It's generally a good idea to switch up your positioning for lifts from time to time, for instance, if you normally do the conventional deadlift, switch to sumo for a month or two, or just switch to a narrower foot stance.
Why? In my experience, when I stick with a particular form like wide grip bench pressing, after a while it seems like my muscles become too comfortable in that position. If I bring my grip width in a bit, it forces my muscles to fire in a slightly different manner, and often times I end up feeling stronger with it.
How? I generally stick with a particular form with my main work sets for about 2-3 months, then switch it up. Every time I've done so I feel stronger.
That's it, just a quick tip that's worked well for me.
Thursday, January 23, 2014
Saturday, January 4, 2014
New Year Nonsense
My plans for this year are as follows:
January-March: Keep BW under 210, workout with Body Building parameters.
April-August: Cut down to 190, workout with Powerlifting Parameters.
September-December: Hybrid workouts, Powerlifting+Bodybuilding+Plyometrics, stay under BW of 200.
Weightlifting Goals:
500lb Deadlift by the end of the year.
300lb Bench Press by the end of the year.
That's it. Not everything has to be super complicated. I'll update this blog with my dieting methods, and progress as it comes.
January-March: Keep BW under 210, workout with Body Building parameters.
April-August: Cut down to 190, workout with Powerlifting Parameters.
September-December: Hybrid workouts, Powerlifting+Bodybuilding+Plyometrics, stay under BW of 200.
Weightlifting Goals:
500lb Deadlift by the end of the year.
300lb Bench Press by the end of the year.
That's it. Not everything has to be super complicated. I'll update this blog with my dieting methods, and progress as it comes.
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Eat till you're full!
Just a quick thought.
I've noticed that I tend to eat junk food not necessarily because I want junk food, but instead because I'm hungry, and junk food is easy to grab. I think it's important to make sure you eat enough quality food in a meal so that you don't end up snaking on something less than healthy later on. Basically, if you eat a lot of meat in your meal, you're less likely to grab a bag of chips later on.
It's a simple concept, but it goes a long way.
I've noticed that I tend to eat junk food not necessarily because I want junk food, but instead because I'm hungry, and junk food is easy to grab. I think it's important to make sure you eat enough quality food in a meal so that you don't end up snaking on something less than healthy later on. Basically, if you eat a lot of meat in your meal, you're less likely to grab a bag of chips later on.
It's a simple concept, but it goes a long way.
Monday, December 16, 2013
Powerlifting and Bodybuilding
I definitely consider myself to be a Powerlifter, and I've worked with Powerlifting parameters ever since I started lifting, I've always loved sets of 3-5, and lots of singles. These are great rep ranges for building lots of strength, and I've had great success with them, however my results have been slowing down recently, so I'm taking the advice of my previous entry, and switching it up.
How am I going to be switching it up? Reps. Lots and lots of reps. I've decided that I'm not going to do any working sets under 5 reps for the next several months, basically I'll be working with Bodybuilding parameters for a while, however my overall goal will still be strength. At this point I believe I've maxed out my neuromuscular potential for strength with the amount of actual muscle tissue I have; plain and simple, I need to build more muscle before I can get much stronger, and Bodybuilding is the best thing for doing that.
Over the next few weeks I'll be updating this blog with my progress.
Today I worked chest:
Warm Up Sets on Bench Press:
130x10
180x5
200x3
220x1
Working Sets on Bench Press:
180x10
180x8
180x8
180x7
-
Close Grip Bench:
130x5
130x5
I finished the workout with a single set of slow paced dumbbell flies with 20lbs in each arm.
By the way, I had my first PL meet a couple weeks ago, check it out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpaakmgQ5iM
How am I going to be switching it up? Reps. Lots and lots of reps. I've decided that I'm not going to do any working sets under 5 reps for the next several months, basically I'll be working with Bodybuilding parameters for a while, however my overall goal will still be strength. At this point I believe I've maxed out my neuromuscular potential for strength with the amount of actual muscle tissue I have; plain and simple, I need to build more muscle before I can get much stronger, and Bodybuilding is the best thing for doing that.
Over the next few weeks I'll be updating this blog with my progress.
Today I worked chest:
Warm Up Sets on Bench Press:
130x10
180x5
200x3
220x1
Working Sets on Bench Press:
180x10
180x8
180x8
180x7
-
Close Grip Bench:
130x5
130x5
I finished the workout with a single set of slow paced dumbbell flies with 20lbs in each arm.
By the way, I had my first PL meet a couple weeks ago, check it out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpaakmgQ5iM
Wednesday, November 27, 2013
Switch it Up!
It's been a while since I've updated this blog because I'm a big dummy.
Anyway, I wanna talk about the importance of changing up what you do for both weight loss, and weightlifting.
As I've mentioned before, I first started dieting using low carb, and while that worked for a while, it eventually stopped giving me the results I wanted, so I switched to intermittent fasting, which works very well for me. However, I still have to switch up how I diet from time to time, although I generally stay within the parameters of IF. For instance: When I started IF, I used a 12:00pm - 4:00pm eating window, and I trained at some point within that window, after I'd eaten my first meal of the day. I got a lot of good results with that, but now recently I've had to change it up in order to keep getting results. Now I generally use a 2:00pm - 8:00pm window, and I usually train at around 12:00pm, on a fasted stomach.
So what's the point? If you do the same thing for too long, your body adjusts to it, and will become stagnant; you'll stop making progress. When you introduce a new way of doing things to it, it's acts as a bit of a shock to your system, and you begin to make progress again.
