Forcing Reps...

You might be wasting time in the gym. As loaded a statement as that might be, it really might be true. And if it's not you that's wasting time, I am certain that others in your gym that are.

How is time being wasted? Well, besides your kickbacks, crunches and time spent checking out the token "hot girl" on the butt-buster machine, you are probably forcing some reps. 

I know, I know.

When you knock out forced reps, whether it's when you're having a spotter, reverse curl the barbell as you try to bench it or when you turn a dumbbell curl into an Olympic lift, you're likely promoting sarcoplasmic hypertrophy, basically storage of glycogen, water and other "energy" related factors, instead of the hypertrophy you're really after, which would refer to your actual contractile proteins.

Why does this happen? Well, when you lift a load normally, that is it's not forced, your eccentric contractions will be more controlled, and it's the eccentric contractions that are most closely related to myofibrillar hypertrophy. 

Conversely, when you're doing a set of curls and after 8 or 10 of them, you start getting your hips into the movement, it's likely that the weight wasn't heavy enough to recruit your fast-twitch fibers until later in the set, the fibers that have the greatest potential for growth. But if you had chosen a heavier load that would only let you get 6 good, clean reps in, it would have supported earlier recruitment of your FT fibers and more myofibrillar hypertrophy. 

Now don't think of this as your magical cure for why you haven't grown in a year. It's just something to keep in mind. There are definitely exceptions to this rule too. For instance, many lifters will tell you nothing made their legs grow as much as sets of 20-rep squats. But, that's an exception, not a deal-breaker. So, keep your reps clean, in the functional hypertrophy zone and don't waste your time!

Online Diagnosis

Diagnosing pathologies online is a treacherous path, but, for a lot of reasons, I'll try and help people out when I can. 

Q: I hooped for like an hour today and then jogged a mile after. Everything was fine. I came home and sit on the couch for 45 minutes, and then when I get up to walk, my right foot starts killing me. No matter what way I turn it, it just kills. The source of the pain is on the top right where the foot bends and hurts when the foot is moved in any direction. Is it a stress fracture. What's going on?

A: I'm not sold on it being a stress fracture. While stress fractures do normally present pain on top of the foot, they are usually found more proximal (closer to your body) on the foot. Where you describe it would be pretty uncommon place to find a stress fracture. 

That, plus you say it hurts whenever the foot is moved in any direction. Quick physiology lesson here: Stress fractures are a bone pathology. They happen when there is there is an unequal amount of osteoclast activity going on, versus osteoblast activity. Basically, you're breaking down more bone than you're building. This is caused by a number of factors including crappy nutrition, old age, low calcium in your diet and most importantly, doing too much activity that you're body isn't prepared to handle, specifically impact-related activities.

Stress fractures normally really hurt upon impact. That's how they're caused and that's when they hurt. You said it hurts when you move it, that's not impactful. 

Truthfully, I don't know if it still even hurts, but it's much more likely to be inflammation of some tissue in there. The treatment for it is the same as a stress fracture ironically, except it'll heal a lot quicker and won't cause all the problems that coming back from a stress fracture does. Come back to activity slowly, if it hurts, don't do it, etc. Don't be stupid and play through it if it hurts. That'll only prolong it. And, of course, ice that baby when you're done.

Making it Happen

I've been helping out my brother for over a year with his training. It's an interesting dynamic, training a family member of yours. They definitely feel much more comfortable to say certain things to you than a normal client of yours, who maybe, didn't grow up in the same house as you.

Stubborn might be a little strong, but we are both definitely a couple of strong-minded individuals. So, when he first said he wanted to be ripped (don't act like you're any different? Every guys wants to be ripped. If they say otherwise, then their pants are probably on fire.), I had an idea of what we needed to do to get there.

I devised his training plan, which he has followed almost to a T, and has added nearly 100 lbs. to his bench press, over 130 lbs. to his squat and 150 lbs. to his deadlift, all within a year, while, dropping his body-fat from somewhere in the 20% range to a solid 11% right now.

But it wasn't all gravy the whole way through. He had his own ideas about his diet, some of which conflicted with my own. The result? He got down to around 14% body-fat and stayed there for months.

Then, finally, about a month ago, he decided he was ready to take the final step toward his goal, and together, we came up with a diet plan, to go along with his training, that would ensure his road to the land of leanness. The result this time? Like I said before, he's now at 11% body-fat and has real, visible abs.

While I don't want to set any concrete expectations, he is nearing his end-goal. He is almost there. "Ripped" is just on the horizon, plus he has maintained all of his strength. (Way to go J, you're just about there!)

So, what's the moral of this story? I'm the Master of the World and can get you six-pack abs in seven days, or your money back.

Okay, seriosuly, the moral is that we all have our own ideas of how things are supposed to happen and supposed to work, and while it's all good and fine, it becomes a problem when these ideas prevent us from giving other ideas or schools of thought a chance.

