Starting Smart

I had a very raw beginner yesterday for her first session and I thought I would throw some important reminders to those starting a new program.

1. Warm-up first- get your blood flowing and heart rate elevated, but don't kill yourself.
2. Focus on proper technique- use minimal weight and have a certified trainer observe and cue you through a couple sessions.
3. Openly communicate- if something hurts, tell your trainer. As their client, they should want to take care of you and you might call their attention to something they might not have noticed.
4. EAT- I had a client about pass out and she is not in terrible shape. When I asked her what she ate that day she listed off about 500 calories worth of food and it was 6pm!!! You have to have fuel in your body for it to go.
5. Drink plenty of water- Be adequately hydrated with WATER. Save the energy drinks for later once you have got accustomed to working out regularly.
6. Properly cool down- Know how to end a session, never just abruptly end activity. Lower the intensity (how hard you are working and/or the weight you are using on a particular exercise) and/or jog a lap around a track then stretch. stretch your major muscle groups- latissimus dorsi, quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, chest and shoulders.

I am ready to help some new clients reach their goals safely, and educate them on how to properly continue an active lifestyle.

Training to Look Better

I have gotten several emails & facebook messages from people wanting exercise programs. I have no problem helping someone out and getting them to their goals. One of my few pet peeves is when they add "I don't want to get huge" or "I put on muscle really fast" to their request.

It actually makes me watch to punch the computer screen.

For the men: Even with the best physiologic gift of testosterone that flows through our bodies, any one that has put some serious time in the gym knows that consistency and long-term goals are almost always the focus. I have gone through phases of just adding 10lbs to my max raw bench in a year and I was thrilled about it. I actually had an employee tell me that he was only doing sets of 20 reps on everything because he puts on muscle too fast...

what a joke. If you are such a physical specimen, train for a month and then go dominate a bodybuilding or powerlifting competition. Let me know how that goes for you.

For the women: Some of you have probably said it before... "My legs get HUGE after one week of doing squats." There are a couple underlying issues here. I feel that most women are more self-conscious about the way they look and about weight training. I know one female that is a really gifted athlete and works her tail off in the gym, yet she parties with Iota Tappa Kegga and eats sweets throughout the day.

The real issues to address here are pushing yourself through consistent, intense workouts and what you are putting into your body as fuel.

When women say their legs get bulky rather quickly, it is more than likely because they actually have worked hard in the gym and have added some cross-sectional area to their quadriceps and hamstrings. However, the garbage that they are putting into their body is in the incorrect quantities for dropping fat from their legs, therefore, they successfully add muscle to their legs, but do not decrease their body fat percentage.

So instead of continuing to use resistance training as a method of attaining their goals and cleaning up their diet, they drop weight training altogether and run like somebody is chasing them.

Every one can see some amazing results if they were just as dedicated at the dinner table as they are in the gym.

Cardiovascular training has a place in heart health and burning some calories, but the real shock to kick your metabolic drive into high gear are frequent weight training sessions. This goes for men and women. Guys, you aren't going to get huge overnight and, possibly, ever. If you are genetically a smaller framed guy with an ectomorphic body type they chances aren't great that you will be gracing a bodybuilding stage, unless you make a couple trips to Mexico for some real supplements. Ladies, continue to kick butt in the gym, but a lot of it boils down to eating better.

You do not have to get on a competition diet by any means... it's simple really:

• ALWAYS eat breakfast. Think about it, you haven't eaten since some time the night before so you need to kick-start your metabolism in the morning AND give your body some energy for work, class, or the morning workout.
• Find meats that you like and research ways to prepare them. Very few people will stick to a meal plan that they think tastes terrible.
• The same applies to veggies. Steam them, mix them in with brown rice or quinoa, eat them raw, whatever. You need your greens!
• LIMIT sweets. We are in a culture that is blessed to be able to turn almost any corner and indulge in manufactured crap that more than likely we will regret later.
• Limit liquid calories. Do you know how many calories are in your Moca-Frappa-Chocolate Latte?
• Limit carbohydrates after 6pm-ish. Think of carbohydrates as your body's main source of fuel. For the later part of the day you have no need to fuel up just to go to sleep. Our body does not let the carb-fuel just sit in a tank for use in the morning, it turns excess unused carbs into fat and over time the pounds will add up.

