Workout Wednesday 6/29/16: Increase Reps First, Resistance Second

Workout Wednesday Tip:  Increase Reps First, Resistance Second

If there is a simple fix for most people's resistance training programs it is proper progression. 
 
The first step to improve this is to choose a rep range for the exercises you are going to use for 4-6 weeks. Some examples include 12-15, 10-12, 8-10, 6-8, etc. After you determine the rep range you are going to use, multiply it by how many sets you are going to do in the exercise.

For illustration, let's say you are going to do the Barbell Squat for 3 Sets X 10-12 Reps. When you multiply 3 X 10 and 12 respectively you get 30-36 total reps - this is your range.

If you didn't get 30 total reps after 3 sets of the Barbell Squat you picked a resistance that was too heavy. If you are between 30-35 total reps after 3 sets you picked the right resistance. Once you can perform 36 or more you can bump the weight up.

Give that simple tip a try going forward as it is effective.

Grenz's Bookshelf 6/27/16: Strong & Sculpted by Brad Schoenfeld

I just recently finished the book Strong & Sculpted by Brad Schoenfeld.  It is a book that is for women who want to resistance train. 

Here are some of the things I liked about the book:

1. It is simple to read and simple to follow.  It is only 216 pages long with 127 pages geared towards exercises and their descriptions.
2. It does a nice job of explaining the science behind exercise without making things confusing or overwhelming.
3. It has four different easy to apply training phases for different levels of fitness enthusiasts.  In fact women of all levels can start at the first level and work their way into the forth level over the course of a year and get good results.

Regarding topics I wish it would have covered more:

1. In the warm up section it referenced and used examples of the General and Specific warm-ups but only talked about dynamic warm-up/movement prep briefly.  It would have been nice if it would have covered that type of warm-up more as more people need it because they are more sedentary than before.
2. Like most books on resistance training it only spoke briefly on cardio.  It talked about Hight Intensity Interval Training and Steady State Cardio but did not go into too much detail on how to apply them.

If these two topics would have had a little more meat to them a good book would have been a great book.

To conclude this post, for women who want to get into resistance training this is a good, simple to read and apply book.  I would recommend it.

The Six Pillars of Nutrtion: A Simple Nutrtional Template That Works

I recently listened to a podcast from Mike Robertson of Robertson Training Systems and he interviewed Mike Roussell, PhD.

I am familiar with Mike through his articles on T-Nation, Men's Health, etc. and I forgot how applicable his nutritional information is in addition to being really good.  One tool he uses with his clients is The Six Pillars of Nutrition which can be found in a quick video found here or his book found on Kindle found here.

The Six Pillars of Nutrition are for people to be used as a pre-req. before they start more advanced and individualized nutritional templates.  They are:

1. Eat multiple meals/day.  Ideally breakfast, lunch and dinner with one snack.
2. Reduce processed food.  Try to avoid or limit white processed sugar, flour and food that comes out of packages.
3. Try to get fruits or vegetables with each meal.  This is pretty self explanatory, however be cautious of getting too many servings of tropical fruit like bananas, pineapple, grapes, etc.
4. Drink water.  Drink more water and limit liquid beverages that contain sugar and/or lots of empty calories.
5. Consume lean proteins.  Make sure you are getting servings of lean proteins at breakfast, lunch and dinner.
6. Be strategic with starches.  Ideally have them either at breakfast or right after the workout.

In the future before you try to get all crazy with your nutrition plan, give these six behaviors a try.  You may be pleasantly surprised by how well they might work for you!

Fitness Tool Friday 6/24/16: The Dumbbell

The fitness tool that will be feature this week is the Dumbbell.  As much as I would like to start out with Body Weight or Resist-A-Bands as you can take those pretty much anywhere (Body weight isn't an issue, bands you still need to pack), I choose to feature the dumbbells.  The reason for this is if you can at least master the use of Dumbbells you will be able to do lots of different programs not only in a commercial gym but a hotel or apartment gym as well (Most now have dumbbell pairs that go from 5-50 lbs.). 

Here are some basic exercises using dumbbells that will allow you to have a good training program for all body parts just about anywhere (Especially if you travel and need a hotel gym):  

1. Dumbbell Goblet Squat
2. Dumbbell Step Up
3. Dumbbell Lunge
4. Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift
5. Dumbbell Single-Leg Romanian Deadlift
6. Dumbbell Single-Leg Standing Calf Raise
7. Dumbbell 1-Arm Row
8. Dumbbell Flat Bench Chest Press
9. Dumbbell Flat Bench Fly
10. Dumbbell Bent-Over Row
11. Dumbbell Shoulder Press
12. Dumbbell Side Raise
13. Dumbbell Biceps Curl
14. Dumbbell Flat Bench Skull Crusher

Give these exercises a try sometime. 





Workout Wednesday 6/22/16: Today's Energy Systems Workout

Here is the workout I did today.

It was an Energy Systems Workout.  After the Dynamic Warm-Up I performed the following:

1. Sprint 10 yards/walk back
2. Sprint 20 yards/walk back
3. Sprint 30 yards/walk back
4. Sprint 40 yards/walk back
5. Sprint 50 yards/walk back
6. Perform 10 regular burpees
7. Rest for 90-120 seconds

*I did this for five total rounds. 

**At the end of each round I increased the burpees by 5 reps (10, 15, 20, 25, 30 reps respectively).

Give it a try as it was great to do outside.

Contenders vs. Champions

I just recently read The Champion's Comeback by Jim Afremow.  In the book he talks how there are two people who show up in sports and life:  The Contender and the Champion.  Here is the difference between them as stated in the book.

• The Contender:  They are threatened by the prospect of competition and faiure.  They either refuse help or expect others to do the hard work instead of doing it themselves.
• The Champion:  They look for tough challenges and use them as opportunities for growth.  They also look for support and feedback (From coaches, teammates, etc.).

As Afremow states, "A champion, unlike a contender regroups after inevitable setbacks and emerges stronger.  A champion embraces difficult and demanding situations and learns from both triumphs and failures."

"The ability to step up to challenges is important in all aspects of life, and it's a key ingredient of happiness and success."

Going forward decide if you are a Contender or Champion.  Hopefully after reading this you decide to be a Champion and you take risks, learn from them (Good or bad) and keep moving forward.

Thursday Training Tip 6/16/16: Two Simple Progression Tips

In order to get results in the gym progressing either resistance or reps is important when it comes to resistance training.

However, people usually don't progress enough, try to progress to quickly or are confused on the topic in general.

Here are two tips to help you get the most out of progression. 

1. Single Rep Number:  An example of this would be 5 Sets X 5 Reps using the same resistance.  If you take 5 X 5 it equals 25 total reps.  So if you are performing the Barbell Bench Press with 185 lbs. and you complete 5, 5, 5, 5, 5 reps respectively (25 total) you get to increase the resistance.  The following week you increase the resistance to 190 lbs. and complete 5, 5, 4, 4, 3 reps (21 total) you would want to keep the weight the same the following weeks until 25 reps are completed.
2. Rep Range Number: An example of this would be 3 Sets X 10-12 Reps.  If you take 3 X 10 it equals 30 reps (This is the low range).  Multiplying 3 X 12 equals 36 (this is the high range).  If you perform a Barbell Biceps Curl with 65 lbs. and completed 15, 12, 10 reps it equals 37 total reps.  You get to increase the resistance the next time you lift.  If you did 10, 8, 6 it equals 24 reps and you used too much resistance.  In the future you may want to lower it a bit.

I hope this makes sense in your workouts in the future.

Give one of these methods a try and see how they work for you.