Sets And Reps To Max Out

How To Build Up To Max Out

The Best Sets and Reps For Setting New Pr's

When it comes to sets and reps for maxing out it's important that you don't do too much. On the other hand you want to make sure you're ready.

So a good strategy is necessary to get the most out of your lift. My buddy Mike passed this progression along to me. Give it a try and let me know what kind of numbers you hit.

When you're warming up for a max lift, you're going to approach things differently than you would for a workout.

Make sure you're pumped, have your workout playlist blasting in the background and have a good spotter.

Sets and Reps For A 1RM

1. 20 reps with an empty Bar
2. 10 reps at 45% of your 1RM
3. 10 reps at 50%
4. 10 reps at 55%
5. 75% for 3 reps
6. 80% for 3 reps
7. Set #3: 85% for 1 rep
8. 90% for 1 rep
9. 95% for 1 rep
10. Go for new max, about 10-20 pounds higher than your old max. Or 102-105% of your old max.

Once you have a new max a good workout to turn to is Cycle #3 of Bench Mode.

If you didn't hit a new max don't worry about it. Getting stronger takes time and sometimes people have off days in the gym.

Give it a try and let me know your new numbers.

Garage Gym Equipment Home Workouts

 Garage Gym Equipment
 Work Out From Home

Remember back in Rocky IV when Rocky was in Russia training to fight Ivan. In that movie he took his training old-school and utilized an old barn to set up a garage gym. Well, I put the recent post to guide you through a typical garage gym set up. You will find out how to set up a cost effective but yet efficient home workout gym.

You'll be amazed at how little equipment as needed. In section 1 I list for items needed to allow you to start working out from home right away. Best of all it won't break the bank.

Go check it out now...
➠ http://www.mensfitnessandmore.com/2011/garage-gym/03/31/

Bodybuilders Discover The Best Sets and Reps for Fast Muscle Building

Do You Know What the Best Sets and Reps for Fast Muscle Building Are

If you've spent anytime in and around a weight room, I am sure you have witnessed a host of different rep schemes. Nonetheless there will be one rep scheme which sticks out.

Take a look through any fitness or workout magazine and I would be surprised to find a muscle or fitness atricle without these reps and sets in one of their workout routines.

I am sure you know what I am talking about, 3 sets of 10. Or for the adventurous guys, 3x12.

Some guys under no circumstances stray from their 10 or 12 rep sets.

But is this the most beneficial mix...

possibly there is a far better blend of repetitions and sets. I'm certain you don't want to hear it, but that answer I provide is almost a copout but it is correct....
and that is...

it depends.

I know this doesn't tell you a lot, nonetheless that just happens to be the case.

But to keep it short...

there is no optimal repetition plan. That is because there are lots of issues you need to evaluate when you design your workout program.

See what fellow strength coach and friend Jason Ferruggia says is the best sets and reps for building muscle

For me, I feel I get the most benefits when it comes to size and strength doing 5 reps for 5 sets for most of my compound exercises.

For a powerlifter, they will spend nearly all of their time carrying out singles, doubles, and triples, keeping the reps very low. If you are a bodybuilder or someone looking to build up muscle mass quick, that is not a rep range you will work in.

The accessory exercises have a much higher rep range, somewhere in the area of 10 -15 for 3 to 4 sets is a good plan.

The same holds true with some muscle groups.
* calves
* abs
* forearms
* traps...

These muscles respond differently as compared with your big muscle groups. Here you really are able to get away using much higher quantity. The actual sets and reps have a tendency to be a lot more with these particular body parts.

Best Method

Considering that there really is no one best rep scheme for building big muscles as a bodybuilder you are better off cycling your rep schemes. A routine 4 week long pattern could go like this...

1. Week one of your fitness program could be higher repetitions. Aim for the 12 to 15 rep range .
2. Week two decrease the reps and add weight. Repetitions for this week will not be greater than 10
3. Week 3 do no more than 8 reps.
4. Five reps will be your top end range for you final week.

Your 4 week cycle is now complete. Time to start back at week 1 with the high reps. Be sure to add 5 pounds to you lifts for last month. Even if you do the same lifts from cycle to cycle. The numerous rep ranges are hitting those muscles differently. You are hitting different energy systems, and stressing your muscles differently from week to week. You are targeting different muscle fiber types each week.

Working different energy systems, and stressing distinct muscle fiber types from week to week. Having variation in reps truly helps maximize muscle growth.

For another take on the subject check out How Important are Reps For Muscle Size and Strength


Absolutely free report on how to gain lean muscle mass, burn body fat, and find the best exercise routine for you, visit. .. Mass Building Secrets

Standing Military Press Old School Style

Shoulder Workouts

My friend was telling me about his workout the other day and he mentioned an old school standing shoulder push exercise he previously happened upon.

We were talking about how to get muscles fast and the different things we do.

I mention "happened to," simply because that is definitely the way he fell into learning it. When he talked about it I stated to him, I personally use to conduct something quite similar constantly, I referred to the exercise a Pavel Press.

We ended up discussing shoulder techniques and just how you don't ever spot certain methods while working out but just how this amazing old school movements happen to be the go to movement several years ago. Sure chances are you may see a very few fellas carrying out the occasional shoulder dumbbell press, although quite uncommon to view it completed with a single hand, and then rarely carried out the good old school approach.

The same thing goes when considering position. I just can't recollect the very last moment I viewed another person conducting a standing military press. That exercise is a staple in my shoulder routine. In fact it is rare I sit down for any exercise. The same applies for my private training clients too. The do as many exercises standing as we can. Standing military press going old school

Military Press Exercise Old School Style
The military press exercise is the best movement there is when it comes to building big shoulders. If you want to be technical, there are a few variations to the shoulder press so that makes it a new exercise and can no longer be called a military press. Lets just say this is a shoulder press variation. But enough of that...
you want to know how to build muscle, not all the history behind the exercise.

You know workout routines to build muscle, stuff that will make us strong and look like a fitness model.

If you look at pictures of the strong man from a while back, you will notice that they are all doing great feats of strength with one arm. It builds great strength and core stability. It also hits all the stabilizer muscle that you miss when you train on machines.

