repetitions of chest press using many different pieces of equipment and each time I go back, I’ve refined and worked on my technique.

I saw some initial progress over those first months/years but it wasn’t until I began focusing on powerlifting style training of moving heavier weight for lower number of reps specifically on squats, deadlifts, and bench press, that I really dialed in my focus on technique to move the weight efficiently as well as safely.

During that time, I was lucky enough to see great leaps in all 3 major lifts, with my most notable being in the Barbell Bench/Chest Press.  Thanks to a few simple cues I had learned through Twitter, Instagram, and trial and error, I found these four tips to be the biggest difference makers in seeing my strength increase, as well as the overall health of my joints and body start to improve.

If you’re having trouble breaking through a plateau or want to make sure you’re keeping your form in check and safe, try implementing 1 or more of these cues and watch your Chest Press begin to skyrocket!

 

1. Maintain 5 points of contact at all times with a slight arch to your back — Head, Shoulders, Butt, Left Foot, Right Foot.  

Maintaining contact with the bench, seat, ground, etc with the 5 points mentioned above ensures you’re able to create the most stable platform in which to perform the movement.  You’ve rooted your body down to provide stability under the weight when you go to move it.

When attempting heavier weights as you progress, don’t forget to press your feet into the ground.  The leverage you can create from your lower body can transfer up into your shoulders, upper back, and chest to help you press through tougher reps as you get stronger!

2. Keep your wrist in line with your forearm — The weight should be sitting in the crook of your thumb, not the top of the palm

When performing resistance training, one of the best ways to maintain stability in a movement is called “joint stacking”.  It’s the process of ensuring that the joints you’re using are in alignment.  The body craves alignment and moving in straight lines.  This cue focuses on the wrists.  Often when doing a chest press movement, I see people resting the bar higher in the palm, forcing their wrist to bend backwards.  With lower weights that may not be a problem, but as you get stronger and move heavier weights, you may be adding unnecessary stress to the wrists.  By resting the bar in the crook of your thumb at the base of your palm keeps the wrist in line with your forearms and eliminates any stress, keeping your wrists healthy and strong.

3. Don’t let elbows flare out at 90 degrees — Keep elbows tucked at a 45-60 degree a ngle from the body

Common misconception, bred by technique used in push ups that have transferred to other chest pressing movements, keeping your arms up high with elbows at a 90 degree angle from the body is not an optimal position for pressing movement.  The elbows high in this position put a lot of undue stress on the shoulder muscles.  Similar to the wrist in the previous cue, we want to make sure we alleviate as much stress on the joints as possible.  This simple trick involves just tucking the elbows down closer to the body somewhere between a 45-60 degree angle.  This lessens the impact on the shoulder and maintains focus of the pressing movement in the chest muscles for a strong press away from the body!

4. Pinch your shoulder blades together — don’t let them loosen up and rotate forward as you press.

Many shoulder injuries from chest pressing movements can be mitigated by this simple technique cue.  As you’ve noticed, one of the best things you can do is maintain stability throughout the entire body.  As you set yourself up under the bar or on the bench, squeeze your shoulder blades together and dig them into the bench.  This is the position they should stay in during the entire lowering and pressing of the weight.  Too often, when we press the weight away, our shoulder blades rotate forward around the rib cage.  When this happens, our stability in our upper back is gone.  This is when shoulder injuries commonly occur.  Keep the shoulders pinned back and press through the chest and you should be golden.

 

As you continue to get better, you’ll refine and dial in your technique more and more.  But these are the pillars that got me going and heading toward my own PRs and have helped my clients reach new heights and avoid recurring injuries.

Chest press is a staple exercise in the programming of pretty much any goal you’re working toward and these tips can help you get the most out of each training session.

 

If you’re frustrated the lack of progress you’re seeing and ready to break through plateaus and build a bigger, stronger self, head over to my client application let’s connect to create your best self today!  I am taking clients to join my Online Training Program designed to help men and women build roughly 2″ of lean, toned, strong muscle in just 60 days!   https://www.alwayshungrypt.com/client-application

Busting Muscle Building Myths

Posted on by alwayshungrypt

A lot of people enter the gym because they want to get toned or build muscle but have a few misconceptions on what it’s going to take to achieve those goals.  With the internet at our finger tips and literally limitless information, it’s hard sometimes to decipher through the muck to find the real gems of truth.

As someone who thought many of these lies in my earlier days of training, rest assured, I have gone through my own scientific method of trial and observation to confirm the truths that mirror these myths.

Quickly, you may be thinking, “I just want to get toned, this doesn’t apply to me.” To which I’d like to say hold your horses!  Not included on this list, but as it probably ranks above the others, I’d like to address the myth that “building muscles will make me bulky” once and for all.

Put simply, the “tone” you’re looking for is the visible presence of a muscle. 

If you want to see the muscle, you must have muscle.

Yes everyone has muscle, but if you want to see it better, you have to combine lower body fat and increase size of the muscle.  The bigger the muscle + the less fat = the more tone you will see.

The muscle tone that 99% of the world is after can be found simply by following a progressively more difficult training program coupled with proper nutrition to fuel their body without additional calories.

Lifting weights won’t make you bulky unless you’re taking additional supplements that are most likely illegal (steroids), so stop being afraid of getting strong and start lifting those weights.  You get tone by getting strong, you get strong by lifting weights (resistance training).   

Now that that’s out of the way and you’re ready to dive into building muscle to showcase a strong, toned, lean, sexy physique, let’s dive in and start busting muscle building myths!

 

Myth: Variety is the spice of life. Each workout should be completely different.