CREATE YOUR OWN SUPPLEMENT

Gym-created products are the best at fitting the gym's needs. Any time you have a dedicated staff that is in your facility working out as much as they are there to work, you have the opportunity to develop a giant think tank.

Of course a huge topic in all meathead circles is supplements... when to take it, what to take, how much to take, etc. Obviously you should not be soley dependent on supplement powders and pills, food comes first. Supplements are supposed to be just that, a "supplement" to your diet of nutritious whole foods.

However, liquid protein shakes for peri- or post-workout nutrition are a nice additive if you are not able to get to solid food within a two hour window after training. Other supplements are easier taken in powder/pill form, like creatine, because in order to get enough creatine daily you would have to eat a lot of fish and/or red meat. For some people, that just isn't in the budget. Others supplements are great energy boosters prior to a training session, like caffeine. Some staples for me are glutamine, creatine, protein, and caffeine. Of course BCAAs are a plus that's why I choose a protein that has them mixed in with it.

Luke Beggs is a PhD student in applied physiology at the University of Florida and I had the pleasure of having him as a graduate assistant for the last year and a half at the University of Kentucky. He threw out the idea of just making our own pre-workout supplement... and then the rest of us started salivating on the possibility.

Luke started looking into buying the no frills version on the staples we wanted to include in our first Underground Labs Inc. concoction. There was five of us that jumped on board to fund this product. Here is what we came up with for the ingredient list:

We ended up having to add some more sugar free flavoring to it since the flavor wasn't the best... BUT it has given all of us a ridiculous pump when working out. Luke was also able to modify how many milligrams of caffeine each of us wanted, due to tolerance levels. I wanted 200 mgs of caffeine in mine.

I ended up naming it INCREDIBLE HULK for obvious visual reasons, but also named for how disturbedly hyped I was during my workouts on it.

Have you ever thought of creating your own supplement? If so, what would you need in yours?

MOTIVATION TO EXERCISE WHEN BUSY

YOU MUST LEARN TO TRAIN THROUGH ADVERSITY

For the past couple weeks I have been preparing for student move in, getting all of my employees back into payroll, training the graduate assistants, helping students move in to campus, help'n people move, and getting some high school students ready for the upcoming year. BUSINESS IS GOOD. I have still been training, and once I figure out my new phone, I should be able to expedite the process of uploading videos.

I have sent a couple clients back to Florida with a new-found vigor for health and five weeks worth of workouts. I was approached by Transylvania University about conditioning their athletes in the off-season... I am supposed to start next week and AM STOKED!!!

I have to be able to stay focuswed on training with a job and a half, family, and church responsibilities. You can sleep when you're dead, right?

what are roadblocks to your training program? have you figured out ways to overcome them?

Making the Most of What You Have Available... no excuses

My gym is small compared to the more-visited Johnson center on UK's campus. Don't get me wrong, you can squat, bench, deadlift (we even have some bumpers!), get your cardio in on a machine or we have a sled, a full line of pin-select machines, core room, group fitness room, etc.

BUT...

Our dumbbells only go up to 95lbs... which for a seasoned lifter, could make you train elsewhere. I have adapted my training to only use barbell lifts first and use 1-arm dumbbell or higher rep sets with the 95lbs. Today that just didn't cut it. I did the following on flat bench as my first exercise:

135x15

185x12

225x8

275x6

315 5,4,3,3

then 225 for 16 reps for fun

you can check out my full workout at straighttothebar.com or on my tmuscle training log

My next exercise was DB incline.... but I am left with doing higher rep sets with the 95lbs.... so I ended up stealing this blurted out idea from Andrew Lewis (current training partner/make huge project) and threw one 5lb mini chain on each dumbbell, to make them both 100lbs, shown below.

