Ah part 2, apologies for those of you who were expecting to throw your shoes on and get a new gym membership - you're not ready for that yet!
What we will start with can take place completely at home - and I'm not a big fan of throwing out cookie cutter programs. But we'll go over the basic movements that will initially be a part of your workouts, there will only be a handful but you don't need to be swimming in variety just yet. You need to progress a lot and quickly on a few key moves before we jump in to anything else.
For those of you new to exercise as well as those who aren't, it will pretty much look the same as the rep ranges will be a little open for room to progress. But more on that later
Now ideally everyone will have access to a chin up bar or even an assisted chin machine in the case of most gyms, aside from that you only need your body and some space. If you don't have a gym membership or a pull up bar don't worry I'll address that later. Buuut you may want to consider just how important getting healthy and looking good is to you if you aren't willing to spend at the minimum like 25 dollars for a doorway pull up bar or a baseline gym membership to a local gym (if you really want to get a handle on it then drop me an email at jpduprefit@gmail.com .
This post will just contain an overview of the movements we will be doing -
Bodyweight squats -
Remember 3 things to a perfect squat -
Keep your chest up - puff it up like King Kong (it'll keep your back straight)
Start the movement with your butt - push your butt back not down, like you were going to sit in a chair and you aren't sure if you are close enough!
Push your knees out - that is spread them apart so we have room to fit down there!
Pushups -
Recline rows or chin ups -
If you have access to a squat rack where you can lay the bar on the pins and do rows that way it would be preferred since most cannot start with chins, do the recline rows with an overhand grip. OR if you have the ability to grab a chin bar and get help or jump up into the top position - THEN work on negatives which would be to get to the top any way you can (step stool / jump / assistance) and lower yourself as slowly as possible till your arms ar totally straight - Don't let your shoulders come up towards your ears though, keep them pull down and back.
If you go the route of negatives go easy and only do a few reps per workout as you will be very sore the first few times as the negative or eccentric portion of any movement is where muscle damage occurs almost completely!
Knee raises -
Again find something to hang from and just bring your knees to your chest or as high as you can without swinging!
Lunges -
Lunges are self explanatory, take as big a step as you comfortably can and drive off the heel of the front foot. Then stand up with both feet together before stepping with the next foot as opposed to Ambers big steps, many people lack the flexibility and balance to take big steps one after another so we'll just not worry about it.
Well that caps it off for today - next time we will put it together in a program for you to follow and then we will get into some diet philosophy as well!
I tried to keep explanations as simple as possible for those who may not have ever stepped in a gym, next time we'll put together a routine and talk for those who have some experience in the gym already, any questions or more scientific explanations or even to talk more specific about anything drop a comment or send an email!
Since getting engaged myself and hearing from many others now that I'm part of the club, the hot topic is..... the bride getting in shape for that big day. I see it everywhere, all the women's magazines have a get fit for your wedding article, future brides are flooding their pinterest with anything they can find related to "bridal fitness" and working out. So this is to help them and you take the first steps...and hopefully several more!
Which although I am not a woman I am certainly putting my bride to be through the paces in her workouts. This will be an informative series in a practical sense, again those interested specifically in the science can comment or email me. Otherwise in my experience most of you don't care so much about the details, and if you haven't taken anatomy or biology at some point in your life it wouldn't mean anything anyway!
Lets get to the nitty-gritty that's on all your female minds right away
Can women train like men? Or should they follow a female specific workout plan?
No need for female specific anything, as far as training goes women and men both should get some level of relative strength from body-weight work before using resistance like weights.
Both men and women should also focus on developing strength through compound movements when possible as opposed to focusing on isolation. ( Think hitting squats and bench press THEN your favorite machines if you have energy, as opposed to just going to the gym hitting tricep pushdowns and leg extensions and expecting change!
Will women get big and bulky from even looking at heavy weights?
No, simply put it is a matter of hormones and since men have more than 10x as much testosterone as women, unless you have a female on steroids it is impossible to develop muscle and weight gain like a man. Not to mention that in addition to this the female body is actually built differently from a mans (weird I know...kidding) meaning your muscles are actually distributed differently across the body than a mans.
"Toning" is simply removing the fat that is covering a developed muscle, if you don't have muscle built from lifting heavy weights then there is nothing there to tone! Think about all the women you see doing excessive cardio and then they look "too skinny" and "flabby" and then they just do even MORE cardio thinking that what they are doing isn't working! It is working just fine but you don't have any muscle so you just look like a bag of bones with no fat on your bodies!
By the way I do not like the words "toning" or "firming" up, these words have come to represent a made up category. There is no such thing as just doing toning or firming work, that "toned" appearance that all women crave is simply tension stored in a muscle that has been developed and is prepared to work! The stronger your muscles are, the firmer they are to the touch!
Lastly here is a quote on an example from a world class trainer in New Jersey who works with all caliber of professional athletes - Joe DeFranco
…I compare gaining muscle & losing fat to cooking a hamburger on a George Foreman Griller… Let’s say you take a big handful of ground beef, mold it into a hamburger and then place it on the griller. After it’s done cooking, is it going to be bigger or smaller? Obviously, the hamburger shrinks after it’s fully cooked. Why did it shrink? It shrunk because it lost the fat and kept the “muscle”. Basically, the end result of having muscle without a lot of fat is a smaller, leaner burger! The same holds true for humans!! If we can gain or maintain muscle while losing fat, we are going to look leaner (and females will usually look smaller). To add to this concept, it’s important for females to know that muscle takes up less space than fat in your body. For example, 5 pounds of muscle takes up less space than 5 pounds of fat! So if you can get your females to lose fat and gain an equal amount of muscle, they really will be SMALLER (even though their scale weight will not change).