Truth: Boring breeds results.  It’s often though that, like everything else in our life, we need variety and change every time we enter the gym.  The workout has to be different.  Different exercises; different reps/sets; different rest; different is good! But then how to do you know you’re ACTUALLY getting bigger or better?  If you create a workout program that has you bouncing all over the place each week, how can you tangibly track that you’re continually progressing? 

As I said at the outset, boring is good.

If you want to build muscles, get toned, or see progress in any manner, the best answer is to find a routine that is simple and repeatable.  Repeating the same workout at least for a period of 4-6 weeks will allow you to progress and get bigger and stronger.

 

Myth: Don’t miss the anabolic window – you MUST eat within 30 mins of training!

Truth: When weight training, you are creating microtears in your muscles during the strenuous activity.  We know food helps fuel the body and protein is the best source of food to help rebuild your muscles.  The misconception lies in the thought that you have to refeed your muscles within 30 minutes of training to ensure that your body doesn’t go into catabolism, which is a state of breaking down the muscle.  The truth is that it would only start to breakdown if you went an overly prolonged period without refuel or decided to start training the same muscle area before giving it a full chance to recover.  It is recommended that you eat (a protein rich meal) within 1-3 hours of your training session, and you’ll be perfectly fine.  So don’t feel the need to pound an extra protein shake immediately unless you don’t think you’ll be able to eat a regular meal within a reasonable time frame.

Myth: Train 7 days a week for 2 hrs at a time – NO CARDIO; ALL WEIGHTS! #NoDaysOff

Truth: Your body needs rest.  Rest is when recovery happens.  If you recall from earlier in the post, during a resistance training session, you create microtears in the muscle as you exercise.  During the days you’re resting, that is when your body works at recovering and re-building – bigger and stronger – muscles to get ready for the next training session.

You can still train 5-6 days per week, but if you’re doing so, each training session should be more highly specialized to a specific muscle group with at least 1-2 days of rest before targeting that same body part again.  Training other areas will be fine as the muscles you are resting won’t be used under strenuous loads.

Also, you don’t need to spend your entire life at the gym.  Being efficient, intense, and consistent with workouts anywhere from 30-60 minutes can be enough and even more beneficial than marathon training sessions.  Keep the intensity up; keep the workout plan simple; and just get it done!

 

Myth: You must buy the latest stack of supplements to ensure proper growth!

Truth: Just straight up false.  Supplements are designed to aid whatever it is you’re doing.  Most of them are pointless and the supplement industry in the USA is unregulated, so the amounts and contents of whatever they put in those bottles is very questionable – some of it can be extremely harmful.  If you’re focused on proper hydration; whole foods and high protein nutrition; getting adequate sleep and stress management; then you should be all set to reap the rewards of your training sessions.  If for some reason you feel you NEED supplements to help you reach your goals, I’ve mentioned in an earlier post, the only supplements with proven results are: Caffeine, Creatine, Protein, and Multi-Vitamins.  They are not necessary but:
Caffeine can help provide energy and focus

Creatine aids in building muscle and is safe for men and women.  We naturally produce it, but additional supplementation does not have negative side effects and is recommended regardless of training programming.

Protein as mentioned before aids in the recovery and rebuilding of muscle as well as playing an important role in many other areas of the body.

Multi-vitamins can help provide the vitamins we may lack in foods to keep us healthy.

 

All in all, following a consistent and progressive training program; eating regularly scheduled meals after training; resting properly; and understanding supplements are fine, but largely unnecessary can help you not only get toned and build muscle, but are great building blocks for nearly any fitness goal or journey you may be embarking on.

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If you’ve been knocking these out but still having trouble reaching your muscle building or toning goals, then we need to talk!  Head over and fill out my quick questionnaire and let’s discuss how my online training program is going to get you built and toned like never before!

https://www.alwayshungrypt.com/client-application/

6 Things All Beginners Should Know

Posted on by alwayshungrypt

We’ve all been beginners.  We know how scary or exhilarating it can be.  We understand that there is an end goal we’re aiming for but there are so many intangibles we don’t yet know.  But we also know that in order to get where we want to go, we have to be willing to take that risk and leap of faith into the unknown. 

Entering the gym to start your fitness and health journey is no different.

I can vividly recall making the decision that, “I’m going to get myself healthy!” and walking into the gym with confidence that “today is the day” only to be stopped dead in my tracks by the sounds of machines and weights and people doing these crazy exercises that I had no idea how to do. 

I realized very quickly that I had no idea what I was doing or where to even start!  I had gotten excited to take the leap, but hadn’t planned anything out in order to try and execute!  Now nearly 10 years later, I have heard and seen this same story play out in many others that get the gusto to level up, but end up like Deer in headlights with no idea where to even kickstart their journey.  With that, I’d like to address a few of the things all beginners should know when starting their fitness journey!

  1. How often do I need to work out?

A very common question that people often get wrong.  The gym and traditional working out is very important to building a stronger or better body but time off can be as, if not more, crucial as the time spent training.  It is recommended that some sort of activity is done at least 5 days per week, but in the sense of resistance based training, you shouldn’t need to be in a gym setting more than 3 days per week.  Resistance training is a method that breaks down the muscle tissue as it’s being worked and though it may seem like going every single day is the answer to reach your goals faster, that time off between training where the muscles get rest is where the repair, growth, and change comes from.  Training muscles too often can lead to overuse and stress injuries that could extend how long it takes for you to reach your goals.  My general recommendation to beginners is to aim for 3 days a week in the gym + 2-3 days of non-resistance based workouts (like cardio) on the off days.