Which I had to hold like a fat bar and produced hands looking like the following:I got them for two sets of six after hitting just the 95's for two sets of six... so next week I will just train with these for my second exercise.

My point being... make the most of what you have, add something crazy to the DB's if they aren't heavy enough, get stronger, and beat your hands up.

If we can't get new, heavier dumbbells due to university budget issues, at least I can borrow my buddy Seth's ipod...

Project Hyperplasia

Hyperplasia of the skeletal muscle is the body's muscle fiber's satellite cells proliferating and splitting the muscle fibers to make new ones, thus adding to cross-sectional area and possible force production. Several studies were pulled together here. For the next two weeks I am going to wear a 37.6lb weighted vest (homemade with denim!) every waking second aside from the shower. I posted a picture of the vest below... it is a must see for sure. Thanks fo Alex Mitchell for the donation of the vest to the Underground Fitness Center. I will also post bodyweight, body fat %, and an assortment of circumference measurements. The measurements will have to wait until the morning!



I, of course, will not actually be able to measure or gauge whether hyperplasia actually occurs, because I would have to take a muscle biopsy (don't have the equipment) or kill myself and have all muscle fibers counted (not for that). On the muscle biopsy option, I would have to weight only one side of myself and since I err on the side of balanced strength, I am not going to do that either.

You know, something to do since I am bored. I'll let you know how it goes. Any comments or questions, throw them in the comment section.

GET HUGE

2 Clients start back

Classes at UK started back today, as did two of my former clients. I put them through a dynamic warm up that included a basic squat jump, two core exercises, and mountain climbers. They performed 6 squat jumps, each core exercise for 45 seconds, and thirty seconds of all out mountain climbing action.

One of their goals is to gain some lean muscle tissue and get in better overall physical condition. I put her through the following workout, grouped in supersets:
1. Bulgarian Split Squats 3x12
Weight transfer 3 five pound plates moved back and forth from a plank position for 40 seconds
2. DB chest press 3x10
Dynamic side planks 3x30 seconds
3. Underhand pulldowns 3x8
Russian Twist press with a 25lb plate 3x12
4. DB shoulder press 3x10
Cable Chop 3x10 each side
5. Standing DB row
Plank walk-ups 3x30 seconds

We finished with planks and pushups. This is a simple way to compact as much activity as possible into your clients or your workout. You move directly from the first exercise to the second and repeat twice. You keep your heart rate elevated and it beats the heck out of monotonous treadmill. You also can take advantage of Excess Post-exercise Oxygen Consumption (EPOC), which pretty much can be summed up to burning extra calories after your workout while your body replenishes it's tissues with oxygen, restoring hormone levels, restoring heart rate and respiratory rate to normal, and achieving homeostasis.... all for busting your ass during your workout...

Make your workout work for you! What did you do today for your workout? Let me know in the comments

Essential Key to Getting Stronger...

We have all experienced gains in strength and size that come from implementing a program that utilizes the best variety of exercises and rep and set scheme... when you look at the program on paper and your new self in the mirror your muscles scream growth that comes mainly due to proper periodization and diet.

Another essential ingredient to piling on muscle mass and setting new PRs is a strong ass lifting partner. Not betty sue who is going to stand off to the side and smile at you (see below), not the guy

that wastes your time with all of his problems, not the guy who never knows what he lifts on any exercise, not the worthless piece of squishy flesh that actually tries to talk you into not working out, not the guy who doesn't pay attention while you are being crushed by the bar, not the guy in the gym that has to have a conversation with every one they know AND every one that they haven't met yet.... you get my point.