Mind blowing stuff huh?
So taking these principles our future brides looking to get in shape should:
This...
And this...
Start some sort of training routine involving bodyweight to get their bodies used to training before hitting an external load of some kind -
Before this! It's all about progression!
Concentrate on using big movements that involve as much of the body as possible when they do start using weights, with the goal of always increasing in reps or poundage used or both
Forget about using the scale as our main measure of progress, if you gain 5 pounds of muscle and lose 3 pounds of fat your "scale weight" barely changed AND in the "wrong direction" but there was a pretty decent change in body composition that you will like I guarantee you!
Many people want to jump right into weights or whatever the local fad of training is, but please don't. Get a base of body-weight work in for 2-6 weeks initially and keep including it even once you've advanced.
I mean when was the last time you saw a girl in the gym banging out pushups?
Yet you will always see a girl on some type of cable or machine working her chest or arms, and yet she never seems to look any different?
Now I'll use Amber as an example, do you think that her ability to do full range of motion push ups has anything to do with her ability to use over half her body weight on the bench press...?
Always energy left for curls
Absolutely! But it does not work both ways. Her being able to crank out sets of pushups gave her the initial strength to even be able to use the bar by itself on a bench press.
Buuuuut obviously she could not just walk into a gym for the first time on her quest to be a fit bride and begin with being not even strong enough to press the bar... and just struggle to bang out horrible forced reps which would suddenly give her the ability to do pushups? No, she would not have had the strength to use even the bar alone, learning and performing the exercise with good technique is out the window!
Plus getting used to body-weight movements, most of them resemble pretty closely their weighted barbell or dumbbell versions.
Will learning to do pushups on your own and correctly help you keep the bar straight and balanced when you start benching or doing some form of weighted upper body work- Yes
Will learning to squat without weight transition you to weighted squats much easier - yes definitely this is like learning to ride a bike with training wheels, when they finally come off you don't have to think about pedaling and steering, just balance. Like wise with the squat you won't be trying to think about butt back and knees out and whatever other cues apply to you all while being crushed by the weight! (not that you should ever start with a weight that crushes you...)
Next time I'll detail an example bodyweight training program with some instructions on the movements and how to progress as well as touch on the next aspect of bridal fitness ------ Diet!
Been awhile, lost a bunch of media on my sd card for my phone. Should probably go out and buy a flipcam to start keeping records with...
Anyway, for anyone out there at all who is working out - keep it heavy and keep it intense. Barring injury, everyone should be lifting hard and heavy and if you can't or think you can't for some physical limitation or injury I guarantee there is still a way for you to train hard, probably just a less conventional way (which does not mean less effective either!)
For everyone else who is working out annnndd trying to gain weight for whatever reason - vanity, health, going up a weight class in a sport or just trying to become stronger for sport, the other things you in particular need to keep in mind are food intake and recovery. I myself was guilty of the food intake and was cursing everything for the lack of growth, it wasn't until I sat down and realized even though I eat until I'm full there is nothing left over to grow with only eating bodyweight in grams of protein and filling in the rest for a total of 2500ish calories. Just like you push training to the limit, you need to push eating to the limit as well.
Should not be a mainstay of your diet
This does not mean I'm endorsing the idea of 3 doubledouble's and fries everyday with a gallon of milk. With eating in general and eating for mass it's about eating the right foods in the right amounts, however it fits into your schedule. We're talking a nice chunk of meat the size of your hand (which will probably equal 6-10oz) per meal as well as shoveling in the rice or potatoes or even oats for that matter. Worrying your ass off about high glycemic vs low glycemic and insulin spikes all day will get you nowhere. Unless you are competing or doing it for money it's not worth sweating the small stuff which probably doesn't affect you anyway. I mean lets face it have you been specifically planning insulin spikes, fasts, refeeds, maybe cycling carbs since you started eating healthy? Doubtful. Have you survived your entire life without doing the above? Clearly. Have you achieved some measure of success by changing diet around and working out in your life? Probably and without some of those concepts too I bet. If you do utilize them, then you have probably done plenty of research and understand how they each work and what diet plans and goals they fit into, you just don't follow your plan if you aren't achieving success.
Eat quality foods in portions you can remember. If you want to weigh everything do it and write it down, otherwise use a basic measure like your hand (which is always with you for eating out right?) and record what you eat everyday in a book.
A nicely portioned meal
It doesn't have to be advanced (it can if you want) it can be
Meal 1: 6oz of steak and 2 cups brown rice 1 cup broccoli
or it could just be
Monday : I had 6 cups of rice today and a total 5 portions of meat and unlimited veggies
(portion size whatever you want - hand size lets just say)
So with that said now said if you want to lose weight eat consistently the same amount for 2-4 weeks and watch the mirror and the scale - tape measure if you got one just for the waist measurement
Waist measurements are fun
Tips --
-Eat unlimited veggies and don't go crazy on sauces and dressings, eat what you like but if you can't see the meat or veggies through the sauce there's a problem and YOU KNOW it so don't act bewildered when results don't come if you act like that
- Stick to calorie free liquids you know like water...not only of course but drink a lot of it and have diet soda or iced tea or coffee with just some cream in it.....again this is on you to control these things (if you freak out about aspartame or diet sodas then don't complain just don't drink them, if you can't handle coffee without chocolate sauce and caramel then ditch that too.)