Single arm military press exercise

At one time this use to be a measure of a mans strength, so I think it is something worth adding to your workout routine.

The One Arm Military Press by Sig Klein (1937)

"Before the Olympic lifts became the standard of amateur weight lifters, as far as champion caliber is concerned, the One Arm Military Press was one of the main tests of one's strength."

Personally I call this a Pavel Press, but feel free to use a descriptive name if you prefer... like, the one arm barbell shoulder press.

Here's how it's done‚

1. first thing you need is a death grip on the bar
2. make sure your core is tight
3. think push yourself through the floor

You can see a picture of me doing it here --->> Shoulder Workout Pavel Press

This is a tough exercise but you work at it and your numbers will climb. Don't ditch the military press, just add this exercise in once in a while.

Be sure to grab your FREE muscle building Report just Click Here

Build Big Arms - Ronnie Coleman Biceps Training

What guy doesn't want big arms?

Train your biceps like former Mr O Ronnie Coleman.

 Get a glimpse of what a biceps workout looks like from one of the most successful bodybuilders.
Build big Biceps Training Workout

Rediscover Phenomenal Chest Building Secret

Developed Strong Thick Muscular Chest

If your looking to add more muscle mass to your chest and upper body area I highly recommend you do this technique a try.

I say rediscover, because the guys at Venice beach or Gold's gym back in the 60s use this technique regularly but it's not something you see any more.

 be sure to check out this old-school chest exercise, and see more muscle mass as you get bigger and stronger in the chest.   Just click the link below.

Muscular Chest Building Secret

Discover the Best Ways Burn Stubborn Belly Fat

How Do I Burn Stubborn Belly Fat To Lose Weight

This may be one of the most popular questions asked.

Everyone wants to know how to lose weight around the midsection and stomach. There are different approaches that can be used in your weight loss program.

• weight training
• traditional long slow cardio
• interval training
• aerobics
• spin class
• etc...

I am sure you can recite many other options. But I think that only confuses the matter, you just do not know where to turn for the best fat burning solution.

If you truly want to shed the belly fat and lose weight I suggest you see what my buddy Craig Ballantyne has to say about the matter. Just click the link below.

Most Effective Way To Burn Belly Fat

Success by Design: Part 2

Optimizing Three Critical Components of Training

The Basics of Exercise Biomechanics

If you’re a competitive weightlifter or powerlifter, your objective is to find the easiest way to lift a weight— otherwise, you’ll lose. But if you’re lifting to increase muscle mass and strength, your goal is to find the hardest way to lift a weight.

This is a difficult concept for people to grasp, because it runs 180 degrees to what your instincts tell you to do. Watching novice lifters confirms this— everything is done with maximum “body English.”

My general rule of thumb is that if you can find a way to make an exercise harder, do it. For example, if pausing for a full second at the bottom position of a bench press is harder than “touch and go” style, use the pause. If maximally squeezing your biceps (more than would be necessary to lift the weight) at the top of a curl makes the exercise harder, do it. If crunches are harder on a Swiss ball, use one.

Of course, this approach requires that you check your ego at the door. In fact, it has been my observation that the ego is one of the most insidious obstacles to making progress in the weight room. During one of my last workouts, I noticed a trainer giving some advice to a couple who were holding down each other’s butts during leg curls— he suggested that they use their glutes to lift the front of the quads off of the padding, so that they could stabilize their own body during the exercise.

As soon as they realized that this would necessitate using less weight, they went back to their former habits. Too bad.

Of course, all good personal trainers and strength coaches have come up with their favorite “tricks” to make various exercises more effective. You don’t need a degree in Kinesiology to learn how to develop your own. All it takes is discipline and creativity.

Intensity

Let’s get one thing clear: you could hire the best strength specialists available to author your training program; you could hire the best nutritionists, use the best supplements, you could even resort to using anabolic steroids, however, if you don’t execute your workouts with all-out ferocity, it’s all for naught. The more experience you have, the more this applies.

N o w, when I say “intensity,” I don’t mean the sports science definition (i.e., how close you are to 1RM), but instead, the application of effort during worko u t s .There’s an old story about how the Egyptian pharaohs managed the slaveworkers who built the pyramids: 1000 workers were instructed to haul a massive stone block up an incline to the top of the pyramid. At the end of the day, it was brought to the pharaohs attention that they had failed. So the pharaoh had 500 of the workers killed and told the remaining workers to get the job done, or he would kill off half of the remaining workers and they would try again. They accomplished the task.

The moral of the story is that often, we think we’re applying maximal effort when in fact we are not. Although both volume and intensity are both components of successful training programs, no amount of volume will compensate for insufficient intensity. If you had to choose between the two, go with intensity. Period.

Intensity must be tempered with discipline as well. If you’re on the leg press and allowing your low back to round so that you can get that last rep, you’re not being disciplined. The application of disciplined effort means that you get every rep humanly possible within the confines of perfect technique.

Optimizing The Time Between Workouts: The Essentials of Recovery

Progress occurs not during workouts, but in the spaces between workouts. Fill these spaces properly, and progress will be swift. The three areas I’d like to specifically address are post-training nutrition, massage, and the concept of active rest.

Post- Workout Nutrition & Supplementation

Eating properly can be difficult even for very serious athletes, because compared to training, the results are often more subtle and take more time to see. Nevertheless, I’d like to urge you to make a commitment. Right now. Make the decision, based on the fact that you know it’s important, to clean up your diet. Not tomorrow, NOW. A good place to start is your post training nutrition. After a hard training session, your muscles are glycogen-depleted.

This means that they are “open for business” to use the words of my colleague Will Brink. What he means is that the muscles will quickly uptake any simple carbohydrates you consume immediately after the workout. The neat thing about this is that you can use a high-glycemic drink to “deliver” creatine, branched-chain amino acids, vitamins, etc., directly into your muscles by taking them with the carbohydrate drink. This is the concept behind EAS’s Phosphagen HP, incidentally.