It's probable there is something in your life that you've been doing the same way for a very long time. And regardless if it's optimal or not, you've stuck with it because it's what you're used to. And that's where the issue lies. Your stubbornness to stick with your way has prevented you from giving another way a shot.

And that other way could be the missing link that you're in need of. It kind of was for my brother. So, while it's good to have your own set of beliefs, don't let it get in the way of opening your mind to other ideas. They just might be the answer you've been looking for.

Happy Holidays

Just wanted to wish all the readers a very happy holidays. I hope the new year is a happy and prosperous one for us all!

Wow

Yeah, kid, this is the answer :)

It's like me buying a How-To-Paint-Like-Van Gogh book, hoping that'll bridge the gap between me and Big V...it's not happening.

The Question Everyone Loves to Ask

How much do you bench? We've all heard it. There probably isn't a question that gets asked more in every gym, across the world. 

Is bench pressing the most important thing in the world for a lifter? No. 

Is bench pressing the only way that someone can get strong? No.

Is bench pressing the key to discovering the secrets of the universe? Probably, but who cares about that?

Regardless, people have feeling, people have egos, and when they answer that question, they'd rather say a bigger number than a smaller number. And while I always stress that people should "learn to fish", instead of having someone else get the fish for them, most people don't care enough to even try and learn. They want answers and they want them now. Right or wrong, it's the truth.

So, on that note, I want to tell everyone about the Critical Bench Program. This isn't like most generic bench press programs. The program, most importantly above all else, is individualized. Based on your training age and current stats, the guys at Critical Bench alter the program so it fits just you.

The program is a thorough, 11-week cycle that guarantees to put 50 lbs. on your bench press. I mean, come on. How many of you have been stuck at a certain point in your bench for forever? Wouldn't you like to add 50 lbs. to that total in less than 3 months?

 Click here to find out more about the program, but I will tell you that if you are dead-set on upping your bench press, then this if for you: The Critical Bench Program

And, if you're not sure about the program yet, get the FREE, 50 Keys to a Bigger Bench e-book right here!

If you want to lose weight...

It might seem like common sense, but if you want to lose weight, you need to spend more calories than you take in. Losing weight might seem like an impossible task based on all the different so-called secrets or miracles people try to sell you, but at its core, it about calories in vs. calories out. 

A really good way to increase your caloric expenditure is EXERCISE. Lifting, sprinting, jumping, running, walking, yoga, stretching, playing any sport, anything that involves you being active is good.

Here is one good way to up your activity: Morphing Into a Fat-Burning Furnance

I Am Pissed...

Yesterday, I was training in my commercial gym near my house, and I was pissed off. Truthfully, it was a good thing since I was squatting and I have no problem with some additional, extrinsic motivation when lifting. 

But, I was pissed, because as I looked around that shiny, sparkly gym, I saw scores and scores of people, for all intents and purposes, wasting their time. Whether it was the guy doing 12 lb. lateral raises or the woman doing sets of 100 on birddogs (glute activation is good, but this might be taking it a little too far), it made me mad. 

It made me mad, because these people were willing to spend time in the gym to better themselves, but they either A) didn't know how to actually better themselves B) are too lazy to do what's necessary.  

I understand A, but I certainly don't accept it. I don't know why people think they know how to train themselves. You wouldn't perform surgery on yourself, right? So what makes you think you can train yourself?  What makes you think you know what you're doing in a gym?

Now I'm not saying training and surgery are equally difficult, but if training was so easy then, why are there so many damn fat and weak people in every gym across America? 

The point is you likely have no idea what you're doing in the gym. Get an intelligent trainer to either train you or help you out. Find someone knowledgeable online and ask them for some guidance. Read any of the gazillion articles there are online about training. The answers are there, you just have to find them.

As for point B, I definitely don't accept it, nor do I understand it. If you really want something (in this case, more muscle, fat loss, etc.), then you should already know that you have to do whatever it takes to attain it. So, if you know you should be lifting heavy weights and running sprints if you want to drop some fat, but are too lazy to do so and instead do a bunch of curls and the elliptical for 20 minutes, what does that make you? A lazy person who doesn't actually want to lose any fat. You just like saying it. 

A Really Cool Training Video

A friend of mine, Andrew Darqui, trains athletes at the Memorial Sports Center in Pembroke Pines, FL. He is the man when it come to trying out new things (of course he's already pretty damn good with the normal stuff too!). Anyways, one of his athletes has been having to lift with his high school football team, leaving Andrew with some limits as to what they could do in their private training sessions. So, he got really creative, put together a bunch of reactionary-reactive type drills and make a sick video of it all. 