Don't complain to me with I'm eating 3 portions of rice a day and and 3 portions of protein its hardly anything I can't subract anymore and I'm not losing weight and I feel like crap what do I do?!?! you and your blog did this to me!! I reply with "I'm so sorry lets get a specific layout of your daily diet" and you now show me well on break at work AND when I get off I walk across the parking lot and get a Venti Chocolate frappuccino with extra caramel so I have energy for my workout- Well no wonder you're not losing and don't feel good, over 50% of your daily intake in this case is sugar!
Be diligent people, I hardly ever meet someone whose problem is lack of knowledge, just lack of action
Diet is incredibly simple under all the smoke
There is a base amount of food you need everyday to function, example - if you sat on the couch all day everyday and never moved your body would burn a certain amount of calories and you would need to ingest that amount everyday to live. This is your "maintenance" amount or BMR or BMI, basal metabolic rate
# If you want to lose weight you need to be in a caloric deficit aka eating less than maintenance
>>yes you will be hungry, this is because you are not eating enough. It is also why you will lose weight, your body is not getting the amount of energy your body needs to keep the engines running at your current weight, so you will lose weight until the deficit number becomes your new maintenance...Cycle begins again (works the opposite direction for weight gain as well
#If you want to gain weight you need to need to be in a caloric surplus aka more than maintenance
The amount of surplus or deficit will determine how fast you gain or lose, too big of an amount and you will gain a large amount of fat in surplus or get sick in excessive deficit, I can elaborate on the reasons if you comment or email and ask, otherwise this is a basic explanation.
- if you lose weight and want to, then keep eating the same until it stops, then drop a portion of carbs
- if you stay the same then either add/subract a portion of carbs or protein and see what happens in the mirror/scale/tape measure over the next 2-4 weeks again based on your goals
This is very basic but will do wonders for most people for the beginning, as things start to stall out after several months shoot me an email and we'll talk about whats going on, obviously we can't just subtract or add calories forever based on goals - there are limits but since most of you won't hit them until you achieve some measure of success - stop over analyzing and take action!
Educate yourself as well, from as many sources as possible
We'll talk about recovery next time.
Back into the game with some training - lets start looking like Doomsday
6/29 B2
EZ Curls - 80lb x 11 , 70lb x 10
V-Handle Pulldown - 160lb x 8 , 140lb x 7
Deadlift - 315lb x 8
Neck harness - 4 x 25 @ 10lb
7/1 A1
Bench press - 205lb x 8 , 185lb x 7
DB shoulder press - 50s x 8 , 40s x 10
Squat - 245lb x 6
Neck harnesss - 4 x 25 @ 12.5lb
Chins - sets of 3 throughout the day
Also let it be inferred that every day I'm doing 100 band pull aparts and 50 shoulder dislocates for shoulder health
Back again, though I had been focused on leaning out I am just going to keep the diet high still while adding some cardio like sled pushing twice a week and add some daily walks as well.
Training is shifting from cardio focus (losing too much weight) to progressing strength and doing some shoulder and knee rehab. Pushing so hard to failure with heavy weights and all that bodyweight gain recently has been hard on my joints so I'm going to ease up the intensity just a bit for 8-12 weeks or so while still progressing and aiming for personal records of course. Tweaked the shoulder a bit here -
So I will try and get more video up, I feel that it has been wayyyy lacking on here.
With it getting hot I hope everyone is staying hydrated, if not scroll down and read a couple tips from an earlier post on hydration here.
6/4
A1. Press - warmed up to 85 x 5 , 100 x 5 , 115 x 10
A2. Chinups - 5 sets of 5 done superset with press sets
B1. Close grip bench - 100 x 10 , 120 x 10 , 140 x 10
B2. Band pull aparts - 3 x 25
DB shrugs - 40lb x 100 reps ( did not set the dumbbells down for breaks, hard as hell)
Neck harness - 4 x 25 @ 5lbs
How many times have you heard this? I know I hear it every day. I don't want to lift weights because then I'll : get big / gain a ton of weight / become ugly / lose my boobs / look like a pro bodybuilder.
Here is what women think lifting weights or doing anything but cardio will make them appear
Higher testosterone than the Baltimore Ravens. Check.
But in actuality a woman putting in work in the gym with heavy weights, a good diet, and drive to succeed will end up looking more like this... Now continue reading
No anabolic steroids here
Yes, mainly this applies to women as they are both more worried about it because of stereotypes and myths as well as being more emotional in that they are willing to say it out loud. That is because most men if they are even willing to be trained in fitness by another man, will not *completely* and in detail voice their goals in terms of appearance. As that would not be "manly" or somehow that saying you want to look like "insert movie star" will lower your testosterone - by the way this line of thinking will in fact get you nowhere and worrying so much about what others will think of what you SAY will definitely make sure you never actually DO anything.
But that is a topic for another post, back to the women who wholeheartedly believe that lifting weights, especially heavy ones will make them rival top female and maybe even male bodybuilders in the world inside of 6 months. Yes, God forbid that many like myself who are male- have taken years to add 35+lbs to their body weight at a prime time in their life for testosterone levels and are training with intensity and shoveling food by the pound year round.... Yes a woman who has never consistently trained except for running a mile or two every couple days for 6 weeks at a time on and off.....is suddenly going to start benching and squatting while eating her daily tradition of probably 2 meals most likely totaling less than 100 for any macro nutrient (protein/carb/fat), yes she is going to look like a 200lb+ behemoth on a diet of anabolics and meat....Oh yeah inside the 6 months or so she'd be holding on to a trainer with money/time/life permitting...