About The Author

Charles Staley...world-class strength/performance coach...his colleagues call him an iconoclast, a visionary, a rule-breaker. His clients call him “The Secret Weapon” for his ability to see what other coaches miss. Charles calls himself a “geek” who struggled in Phys Ed throughout school. Whatever you call him, Charles’ methods are ahead of their time and quickly produce serious results.

Part 1 - Success by Design

Optimizing Three Critical Components of Training

This is a two part article by fellow strength coach and friend Charles Staley, B.Sc, MSS Director of Staley Training Systems.
Optimal strength training requires planning and hard work. You only workout a few hours a week  so it's best to make the most of it. In this two-part series you will discover some of the secrets of good workout program so you can get the best results. Discover how to get bigger and stronger in the gym.

No matter how carefully you plan your training, no matter how much you think about it, dream about it, no matter how much reading and studying you do, success really boils down to those few hours every week where the rubber meets the road— your actual workouts.

Success can be experienced on many levels, from marginal to profound. Marginal progress is easily obtained, even from poorly-conceived workouts performed halfheartedly. However, greater levels of success are more fleeting, even for those who dedicate their lives to the pursuit of physical perfection.

Bodybuilding success is essentially a function of three requirements: a welldesigned workout, an intense application of effort during the execution of that workout, and the ability to achieve quick and complete recoveries between workouts. Let’s have a look at a variety of ways we can improve all three components.

The Fundamentals of Workout Design

A properly designed workout has a number of features, all of which are necessary for a high level of training success:

• Your workouts must be planned: I don’t care if every bodybuilding hero you’ve ever had planned their workout in the car on the way to the gym, it’s NOT the best way to do things! Incidentally, the term “instinctive training” was never meant to infer a lack of planning, but it’s often used as an excuse for exactly that.

Although planning can be complex, the basic idea is to consider the type of fatigue that a workout will produce when you’re planning the next session. If you’re training biceps and triceps on Monday, you shouldn’t train your pecs or lats on Wednesday, because the residual fatigue from the previous session will cause your arms to fatigue before you can properly train the pecs or lats. Similarly, leg training should not take place when your low back and/or abdominal muscles are tired, because you won’t be able to maintain a safe lifting posture.

Planning and periodization are big subjects— too big for the scope of this article. Therefore, let me recommend an excellent resource on the subject— the Advanced Program Design videotape series by Paul Chek (call 800-5528789).• Your workouts must be properly timed: there is a point, which usually occurs between 3-4 days after a training session, when a muscle is in the best position to be trained again. If you train the muscle prior to this time, you’re simply blunting your progress. If you wait too long between sessions, you’ll regress to pre-training levels. I normally suggest waiting until you have at least one full day without soreness before a workout is repeated. If, at the beginning of the next workout you feel weak and/or can’t create a good mental connection with the muscle you’re training, abandon the workout for at least one more day.

• Your workouts must be hard and brief: You can train a muscle to do one of two things. You can train the muscle to contract very forcefully, albeit briefly, or, you can train the muscle to contract for long periods of time at a low force output. It is the former of these two methods which causes muscle to grow. Workouts which emphasize endurance will give you an endurance athlete’s body— remember that the next time you’re past the one hour mark in a workout.

• Your workouts must be goal-directed: I once was hired to help a football player complete the NFL combines. One particular test is the 225 pound bench press for maximal reps. This athlete was one of those people who just loves to train— 2-3 hour workouts, 5-6 days a week were the norm before I started training him. After several weeks of low rep training, he called me to say that he just wasn’t “feeling anything” from his workouts. When I asked how his bench press was doing he replied “Oh— the bench is great— in fact I just hit a new PR last night!” So my point is, you have to decide what the purpose of your training is, and then carry out your plan with confidence.

• Your workouts must be safe: I know, safety is no fun to talk about. Until you experience a serious injury, you’ll never give safety more than a passing thought. Take a proactive position on safety. Make sure you’re healthy (to the best of your knowledge) going into the workout. If there’s any doubt, wait another day, or, of course, if you have an obvious injury or illness, see your doctor. Next, make sure all the equipment you’ll be using is in good working order— it only takes a second, but can save you a lifetime of pain. In particular, check the flooring, the ends of the bar you’ll use, or, if you’re on a machine, look it over for signs of wear. If you’re performing a heavy squat, deadlift, or Olympic lift, take a moment to make eye contact with anyone who may be nearby— just to let them know enough to stand clear.

Finally, make liberal use of power racks, good spotters, chalk (although gym owners will hate me for saying it), and anything else that improves your chances of having a safe workout.• Your workouts must be repeated at least four times: Although I am a strong advocate of constant change, if you don’t repeat a workout at least four times, you don’t have a frame of reference to ensure progress. Since bodybuilding is a qualitative sport, it’s not easy to gauge progress unless you have a quantitative standard of measurement. Since we know that there is a direct relationship between strength and lean mass, I believe it is imperative for all bodybuilders to aggressively improve and monitor their strength levels.

• Your workouts must be progressive: Progression ensures intensity. What I mean by this is, by repeating a workout at least four times as detailed above, the last 2-3 times are going to be very difficult and result-producing. The intensity is guaranteed because you have “raised the bar” so to speak, and you’ll have to summon all of your resources to accomplish the goal. This is far different from simply “working hard” on a series of workouts which have no continuity. We don’t know what’s really in us until we’re pushed to the limit.

• Your workouts must be efficient: I’d like to make a case for the drop set in this article. In a “standard” set, the only repetitions that really do you any good are the ones at the end of the set, regardless of how many reps you’re performing.

I used to be less enthusiastic about drop sets until my colleague Jerry Telle convinced me that they could be effectively performed starting at very high percentages of 1RM.Telle’s method utilizes a technique I call “wide-spectrum variable-tempo (WSVT) drop sets.” The idea is to carefully warm up to a 23RM set, and then progressively strip off weight so that you can continue all the way down the motor unit spectrum. In this way, you’re fatiguing your highest threshold muscle fibers as well as the medium and low threshold fibers. These WSVT drops can last as long as 4 minutes and believe me, when you finish one, you’ll be convinced too. (Telle presents seminars on his unique methods, called Tellekinetics. For more information, please call 800-5192492).

