If building lean muscle mass is your main goal then you need to ensure you are performing enough volume on each muscle group per workout. This is one of the biggest mistakes I see people make, they will only do a few hard sets for 3-4 exercises 9-12 sets is not enough volume generally speaking for most people to achieve a substantial amount of muscle hypertrophy. Keep rest to 60-75 seconds to get more volume in your workout and focus on producing the greatest amount of stress on the muscle, you may do fewer reps or need to reduce the load as you do more sets but thats fine, the goal is to produce stress, damage and put the muscle under tension for hypertrophy not to get stronger.
on the flip side I do see some idiots do a HUGE amount of volume in their 2 our arm workouts but there is very little focus on keeping the muscle under tension and producing stress and trauma that these workouts are also ineffective!
Wednesday, 30 May 2012
Faster Fat loss...
This is a very simple and very effective tip... rest less! If you're main goal is fat loss then you should rest no longer than 60 seconds between sets and exercises. If you are working hard enough and lifting the maximum loads you can for each given exercises you will not lose muscle... this will also allow you to increase the density of your workouts to get a greater metabolic effect.
What I've Learnt about... Hamstrings
The Hamstrings are a 'Pennate' Muscle, a pennate muscle is where the muscle fibers attached obliquely (in a slanting position) to the tendon. These types of muscle allow for greater force production and shorter range of movements. This fact alone already gives us a good indication about how the hamstrings should be trained... Heavy, as you need to produce a lot of force. Try to fail on the eccentric phase before the concentric phase...
The Hamstrings also produce more than one major movement and joint, Hip extensions and Knee flexion. You should include variations of both movements in your workouts.
Top exercises for the Hamstrings
1. Nordic Raises or Glute Ham Raises
2. Deadlift/ Romanian Deadlift
3. Hip Extensions
4. Lying Leg Curl, 2 up 1 down
The Hamstrings also produce more than one major movement and joint, Hip extensions and Knee flexion. You should include variations of both movements in your workouts.
Top exercises for the Hamstrings
1. Nordic Raises or Glute Ham Raises
2. Deadlift/ Romanian Deadlift
3. Hip Extensions
4. Lying Leg Curl, 2 up 1 down
Improve your Squat...
One way to improve your squat is stretching your calves. Flexibility or lack of I find is the main factor why people fail technically on the squat long before they fail muscularly.
Lower yourself into the stretch position of a standing calf raise (uni lateral or bi lateral) and force your heels down as much as possible. Hold this stretch for 60-120 seconds, do 6 reps and then do the same in a seated position. You can get under the calf raise machine or seated machine and add more load to your stretch if needed.
To assess the effectiveness of your stretch, perform a few sets of squats up to about 50-65% the weight you will use for working sets, stretch, then go back to your squat. This is definitely something you should keep on top of and do as part of your workout every week.
Lower yourself into the stretch position of a standing calf raise (uni lateral or bi lateral) and force your heels down as much as possible. Hold this stretch for 60-120 seconds, do 6 reps and then do the same in a seated position. You can get under the calf raise machine or seated machine and add more load to your stretch if needed.
To assess the effectiveness of your stretch, perform a few sets of squats up to about 50-65% the weight you will use for working sets, stretch, then go back to your squat. This is definitely something you should keep on top of and do as part of your workout every week.
Facts about Fruit...
People always say to me, Fruit is really good for, you need to have your 5 a day... Firstly it is 5 fruit and veg portions a day (which still isn't enough!) and fruit can be good for you, but it can also be bad for you.
Fruits contain good anti oxidants and fibre, the darker the fruit the more anti oxidants it typically contains. If you are going to have fruit make sure it is organic, if its not its not likely to contain all the good stuff!