Yeah right it just doesn't work that way. One of my favorite examples to illustrate this point is the shadow/silhouette example, I have heard it many times in many different ways but the message is the same. If we took an anorexic male and female and merely saw their silhouettes against a wall, could you tell who was who? I bet not. How about an extremely overweight male and female? Who is who?
Without muscle both males and females look like this at either end of the spectrum
Now take a normal range of body fat and athletic physiques of a male and female, you can tell who is who no problem and they both probably look good, the differentiating characteristic is muscle mass. If we put 50lbs of muscle on Jessica Biel she would not doubt look like a bodybuilder but since women are hormonally incapable of that without steroids it doesn't matter, so as far as we are concerned muscle actually enhances the curves of the female body and will make you look more feminine.
A lot of muscle is more masculine, thanks to testosterone
Muscle appearing feminine - looks better than the above images huh, without extreme levels of testosterone
Notice they both retain the hourglass shape, it's the way that the human body is built that women come with wider hips and breasts allowing the hourglass shape with muscle to appear more feminine and the high testosterone in men allowing us to carry more muscle in addition to smaller hips so the legs may complete the hourglass as opposed to the hips on a female.
So if we take our silhouette which maybe has some extra fat that we are looking to lose and simply just use cardio like aerobics or jogging or my favorite fat burner - walking to lose weight we will succeed, but then what is left? Hell if we gave ourselves a full body liposuction, what would be left? just skin, bone, and muscle. Except just jogging we didn't build any muscle so now we look like a popular hollywood star with a drug addiction because we lost all our fat and there's nothing but loose skin now which just leads us back to where we started - upset with something about our body.
Get out there and get in the gym lifting weights, there is tons of information out there on how to do it properly so I would suggest talking to someone or learning as much as you can to become decently informed on the subject (being my blog and all I would highly suggest talking to me as I deal with people new to working out all the time)
Here's Trace Ryan (a female powerlifter) deadlifting 325lbs
Here she is normally
One of the strongest women around, clearly weights made her nasty ( I think not )
Or how about some other notable women who lift weights heavy and regularly
Clearly she needs to stop lifting
I chose Hilary Swank because she is often referred to as "manly" by females but if the first thing that comes to mind when anyone sees this picture is "manly" then there are larger issues than fitness and I encourage you to email me at jpduprefit@gmail.com
Does it seem as ridiculous as it sounds? Well it is. Given the fact that hormones in men and women are active in very different ways, and considering testosterone is the driving force of packing on muscle and many women do not artificially add test to their bodies. Plus lets get it straight that you girls simply don't come with a lot of it, let alone enough to become huge in any way. So understand that lifting weights to become stronger, will make you better at everything you do physically in life as well as allowing the confidence and the feeling of achieving success in weight room spill over into other aspects of your life. That's not even including that you will look and feel better in your daily life and probably live longer as well.
Not to mention that a set of heavy squats will burn more calories than an hour of running. I'm not going to jump into the scientific support realm because that's not what this blog is about and most of the readers probably wouldn't read a study if I started quoting one anyway, let alone click my source at the bottom. Don't take that as a negative either, I love the science of training and eating and read studies all the time. I encourage anyone interested to read studies as well, as you'll come to realize some of them actually provide evidence AGAINST their intended purpose usually by stacking the deck accidentally in their favor. Lets make it a little simpler to understand -
If I said have you heard of squatting being bad for your knees? Many of you would have thoughts pop in your head yeah I heard that from *insert someone you know who knows about training* or maybe you heard of studies done in school.... If I told you that a study saying squats were bad for the knees was done with the following how would you feel
The person testing the hypothesis was quite educated in kinesiology, and yet chose to use an untrained individual as a test subject aka someone who doesn't work out or may not even know how. Especially something like squatting where bad technique will hurt you.
The squats were done on a smith machine or some machine with the bar being on a track, meaning the bar moves on a set path, some of the machines having a slight incline meaning not a straight line. That would be like strapping your butt to a bicycle seat, yeah most of the time you might be sitting but sometimes you move a little to readjust. Or maybe you're tall and are too close to the handlebars/maybe you're short and lean forward more to reach or maybe you are out of shape and have to stand up to pedal...you can't do any of that if your stuck to the seat. Everyone is different and someone with longer femurs will be more upright in a smith machine squat and may get more tension in their knees - see where I'm going? a bar on a track is less favorable because it adds restrictions that someone new to lifting will not understand or be aware of
They only squat to "parallel" which means the hip does not go lower than the knees in the bottom position. This is a death sentence because breaking that parallel plane is what brings the hamstrings and glutes into play making the load disperse among other muscles notably your back half. With stopping at parallel all of the weight is supported completely by your quads(front half of your legs), lower back, and what do ya know the knees! Does it make sense now? I bet everyone reading this knows someone who hurt their knees/lower back squatting. Now you know that it was too much weight and too little technique that broke them, rarely is it by chance.