• Your workouts must manage fatigue properly: Since fatigue accumulates over the course of a workout, the sets performed at the end of the workout will be performed with less intensity. For this reason, I structure the majority of my workouts as circuits.

To most bodybuilders, circuit training is thought of as a method of integrating resistance and aerobic exercise by performing several exercises in vertical progression (meaning that one performs one set of each exercise until all have been completed, as opposed to finishing all sets of the first exercise before progressing to the second) with little or no rest between exercises. The supposed (and unproven) benefit of this type of high density (work torest ratio) exercise is that the exerciser will improve aerobic and anaerobic functioning at the same time.

Unfortunately, this narrow definition has done a disservice to circuit training, and to those who have dismissed this method as an ineffective fringe variant used only by the profoundly unfit as a way of regaining some semblance of fitness. In truth, circuit training has much to offer, even for the advanced, if you'll allow for a slightly broader definition of the term, and a bit of creative application.
To illustrate my point, let’s say that you’re training lats and triceps tomorrow, and you’ll perform two exercises for each muscle. Here’s how most people would structure the workout:

Exercise 1: Chin-ups Exercise
2: Seated Rows Exercise
3: French Press Exercise
4: Tricep Pushdowns

Using this arrangement, it’s hard to do justice to the last exercises. You’re simply too exhausted from the first two exercises. So instead, let’s arrange the exercises into a circuit:

Exercise 1: Chin-ups Exercise
2: French Press Exercise
3: Seated Rows Exercise
4: Tricep Pushdowns

You can perform this workout in two ways: you can do a large circuit where you complete one set of each exercise, and then repeat for the desired number of circuits, or, you can perform the first two exercises back to back until all prescribed sets are completed, and then complete the remaining two exercises. Either way, I rarely use the “station” approach to workouts any longer— it’s just not efficient.

• Your workouts must employ a warm-up and cool-down: Boxing fans know that, when a fighter climbs into the ring bone-dry, he’s probably in for a tough night. Bodybuilders can learn a lot from this phenomenon.

Warming up is a transition (physical and psychological) from a low level of activation to a much more intense level of engagement. George Carlin once remarked “No one jumps out of the bed first thing in the morning and vacuums the floor!” If you’ve ever experienced not wanting to go to the gym, and you forced yourself to go anyway, only to have one of your better workouts, you can bet that your warm-up was responsible.In my experience, most people have a very hard time getting their warm-up right: they either spend FAR too much time and energy, which creates too much fatigue, or they jump immediately to their top weight.

The warm-up has two components. The first phase, called the general warmup, is used to elevate body temperature. I suggest using any activity you like, performed in a low intensity, continuous manner, until you break a sweat, which normally takes between 2-3 minutes. I personally like skipping rope. If you have any muscle groups which you know are excessively tight, I’d recommend stretching them now. Don’t stretch aggressively— just enough to loosen up a bit.

Next comes the specific warm-up, which simply refers to your “warm-up sets.” The big question is, how many should you do? My rule of thumb for this is to take your top working weight for the first exercise you’ll do (you may have to estimate of course), and perform 2 warm-up sets for every hundred pounds of weight. For example, if you plan to deadlift 315 pounds for 5 sets of five reps, I’d suggest 6 warm-up sets. Incidentally, for some unknown reason, people always seem to think that the last warm-up set must have at least as many reps as the first “work set.” Bad plan, because it’ll create too much fatigue. The last warm-up set should consist of 1-2 reps only— all you’re trying to do here is gauge the proper working weight for your first work set.

Warming up for subsequent exercises depends on how similar they are from the first exercise you did. Using the above example, if you second exercise is the bench press, follow the 2 sets per hundred pound rule, since you’ll be training entirely different muscles. However, if you’ll be performing leg curls for instance, it should only require one warm-up set to become mentally and physically prepared for the exercise.

Cooling down is simply the reverse of warming up. Spend a few minutes performing some type of light cardiovascular exercise to pump some blood into those hungry muscles and to ramp yourself back down to your “normal” day. If you have short muscle groups, now’s the best time to stretch them.

• Your workouts must be placed during the best time of the day: I’d like to make an argument here for early morning workouts. Many people can relate to having the best intentions all day long at work, only to fall into a heap as soon as they get home from their jobs. Before you know it, Seinfeld reruns are looking a lot more attractive than climbing under a 400 pound bar!

Getting up at 5 or 6 am for a workout can seem daunting, but it’s actually not that difficult, if you plan for it. After an initial adjustment of 4-5 workouts, most people report that they have much more productive workouts than ever before.

 Look for part two next week. It'll go into more detail covering such topics as:

• biomechanics
• nutrition
• intensity
• recovery

Football Strength Training

For those looking to improve their football game and gain a step on the competition suggest you take a look at my football strength and conditioning program.

There are lots of things that you can do off the field, that has carryover onto the field to improve the football game.

Getting bigger and stronger in the gym, along with improving your power to help you gain that extra step for the competition. Check out the link below to see how you can improve your sports performance through strength training in weightlifting.

Click here --> Sports Performance Weight Training

www.strengthtrainingforsports.com/

Get Bigger and Stronger in the Gym - Advanced Muscle Building Workouts

I thought I would take the time today to share some advanced weight training programs with you. If you are looking to but on size and strength in the gym, I suggest you take a look at these articles and discover how to get bigger and stronger building lots of muscle mass.

There are plenty of different programs listed. Take a look around, try a few and se what works best for you. Have fun and I hope you get lots of great ideas and new muscle growth.