Fruit contains fructose which is a sugar so its a carbohydrate, the difference between fructose and other sugars is that fructose only replenished liver glycogen, so if your liver glycogen is full (which is likely if you eat carbohydrates all day) then there is only one other place it can be stored... as fat in the adipose tissue. When you consume sugars you will get an insulin response from the body, especially if you consume them on their own. Doing the BioSignature test we can assess your tolerance to insulin, this is vitally important as the more sensitive you are the more risk you have of getting fat from foods! If you spike insulin through excessive or refined sugar intake and/or lack of sensitivity you increase the risk of fat storage, if you spike insulin you will spike cortisol as a result. Cortisol is a hormone that promotes fat storage especially around the abdominals.
I would recommend you stick to berries (anything that ends in berry...) as they do not spike insulin and tend to be darker in colour and contain more anti oxidants. If you want fruits such as bananas and apples then consume them after a resistance workout (Spinning, Zumba or Body pump don't count!)
Fruits contain good anti oxidants and fibre, the darker the fruit the more anti oxidants it typically contains. If you are going to have fruit make sure it is organic, if its not its not likely to contain all the good stuff!
Fruit contains fructose which is a sugar so its a carbohydrate, the difference between fructose and other sugars is that fructose only replenished liver glycogen, so if your liver glycogen is full (which is likely if you eat carbohydrates all day) then there is only one other place it can be stored... as fat in the adipose tissue. When you consume sugars you will get an insulin response from the body, especially if you consume them on their own. Doing the BioSignature test we can assess your tolerance to insulin, this is vitally important as the more sensitive you are the more risk you have of getting fat from foods! If you spike insulin through excessive or refined sugar intake and/or lack of sensitivity you increase the risk of fat storage, if you spike insulin you will spike cortisol as a result. Cortisol is a hormone that promotes fat storage especially around the abdominals.
I would recommend you stick to berries (anything that ends in berry...) as they do not spike insulin and tend to be darker in colour and contain more anti oxidants. If you want fruits such as bananas and apples then consume them after a resistance workout (Spinning, Zumba or Body pump don't count!)
Monday, 21 May 2012
High Density Training for Fat loss...
High Density training refers to the total amount of work performed in a workout, I use this method a lot initially with fat loss clients with high body fats (20%+) and females. In order to get more work in there is less emphasis on time under tension so there is less increase in muscle mass with a reduction in body fat being the main emphasis, once body fat is reduced there is more focus on increaseing lean mass to sustain and improves results. We focus on thr concentric phase of the movement being as quick and powerful as possible but still under control, this works on myofibril hypertrophy, this where the muscle fibres get firmer rather than increasing in size (great for females!)
Here is an example of a high density circuit...
A1. Lower Body
A2. Push Movement
A3. Pull Movement
First round perform 10 reps, then 9, 8, 7 all the way down to 1 with as little rest as possible between exercises and sets. That is a total of 165 reps and should be done in less that 10 minutes. To increase the density of workout for next time you would either do same weight in less time, more weight in the same time or more weight in less time!
Here is an example of a high density circuit...
A1. Lower Body
A2. Push Movement
A3. Pull Movement
First round perform 10 reps, then 9, 8, 7 all the way down to 1 with as little rest as possible between exercises and sets. That is a total of 165 reps and should be done in less that 10 minutes. To increase the density of workout for next time you would either do same weight in less time, more weight in the same time or more weight in less time!
21/5 Chest & Back Advanced German Volume Training
A1. DB Chest Press 40kg DB, 10x5, 4010 Tempo, 60 seconds rest
1-5 reps 2-5 reps 3-5 reps 4-5 reps 5-5 reos 6-5 reps 7-5 reps 8-5 reps 9-4 reps 10-4 reps
A2. Wide Grip Pull Ups Bodyweight +15kg, 4010 Tempo, 60 seconds rest
1-5 reps 2-5 reps 3-5 reps 4-5 reps 5-5 reps 6-5 reps 7-5 reps 8-3 reps 9-3 reps 10-3 reps
B1. Incline Press Pronating 32.5kg DB 4x6, 4010 Tempo
B2. Barbell Bent Over Row Supinated Grip 85kg 4x6,4010 tempo
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