Combining all of the above we have the recipe for a study to prove something that is not the truth *when done properly*
Someone who doesn't know how to squat because they haven't the training or experience doing the movement
Using a machine to gauge effectiveness of a movement that is not by default ever done in a machine
Doing the movement in a way that will most likely result in a quadricep/lower back/ or knee injury that is only compounded by the nature of the machine
(this is merely an example, not all studies contain all of the above mistakes, there may be no mistakes and it's a great study proving a point we should all learn or there may be combinations of the above variables in similar contexts. Read as much as possible for yourself.)
What have we learned today? We now know that the pursuit of strength for women especially in the weight room can do nothing but benefit you.
*I used anorexic in an analogy, I understand that it is a serious disease and should not be taken lightly
**I used the smith machine as a bad guy in the squat study, it is not a bad machine and has many great uses, I love it as another tool in the toolbox but in that specific context it's the devil
***The squat study example is not me declaring all studies bad, but as with any other subject you cannot get all the information from just reading an abstract and certain testing conditions or variables may often surprise you with being out of place in particular studies especially used in a manner like the above - much like in politics or substituting ingredients to make a food dish, it may be the same dish but putting anchovies in a brownie mix does not prove that brownies taste bad....Be aware of the details that could change something but shouldn't
Oh yeah and my training, I have reached the peak of my mass gain for now. Its been an epic journey from the 160s to 195 now, time to add some cardio so I don't tire at the top of the stairs anymore. I will be undertaking a brutal combination of strength work and conditioning as well as daily calisthenics to increase athleticism for the next 12+ weeks.
5/25
Incline bench press - 185lb x 8 , 165lb x 8
1-arm db bench - 3 x 6 @ 70lb
Bodyweight Dips - 50 total - 20 , 20 , 10
Jump rope - 3 x 3min rounds
Chins - 2L to 3
5/26
Leg curls /w stability ball - 40 total - 20 , 20
Squat - 225lb x 5 , 5 , 8
Forward sled drags - 6 trips of 100ft - 2plates , 2plates+25 , 3Plates, 3Plates+25, 3Plates, 2plates
Pushups - sets of 10 throughout the day
5/27
One mile run - 9 minutes
5/28
Press - 125lb x 5 , 5 , 6 +2 more push pressed
DB Jerks - 3 x 5 @ 60lbs
KB Swings - 125 swings /w 35lbs
Neck harness - 4 x 25 @ 20lb
Dive bomber pushups - sets of 5 throughout the day
Flyes - 35lb x 12
Flat DB supination presses - 60lb db's x 8 , 8
Lateral raises - 20lb x 14
Press - 115lb x 7 , 105lb x 6
Close grip bench - 185lb x 6 , 165lb x 5
Neck harness - 4 x 25 @ 10lb
Chins - 3L to 3
5/10 Friday
Standing BB calf raise - 115lb x 15
Low cable pull throughs - 10 , 9 @ 90lbs
Front Squat - 145lb x 15
Hanging leg raise - 2 x 10
Neck - 4 x 25 @ 12.5lb
5/13 Monday
Concentration curl - 30lb x 11
Drag curl - 70lb x 12 , 8
One arm pulldowns - 90lb x 8 , 80lb x 7
Low cable row - 165lb x 8 , 145lb x 11
Deficit deadlift - 275lb x 10
Cable crunch - 8 , 8 @ 70lb
Chins - 3L to 3 / Neck 2 x 25 @ 15lb
5/15 Wednesday
Flyes - 35lb x 14
Incline Bench - 165 x 6 , 155lb x 6
Lateral raise - 20lb x 12
Seated Behind the neck press - 75 x 14 , 85 x 9
Lying Tricep extensions - 60lbs x 20ish
Decline twisting crunch - 8 , 5
Neck + chins 3L to 3
5/17 Friday
DB Calf raises - 20lb x 11
Good mornings - 135 x 10 , 145 x 7
Barbell hack squats - 135lb x 23
Hanging leg raises - 11 , 8
Neck - 4 x 25 @ 15lb
Chins - 4L to 3
5/20 Monday
Concentration curl - 30lb x 10
EZ Curl - 65lb x 11 , 55lb x 10
Yates row - 215lb x 8 , 205lb x 7
Rack pull - 435lb x 8
Back soon with some misconceptions about lifting including women, and a follow up to the homemade dumbell with more home gear and some exercises and resources.