Now, just remember, as cool as this stuff is and as cool as it looks, it isn't the optimal type of training for almost any athlete, if it's the bulk of what you're doing. But in a certain circumstance (they can't lift), A-Darq got really creative with it, and put together a system that will yield results and not interfere with his athlete's previous commitments. Not an ideal situation, but a damn good solution. And if you want to be a good coach, you'd have better be an awesome problem solver. 

Now, check this out:

How much is too much?

If you've ever read a training article, then you've undoubtedly read something from the author that went something like, "And be careful not to do more than 4 sets or you'll overtrain." 

I'm sorry, but I have a problem with such a ridiculous and general statement. Maybe it'll be overtraining if you're planning on training that same movement pattern in 48 hours, but what if you have 120 hours until you train it again? You'll have to do more in that first workout, or you'll probably miss your supercompensation point. And then some people recover more rapidly than others. If you can safely do more work without causing issues, then you probably should. 

There's a lot more to it than that, but you should keep to things in mind from now on:

1. Overtraining is a real thing, but you would have to do so much work without ever taking a break for an extended period of time. I'm talking months here. The truth is that I can almost guarantee that anyone reading this is not, nor will they ever be at risk for overtraining (and that's a good thing!). Unless you're training 25-30 hard hours a week at least, you're not even close to overtraining. If you are feeling unmotivated, fatigued, stressed, sore all the time etc., then it is possible that you are in an overreaching state, which is quite common. In that case, skip your next scheduled workout, take some naps, eat some food and relax. That will take care of it.
2. Take everything you read about training with a grain of salt. There are thousands of people out there, whether it's on the web, newspapers, magazines, TV or any other form of medium, talking about fitness or training. Unfortunately, a lot of them are often badly misinformed, and unknowingly, are dishing out useless information to the masses. So, whenever you're reading something about training, don't just take the message as the truth. Question everything, talk to people that you know are knowledgeable in the field and be weary!
   

IT'S HERE!

Highly, highly regarded Strength Coach Elliot Hulse has finally released his long-awaited Gridiron Strongman System. Before I even say anything about the program itself, let me first tell you that anything Elliot produces is basically guaranteed to be terrific. With his personal and professional background, as a former college football player, a current champion Strongman competitor and a strength coach for over 10 years, combined with the amount of time and effort he puts into his business to be the best coach out there, Elliot is the man.

Now with that being said, his brand-new Gridiron Strongman System is a professional, thorough and innovative collection of all the best football training techniques out there, put together perfectly in one program that has only goal in mind: Help you achieve yours. With the system, you get a plethora of information, including info on:

• Weight Training
• Speed Training
• Conditioning
• Diet
• Supplements
• Programming
• Much, much more!

Most products that I have had the chance to look over or review usually fail to meet my standards. I have put out one product so far that I put a lot of time into and it came out pretty darn good (if I may say so!). I expect others to do the same. Unfortunately, most don't. But, this one definitely does.

If you are a football player or football coach, a strongman competitor, or anyone who wants to get stronger, run faster and feel better, then I have no hesitation in recommending Elliot's system. Find out more here: The Gridiron Strongman System

Bodybuilding to Get Bigger?

I read a question today about finding a "good, dumbbell, bodybuilding" routine. Here you go: (Of course the answer doesn't actually include a dumbbell routine. That would be way too easy!)

If you are asking questions like this, then I can all but guarantee you're not prepared for a "bodybuilding" routine. In an attempt to oversimplify and ignore a lot of things for the sake of not losing you here, bodybuilding=focus on isolation=limited amount of weight one can use in a single-joint exercise=less stress placed on the body=weaklings in every gym across America. 

The reason bodybuilders can get as big as they are is because of their "supplement use" and the fact that almost all of them built a foundation for strength using your traditional, compound movements. With the second reason, because they got really strong in an overall sense, they were then able to use more weight when they went to using isolation-type exercises. 

For example, every idiot in the gym wants huge biceps, so they do a gazillion sets of curls. But they're weak to start with and can't curl a lot of weight. Since the weight they can curl is so limited, not nearly enough stress is placed on their biceps to induce the type of growth they're after. But, if they stop doing all their curls, and head on over to the chin up bar, those chin-ups will place a lot more stress on their biceps than curls ever could. And if they get to the point where they can knock out 15 dead-hangers, well, I guarantee they're biceps will be noticeably bigger. 

So, to sum it up, don't look for bodybuilding routines when you're not ready for them. The point is, if you want to get bigger (which I assume is the goal since you mentioned bodybuilders), lift for performance (strength). I guarantee that if you put 100 lbs. on your squat or add 10 chin-ups to your rep max, your muscles will be bigger. If people just worried about improving their strength every workout, instead of how sore they can make X muscle, there would be a lot more jacked dudes walking around. But they don't, and me and you do, so we'll just continue to be one of the few, the proud, the jacked!

New Article

I wrote an article for Lunchtime Banter today. Click the link and head on over there to be hit with some knowledge!

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