• Advanced Mass Building <-- Click to visit

• The Torso Solution by Christian Thibadeau
  

• Most Powerful Program Ever? The HSS-100 Program — Christian Thibaudeau Bodybuilding With an Edge <-- Click to visit

• Christian Thibaudeau , 12 weeks to war-ready guns! <-- Click to visit

• Christian Thibaudeau, Pendulum Bodybuilding <-- Click to visit

• Chad Waterbury, Bodybuilding's Next Frontier <-- Click to visit

• Vince Gironda, 10-8-6-15 routine <-- Click to visit

• Vince Gironda, Train 21 days rest 7 routine <-- Click to visit

• Mike Mahler, Uncharted Leg Routines to Pack on Size <-- Click to visit

• Christian Thibadeau, The Gironda System <-- Click to visit

• Mike Robertson, High Performance Core Training <-- Click to visit

• Charles Poliquin, New Arm Size, Right Now <-- Click to visit

• Chad Waterbury, Hypertrophy Booster Shots <-- Click to visit

• Charles Poliquin, Hamstrings times two <-- Click to visit

• Alwyn Cosgrove, The "No Curl" Biceps Program, Part 2 <-- Click to visit

• Mike Mahler, Heavy Duty GTG <-- Click to visit

• Pendulum Training <-- Click to visit

• Renegade Bodybuilding <-- Click to visit

• Hardcore Bodybuilding Routine <-- Click to visit
  

The Can't-Fail Mass-Gain Triad...

Eat Big!
Train Big!
Sleep Big!

Thought you guys may enjoy this article By Charles Staley

This is the first part in a 2 part series. Enjoy! Part 2 will follow soon.

As you can see from the title there are three main components to successfully gaining muscle mass as you get big and strong:

1. eat, eat lots of clean nutritious food
2. train, this is a no-brainer, you have to work hard in the gym to get big
3. sleep, this may be a surprise, but at least eight hours as needed you need your muscles opportunity to grow in size

If you've taken this advice to heart and acted in it, you've already experienced the synergistic power of reprogramming your metabolism.

If you haven't incorporated these principles into your mass building program, you better jump on it if you want positive results.

The rationale behind the "Big 3" philosophy is rooted in simple evolutionary biology.

1. In order to pass on your genes to the next generation, you need to survive long enough to reach sexual maturity. This means, among other things, having the ability to create a portable energy supply in the form of excess fat deposits.
2. to create an excess bodyfat, you've got to be able to taken in more calories than you need, on a regular basis.
3. part of the bodyfat equation is carrying limiting the amount of muscle having only minimum needed to survive. Muscle is metabolically expensive to create and maintain.

Side Note to # 3: that is why I insist that in order to have an effective fat loss program you need to weight train and build muscle.

As you digest these big 3 I am sure a body type comes to mind; skinny-fat. With that in mind, it should be of no surprise that that's a common physique. If you're in survival mode that will be great, otherwise it's less than ideal.

You're reading this because you want to get bigger and stronger and probably don't care much about the evolutionary stuff. Mother nature doesn't really want you to get all big and jacked, but I do.

Which leads to the solution.

You've gotta fool mother nature and your genetics. This will happen because you will:

1. convincing her that you actually need more muscle in order to survive, that is where the training comes in
2. that you're taking in plenty of food, eating well

the "Big 3" in greater detail

Training

Training refers to just a few tactics and principles. These concepts are not controversial, cutting-edge, hard to understand and are easy to implement. What I am saying is that they're not "sexy."

If you're among the 87% of readers who just closed this browser window- SEE YA!.

For the rest of you, let's explore the tried-and true components of successful mass-gaining programs:

1) Restrict your training to multi-joint movements performed with free weights.
What this includes is:

• any squats
• all deadlifts
• presses of your choice
• all pull-ups too

Now for the to be avoided exercises:

• any exercise machine, including - pec dec, leg curl or extension, even the leg press.
• no need for curls, ab exercises, or calf movements
• avoid all running, swimming, cycling, aerobics, group classes.
• pilates, functional training, spinning, tae-bo, yoga, body pump
• any device/method you see on a TV infomercial, including Total Gym, Bowflex, P90X, The Perfect Pushup, Iron Gym

there are plenty of things that have been missed, but if you're in doubt just remember the rule: restrict your training to multi-joint movements performed with free weights


2) Train 3-4 days per week.

Not 1, 2, 5, 6, or 7, or any number higher than that (no two-a-days, in other words). Can you train 3 days one week and 4 the next? Yes. This should be the most simple recommendation to understand and follow, so I'll move on to the next point…

3) On your "work sets," use weights that are heavy enough to prevent the performance of more than 10 reps in a single effort. Go heavy!

Yes, that means you have a lot of flexibility in the weights you select, and the set/rep brackets you use, all the way from singles with super heavy weights to 10 reps with more moderate weight. There is no single "ideal" set x rep equation- anything in the "10 reps and under" category will prove effective. Personally I prefer eight and under but 10 will suffice

What really matters is how many "quality" repetitions you perform in a session. By "quality" I mean reps where you expose large muscles to high tensions. Let's explore that in just a bit more detail…

Creating High Tensions: Load VS Speed

If you load up a bare to a weight that's just slightly less than you can lift, and perform one rep, you'll have exposed your muscles to a very high tension- that's probably obvious. What's less obvious to a lot of people is that you can get similarly high tensions by lifting lighter weights.

The way you do this is with acceleration. Using between say, 65 and 75 percent of a weight you could lift only once, performing sets of maybe 2-5 reps per set, using as much controlled speed as possible on the "positive" (concentric) phase of the lift, creates as much tension as a very heavy weight would.

And it's both safer and more fun to boot. So in your mass-training, use a variety of weights, but always move every rep as fast as possible.


4) Limit (And Time) Your Training Sessions.

Most experts would say that 60 minutes is a maximum ideal length for a weight-training session, but I'll go out on a limb and use 90 minutes instead.

The reason for my recommendation is that if you're using effective exercises (as described earlier), you'll need a relatively large number of warm-up sets before you can tackle your work sets for that exercise. So for example, you don't need to do much of a warm-up for tricep kickbacks or the adductor machine, but you do need a significant warm-up for a deadlift workout or a heavy bench press session. This is especially true once you get stronger- which you will.


5) Limit each training session to no more than 4 exercises.

The reason for this recommendation is dictated by the previous suggestion regarding workout length. If your total session is limited to 90 minutes, and assuming that you're using effective exercises as recommended earlier, you'll only have 22.5 minutes per exercise, and that includes warm-up sets. That's not a lot of time if you're working hard. So remember, the recommendation is no more than 4 exercises- in many cases, 3 is even better, and very often 2 exercises per session is absolutely ideal.