Last I posted was workouts up to the 15 of April so just getting down, dirty, and up to date here it is-
Oh and before I get started- I spotted Captain America in Times Square last week around midnight
4/17 Wednesday
Press - 117.5 x 5 , 5 , 12
Chins - BW+27.5lb x 8 , BW+22.5lb x 8
Deadlift - 315 x 10
Neck - 4 x 25 @ 30lbs
Chins - 4L to 2
4/19 Friday
Bench - 210 x 5 , 5 , 10
EZ Curl - 70 x13 , 60 x 10
Squat - 225 x 5 , 5 , 15
Neck - 3 x 25 @ 25lb
Chins - 2L to 3
4/22 Monday
Press - 120 x 5 , 5 , 11
Chins - +30lb x 8 , +25lb x 7
Squat - 230 x 5 , 5 , 12
Neck - 4 x 25 @ 25lb
Chins - 2L to 3
Conditioning - 50lb sandbag clean & press w/ partner (I go , you go format) x 50 in 5:58
Slower than my individual time, so maybe we'll go one at a time next time
OK now my training is starting to shift gears - one catering to my stuffing my face with the goal of adding weight that is not entirely comprised of fat. Also geared towards an emphasis of building strength AND appearance - aka a pleasing physique
4/29 monday
Pre exhaust /w 1min rest before next exercise- Dumbbell concentration curls - 30lb x 10 L/R
EZ Bar curl - 11 @ 60lbs , 12 @ 50lbs
Yates rows - 9 @ 205lb , 6 @ 205lb
Rack pull - 11 @ 425lb
Neck - 4 x 25 @ 25lb Chins - 3L to 3
5/1 Wednesday
Pre exhaust - Dumbbell Flyes - 30lb x 16
Decline bench - 6 @ 225lb , 7 @ 205lb
Pre ex -Lateral raises - 19 @ 15lb
DB Press - 45lb db's x 9 , 40lb db's x 10
Reverse grip bench - 10 @ 165lb , 9 @ 155lb
5/3 Friday
(homemade with a cable machine)Seated calf raise - 21 , 12 @ 180lbs
Romanian Deadlift - 205lb x 12 , 13
Squat - 225 x 16
Neck - 2 x 25 @ 20lb Chins - 3L to 3
5/6 Monday
Pre ex - Concentration curls - 30lb x 11 L/R
Seated alternating DB Curl - 25lb db's x 11 , 8
Weighted Chins - BW+35lb x 4 , +25lb x 6
T-Bar row - 10 , 8 @ 95lbs
Deadlift - 325lb x 10
Neck - 2 x 25 @ 10lb Chins - 2L to 3
Ok now that were caught up, a few things -
Sorry I have no videos I lost my phone and all the video on it, I now have a new better phone and upload everything to google+ so it won't happen again
I have a list of things to post on so expect many things in the coming days and weeks, it's going to be a good summer ( more so if you start training with me now for that so cal body you desire, several of you have already reached out that's awesome)
I finally bought a pulldown/low row machine - the gym is coming together
Here's a shot of Wes
The angle is awkward and looks like he's about to fall over - but it is quite the opposite. When Wes started working with me he didn't like to squat or deadlift heavy anymore because he got bad pain in his back during the exercise and for a few days after. With a few tweaks and ideas over the course of a week here is Wes in all his glory squatting over 230lbs for 15 reps after already doing two sets of 5 at the same weight, and this of course after he hadn't squatted anything over 185 in months without pain!
We set the technique and his mind straight and on target, added a few mobility drills prior to every workout, and now were shattering records left and right all without pain....
I had time and totally flaked out on my log last week; I always keep a paper log but I didn't sit on the computer long enough to get it up here and didn't want to post it without some kind of content!
So without further nonsense, lets kick it today with the idea of homemade equipment. A lot of people, and I mean a lot, are covered under the "I can't afford a gym membership/have no time/can't afford home equipment" - how legit those claims are can vary a ton. But no matter, today is the saving grace for those people.
I bring you the first step- the homemade dumbbell.
Now this has been done maaannnyyy times and there are tons of guides by tons of people all over the internet, some advanced and some simple. I'm not sure where I got the information from, but I am acknowledging that it is not in fact my own idea....no matter because it kicks ass.
Yes there are 2 clamps in the pic but you will need 4
Materials needed:
Galvanized steel bars - from 10" - 22"
Appropriate sized hose clamps - 1/2" - 2"
Some kind of epoxy / strong adhesive for metal surfaces
Duct tape / any coarse tape / tennis or baseball bat grip tape
I left a range because you can customize to suite your own needs - for example a female who has never lifted weights may opt for a shorter length bar and smaller 1 inch diameter since she doesn't need to fit a hundred pounds nor does she need a fatter grip. I went with a 1 inch (technically it's less than 1 inch in thickness because it fits standard size 1 inch plates, but lets not worry too much about the tech specs) diameter bar that was 18 inch long (I bought enough of everything for 2 dumbbells, that means 4 hose clamps per db)
Step 1 & 2
Wash the bar with soap and water then dry completely
Grip the bar wherever and find out how much space you need to fit your hand comfortably, then measure out your inner clamps. To be simple, let's say my hand takes up 5in of space and I have a 15in bar - 15in - 5in = 10in of space left on the db. Then divide that by two and it gives us approx 5in of space per side from the end to where the clamp will sit (so to clarify, if you measure from the end 5in inward, that's where the clamps will sit)
I marked the spot with a sharpie
THEN, be careful here, put the clamps on the marked area but not tightened down yet
Put a sufficient amount of epoxy/whatever adhesive on the marked area and slide the clamp over it and begin to tighten it down
Try to keep the clamp in its spot so we don't get epoxy everywhere, if you do wipe it off quickly
Set aside to dry for 15min/1 hour/1 day based on your products instructions
Step 3
My grips have lasted a long time, don't look so good anymore
Wrap the rubber grip or duct tape around the inside of the clamps and maybe some extra on top of the clamps (some people disagree saying you should wrap before putting on the first set of clamps, I disagree with that because in my experience wrapping the rubber on top of the clamp will make it hurt less when you put some weight on the bar and have the clamp digging in your thumb or pinky)
Step 4
Simply slide your plates on and follow them with the second hose clamp and tighten it down
**DISCLAIMER AND TIPS**
We do not want weights falling on our faces, so tighten those outer clamps hard, I recommend a ratcheting screwdriver to really speed up the process. You could also epoxy with outer clamps on to make some fixed weight db's but this is a budget oriented guide so just make sure they are on tight. If you forget to tighten them it is not my fault when weight slides right off the side and on to YOU, I have done it before and my foot will never be the same (jk my foot is fine but it hurt)
**FUN PART**
It cost me less than $10 to build 2 dumbbells and buy extra clamps just to have
Obviously you need weight; buy one inch diameter AKA "standard" not "olympic" plates if you don't make 2in thick bars
Weight can be found at any sporting goods store or on craigslist but TAKE THE BARS WITH YOU to buy weight and make sure they fit. I found several stores and deals but the weights didn't fit. I ended up buying from Dick's Sporting Goods for less than a dollar a pound (never pay more than a dollar a pound, a lot of craigslist deals can be had for 50 cents or so a pound even less sometimes)
Just to prove they are safe and effective, I have put over 100lbs on this dumbbell and goblet squatted it - that means held it by the weights vertically so all the force is on the clamps, without issue (not that you should ever try this, and if you do you probably don't need a guide anyway and have faith in your creation) Do not clamp on the threads of the bar! You should buy a big enough bar and leave enough room to fit the desired amount of weight and your hand without hitting the threads. THE WEIGHTS WILL FALL OFF IF YOU TRY AND CLAMP THE THREADS!
