Tag: muscle building

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/

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…

Learn the 3 Secrets to Sleeve Busting Arms!

Posted on by alwayshungrypt

When I started my fitness journey, I followed a number of free training programs I had found online – mostly via bodybuilding.com before they started requiring memberships for access.  During that time one of the parts of my body that saw great results was my arms – my biceps and triceps.  Over the years, they became a notable point of conversation if anyone was admiring a part of my body and

Dumbbell Biceps Curls

 

  1. Negative Reps

One of the first training techniques I learned in the gym through my friend Manuel was the “negative”.  It’s one of the easiest ways to train, but most often overlooked methods because it’s boring, it’s exhausting, and it hurts (in the good way).  When an exercise is done, focusing on the NEGATIVE, what we’re talking about is the portion of the movement when the weight is moving down toward the ground, which could be the dumb/bar-bell, your body, the stack of plates, etc.  This is the eccentric motion of the exercise when the targeted muscles are lengthening out after having been contracted.  For example: During a biceps curl with a dumbbell, when you lift the dumbbell from your hip up to your shoulder by flexing your elbow, you are contracting the biceps muscle which engages it to pull the elbow/forearm up.  Having reached the shoulder, it’s now time to lower the weight back down.  Releasing the contraction of the biceps, the muscle then stretches back into place.  By slowing down the time we allow the muscle to release the tension, we are forcing the muscle to work harder and longer than it would be if we just let the weight drop.  The longer time under tension of contraction, the more the muscle is working; therefore the more the muscle will become stronger, and bigger.

 

Aim for a 3-4 second negative per rep, doing 3-4 sets of 8-12 reps.

 

  1. Drop Sets.

A big proponent of bodybuilding style workouts that helps people build muscle and tone quickly is the incorporation of drop sets.  What this means that you pick a number of reps and perform the heaviest weight you (safely) can at that weight, then immediately drop the weight down by about 20-25% and perform another round of reps without rest.  Once you’ve completed both number of reps at the original and dropped weight, THEN you take your rest break.  Reset the weight to the starting point, and go again.  The idea here is to push the muscle close to it’s failure point, meaning if you tried to do one more rep, it would be almost impossible (without risking injury); but then by dropping the weight by that 20-25%, your muscles are still able to keep going for a few more reps.  This pushes the capacity of the muscle to work, building stronger and larger muscles.

                One of my favorite set/rep schemes if you’re looking for an extra challenge is a DOUBLE drop set, in which you perform 2 drops of the weight in 1 set.  If you’re up for it, try 3 sets of 10-12 reps, dropping the weight twice per set (perform 10; drop the weight + perform 10; drop the weight again; perform 10; rest; reset; repeat).

 

  1. Save for the End.

If you’ve programmed correctly, the bulk of your training program should be focused on compound movements – exercises like squats, deadlifts, bench press, etc – that utilize more than one muscle group and perform more than one joint action.  Because of that, during the main focus of your workout, you are already using the biceps and triceps as accessory/support muscles in exercises like presses (triceps) or pulls (biceps).  Since they’ve already been used, they are already feeling the pump of blood and oxygen coursing through them.  Now is the time to take it to the next level by isolating them for ultimate growth!  This is now the time to do your negative reps and drop sets.  The isolated work that focuses solely on the pre-warmed up biceps/triceps will help take your progress over the top.

 

It’s no secret that toned arms are seen as sexy and as someone who’s received compliments for having a big arms, I can tell you that the 3 secrets laid out here, are where it’s at when you want to grow bigger arms.

Hit a great workout then finish off with some negatives and drop sets consistently, and you’ll start busting sleeves in no time!

What’s your favorite exercise to work your arms?  Sound off in the comments below!

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?

6 Steps to Writing a Training Program

Posted on by alwayshungrypt

Life is complicated enough.  Your training program shouldn’t be another stressor on the list.  It should take no longer than 15-20 minutes to outline your training program and another 5-10 minutes to write the specific workouts that will fill it.  In under 30 minutes you can write a plan to get you from where you are to a totally new you.  And if you can’t find 30 minutes in your day, then that’s a whole other topic for a whole other post that we need to talk about.

If you need help in coming up with ideas for exercises and blueprints for your training plan, drop a comment with what your goal is, and let’s connect to create a plan that leads you to the top of your mountain.

Keeping it simple, here are the 6 steps to writing a training plan.

  1. Choose your goal

What should be the easiest step in the process, but can often leave people feeling anxious and more frustrated than any other step… identify what goal you’re going to work on.  The reason this stresses people out is overthinking.  Too often do I hear things like, “well I want to work on my [belly, arms, legs, etc]”; “I just want to get toned”; “I want to get healthy”.  Which are all great, but extremely vague goals.  Like I said, I’m not asking you to make it extremely detailed or granular, but you should be more specific than that.  Here’s a quick list of the most common goals I’ve seen pop up in consultations and conversations:

“I want to lose weight – 15-20 lbs.”