It's not about hitting the muscle from all angles, muscle confusion, or any other bullshit you've picked up on the internet somewhere- it's about picking 1-2, or maybe 3 big, hard movements, and working the piss out of them.


Stay tuned for Part 2!

About The Author

Charles Staley...world-class strength/performance coach. Charles’ methods are ahead of their time and quickly produce serious results.

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if you buy any supplements click here to save hundreds --> Free Supplement Review Guide

How To Continue With Progressive Overload

This is a quick excerpt from my Mens Exercise and Fitness Blog.

I think anyone who has been in weightlifting for a while knows about progressive overload. Basically the idea is to do more work each week. This this may make you wonder, how can you continually increase the workload every single week.

There are some individuals that burned out every set every week, not only is this difficult mentally, but physically it will take a toll on you. So by now you must be baffled as to what to do. If that's the case over to my site and check out my new article:

Click Here - > Sustainable Progression in Weightlifting

25 Body Weight Exercises

I put up a post about different bodyweight exercises that can replace some of your traditional exercises. I am a big fan of body weight exercises and use them all the time in my workouts. One reason I like them so much is because you are moving your body, not moving a weight. It is much bettter to mover your body than it is to move a stack of weights.

If any of these become too easy you can always add a weight vest or some other kind of load.

Click Here --> Bodyweight Exercises

5 Practical Suggestions For Effective Programming

By Charles Staley, B.Sc, MSS
Director, Staley Training Systems

1 - Don't Use "Bodypart Splits"

Here are two big problems with bodypart splits:

1) You limit yourself to relatively ineffective exercises. For example, if you have a "hamstring day," you can't really do squats of any kind, or deadlifts of any kind (The most effective hamstring exercises), because both involve not only hams, but also quads, low back, and core stability, among other things. On a "chest day" you can't do any form of bench (The most effective "chest" exercise), because it involves delts and triceps as well as pecs.

So if you go on the assumption that each "bodypart" needs to be trained at least twice a week (an assumption I happen to ascribe to), you'd need a schedule like this:

Monday: Chest & Back
Tuesday: Hams & Shoulders
Wednesday: Biceps & Triceps
Thursday: Abs & Calves
Friday: Chest & Back
Saturday: Hams & Shoulders
Sunday: Biceps & Triceps, Abs & Calves

2) Which leads to the fact that: of course you can arrange things differently, but anyway you slice it, you're training 6-7 days a week, using inefficient exercises.

A somewhat better "compromise" might be to have 2 "upper body" days and two "lower body" days. Now your weekly split looks something like this:

Monday: Lower body
Tuesday: OFF
Wednesday: Upper body
Thursday: Lower body
Friday: Off
Saturday: Upper body
Sunday: OFF

A schedule I prefer even more is to involve as much of your body as possible on every workout. This requires a bit more creativity in order to avoid redundancy (see point # 3 below), so here's an example to get your started:

Monday: Back Squat, Bench Press, Low Cable Row
Tuesday: OFF
Wednesday: Step-Ups, Dumbbell Overhead Press, Chins
Thursday: Front Squat, Dumbbell Bench Press, Suitcase Row
Friday: OFF
Saturday: Lunges, Barbell Military Press, Pullups
Sunday: OFF

With these last two examples, you have 3 days off, plus you can do the best exercises: squats, pulls, Olympic lifts, rows, lunges, presses, etc.

2- Use A Weekly Cycle

By a "cycle" I simply mean a recurring or repeating unit of time into which you place every exercise you think you must or should do. Using my last example, you obviously wouldn't (or actually couldn't) try to back squat, front squat, lunge, step-up, chin, row, bench press, etc., etc., all in one day. You've gotta spread them out into a cycle.

If your cycle is too small (compressed) you won't be able to recover from all the work you've placed into it. On the other hand, if the cycle is too large (expanded), you'll get too much recovery, meaning, you'll be starting from scratch on each new cycle. The trick is to make your cycles just long enough to be able to achieve a full recovery, but not so long that your fitness levels recede back to the starting point with each new repeat.

The smalles possible cycle (in my opinion) is about 4 days. This would assume that you accomplish all desired work in two training sessions. The upper body-lower body split described earlier is one example. Using this, here's what your 4 day split would look like:

Monday: Upper Body
Tuesday: OFF
Wednesday: Lower Body
Thursday: OFF

Or, the 2 sessions could be distributed toward the front of the cycle, and the rest days placed at the rear:

Monday: Upper Body
Tuesday: Lower Body
Wednesday: OFF
Thursday: OFF

Either of these two cycles could be repeated over and over with a good degree of success, for an indeterminate length of time. The problem I have with this split however, is that modern Western civilization is based on a 7-day week. It only makes sense therefore, to align your training cycle with your work/life schedule, which happens to be a 7-day cycle. For this reason, I think you're best off using a weekly split. Using the last example, it might look something like this:

Monday: Upper Body
Tuesday: Lower Body
Wednesday: OFF
Thursday: Upper Body
Friday: Lower Body
Saturday: OFF
Sunday: OFF

3 - Seek Maximum Diversity And Minimum Redundancy

If you look back at the earlier example of a "whole body" split, you'll notice that although there is a repetition of fundamental movement patterns, there is minimal redundancy of specific movements. Here's that split again so you don't have to scroll back up to find it:

Monday: Back Squat, Bench Press, Low Cable Row
Tuesday: OFF
Wednesday: Step-Ups, Dumbbell Overhead Press, Chins
Thursday: Front Squat, Dumbbell Bench Press, Suitcase Row
Friday: OFF
Saturday: Lunges, Barbell Military Press, Pullups
Sunday: OFF

So again, you'll notice that we've covered pretty much every major movement pattern: vertical and horizontal pressing, vertical and horizontal pulling, squatting, lunging, etc.

4 - If A Movement Pattern Hurts, DO SOMETHING About It

Typically, if a lifter has a particular movement scheduled for a workout, and then the initial warm-up sets for that movement cause pain, the typical response is to simply skip the movement and hope it feels better the next time around. Bad idea. The solution is beyond the scope of this article, but let me suggest getting some medical advice for anything that hurts more than a week or so (as opposed to a year or so). Until you get a diagnosis, you don't know what you're dealing with. And you can't fix a problem if you can't define the problem.