 

  1. What kind of workouts should I do?

If you’re working out like the recommended 3 days per week as noted above, there are a couple of ways you can approach it.  If you’re taking a day off between training sessions, I suggest each one should be a full body workout that targets muscles across the whole body – top to bottom; front to back.  The day off between allows adequate time for recovery before hitting similar muscles again.

 

The other popular method is to break up the body into parts with a dedicated day of training to push muscles; pull muscles; and lower body muscles.  This begins looking like a traditional bodybuilding training split as you’re dialing in your focus more on a specific set of muscles for that one session.

 

If you insist on extending to additional days of training – 4, 5, 6 days per week – my suggestion is that you continue to dial in your focus of each workout on specific muscle groups to avoid injuring areas that are in recovery or over training.

 

Regardless of how you approach your split, general goals of fat loss or muscle building alike should follow more compound exercises that incorporate more than 1 muscle group or joint action to perform (squat, bench, deadlift, etc).  And if you’d like a little more specificity on which exercises can help get you off the ground, check out my FREE eBook of the 17 Exercises All Beginners Should Know, here.

 

Finally, it’s a misconception that the longer you’re in the gym, the better the workout session.  A proper workout should not last more than 40-60 minutes (not including warm up/cool down).  Less than that, the intensity should be dialed up; longer than that you may not get as much out of the workout due to too much rest, or overworking the body if doing too much.

 

Aside from that, find what works for you, your schedule, and is fun to do.  Ultimately the best kind of workout is the one you like and will stick with.

 

  1. What are the best supplements?

Supplements are designed literally as additional boosts to help you reach your goals in a variety of ways.  That being said, there are countless articles dedicated to this exact question, but ultimately, there are only 3 supplements I would suggest (if you were going to take any) that have proven results.

Caffeine – the stimulant provides focus and energy proven in testing.

Creatine – a friend to muscles which helps them build strong

Protein – the energy source that helps muscles recovery, repair, rebuild after training

Other than those, the supplement industry is a largely unregulated industry (in the US) and most products are filled with trash ingredients that don’t have proven ability to boost your performance and in some cases, can be dangerous.  The amounts are rarely accurate, and anything with a “proprietary blend” (especially without information about what that blend is made of) should be avoided.

 

  1. How do I know it’s working?

At the outset of your fitness journey, I’m hoping you planned your goals of what it is you’re working toward.  If you did this correctly, one of the aspects of your goal would be to identify how you’re going to measure success along the way.  Luckily there are a plethora of methods which include:

-Body Fat measurements

-Circumference measurements

-Scale weight

-Progress pictures

-Clothing fit

-Energy/Stamina/Endurance levels

And the best one to go with is the one that works best for you and your goals and that you’ll be able to stick with accurately.  For most people I highly recommend the progress pictures as it can often tell the best story with tangible evidence of where you were and where you are.  But again, pick the best one that fits your goals and you can do consistently without issue.

 

  1. Consistency or Intensity?

As the last sentence of the last section alludes to, consistency is key.  In learning anything new, consistently showing up, putting in time and energy to learn and build and grow will lead to the best results.  The intensity will vary depending on what your training plan calls for and how your energy levels are feeling.  But consistently showing up gives you the best chance for success.  You may have a ton of energy today and crush an intense workout that hits you harder than expected, but if you show up to the next session in a couple of days, and you’re still sore/tired but put in some lower intensity work, that’s still forward progress that you wouldn’t have if you sat on the couch instead.

 

Consistency always over intensity.

 

  1. Why am I not as good as that other person?

One of the most common feelings beginners get is imposter syndrome and comparison syndrome.  It is SOOO easy to see someone doing an exercise that you have planned and they’re doing it A) easier than you or B) with heavier weight than you, which throws you into thinking, “Why can’t I do it that easy?”

Nothing kills progress, motivation, consistency more than comparing yourself to the person doing the same thing next to you and them doing it better than you.  Negative self talk of all kinds need to be left at the door, but if you can’t manage to get past this one, you’re gonna have a heck of a time.  The best thing to remember is that this is NOT their Day 01.  You are not them.  They are on a completely different journey, reading the same book.  The ONLY difference is, they are probably on page 50, while you’re just now cracking the spine.  Everyone is built differently; Everyone has different starting points; Everyone has different adaptations;

Every. Person. Is. Different.

If you can kill the comparison, you’ll level up faster than you ever thought.

Beginners at the gym are great because they’ve decided to take control of their lives and start building a better future.  Stepping foot on the gym floor can be intimidating and anxiety-inducing if you don’t have the right plan and mindset.  If you follow along the advice laid here and put together a plan of exercises that that follow your goal, you can take over the world.

Ultimately the only thing you can do is take off your water wings and jump into the deep end and know that you’re going to float as long as you try.

If you’re still really nervous, remember to start slow with VERY light resistance to learn how your body moves and build from there.  Showing up is half the battle, and hopefully this has helped win the other half.  Now get to the gym and start kicking butts!

And if you’re still not sure on where to start, let’s connect and start clearing the fog right now!  Apply for Online Coaching with me and let’s get to work today!

4 Secrets to Fitness Success

Posted on by alwayshungrypt

Joining a gym or signing up with a trainer is a great start, but if you really want to take full advantage of your fitness journey, there are a few intangibles you need to address to ensure you’re getting the most out of this journey.  Too often I hear stories of people “doing everything I can” to get in shape – regardless of their goal – only to hear one of these topics being left unattended, that I know could be the one thing holding them back from launching into success.  It would be great to know that all you had to do was workout a few times a week for 30-60 minutes and reach your full potential, but like any project you’ve done before (school, work, home), you know there are always additional pieces that need to be addressed in order for it all to come together! 