“I want to build muscle.”

“I want to compete in [event name].”

“I want to fix an injury.”

“I want to build my stamina.”

“I want to get toned all over.”*

 

*If you choose this goal, what ‘getting toned’ means is that you want to build strength in your muscles to the point that you can see them visibly from the surface.  This would basically be a sub-category of “I want to build muscle.”  Your focus is creating strength and size in your muscles so that they are visible.  To make a muscle visible, you must build it.*

 

  1. Choose your rep range

Now that you’ve identified the goal, here comes the easy parts.  A quick google search of your goal and the term “rep range” can help you identify what range of repetitions you should be applying to the exercises you will perform in your training sessions.  For reference, here’s my list for the top goals seen in the gym:

-Fat Loss: 12-18 reps per set

-Muscle Building/Toning: 8-12 reps per set

-Strength and Power: 2-8 reps per set

 

I personally like to start at the lower end of the rep range for my goal for my first 2-4 exercises of a session as it’s when I’m most energized and “fresh” to move heavier weight.  Then as my session progresses, I increase the reps because I know I won’t have as much strength, so I’ll be able to still perform more work, at a lesser weight.  This also comes into play for the next 2 steps.

 

  1. Pick 1-2 Main compound movements

A compound movement is an exercise in which more than 1 joint action is being performed.  Compare these 2 exercises:  A) The Bent Over Dumbbell Row – in which you are bending the arm at the shoulder and elbow to lift a weight from the ground, toward your body.  That’s at least 2 joints being used (shoulder and elbow) vs. B) Dumbbell Biceps Curls – where you hold a dumbbell and lift it to your shoulder by bending your elbow.  Here you are lifting TO your shoulder, but the only joint MOVING is the elbow.

 

Compound movements use the most energy and can generally move the heaviest load/weight.  These should be the primary focus of your training sessions regardless of goal and be the starting point of each session.

 

I like 1-2 compound movements minimum for a workout that can include:

-Squat

-Chest Press

-Deadlift

-Pull Up

And any variation of these.

 

Or you can go a little crazy and combine exercises into a big ol’ multi-joint full body movement such as:

-Turkish Get-ups

-Squat to Overhead Press

-Dumbbell Curl and Press

-Jumping Lunges

Etc.

 

  1. Pick 3-5 Accessory movements

After you’ve finished your compound movements, choose from the nearly endless list of additional exercises (which may still be compound) that are known as “accessory” movements.  These will be in the higher rep ranges and should be chosen to compliment the compound movements from earlier.  For example: If I were to start with Squats, I would add a single leg squat variation such as Bulgarian Split Squats and maybe the always fun Hip Thrusts.  These both build muscles of the lower body and will help in different ways to benefit my squats the next time I come back to them.

 

  1. Create a Dynamic warm-up

By now you’ve created your workout session that should have probably between 3-8 exercises on it.  Knowing what you’re going to do can help you create a dynamic warm-up to start the session that will help you get the body ready for the work ahead.  If your program is split into specific body parts, you can warm-up those areas with specific dynamic movements that wake up the joints and muscles with light/no weight so they can prepare for the work they will do during the training session.  This should be about 5-15 minutes and increase the heart rate, but only enough to “wake up” the body.  This should not be strenuous or energy sapping.  A dynamic warm-up will help prevent injury, prepare the body, and help get the mind set on the session ahead.

 

  1. Schedule It and Show the heck up!

Finally, probably the second hardest part of the whole sequence – planning and showing up!  Though it’s not difficult to do, the mental aspect seems to overwhelm.  There’s a saying that you wouldn’t skip a meeting with your boss, so don’t skip a meeting with yourself.  There are so many ways to set an alarm/reminder/appointment/etc. in this world that there is literally no excuse for planning the time for you to work on you.  Put it on your calendar and show the heck up!  Not only will you thank yourself in the moment, but even more so after the workout and program are finished, and you see the results of all your hard work!

 

Creating a training program doesn’t have to be difficult if you don’t allow it to be.  Follow these 6 simple steps to writing a training program and stop making excuses and start kicking butts.

Success Beyond the Scale

Posted on by alwayshungrypt

According to legend, it’s physically impossible to discuss fitness or nutrition with someone – anyone – without mentioning the scale!

Okay, so that may NOT be true, but be honest, it comes up in MOST health conversations and it’s a piece of hardware that plagues us all.  It brings us some of our highest highs and our lowest lows.  Somehow this small piece of equipment has evolved into one of the most controversial topics of health in the world… and all you do is stand on it.