5- Stay Flexible With Loading Patterns

Anyone who's followed by work for any length of time knows that I'm not a periodization fan. It's just simply impossible to predict how you're going to respond to a specific stimulus weeks in advance. So on each workout, go in with a plan, but also don't be afraid to modify the plan if things aren't panning out the way you hoped. If you were planning on 3 sets of 8, and on the first set it becomes obvious that you could probably hit a new PR for a single, I'd take that PR. Conversely, if you're planning on maxing out and it quickly becomes apparent that a new PR isn't in the cards, take the opportunity to get some volume in instead.

If you don't plan on being flexible, you're likely to fall apart and lose motivation when your workout fails to go your way. So prepare for the unexpected, and have a back-up plan in place before you go in. This way, you'll almost always have great training sessions, your motivation will stay high, and that leads to intense and consistent training. And that leads to great results.

About The Author

Charles Staley...world-class strength/performance coach...his colleagues call him an iconoclast, a visionary, a rule-breaker. His clients call him “The Secret Weapon” for his ability to see what other coaches miss. Charles calls himself a “geek” who struggled in Phys Ed throughout school. Whatever you call him, Charles’ methods are ahead of their time and quickly produce serious results.

Winter Olympics Workout for Fat Loss

The Winter Olympics are the hottest event in the world right now, and fitness expert Craig Ballantyne has created a special workout for you so that you can join in the excitement.
You can use this to burn fat at home with little or no equipment, and join in the spirit of the inspirational Olympic Games at the same time. Enjoy!
Over to Craig for the workout...

We'll start with the Moguls Warmup.
I chose the moguls for warm-up, because that's where the skiers do all those crazy moves and look really mobile. One of the coolest events, for sure.

1. Jumping Jacks - 20 reps
2. Duck Unders - 6 reps per side - You'll step to the side squat down and duck under as you move
3. Stickups - 10 reps
4. Seal Jumps - 20 reps - These are like jumping jacks, but cross your arms in front of you
5. Pushups -10 reps

(Let's pretend you wiped out so you have to do pushups to get back up)
Next, we move into the first event...

The Ski Jump
Do a 10 second hold in the bottom of squat and then do a vertical jump
Repeat 3 times,

then move to:
The Downhill Ski Race

1. 1 Long Jump
2. 10 Bodyweight Squats
3. 1 Long Jump
4. 6 Walking Diagonal Lunges per side
5. 1 Long Jump
6. 20-30 second squat hold in bottom position

Repeat 3 times.

Next up, we move to:

Speed Skating Strength Training

1. Skater Jumps or Lateral Lunges - 8 reps per side - Beginners must do the lateral lunges
2. Spiderman Pushups or Elevated Pushups - 8 reps per side - Let's pretend we've had another wipe-out...so we need to do some pushups to practice getting up
3. 1-leg Squats or Reverse Lunges - 12 reps per side (Beginners must do the reverse lunges)

Take a water break here, and then move to more strength training, this time courtesy of a weird sport...

Curling.

The Curling Strength Circuit
1. Lunges - 15 reps per side (you can use weights if you want)
2. Spiderman Climbs - 10 reps per side
3. Close-grip Pushups - 20 reps
4. Biceps Curls - 10 reps per side
(Why curls? Because curlers love to drink beer, so you can do dumbbell curls to practice for post-game beverages)

Take another water break.

Optional:

Hockey Strength Circuit - Use dumbbells or kettlebells

1. Split squat - 8 reps per side - to build strong skating muscles
2. 1-Arm Standing Shoulder Press - 8 reps per side - to practice raising your stick in the air after you score a goal
3. DB Row - 8 reps per side - to strengthen your upper body & grip for hockey fights

Figure Skating Bodyweight Strength Circuit

Now we combine bodyweight exercises for strength and finesse...

1. Reaching Lunge - 10 reps per side
2. 1-Leg RDL - 8 reps per side
3. Pushup or Dip or Overhead Press - 8 reps

Take another water break.

Sliding Sports Circuit - bobsled & luge

1. Bobsled Push - 20 seconds - For this, you'll need a "prowler sled" or a punching bag or weight plate that can be pushed across the floor to simulate the start of the bobsled race...or you could just do a 20 second sprint
2. Stability Ball Plank or Plank - 45 seconds - to simulate holding your body in the luge position
3. Side Planks - 25 seconds per side

Next up, the plain ol' weird Biathlon. A combination of cross-country
skiing and shooting. We'll modify it so that we do:

1. Shuttle Sprints - 15 seconds
2. Plank - 60 seconds - to simulate the shooting position And if possible, add in some type of skill component to simulate the shooting...maybe shoot some basketball free throws...or shoot a Supersoaker at a target on the wall...no wait, bad idea. But I'm sure you can come up with something. (Safety first!)

And that's it.

Finish with a water break, cool down, awarding of some gold medals, and closing ceremonies.

Hope you enjoyed that fun workout!

To find out more about these unique workouts and exercises, visit:

Free 4 week workout program  --- Free Workout

Jason CSCS

TTMembers.com

Expert Tips and Advice On the Strength Coach Podcast

Here with the Pros Have To Say on Strength Coach Podcast

Possibly one of the best free resources on the web for strength, conditioning, nutrition, businesses it is industry,and performance enhancement.

click here => Listen to the Strength Coach Podcast on Men's Fitness and More

Each episode is jammed packed with helpful tips and information from the industry's leading experts.

Some of what you can expect to hear on the biweekly strength coach podcast:

• Leading off the podcast is an interview with strength coach Boyle. Listen as he answers questions from this form and talks with the latest trends in the industry.

• Perform Better, talks about gym design, seminars and answers all your equipment questions.

• The top coaches in both college and professional sports are featured and give insight into their program to give an idea what's happening to real people in the real world.

• Great Cook is featured and answers questions related to rehabilitation, corrective movement, and movement mechanics.
  

• For those interested in the business aspect of fitness or strength and conditioning Alwyn Cosgrove is a fitness professional providing insights into the business aspect.
  