You want somebody that pushes you after they knock out their set of however many reps. You want some one that hits his sets and then looks at you like he could have done six more... and if he doesn't look at you like that, then he is pissed. Some one that screams at you, can push your buttons with a couple words (bet ya can't ... didn't i warm up with that... you are weak sauce... come on son... baby weight...), somebody that makes you get your last couple extra reps after you would have stopped.

Progressively through your program your gains will be better with a partner that is consistent and knows how to push you and spot you correctly. I looked across the gym the other day and saw these two guys.... the lifter got 5 and a half reps, hit the wall for about 5 seconds, and then slowly came down with the weight on incline. His partner was screaming for him to push when obviously he had no push left. Find a person that knows how to spot, knows how to push you and even piss you off a little, and make sure they don't look forward to days off... they need to look forward to trianing days.

MEATHEAD DEBATE Vol.1: Absolute versus Relative Strength

A new series on ASP... THE MEATHEAD DEBATE. I am going to randomly cover controversial topics that come up while I'm lifting or in my office. Whichever the case, I am in my gym. These topics could range from differing points of view and education of both parties, to ridiculous ignorance and one party "sitting down and shutting up," or to eventually agreeing to disagree.

First, I need to make sure all of you are on the same page. Absolute strength would be defined as the heaviest possible weight being pushed or pulled through an entire range of motion. Relative strength would be defined as comparing the amount of weight lifted to that individual's body weight (BW). Confused? Let me elaborate...

Guy 1: Nic Nak
Weight lifted: 205lbs
Nic's BW: 140lbs

Guy 2: Perilous Humphrey III
Weight lifted: 295
Perilous' BW: 210

So, examining the information above... paying close attention to the amount of weight lifted (we will just make these weights lifted for barbell bench press) and each lifter's BW and little attention to their names, we see that Perilous is a bigger guy. Looking at the amount of weight lifted by each meathead shows that Perilous is stronger than Nic, in an absolute sense. He lifts the heavier weight.

Let's assume these are one rep max numbers. To figure out which athlete is stronger in a relative sense, you take weight lifted divided by BW, and multiply by 100.

Weight lifted
BW x 100

Nic= 205
140 x 100= 146.4%
Nic Nak can bench 146% of his BW... let's look at Perilous.


Perilous= 295
210 x 100= 140.5%

Perilous can bench only 141% of his BW. This is when two scenarios could play out... Nic could swiftly kick Perilous in the balls and tell him he is relatively stronger than him. Or Perilous could pick him up and proceed to bench press him several times.

The Debate begins...
So I was watching a guy lift the other day in the gym and he asked for a spot on bench. His name actually happens to be Nic. So we shoot the shit as he reps out his weight... a relatively heavy weight for his body weight. Of course, shooting the shit turns into talking shit.
Conversations lead to some of the following comments:
"Nice weight, little guy"
"Wow, I wish I weighed 215 and could only bench 300 something"
"Hey, are you going to be around later, I need an extra dumbbell"
"When are you going to compete against people in your weight class?"

As the jabs go back and forth, I figured I would cover my thought process in the argument. The most important things are that we both are in the iron game and we both are trying to beat our worst enemies, ourself the last time we lifted.

I want to be as relatively strong as possible while still seeing my absolute strength increase. BW is not a big concern for me. I don't want to go on the McDonald's Supersize Me Diet, but I don't cut weight either. I eat healthy most of the time. Nic is a previous wrestler and his goals focus mainly on being as strong as possible while at his current weight. His absolute number will really only ever top people in his weight class because of his low BW, so his relative strength is very important.

He wants to be strong for his size, I want to move mountains. I believe a combination of the two is important, but they don't have a "World's Relatively Strongest Man" show. However, on the real show "The World's Strongest Man," the largest competitor is Terry Hollands (409.2 lbs or 186kg). A combination of the two, both relative and absolute strength, is vitally important in competition because Mariusz Pudzianowsk, a five time winner of the event, is not the biggest guy, as far as BW goes. But obviously, that hasn't hindered him in competition at all.