Only this time, the project is yourself!

So you’ve got your training program and you’re ready to go or already kicking butt, let’s talk about the 4 secrets to fitness success outside of the gym!  I’m talking about Nutrition, Rest/Recovery, Hydration, and Consistency!  These 4 pillars of fitness, wellness, and health are the driving factors that power any fitness journey from fat loss to muscle gain; athletic performance to just staying healthy for yourself and your family.  Let’s dive a little deeper, shall we?

Nutrition – You Can’t Outwork a Bad Diet

As much as it pains me to admit, all those cheesy affirmations about “abs are made in the kitchen” and “the best fat loss workout is 3 sets of 10 reps of not eating so much junk.” are true.  All the working out in the world is fine, but if you’re not fueling your body with the right things, you’re going to have a hard time reaching your fullest potential.  That being said, the aim is NOT perfection.  If we aim for perfection and have a minor slip up, chances are that we’ll backslide further down.  None of us are perfect as it stands, so to completely change and aim for 100% is just unrealistic.  Instead, we need to adapt a “Progress > Perfection” mindset.  Taking a minute to look at what you’re eating in a day, a few days, a week can really help open your eyes to the choices you make and better understand not only WHAT you eat, but also WHY you’re eating it.  From there, we can start to make better choices.  Regardless of your goals, a few rules of thumb include:

-Focusing on lean protein sources; complex carbs; and healthy fats

-Limiting consumption of highly processed foods, sugar, and alcohol

-Increasing the amount of fruits and veggies we take in

-Remembering that a bad meal isn’t the end of the world, but don’t miss more than 2.

Taking time to address your nutrition and make grocery lists that focus on options even slightly healthier than they currently are can be a major step in the right direction.  Clean up your nutrition and not only should you see the changes, but you’ll feel them as well!

Rest/Recovery – “I’ll sleep when I’m dead.”

Though that’s true, it will be the “long sleep”, but that’s a horrible position to take in regards to your health.  Everyone is different and functions on different levels of sleep, but the generally agreed level of sleep is 7-9 hours every night.  If you’re a person who regularly gets the same amount of sleep each night, you can tell a major difference on the days when you get more or less than that median and it’s not typically for the better.  Not only will less sleep make you feel prolongingly tired, but the additional time that you are awake and sleep deprived, the higher your chances of faulting on your nutrition, not having energy for your training sessions, and overall just not being your best self.  Finding a good sleep routine including turning off electronics; lowering the room temperature; blocking out all light; etc. can help better your sleep behavior and increase your recovery time.

Beyond sleep, rest days from training are crucial for your body to be its best.  If you’re training your body every day, you’re not giving yourself adequate time to repair and build into a stronger, healthier version.  When we workout – in any capacity – you are creating tiny tears in the micro fibers of your muscle tissue (not a bad thing), but if you’re not allowing the body enough time to fully recover those tears and continually pushing yourself, not only could you be more susceptible to injury, but using fatigued muscles won’t provide for best efforts in the gym.  Take your rest/recovery days seriously and you’ll see exponential leaps in your gym performance.

Taking it a step further, todays world is rife with stress.  When our stress levels are up, we are in a heightened state mentally and physically.  This can wreak havoc on our bodies in a variety of ways, but if we’re able to find outlets or work on how we handle stress to lessen the effect it has on us, the quicker our body can recover – from physical and mental stress.

Moral of this story – rest, recover, de-stress and see how much further you go after slowing yourself down.

 

Hydration – Now that’s some high quality H2O.

It can’t be stressed enough how important water is to your overall health.  If our bodies are made mostly of water, what makes you think that you should cut back on how much you take in?  The average person drastically undercuts themselves on how much water they drink daily.  And contrary to belief, you don’t need to slug a gallon per day.  Even hitting 100oz of water each day can drastically change your body physically and mentally.

Water keeps your muscles hydrated and healthy.

Water keeps your circulatory system clear and healthy.

Water keeps your waste system flowing and healthy.

Water keeps your skin clear and hair strong and healthy.

Water keeps you mentally fresh and healthy.

Water keeps your appetite at bay and healthy.

Water is the best.

It cools you down; it keeps food cravings away; it’s wonderful.

Drink more of it!

This does not include sodas, juices, energy drinks, alcohol, etc. just because “it has water in it!” The amount of every other bit of crap in all of those completely destroys any possible health aspect that water tries to help.  Limit or eliminate those from your routine and focus on water (or sparkling water) and you’ll feel healthier in so many different ways.  It’s the best supplement that everyone overlooks, don’t be one of that crowd.

Consistency – Success doesn’t come from what you do occasionally…

It comes from what you do consistently.  It doesn’t matter what your fitness goal is, if you can’t make it a priority to consistently work on it or show up every day, then you’re leaving a LOT of success on the table.  Overnight successes or quick turn around stories often lead to rebounding back to the origin or worse because once the goal is reached, the habit disappears.  If you want to reach your fitness or health goals, you have to be willing to do the work.  You didn’t get to where you are right now – wherever that may be – overnight.  It took weeks/months/years of consistent habits and behaviors (whether positive or negative behaviors) to lead to where you are.  If you’re trying to lose 30 lbs, but you’re 50 years old; haven’t lifted a weight or eaten a healthy meal in 25+ years, you have to understand that it will take longer than 15 days to reach that goal.  That is years of habits and behaviors that need to be unlearned or re-focused toward the new goal you’re working toward.  You have to show up consistently and put in work on yourself every day in some capacity.  This doesn’t mean working out every day – as noted earlier, rest is an incredibly important aspect to any fitness journey – but you can focus on mindset goals, habit changes, those pesky stress inducing problems, etc.  Our health journey is more than physical and by consistently working on a little something every day, it may take months, years, decades even to reach where you want to go, but if you show up every damn day, I guarantee you’ll get there faster than if you yo-yo back and forth between bouts of crazy high and low activity.  “The journey of 1,000 miles starts with a single step”.  Take that step, then another, and another, and when you don’t feel like stepping, take another!