just enough room to clamp(DO NOT clamp on the threads)
120lbs, I have tipped it, carried it, and tried to rattle it but it stayed together no prob and no bending
*If you can use over 100lbs (per hand) on more than one exercise requiring two dumbbells, and you don't already own dumbbells that high, email me at jpduprefit@gmail.com. I have some good resources for quality heavy duty handles at an awesome price*
Now on to last weeks training and today's!
My last update was 4/8's training so here is the 10th, 13th, and today the 15th
4/10 Wednesday
Bench - 202.5lbs x 5 , 5 , 12
DB Curl - 32.5lb db's x 10 , 25lb db's x 13
Deadlift - 310 x 10
Neck harness - 4 x 25 @ 22.5lb
Chin ups - 3 ladders to 2
Good workout - bench reps are staying high though I'd like them to come down to the 6-8 range on that last set. Going to up the chin ladders soon in effort of attaining the golden 5 ladders to 5 in one sitting which is 75 total reps.
4/13 Saturday
Supposed to be Friday's workout but I got busy and couldn't fit it in (Life happens to everyone, it's ok just hit it the next day you can from where you left off)
Press - 115lb x 5 , 5 ,10
Chin ups - BW+25lbs x 8 , BW+20lbs x 8
Squat - 215lb x 5 , 5 , 15
Neck - 4 x 25 @ 25lbs
Chin ups - 3 ladders to 2 Conditioning - 50 sandbag clean & presses /w 50lb sandbag in 4:45
Woah woah woah, finally some conditioning. Boy do I lack it right now, 15lbs of weight gain will do it to ya that's for sure. Expect to see more of this coming soon as I'm going to start for a new goal of leaning out and being all around more athletic - this will start Monday 4/29
Today 4/15 Monday
Bench press - 205lb x 5 , 5 , 13
Drag curl - 65lb x 12 , 60lb x 10
Squat - 220lb x 5 , 5 , 13
Neck - 4 x 25 @ 27.5lbs
Chin ups - 4 ladders to 2
Awesome workout, blew bench out of the water again and finally upped a ladder on chins. Squats staying strong as well. Not much to report besides that.
Bonus pic - My fiance and first client
Squatting 80lbs for 5 , 5 , 10
Always break that parallel
47.5lb overhead for reps, very nice!
Til next time....(look forward to going over some exercises and mini routines for that cheap and easy dumbbell we just made)
I had bench, curls, and squats on Friday. Hit some good numbers on my final set of everything, other than that it was uneventful and a little rushed due to being "Friday night".
BW - Didn't check since I worked out later after I had eaten several meals
Bench press - 200lbs x 5 , 5 , 12
EZ bar curls - 60lbs x 12 , 50lbs x 12
Squat - 205lb x 5 , 5 , 11
Neck harness - 3 x 25 @ 20lbs
Also I don't have a camera anymore since the one on my phone is busted somehow, new phone coming this next week
Today - 4/8
A necessary evil for me, blegh
Today its 10:30 as of this sentence and I am so full and tired of eating already. Gaining and losing weight truly is a function of diet and mentality. Training is great and will make the most of the weight you gain or accelerate the weight you lose and make you look better when you're done losing, but diet and most importantly the mental outlook are the king and queen here. Take myself for example, a tall lanky guy looking to put on some weight. I've had access to ground beef, chicken breasts, rice, and broccoli by the pounds...daily...for at least a year. But have only started gaining in the last 12 weeks, since I made the mental shift into pouring my effort towards diet. People always say I don't have time to do this or that, but it's just not true. I know or have known people that truly were stretched for time for weeks at a time even down to limited sleep that were able to make good healthy choices or make an effort to exercise in the gym or otherwise. I have the time to eat right and to gain weight and I still didn't, I had the foods available and didn't, though I "wanted" to and thought I was...I wasn't committed. This applies to a lot of things in life but there are books out there on that so I'll skip it.
On the diet front though, my a-ha moment came when I decided to limit myself to working out once every 2-3 days, and instead focus my effort on diet. I told myself whatever happens now is all on the diet and I'm the only one accountable.....I can see why most young males say they want to get big and strong but don't. IT SUCKS. I stuff my face....with the key being that its with single ingredient foods (chicken breast has chicken breast in it contrary to a big hamburger from some joint). Anyone that eats single ingredient foods on a regular basis knows that it is hard to get calories from them because they're so "healthy" hence when someone who eats out all the time switches to "eating healthy" or "eating clean" they roughly halve their calories while keeping or even improving their macro nutrient counts for the day (protein, carbs, fat) and they lose weight or improve body composition.
