4 years ago today I married my best friend. I knew right away that she was the one I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. I just want to say thank you for your undying support in all I do and making these past few years absolutely amazing in every single way! It's only going to keep getting better!!
We had an amazing day and ended up getting into the gym a little later than usual. Which ended up turning into a great workout and here's how it went down.....
Tempo is definitely one of the most overlooked parts of a workout routine. Many people are usually more concerned with how much they are lifting rather than how they are lifting it. When you slow down and focus on your tempo you will not be able to lift as much weight, but the quality of the lift will be much improved. It also increases the TUT (Time under tension) of the working muscle. Tempo is usually shown as counts that you do in your head or with a partner to time. An exercise with the tempo of 2/1/2 is preformed with a count of 2 on the eccentric, or lowering phase. Then a 1 second pause at the bottom of the exercise leading to a count of 2 during the concentric, or raising of the weight. Next time try mixing up your routine with a change in tempo to help progress and push your physique to the next level.
Today was Chest and calves, so I decided to slow things down. Here's how it went.....
One of the things I try and do is keep changing the order of my split to help keep things fresh and intense. I still stick to lifting each body part one time per week, but I like to change the order to place more of an emphasis on lagging body parts. On this rotation I am placing an emphasis on my shoulder and trap development. I am still following a 5-6 day split with my off days placed by how I am feeling and I also skip one workout per week, for added recovery. Here's how it looks....
Shoulders and Traps Bis, Tris and Calves Deadlifts,hamstrings and glutes Chest and abs Back Legs with a quad focus
Today started the week off right, with shoulders and traps. Tara and I really flew through it and overall really happy with how it went!
Variation can be used in many different forms and incorporated into your current training program It can help with consistent improvements over time and also minimizes plateaus and prevents boredom or staleness. In addition, you can avoid overtraining by varying your program. It also gives you breaks from the stress of high intensity, high volume training. You can implement variation in many ways such as the number of reps, sets, exercises, order, rest periods, weights, rep speed and even the type of grip you use.
Today I decided to do SLDL as a variation for deadlifts. I am currently going to switch from week to week with Sumo's to help with my progression. Here's how today went.....
The single most effective strategy for dealing with a physical and mental challenge is preparation. Not only will preparation ensure that are ready for the physical demands, but just as importantly it will help you with motivation, confidence and focus to achieve your goals at hand. If you can not picture yourself lifting it, you already failed an attempt at the lift. My main concern when in the weight room is to focus on each set as it is the only one being preformed that day. Mentally preform the lift then physically. This behavior coupled with a structured program and an intense training philosophy will help you strive for improvement each and every day.
Today Tara and I hit up Golds Gym and a crowded one it was! Really kept shorter rest periods and a slower rep speed on all sets. Here's how it went.....
Since its St Patrick's day I thought I would talk about a real green drink I incorporate in my program. It is called Natural Berry Flavored Greens from the brand name Barleans. I am a firm believer in getting your nutrients from various whole food sources, but this is one thing that in addition can cover your grounds. I have tried a few different kinds of greens supplements, but this is one that by far actually tastes good and really has a slight berry flavor. It has a great nutrient profile and I usually drink it in the morning after my first meal, or with my post workout meal. I get mine at Fred Myers, but you can pick it up at any local Health and Supplement stores.
Today Tara and I tore up the gym. Kept it at a quick pace and really worked up a sweat! Here's how it went.....
*Warm-ups excluded
Pulldowns- 3x10 / 1x10*1x8
Nautilus seated row- 4x8
Hammer Strength High row- 2x10 / 2x8
Stiff arm pulldowns- 4x10
Leg placement can make a huge difference in the gym and on the stage
Legs are the one body part that can separate you from other competitors. They are probably the most under trained muscle group in the gym. One reason why is because they take a totally different mentality to train. No one ever asks "let me see your quads" or "how much do you squat" when your walking around. So one thing I try to do to keep things interesting when training legs is vary my foot and leg placement. I do this through different exercise variation, such as wide stance and narrow stance squats. Doing so can place more of an emphasis between your quads, hamstrings and glutes aswel as help push your physique to the next level.
Today, Tara and I took up the squat racks. We kept a fast pace with a focus on depth and rep speed. Overall really happy with how this one rolled and here's how it went....
*Warm-ups excluded
Front Squats- 2x8@315 / 1x8@315*1x35@135
V-Squat- 3x8 / 1x10
DB Walking lunges- 3x8 (Per leg)
Leg extensions- 4x8