There is no end all; be all plan that will get you to your goals instantly – if there was, you’d bet your ass I would have tried it.  But know that when you start your journey and you address more than just your workout routine – dialing in your nutrition; planning rest days and recovery protocols; keeping hydrated; and creating habits that consistently get you showing up every day – you’ll be on the right path to success on your fitness journey, no matter the goal.

Now stop reading and go kick some ass!

Effects of Genetics on Building Muscle

Posted on by alwayshungrypt

Recently one of my clients forwarded me a post by Dr. John Jaquish discussing the disadvantage people have in achieving their ideal muscular physique because of a genetic predisposition to shorter vs longer muscle bellies and tendons – leading my client to ask, “If I’m genetically destined to NOT reach my ideal physique, why even bother trying to build muscle?”

Post/Article: https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=328419851980595&set=a.272880977534483

I will immediately throw out the information that I am NOT a doctor or an expert in any way, shape, or form unlike Dr. John Jaquish who has a PhD in Biomedical Engineering and a lot more other credentials and experience I do not have.

That said, the effects of genetics on building muscle is the same as genetics in anything – everyone is different because our genetic codes are different.  No two people are exactly the same, therefore no two people are going to get the same results.

But that doesn’t mean that if you have “less than ideal” genetics that you won’t still be able to build muscle.

In his overall argument, Dr. Jaquish essentially compares the everyday person trying to build muscle to that of professional athletes.  In his defense, yes, your genetics will play a part in your ability to build the muscle, strength, size, and other abilities/skills needed to play the sport at a professional level that these people do.  Take Michael Phelps for instance – the guy is 6’5” with wide shoulder tapered to a small waist down his long torso with shorter legs but has giant arms, hands, and feet making him the ideal swimmer, and is what led him to winning every gold medal at every Olympics in history (slight hyperbole).

In his article/post, he goes on to discuss that people who have shorter muscle heads and shorter tendons that insert the muscle to the bone are more likely to build muscle better than those with longer muscle heads and longer tendons because they have to work harder to produce the same effort.

This is true to an extent, as smaller muscles have to work harder to do the same things that larger muscles do.  Think of a runner.  A shorter, stockier person is not going to be able to run as far, or as quickly as someone taller and slender without having to exert much more effort.

In an effort to convince you that his book about using HIS bands instead of weight lifting and calling out the comparison to athletes – who by nature are genetically gifted + work their asses off – he basically says its impossible to create your ideal body unless you won the genetic lottery. 

THAT is where I have a problem.

One thing I love about fitness and about our world all together is that everyone is different.  No two people have the same identical body and make up.  Sure you may be identical twins, but that doesn’t mean you both physically have to look identical.  One of you could enjoy running and build yourself into a more slender build person while the other picks up weight lifting and does it continually for 15-20 years building into a monster.  Sure you’re DNA is the same and your faces are identical, but the path you take and the work you put in for your desired outcome will result in completely different bodies.

What I’m getting at is that the genetic disadvantage that Dr. Jaquish is discussing, from my opinion, microscopically impacts how you build muscle.

Will it be harder?  Possibly.

But can you reach your ideal body? Yes.

What matters most is the effort you put in, the frequency at which you dedicate to doing it, how you rest and fuel your body, and remembering that the body you are building is not going to look like anyone else.

Effort – You can’t half ass your way to your best body.  You have to dedicate to showing up every day.  Bodybuilders and strength athletes (or athletes of any kind) will tell you that the results you get are a direct correlation to the effort you put in.  You can’t phone in your workouts, regardless of how you feel.  You have to show up consistently and buy in for the long haul.  Building muscle properly is not a “get rich quick” scheme, but a long-term investment.

Frequency – though 2 days per week of resistance training is good for the body, ideally you want to shoot for 3-4 days in the gym.  Focusing on 3-5 compound movements plus 2-4 isolated movements that hit all the muscles of the body in a week. 

Programming – As mentioned you’ll be in the gym regularly and targeting every muscle group each week.  Your program should progressively get more difficult as you get stronger/bigger.  The main focus of your program will be hitting 3-4 sets of each exercise with a rep range of 8-15.  You should be getting close to failure on each set (but not necessarily HITTING failure).  The two most overlooked, but important aspects of a muscle building program, would have to be the tempo of your movements and the rest period between sets.  Slow down your movement to a MINIMUM of 2 seconds both contracting and extending and keep your rest periods at no more than 60-75 seconds between sets.  The time under tension you’re keeping the muscles under will continue to create the micro-tears in the fibers we’re looking for that – when recovered – will grow in size.  The rest period helps replenish the energy to the muscles so they can get ready for the next bout of resistance and is extremely important!