Anyway back to my diet, I've already had a 50g protein/75g carb shake with 20g fat - then worked out and had another 50g protein shake following - then had 6oz ground beef with 2 cups of rice....and now I'm debating whats for 1st lunch and it's not yet 11, this will continue all day and it is not fun. Though the scale is still moving up and I'm staying within my weight gain guideline of "visible abs" and I don't mean focusing on keeping a 6 pack just the outline that there may in fact be muscle in that area, once and if that disappears I will dial it back as I will be accumulating to much fat. To gain weight you "get smooth" for awhile but use the scale, diet log, and the mirror to keep on track.
Some tips for the day before I list the workout and log off
Want to lose weight? -Try keeping to single ingredient foods
-Eat lean meats - chicken / fish / some cuts of beef with every meal
-Portion your food with the old fist and palm method (lots of people endorsing this method, it works)
Meaning have a fist sized portion of carbs with most meals and a palm sized protein portion with every meal, striving for 6 meals a day with cutting back on the carbs is a good option, but sometimes you won't be eating that often so add a fist or two of carbs to other meals. There are plenty of diets out there and mostly they preach the same things with different frequencies or days of the week - pick one and stick to it they all work (this applies to most people in the population, if you have a specific goal like getting bigger and stronger or compete in a sport drop me an email at jpduprefit@gmail.com)
-If you find yourself hungry fill up on veggies, they are good for you and have hardly any calories(truly low carb)
-WALK! anybody that comes to me for training gets assigned walking 6 days a week if possible for homework. It is the most under utilized activity for diet and exercise, start walking a brisk pace for 20-40 minutes a day and watch the fine lines come out in the mirror or the scale start to go down (combine this with a solid diet and training with me and it's pretty ridiculous how good you'll start to look and feel)
Ok, here is today's training
Bodyweight - 192
Press - 110lb x 5 , 5 , 16
Chin ups - BW+20lbs x 8 , BW+15lbs x 8
Squat - 210lb x 5 , 5 , 13
Neck harness - 4 x 25 @ 20lb
BW chin ups - 3 ladders to 2
(a ladder being a pyramid scheme without the descent so a ladder to three would look like -
do 1 rep, rest as long as it would take someone else to do the same in between each batch of reps; think invisible partner, do 2 reps , do 3 reps - done. Start back at 1 rep then 2 reps then 3 reps done as opposed to doing 1 , 2 , 3 , 2 , 1. It's worked much better for me to follow up the "hard" set with the lowest rep count) thank StrengthVillain for that one
This is the fourth week back on a simple linear progression, feels good to add to the bar every time. At the start of this run I was sitting at - 182lb bodyweight Press - two singles at 145lb Bench - two singles at 245lb Squat - 3 singles at 270lb Deadlift - 2 singles at 370lb Chin ups - 20 Hoping to take those singles for reps here in the not too distant future, the goal being to progress in either reps or weight for the main lifts and slowly add some conditioning to the mix. Then in the next few months I'll turn up the heat on conditioning in prep for doing the zombie run in San Bernardino on Sep 28th! The diet has been pretty good as evident below I'm up about 8ish pounds mainly from doubling my protein intake and adding a ton of water daily since I was super dehydrated and starting to feel sluggish lately. It's amazing how dehydrated we can get and not even notice...speaking of which- Most people are dehydrated, I could name a handful of people I see all the time that are dehydrated. If you find yourself at any point in the day craving or just deciding to have a glass of water - you're not drinking enough H2O. A quick rundown to becoming more hydrated (which might surprise you how much better you feel both physically and mentally when you're properly watered up)
Have a cup on your nightstand, fill it and drink it in one sitting when you wake up in the morning and before you go to bed. (yes you will probably awaken and have to run to the bathroom in the middle of the night when you first start, but this will stop)
When you're sitting on your computer facebooking/doing homework/working/whatever, take a big jug of gatorade and a pitcher/jug of water and pour them half and half into a cup, drink the cup til its gone and then fill it back up approximately half and half again. Do this until both the gatorade and water jug are gone. Try this once or twice a day for a week in addition to drinking water like normal and I guarantee you'll feel better all around - especially if you're working out hard. It works and I do it all the time (got this tip from the JP over at Strength Villain check out his work he's one of my favorite sources on fitness and life)
I love diet soda, coffee, and iced tea with a burning passion. In fact I think I taste all three of them at some point on a daily basis, bad news without a good water intake. Caffeine is also an appetite killer for those less accustomed to it so be wary mass gainers out there. For every one of these drinks you have, have an equal amount of water soon after.
Anyways
as of Wednesday I was -
Bodyweight
- 190.2 lbs
Hit
the press, weighted chin ups, deadlift, and neck harness. Killer
workout, still getting double digit reps on my final set with the
press so I'll bump it 5lbs again in attempt to bring them down to the
money range of 6-8. Chins are progressing nicely, adding 2.5lbs to
each set as long as I make the 6-8 range for both sets. Deadlift is
also feeling good, I'm capping the set at 10 reps for my first run
through for forms sake, but that'll change when I have to reset. Neck
harness is getting really hard, we'll see if I can keep on keeping on
here.