Because it is so widely recognized as the staple piece of equipment for measuring change or progress in a fitness/nutrition/health program, it has been given more power than it ever intended to receive or should be allowed to have.  Too often and easily, we misplace stock of our progress in the number that a scale spits back at us – some to the point of letting it become their main focal point of self-worth, which is very unhealthy.

The scale must be taken down a peg or two and we must remember what it truly is.  The scale is simply a tool in our belt of measuring progress.  It is not an evaluation of who we are or what we are about or the efforts we put into our body.  It is literally a measure of your weight – right now, at this very moment.  Which means it is meant to change and fluctuate over the course of weeks, days, or even hours!  There are so many factors that impact how much we weigh at a given time, including:

-Time of day

-Hydration

-Hunger

-Stress

-Amount of sleep

-Daily activity

-Hormone levels

-Did you just poop or are you backed up?  (yes…this can really cause fluctuation)

And so many other possible factors that could throw off your weight.  Any number of these could cause it to go up or down at any moment.

These are reasons why it’s crucial to remember that the number on the scale is simply another tool in our belt as we move forward on our health journeys – regardless of the target you’re shooting at.

Take stock of your success beyond the scale and celebrate each victory you reach on our journey to a happier and healthier you.

Increased Energy Levels

Combining regular exercise in any form, with nutritious whole foods, and managed sleep/stress levels come together to boost your energy to levels you could only dream of.  Your body wants to move and by moving, it creates energy.  That’s why activity when you’re doing it, may be tiring, but the release of hormones, the blood pumping in your muscles and breath firing in your lungs takes us to a higher level of energy beyond the exercise and carries through to our daily life activities.

Fit of Our Clothes

When I was embarking on my own transformation journey and started seeing results, one of the best, but most frustrating results was that my clothes fit better… then loose… then too loose.  It wasn’t a bad problem to have for my self-esteem, but my wallet wasn’t super happy about it (but I’ll take that trade off).  My sister would even give me grief because I was wearing “skinny” jeans and they were PRETTY tight, I will admit.  But as I told her then – I wear them not just because I like the look, but because I couldn’t wear these before!  I’ve gotten questionable looks from my friends I play hockey with when we won our league championship and the prize was a t-shirt and I asked for a Medium… because I knew it fit a little snugger, but I wanted it because it wasn’t a Large or X-Large which I had to wear for about half my life.  We all know what it’s like trying to find clothes that fit – both up and down – but there’s something about slipping on a t-shirt that A) used to be too loose and now you fill it out with those big strong muscles; B) you have to change out of because it’s now a parachute; or C) was one you’ve been avoiding because last time it was JUUUUUST a little tight but you try it and it fits PERFECTLY!

Injury Pre/Re-Hab and Prevention

We are flimsy skeletons of bones connected by thin tissues that are protected by meat and skin and we live in a crazy world that is trying to hurt us all the time.  Injury is a step away almost always.  Regular exercise and nutrition can not only help prevent injuries that may potentially occur, but it can also help correct imbalances or problems you’re experiencing to eliminate pain all together.  How many people do you know in the office or family or friend circles that occasionally complain about lower back pain and you know are more sedentary people?  Chances are you’ve seen those people try and try to stretch the pain away or talk about chiropractors, pills, massages, heating pads, etc… everything in the world to mitigate the pain… except exercise, nutrition, lifestyle changes.  What people don’t realize is that most general lower back pain can be resolved by strengthening the area directly – purposefully working those muscles to get stronger – rather than stretching it.  I have seen this happen with a number of clients – one of whom had been seeing a chiropractor weekly for 3 months prior to working with me, and within our first month, has yet to go back to them (it’s been over a year we’ve worked together).  Fixing an injury or even preventing one you can see coming is a huge victory that often gets overlooked though it should be given much more spotlight.

Relieving Reliance of Medications

Maybe the most highly overlooked success of following a proper fitness/nutrition/health program is its ability to relieve us of reliance on many medications.  Type-2 Diabetes, Blood Pressure Meds, High Cholesterol, Anti-Depressants, etc. Working on your health can have immense benefits to relieving of you of reliance on these medications as you physically get your body in a healthy position, internally you’re healing problems of hormone imbalances and toxicity levels that plague our society today. 

The scale is a useful tool in measuring progress, but it has been given too much power.  Don’t let it rule over your journey to happy, healthy, fruitful life by holding your focus to it’s number and remember to celebrate all of your victories along the way – especially the non-scale victories such as increased energy; better fitting clothes; injury prevention; and relief of medications; along with a whole host of others.

 

I shared a little story about better fitting clothes, if you’re comfortable – please share a little anecdote of your success beyond the scale below in the comments and let’s hype the hell out of each other!