Rest/recovery – Different than the rest between sets, your rest and recovery is of utmost importance.  Do not take lightly your mobility and stretching routines before, after, sessions and in between training days.  Keeping your body mobile and loose will allow it to move through it’s full range of motion which recruits as much muscle as possible, producing the best and most optimal results.  Unless otherwise noted, every movement should go through a full range of motion.  Any short cut or “cheating” can diminish your gains and keep you from your goals.  Also do not forget to take rest days between training sessions.  This time off is when your muscles are recovering from the damage you did during your training and is where the size of the muscles will continue to grow.  It is not suggested to train the same muscle groups less than 24 hours apart.  A good beginner muscle building split would be 3 days/week of training M/W/F with designated rest/recovery dates on T/Th/Sat/Sun.

Fuel – As noted in a previous post, carbs heading into your workout will provide the energy the muscles need to work, while a protein centric meal after will help replenish and re-fuel the muscles aiding their recovery and helping them build nice and strong for next time!  Stay away from sugars, alcohols, and processed foods as much as possible – sticking to lean sources of protein; complex carbs/veggies; and healthy fats/oils in proper amounts.

Yes your genetics play a part in your bodies ability to build muscle when comparing the average joe to professional athletes, but that doesn’t mean you can’t reach your ideal physique through regular resistance training and progressively pushing your muscles with proper programming.

Every one’s body is different and we all can reach our peak physiques with the right effort, frequency, programming, recovery, and fuel – it’s just a matter of buying in to the long term investment of your health and being the best version of you possible to reach the best version of you.

But don’t ask me to make you look like Brad Pitt in Fight Club… THAT was peak genetic lottery…

Pre-Workout: To Use or Not to Use, That is the Question!

Posted on by alwayshungrypt

The clients I work with and people who have asked to know my stance on supplements is that you don’t need them.  They are beneficial in many ways to help you toward your goals but being an industry that is non-regulated (in the US), the number of supplements that the body can ACTUALLY benefit from pales in comparison to the number of products on the market.

Avoiding going into every detail, I was questioned specifically about my take on Pre-Workout – would I recommend it or not?

First let me start by saying, I do not recommend any sort of supplement as necessary without consulting your physician, and I am not affiliated to any specific supplement brands.  Any products mentioned in this post are based solely on my own experiences and products that I have or currently do use.

Like any question you’d ask to a good trainer, the real answer to, “Should I use pre-workout or not?” is:

“It depends.”

It depends on… your level activity; intensity of your training; goals; sensitivity to caffeine; sensitivity to other ingredients in pre-workout; desired effect; etc.

Let’s take a step back for a minute and address the question of what pre-workout is and what is it for/what it does.

Pre-workout is a supplement designed to help boost your energy, blood flow, and focus prior to a training session to help you achieve optimal results.  The main ingredients are typically caffeine, beta-alanine, creatine, niacin, and a series of other random ingredients depending on what that products manufacturer decides it wants to add.

Focusing on those main ingredients, caffeine is typically the most common at about 200-250mg per serving in most pre-workout products.  Caffeine is a stimulant designed to increase your energy levels and clear fog from your brain to allow focus on the task ahead.  Beta-alanine is a vasodilator which means that it increases the size of blood vessels to allow for a large flow of blood through the body.  This helps training sessions as your blood is able to move more oxygen into the muscles to help them maintain work and continue pushing even when you want to quit.  Creatine is the main component of muscle building supplements and helps our bodies avoid atrophy.  It doesn’t make you bulky but can cause you to retain a bit of water.  If you are on a muscle building or toning program, creatine is a great supplement to incorporate to help build strong, sexy, toned muscles.  Finally, Niacin works also as a Nootropic supplement focusing the mind and boosting energy. 

Beyond those, there can a ton of other filler ingredients that get advertised as helping you, but ultimately probably don’t do much.

In rants I’ve made countless times, there are only about 3-4 supplements that I would recommend someone take if they were interested (of their own volition) that would aid their training – caffeine, creatine, protein, multi-vitamin, maybe a couple of others.

As you’ll notice, caffeine and creatine are on that list – 2 of the biggest players in most pre-workouts.

The reason I support those 2 ingredients is that they are the only supplements that have conclusive evidence of working for those who take them in addition to regular training.

The problem with pre-workout products isn’t the ingredients that work, it’s all the filler that’s unnecessarily added. 

As I mentioned earlier, the supplement industry is largely unregulated in the US and with that, companies will make claims of ingredients being in their product but the factual amounts they claim could be skewed.  Often seen as a “proprietary blend” they will throw random amounts of ingredients together in the bottle so they can claim they are in the product, but without having to disclose how much.  Also, they do not have to be pure substances and often these bottles of product are filled with artificial flavors and ingredients.

So going back to the original question – should you use pre-workout or not – I would say that you can if you feel like you need an extra boost to get through your training sessions.  It would be beneficial to those who train in the morning, but be wary of later training sessions especially with pre-workouts that use caffeine as it could disrupt your sleep patterns, which we don’t want to do.  Thankfully they have started making less potent or stimulant free products which primarily utilize Vitamin B12 (or Vitamin B Complex) to provide energy, but be aware that an over intake of any vitamin can be detrimental.

I personally DO use pre-workout, and though I’ve used many different kinds with varying results, the one I continually come back to is Pre-Kaged by Kaged Muscle.  It’s a product I’ve followed since its inception 5-7 years ago and believe works best for me.  They use natural flavors and no artificial additives.  It’s pricier than most products – but like anything else, the higher the price, generally the better the quality.

If you are sensitive to caffeine, niacin, or any other ingredients, I recommend not taking it – there are other alternatives and unless you are training extremely hard on a regular basis or professionally, a cup of regular coffee (black, no added cream, sugar, etc) has enough caffeine to get you through.  There is a movement by many fitness/health “guru’s” I have seen via Twitter of eliminating caffeine all together and switching to local honey as their stimulant, but honey is basically just natural sugar which gives you an energy boost like caffeine would.