I believe a combination of the two strengths is important. I do not compete so my relative strength has no barring on my ego. However, my relative strength is average for a competitor, but I am not to the level of picking up a trophy at a competition. I also am not competing in a weight class where I could show up and set a record because of lack of participants.

Be huge, regardless of your weight.

Try a New Workout

I was provoked by a colleague’s client this week… she told him that she wished she could write him a workout and see him sweat and suffer. And he made some great points.


First of all, she would have to have the knowledge to push herself, let alone some one else. She has a trainer to be pushed, it takes more to motivate.

I assume she is so tired from the end of the session, half of the exercises she performed in the last hour are a blur. If she wanted to do my workout here is what I did yesterday:

Romanian Deadlifts
315x6
365x6
375x6
385x6
395x6

Barbell shoulder press
165x6
165x6
170x6
170x6
175x6

1-arm dumbbell incline
85x6
85x6
85x6
90x6
95x4

Five sets of triceps (3x tricep pushdown with the rope and 2x Skullcrushers)

Core Routine
Rollouts 4x 12 reps
Russian Twists with 25lbs 4x10

I also completed 3x3 bench lockouts to allow me to gain strength through my “sticking point” on bench press.

I believe my buddy put her through an exhausting workout, but any one wanting something different could try this routine instead of their own. Adjust the weight accordingly, but shoot for the repetitions that I achieved. Push yourself.

I just entered a five week strength cycle so all weight training exercises are five sets of six this week…. Next week they changed to five sets of 4.

Push yourself.

"oh, you lift... do you do any cardio? well you should..."

Note to readers: I am not knocking cardio... ok, read on


ok ok ok, I am sick of this scenario. You have some one that isn't very strong pushing the envelope on me doing more cardio "because it is better overall for your mind body spirituality blah blah blah"

first of all... mind your own workout. i don't come over and knock your bike over when you are cycling, DO I?

I got a heart rate monitor after constantly bickering with some of these people. I had told them before that while lifting the amount of weight that I do with the correct periodization program and sticking to proper rest time intervals that I guarrantee my heart rate stays higher for a longer period of time than people doing just cardio.

"but Rob yours (heart rate) is just up for short bursts" ... While I would love to think that I am a machine, you can't just put your heart on low after doing five sets of romanian deadlifts. I used the heart rate monitor today and while resting for a minute and fifteen seconds my heart rate stayed above 140 and directly after each set i glanced at the heart rate on the watch and it was in the 180s every time, creeped into the 190s on the last set of 8.

let me guess, "that can't be accurate, your heart rate can't be that high during just lifting"
I completed a VO2 Max test last fall and I got my heart up to 208 on a treadmill... IN AN EXERCISE PHYSIOLOGY LABORATORY... please argue with me about this... it happened. the max heart rate formula (220-age) is for the average population, it is not a Golden rule by any means. athletes can push themselves above that mark. "oh, that machine was broken" "NO YOU DIDN'T" and all the other random rebuttals that will receive, lok at this. I went beofre my budy and a GA strength coach at UK. I motivated them out of sheer competition to get 210 and 209 beats per minute on the same VO2 Max protocol... thanks

"you need to do more cardio for your health" my hdl cholesterol hovers around 30... yea, i know that is low... TOO BAD MY LDL (bad cholestesterol) IS 37----> extremely low. I have talked to various physicians that told me it is nearly impossible to increase my HDL when my LDL is that low and I shouldn't be worried about those levels because I am in great physical condition... but what do they know, they are just doctors

I am not knocking cardio, if that is your thing, do it. it isn't my thing. there is an abundance of research that comes right out and states that doing too much cardio in an athlete's training regimine will stunt his/her strength gains... it will decrease the amount of possible strength gains that would be attainable if that athlete JUST focused on resistance training. there are also articles that show that one to two sessions a week of explosive resistance training CAN HELP endurance athletes... I wrote a paper on specificity of training this semester as well as presented it to my peers, if you would like a copy let me know... it has the references attached so you can check out the specifics on the articles and research I am throwing out there.