The same thing applies to weightlifting. For a long time now, I've been a big fan of hardcore Powerlifting parameters - a bunch of sets of 1-3 reps, and while I've made some great strength gains with that, my progress has slowed down. So, I have to change things up with a variety of different variables which include Pause Reps, Negatives, and Varied Grip width for the bench, and plenty of high-rep drop sets. Same thing for the Deadlift. When I stopped adding pounds to my DL, I started doing Deficit Lifts, Rack Pulls, and Hang Cleans to mix things up, and now my numbers are on the rise again.
tl;dr, Don't do the same thing for too long.
Anyway, I wanna talk about the importance of changing up what you do for both weight loss, and weightlifting.
As I've mentioned before, I first started dieting using low carb, and while that worked for a while, it eventually stopped giving me the results I wanted, so I switched to intermittent fasting, which works very well for me. However, I still have to switch up how I diet from time to time, although I generally stay within the parameters of IF. For instance: When I started IF, I used a 12:00pm - 4:00pm eating window, and I trained at some point within that window, after I'd eaten my first meal of the day. I got a lot of good results with that, but now recently I've had to change it up in order to keep getting results. Now I generally use a 2:00pm - 8:00pm window, and I usually train at around 12:00pm, on a fasted stomach.
So what's the point? If you do the same thing for too long, your body adjusts to it, and will become stagnant; you'll stop making progress. When you introduce a new way of doing things to it, it's acts as a bit of a shock to your system, and you begin to make progress again.
The same thing applies to weightlifting. For a long time now, I've been a big fan of hardcore Powerlifting parameters - a bunch of sets of 1-3 reps, and while I've made some great strength gains with that, my progress has slowed down. So, I have to change things up with a variety of different variables which include Pause Reps, Negatives, and Varied Grip width for the bench, and plenty of high-rep drop sets. Same thing for the Deadlift. When I stopped adding pounds to my DL, I started doing Deficit Lifts, Rack Pulls, and Hang Cleans to mix things up, and now my numbers are on the rise again.
tl;dr, Don't do the same thing for too long.
Tuesday, October 8, 2013
Intermittent Faaaaaasting
Earlier this year, after getting burnt out on Low Carb dieting, I decided to give intermittent fasting a go....It's wonderful. It allows you to eat somewhat more liberally, while still maintaining steady results; there's a reason so many people swear by it. It just works.
How does it work? Basically, fat loss comes down to using stored energy in your body. During the fasting portion of your day, your body doesn't have a choice but to use up fat for energy, it has to run on something.
So why not just stop eating until you're skinny? Because you'll screw up your body in a major way, and the results will actually be SLOWER than if you had eaten a reasonable diet in the same amount of time.
How the hell does that work? When you deprive your body of outside sources of energy for too long, it goes into 'survival mode' where it holds on to as much fat as it can, so you can go longer without food, without dying. Other results of this include an extreme decrease in energy, because your body is rationing it's activity, and you'll be really freaking hungry all the time.
How does intermittent fasting fix this? Because you're still giving your body food in your eating window, your body doesn't go into survival mode, and because of this, it doesn't hesitate to let go of any excess fat during the fasting portion of your day.
Pro Tip: Drink a ridiculous amount of water during the fasting part of your day, it'll help your body process more fat during that period. (you should drink tons of water all the time, but specifically a lot during this time)
How does it work? Basically, fat loss comes down to using stored energy in your body. During the fasting portion of your day, your body doesn't have a choice but to use up fat for energy, it has to run on something.
So why not just stop eating until you're skinny? Because you'll screw up your body in a major way, and the results will actually be SLOWER than if you had eaten a reasonable diet in the same amount of time.
How the hell does that work? When you deprive your body of outside sources of energy for too long, it goes into 'survival mode' where it holds on to as much fat as it can, so you can go longer without food, without dying. Other results of this include an extreme decrease in energy, because your body is rationing it's activity, and you'll be really freaking hungry all the time.
How does intermittent fasting fix this? Because you're still giving your body food in your eating window, your body doesn't go into survival mode, and because of this, it doesn't hesitate to let go of any excess fat during the fasting portion of your day.
Pro Tip: Drink a ridiculous amount of water during the fasting part of your day, it'll help your body process more fat during that period. (you should drink tons of water all the time, but specifically a lot during this time)
Wednesday, October 2, 2013
Drink your water, children.
Something I think a lot of people tend to overlook is the necessity to be drinking a ridiculous amount of water when trying to lose weight (or anytime, for that matter). It is certainly possible to lose weight without drinking lots of water, but it's not very efficient, and can seriously hold back your results. Honestly, there are lots of overweight people who could actually start losing weight JUST by drinking more water, even if their diet stayed the same (but of course that would only go so far).
Why, and how? Water is the vessel through which your body expels processed fat. When you drink lots of soda, or juice, your body is getting rid of the excess nonsense in the drink instead of getting rid of the excess nonsense in your body. By simply drinking lots of water, you're giving your body an empty vessel that it can expel fat through.
tl;dr, drink a bunch of water, you'll lose weight faster.
Why, and how? Water is the vessel through which your body expels processed fat. When you drink lots of soda, or juice, your body is getting rid of the excess nonsense in the drink instead of getting rid of the excess nonsense in your body. By simply drinking lots of water, you're giving your body an empty vessel that it can expel fat through.
tl;dr, drink a bunch of water, you'll lose weight faster.
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