If you’re not sure if you should take a pre-workout or have questions about ingredients, you can always consult your physician to be sure.

Need an extra boost in the gym and not a coffee or energy drink consumer, maybe give pre-workout a try, but know you don’t NEED it, but it can help push through tough training sessions.  Just be careful of ingredients and going overboard with caffeine later in the day.

Have any other questions about supplements or ingredients you’ve seen on your pre-workouts, drop them in the comments and I’d be happy to answer!

Special THANK YOU to my client Terry D for posing the question in the first place.

4 Secrets to Toning Up

Posted on by alwayshungrypt
You’re not going to get bulky, I promise.
Those reasons are for a different post entirely, so we’ll focus on toning up!
One of the more common goals I hear from potential clients (men and women alike) is the desire to “Get toned!”
Start with my 4 Secrets to Toning Up

and you’ll be on your way in no time!

1. PRIORITIZE COMPOUND MOVEMENTS
Classified as a movement that uses more than one “joint action” these can include:
 -Squat
 -Hip Thrust
 -Lunge to Lateral Raise
 -Dumbbell Curl to Overhead Press
They can typically move the heaviest resistance/weight, helping build muscle to create tone.  Aim for 3-4 sets of 8-15 reps of these exercises.
2. EAT A HIGH PROTEIN DIET
Protein is the building block of muscles. Resistance training breaks down the muscle tissue, so maintaining a high protein diet (~1-1.2g per kg of weight) will help re-fuel your muscles to get bigger and stronger!
3. FOCUS ON SLEEP/RECOVERY
Often overlooked by a “I’ll sleep more when I’m dead” mentality by a lot of people, one thing we can all do is take sleep/recovery a little more seriously.  Clearing a foggy brain, providing more energy, and giving your body the time it needs to properly rest and re-build the muscle used during that days training session is vital to help get you toned in no time.  Shoot for 7-9hrs per night!  And reminder, you can’t make up for lost sleep, be consistent, get consistent results!
4. SLOW AND CONTROLLED TEMPO
It’s great that you’re hitting compound movements and starting to feel good, but if you want to speed up the process, it’s time to slow down the reps. Each rep should aim for a 2 second contraction and 2 second extension at minimum. During the movement, the muscle shortens and lengthens, breaking down with micro tears on each rep. Slowing down the movement forces harder work (more micro tears), so when the muscles rebuild thanks to protein and the rest/recovery, they’ll be stronger and more toned/defined!
That’s it!
To get toned, you have to have muscle to show off. Follow those 4 steps and you’ll be leaps and bounds ahead of the game to building your ideal body.
Which “secret” are you going to work on today?

Resistance Training 101

Posted on by alwayshungrypt

We all start somewhere and stepping foot on a gym floor can be one of the most nerve-wracking things in the world if you don’t have a plan.  One of the first things I learned that helped me and a few of my clients when we started was keeping our plan SIMPLE. Welcome to Resistance Training 101 – Beginners Guide to Fitness.

There are a ton of pieces of equipment (barbells, dumbbells, cables, machines, etc) on a commercial gym floor (Planet Fitness; Esporta Fitness; etc.) but when you take a bird’s eye view, you’ll notice every exercise is a variation

of just 7 movements that our body does:

  1. Push (chest, shoulders, triceps)
  2. Pull (back, biceps)
  3. Squat (quadriceps)
  4. Hinge (glutes, hamstrings)
  5. Lunge (full leg)
  6. Rotation (core/abs)
  7. Gait (walking, total body)

 

When starting out, the first thing you need to learn is HOW YOUR BODY MOVES through each of these 7 movements and begin building from there.  It doesn’t matter what your goal is, if you’ve never stepped foot in a gym, the first

Push

thing you should do is learn how your body moves.  Not only will this help you push yourself and make strides quicker than those around you, but it will help your mind and muscles develop a connection to learn how to safely move, which will help avoid injury as you increase the resistance/load (weight).  

PULL

When coming up with your plan, my suggestion would be to pick 1 exercise that falls under each category to be your workout that you repeat 2-3 times per week for 2–4 weeks to properly develop HOW to do it and how your body moves.

Making it even simpler, begin by using machines or your own bodyweight as they are the most stable and can help you learn the basic movement pattern of the exercise.  One rule to keep in mind is you want to start with the most stable exercise possible and machines, being the most stable, literally only have 1 way they work, which helps you develop the proper form for the exercise.

Squat

Once you’ve completed the 2-4 week entry period, then take a step back and decide how you want to attack your goals.  You will be able to decide if you want to train 2, 3, or 4+ days per week and then build your program or plan from there.

One of the most popular goals I’ve come across is combining Burning fat + Getting toned (building muscle).  I say this not only from what I’ve discussed with my clients, but because this is similar to goals that I have gone after and achieved personally.  To do this, I/we have seen best results by doing 3–4 sets of each chosen exercise at about 10–15 repetitions per set (resting 45–60 seconds between sets).

Hinge

**Not sure what weight to use (if more than Bodyweight)?

When you choose a number of reps you’re shooting for, the weight should be heavy enough to hit that number of reps with difficulty, but not so heavy that you can’t safely get there; or light enough that you finish and think, “hmm… could have done 10 more…”**

If I were starting out, a sample workout I might try (and similar to those I have applied to clients on their first few days) would look like this:

A. Chest press machine (3 sets; 12 reps)

B. Seated close grip row (cable maybe?) (3 sets; 15 reps)

C. Leg Press machine (3 sets; 15 reps)

D. Dumbbell deadlift (3 sets; 12 reps)

E. Bodyweight stationary forward lunge (3 sets; 8–10 reps each leg

F. Russian twist (3 sets; 20 reps each side)

G. Dumbbell farmer carry (3 sets; 30–50yds)

Lunge

Do your best to maintain focus on controlling the weight and as you get better, increase the weight and plug in new exercises that still work toward your goals and vary it up.