it is simple, I want to be as physically strong as possible. I will and do devote mulitple hours per week lifting, researching better and different ways to resistance train, and then when the time comes, writing another program with CLC, CSCS, CPT (www.swonkdiesel.blogspot.com). I don't like being weak sauce. If a friend needs to move, I want to be able to help, not be the fifth guy on a couch. I want functional ability... that is great if you can run 20 miles a day or every other day... my question is this: WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO NEED THAT???????????!!!!!!!!!!!! If I need to help some one move or carry something I don't have to call three of my buddies to help me.

"Hey Bill, let's run to Richmond from Lexington because I need bread" ... you will never need to run that far at one time... like I said, if running, cycling, swimming is your thing, you love it, it is your stress reliever, how you are best motivated by beating yourself every day.... f'n fantastic. I am glad you have a passion. My passion is resistance training.

LEG DAY, SHOOT'N FOR TREE TRUNKS

I did my legs yesterday.... and the 48 pain hasn't fully kicked in yet, but here is the work I put in:
back squat

265 1 x 10

275 3x8
285 1 x 6

Leg press 4x10
5 plates each side for two sets
6 and 7 plates each side for one set each

Leg extension 4x10
245 for two sets
240 and 235 for one set each

One-leg Hyperextensions 4x 10 each leg with a 30lb dumbbell

One-leg leg curl 4 x 10 each leg
I used 80 all four sets with my right leg and 60 for all four sets with my left leg... My knee has been bothering me. this is also very common in athletes... Having one limb stronger than the other is known as bilateral deficit. the official definition is the weight both limbs can effectively move through an entire range of motion is less than the weights each independent limb can move through the range of motion added together. This is more common in cyclists than rowers, for instance, because cyclists need to generate power one limb at a time.
It is benificial for all athletes to resistance train one limb at at time as well as both limbs together.

I then completed three sets of four point planks for thirty seconds each and three sets of 12 russian twists on each side with a twenty pound med ball.

I made sure to refuel my system after lifting and stretch out some to reduce the amount of delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS) that effects me. My legs are thanking me today... but it is kind of like a thank you slap in the face

Tuesday workout--- staying focused

Set to lift at 11 this morning...
workout in my hand, protein shake in the other. time to go to work
back and hamstrings, not too bad. one minute fifteen seconds between each set

oh yea, my buddy showed me his workout earlier today... usually a cyclist slash ex hockey player... whichi equals tree trunk legs... BUT he started a weight lifting routine... kick ass

back to the point of this message

four sets of ten lat pulldown with a wide grip
four sets of ten neutral grip lat pulldown
three sets of ten front lat pulldown---- works your serratus anterior
chinups next


...

who does chinups after that many sets??? this is what happens when two masterminds get together and laugh while writing a workout. this is my hobbie. i do this for fun. hypertrophy is my goal, hyperplasia is my dream

three sets of ten chin ups... i got 10, 9, 8.... my lats are done. if you are wondering, we save all the rowing type motions for back for fridays workout

lats spent, time for RDLs. after the first set, 255 pounds feels like a million. next week we have to do the leg portion, at least RDLs first. knock the bigger muscle group out of the way when we are fresher

RDLs for five sets... 10 10 10 8 6

straight ridiculous

no straps so we used an alternate grip. straps are beneficial because the point of this exercise is not to kill your grip strength, it is to focus your energy on maintaining perfect form and killing your hamstrings and lower back.

GHBs next, four sets 12 12 10 10 with a 25 pound dumbell... and I get to superset them with lateral lunges with a 50 pound dumbell. great

did i mention we are still maintaining the minute and fifteen second "rest" period?

lastly, leg curl four sets of twelve superset with one legged leg press for four sets of ten.

time for class. glad my work day is over