• Of course no strength and conditioning program would be complete without performance nutritional advice.

The Strength Coach Podcast,

The Official Podcast of Coach Michael Boyle

Be sure to check back often as he can stay abreast of the current trends in the fitness and sports performance world.

Make sure you get your copy of the free supplement Review Guide.

return to main bodybuilding weightlifting page

The Magic Number for Building Muscle

I know many people have problems with program design. If you don't have a background in exercise physiology it can be difficult to know what the best program design is. To help you out with this, I decided to include this article for you today.

If you want to grow muscle and get big, it is important to have a solid program. An excellent program is more than just various exercises, it includes rest, sets and reps. Today's article should give you some insight into what you need to build big muscles are working in the gym.

I am sure this article will help you to get bigger and stronger from your workouts.

By Jason Ferruggia

When looking at most popular muscle building workouts you need to understand that most forms of training have just been passed down for decades from one generation to the next, without the inclusion of rational thought. Sometime in the 60’s sensible muscle building programs started becoming less and less prevalent with the rapidly growing usage of anabolic steroids.

In days gone by, men like Steve Reeves and Paul Anderson trained with far more sensible, lower volume muscle building programs, but these started to disappear during the 60’s. By the time Arnold got to Gold’s Gym in Venice for the first time, high volume, bodypart splits were the widely accepted way for everyone who wanted to build muscle and gain strength to train.

This type of training is not based on rational thinking but just on the fact that “it’s what everyone else is doing.” The proponents of these training methods will always blindly tell you that “higher volume training is needed to build muscle.” Says who? I can tell you for a fact that the University of Chicago isn’t wasting time examining the effects of Jay Cutlers workouts. There are no studies saying that you need 8-12 sets per bodypart to build muscle. However, there are, in fact, studies that show the exact opposite; that one set is just as effective as three when it comes to building muscle.

The proponents of this type of training will also tell you that higher volume training is associated with higher levels of growth hormone secretion. What they don’t tell you is that almost anything you do elevates GH. Extreme temperatures elevate GH but my biceps don’t get bigger every time I take a shower. The increased GH secretion is not enough to make the slightest difference whatsoever in the muscle building process.

For the drug free lifter who does not possess muscle building genetics quite up to par with the Austrian Oak, training this way is a huge mistake. Not only does it drain your amino acid pool and glycogen stores but it dramatically increases your recovery time between workouts. If you do 8-12 sets for chest on Monday you can not recover from that workout and be able to train again for seven days. So you are only getting one growth stimulus per week or fifty two per year. Now if you reduce your volume to the point where you can recover faster and more efficiently without draining your amino acid pool and glycogen stores so greatly, you can train bodyparts twice per week instead of once. Now instead of 52 growth stimulating workouts per year for each bodypart, you can now do 104.

To train more often you absolutely have to lower your training volume. The total sets per workout should be kept low and the total sets per exercise should be even lower. Contrary to what a lot of the popular programs out there today prescribe, there is rarely a need to do more than two sets per exercise when you are trying to build muscle. If you can’t get the job done with two sets you probably aren’t training hard enough. In theory you should be able to get the job done with just one set but I like to use two just to be safe and make sure all bases are covered. The second set is basically an insurance set.

The are only a few times you should do more than two sets per exercise. If you are a raw beginner who needs more sets just to practice and perfect your form then you should probably do more than two sets. If you are doing speed exercises such as cleans or box jumps you should also do a few more sets. Finally, if you are varying the reps and weights, you can do more than two sets. For example if you are doing two sets of three with 315, a set of five with 295 and a set of eight with 275, you can get away with more than two sets. But other than that, you should never do more than two sets of any exercise with the same weight for the same reps.

There are a few different approaches you can take to doing your two sets. The first approach is to go balls out on your first set and then drop the weight a little bit on your second set and use it as a sort of backoff set. Theoretically this will allow you to give your most effort when you are freshest on your first set. The second approach is to hold a little something back on your first set and instead use it as a hard, working warm up set. Then you go balls to the wall on the second set. It has been suggested that a heavy, but not all out set, before your money set can serve as a neural primer and arouse your nervous system thus making the second set even more effective. The third option is to not take neither set to the limit but instead just do two very hard sets to clean failure. Each option works very well but you will have to experiment to see which is best for you. The most demanding method would be to do two all out death sets to failure. This can work but may be a bit hard for most people to recover from.

Whatever option you choose will be far better than the normal, mindless nonsense of doing 4-6 sets per exercise and you will get far better results. Better muscle gains with far less work? Sounds like an unbeatable plan to me.

Jason Ferruggia is a world famous fitness expert who is renowned for his ability to help people build muscle as fast as humanly possible. He has trained thousands of clients during the course of his 14 years as a professional fitness coach, including over 500 athletes from 20 different sports. Jason has written hundreds of training articles for top ranked magazines and websites and has authored four books. He is the head training adviser for Men’s Fitness Magazine where he also has his own monthly column dedicated to muscle building. For more great muscle building information, please visit muscle gaining secrets

Best Assistance Exercise to Improve Your Bench

Looking for the best assistance exercise to improve your bench press? This slide show contains what may help you take your bench to the next level.

Looking for a great bench program?
Try Mike over at Critical Bench
Click the link Below
=> Improve Your Bench

click here to see if --> Is This Benchpress Flaw Holding You Back
Great Tip Click here for --> training the upper chest
Pec-Poking Pain From This Chest Training Technique!
my Workout Chest Shoulders and Triceps

best-assistance-exercise-to-improve-your-bench

Upper Body Workout - my weight training for 11/30/09

This was an upper body workout. Getting bigger and stronger requires you to lift heavy weight and that is what this week is all about. For all the major lifts this week I will come close to a true one rep max. I say close because I do not want to miss a lift so there will be a tinny bit left.

Next week will be a deload week.

My Workout - Building size and strength

1. Bench Press: x3, x3, x5, 3x1 bonus set if needed
2.a Incline DB: 3x8
2.b Wide grip Pull Downs: 3x8
3. a DB Bench: 3x8
3.b Bent over rows: 3x10
4.a Dips: 5x8
4.b Band "T's": 5x12