Consistency and patience will lead to the best results.

Once you’ve got the basics down, if you’re looking for that edge, there are TONS of free programs or helpful hints and tips you can find and all the exercises in my sample workout can be found with a quick Google/YouTube search.

Fitness is for everyone; and everyone started somewhere – you got this and remember that wanting to walk this journey means you are working toward a happier, healthier you – physically, emotionally, spiritually, etc.

 

Still not sure what to do or need that extra bit of accountability?

Rotation

It’s never a bad idea to hire a coach or trainer.  One of my specialties is helping new people learn their way around the jungle gym of their fitness facility and learning how amazing the human body can be.  If you’re tired of waiting around and ready to make the change, head to the Online Client Application and fill it out and let’s talk today!  Get all the structure and accountability you need from an in-person trainer, with the flex to train any time, any where in the world at a fraction of the cost, with the best in the world! (me! 😊)

 

Eric Hinrichsen

Always Hungry Personal Training | Columbus, OH

Gait

Warm Weather Running

Posted on by alwayshungrypt

Spring is my favorite time of year.  Winter is finally over and the snow and terribly low temps that sweep the Midwest are gone, and with warmer weather comes the time to exercise outdoors again! Not only is Vitamin D severely lacking in most Americans, but physical activity outside is invigorating! The warm sun; the cool breeze; the feeling of pushing yourself in whatever you’re doing is second to none.  One of the most popular things you’ll see people doing this time of year is hitting the pavement to log some miles walk, jog, running.

Though Running is widely criticized for it’s impact on the ankles, knees, hips and it’s over used as a way to lose fat when there are much better ways, it’s still a popular go-to exercise for those looking to get their lungs burning and heart pumping in the beautiful spring weather (myself included).

It’s still a relatively new hobby/exercise for me to partake in seeing as the first 25 years of my life, I could hardly run ¼ mile without feeling like everything internally was going to explode, but over the last 5-7 years as I’ve made it a part of my spring, summer, fall training, I’ve picked up a few key tips for making the best of my workouts.

These are my Top 3 tips for running in warmer/hot weather

  1. Un-Dress Appropriately

One of the downsides of training outdoors in the spring – especially here in the Midwest – is that it can be 40 degrees in the morning and quickly jump to 70… it’s hard to tell where the weather is going to settle.  Which makes it tough to know what to wear.  Do you bundle up with a hoodie/light jacket and pants; or risk it with a t-shirt and shorts?  Either way, you’re screwed.

 

But you don’t have to be!

 

A rule of thumb I learned while training for my first 5K (which took place in January!) was to dress as if the weather is 20 degrees warmer than the thermometer states.  It had me curious so I looked into it more and found that the reason for this estimation is that when your body starts moving, the movement creates energy.  Energy naturally warms up our body temperature, and if you’re starting out in cool weather with too many layers, your warmer body temps might climb too high. 

 

It may be a little uncomfortable with a chilly start, but once you get your feet moving and the heart starts pumping blood around, you will naturally feel your body temperature rising.  Keep it regulated and avoid it getting too high by dressing like it’s 20 degrees warmer than it says when you head out for your next jog.

 

Keep in mind the intensity of the workout.  If you’re going for “all out sprints” or a lengthy trot around the neighborhood, your body temp will rise and sustain much higher/longer than if you’re just doing a mild-brisk walk around the block.

 

  1. Slow Your Pace

If you’re like me and want to get the run over as quickly as possible, one thing I have to remind myself is that I need to S-L-O-W my pace down in the beginning.  It’s too easy to want to bolt down the road, especially if you’ve been training through winter and early spring when it’s still chilly out.  The colder weather typically makes for better runs because – as discussed in the clothing section – our body temperatures rise and when it’s cold out and our internal temps rise to a comfortable level, we don’t get overheated and burned out. 

 

Slowing your pace – especially at the start – can help you maintain for longer exercise durations and keep you feeling better upon finishing.  It will help avoid overheating; dehydration; and burn out.

 

The nice thing is, like when you get used to colder temperatures, your body will re-acclimate to the warmer climate and you’ll be able to withstand running at your normal pace again in no time.  For regular runners, it should only take a week or two for Stella to get her groove back.

 

  1. Hydrate

Always important – don’t forget to hydrate.  2-4 glasses of water about 15-30 mins before your run can help you avoid dehydration as well as regulate your body temperature.  This will help keep you in the game longer and aid in quicker/better recovery afterward.  Don’t slosh down too much or you might have a full belly or have to use the restroom way too often.  Handsfree water bottle belts and vests are a great investment that minimally adds weight but helps keep you going even on the hottest of days.

They sound simple enough but forget one of these tips and you might be in for a rough day after a warm weather run.  As you can see, regardless of what you do – the overarching concept is to keep your body temperature regulated.  It will naturally rise as you expend energy through movement – going beyond running, this could be cycling, sports, swimming, any other outdoor strenuous activity – so keeping these tips in mind will help you mitigate the pitfalls of overheating – heat stroke, heat exhaustion, dehydration, etc. – that go along with outdoor running in warmer temperatures.

What’s your favorite outdoor activity and how do you prep to beat the heat?