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5 Reasons to Lift Weights

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Lifting weights is something that many people look on with scorn and disdain. I generally hear things like “I don't want to get big and disgusting like the bodybuilders in the magazines!” or “All I want to do is lose some fat!” or “I only want to be leaner.” When I hear these objections to lifting weights I think of my 5 reasons to lift weights.

  1. You will lose more fat by lifting weights. Most people think that cardio is the ticket to burning fat. Penn State University did a study. They put people into three “dieter” groups: (1) no exercise; (2) cardio only; (3) cardio and weight training. All 3 groups lost about 21 pounds. The group that lifted weights along with the cardio lost 6 lbs more fat than those who did not push the weights around. The reason is that the lifters lost almost pure fat while the others lost a combination of fat and muscle. Further research showed that those who don't lift lose 75% fat and 25% muscle. This makes it more likely that you will gain the weight back. Weight training while also incorporating cardio will protect your muscle while helping torch the fat.
  2. You will burn more calories.  Weight training increases the number of calories you burn while at rest. This happens because your body will burn calories as it repairs the damage done from weight training. Researchers have shown that people who do 3 full body workouts with just 3 big muscle moves have an increased metabolism 39 hours later.
  3. You will build stronger bones. As you age your bone mass decreases. Lifting for 16 weeks will help increase your bone mass by 19 percent. This will help you avoid a debilitating hip fracture later in life.
  4. You will have a healthier heart. Research has shown that weight training will reduce your blood pressure over time. It can reduce your diastolic blood pressure by 8 points. This is enough to reduce the risk of stroke by 40% and the chance of heart attack by 15%.
  5. You will have better fitting clothes. Muscle takes up less space than fat. In fact 1 lb. of fat takes up 18% more space than 1 lb. of muscle. When you add muscle and burn fat you will look better in your clothing. You will turn heads because of how good you will look. Who doesn't check out the tight body of someone walking by who is in great shape?

If you are one of the people with the objections I already mentioned, perhaps it is time for you to rethink your objections. Weight training is essential to get into the best shape possible. If you have any other reasons why someone should lift weight please share with us in the comments area.

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Monday Madness: Hammer the Hamstrings

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Great hamstrings really make the legs look good from behind. They are not really a difficult muscle to train, but there are definitely some tricks I have learned to help with it.

The Workout

Exercise Sets Repetitions
Seated Leg Curls 1 20-25
Seated Leg Curls 3 12-15
 Lying Leg Curls 4 12-15
 1 Leg Standing Curls 3 10-12
 Stiff Legged Deadlift 4 6-8

The Execution

The manner in which you perform these exercises is of the utmost importance. You will start with one set of Seated Leg Curls to warm up the muscle. You will do 20 to 25 repetitions. Make each repetition really slow and contract the muscle at the end of the movement. The objective is to force blood into the muscle. After the warm up set you will do 3 more sets in the 12 to 15 repetition range. Again, take it really slow, forcing the blood into the muscle. You will feel a burn, but keep going. Next you move to Lying Leg Curls. You will do 4 sets of 12 to 15 repetitions. You will use a slow and controlled motion. Next you will do 1 leg standing curls. You will do 3 sets of 10 to 12 repetitions. Again, go very slow. Contract the muscle at the end of the movement. You want to force blood into the muscle. By now your hamstrings should feel like balloons. Finish things off with 4 sets of Stiff Legged Deadlifts in the 6 to 8 repetition range. This means you will be going heavy. Be careful how you handle the weight on this exercise. Unrack the weight and rest it against your upper thighs. Pull your shoulders back and your chest up. Keeping the weight close to your body, slowly descend until you feel a nice stretch in your hamstrings.

Why It Works

By pumping your hamstrings full of blood you force expansion which breaks more muscle fibers. By finishing with a heavy movement you force the hamstrings to use up their very last bit of energy. When finished you will feel like your hamstrings are full of blood and without any energy left in them. This is the objective.

What do you think? Give me your comments below.

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Let’s Talk About Contest Preparation

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Contest preparation. Those two words seem to scare so many people. I am going to talk to you about contest preparation from my perspective. Maybe it will help you if you're on the fence about competing.

Making the Decision

You have to make a decision to compete before you will ever have to embark on a contest preparation cycle. Once you compete you will be addicted to it. I personally have caught the bug and this coming year (2014) I plan to do several shows. In order to make this decision you need to consider your will power, finances and discipline. It has to be something you are doing for yourself as that is the only way it is going to work. All of the work will have to come from you so you can't do this because you want to make someone else happy.

Evaluating Your Mental State

The one thing that I see that hurts people during contest preparation is their mental attitude. People whine and complain if their carbs are cut or their cardio is increased.  A good coach will adjust these variables as you go along. You have to be tough and just do the work. To me the meals are just fuel for my body. The supplements help the fuel. The training shapes the body. Thus, any adjustments to any part of the plan is fine. I don't stress myself out about it. I figure I signed up for this so why complain? Will whining change anything? You bet it will–in a negative way. It is going to get in the way of your progress. If you are going through contest preparation and have made the plan to actually complete it then suck it up!

Creating the Plan

I sat down with my prep coach, Ken Turchek, and planned out how to handle the contest preparation. We did this 6 months out from the show. I need to build more mass and that is why we sat down so early. It is a long and difficult process to gain muscle and I needed all the time I could get. Ken and I looked at my training schedule and made some serious decisions. The training schedule I keep is NOT something most people would feel comfortable with. Because of the need to build muscle we decided to hit some body parts multiple times per week in a 6-day training cycle. Ken continually tells me that the body has no idea what a week is, so just train!

Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6
AM Cardio Chest Cardio Cardio Shoulders Cardio/Biceps(p)
PM Back(t)/biceps(p) Shoulders Biceps(h)/triceps(h) Back(w)/Calves Chest/Triceps(p) Hams/Quads

This plan takes care of really hitting my weak spots. It gets me doing cardio 3 times each 6 days. It is almost an average of 4 times a week over the course of a month. I run this training cycle back to back to back. After Day 6 I go right back to Day 1 and continue. I do not take rest days during contest preparation. It is work and I have to get that job done!

We also planned my supplementation usage. We used a strategy to this as well. Ken is a huge believer in BCAA usage (I am as well). In fact, as we got down to the month before the show I was constantly sipping BCAAs.

Executing the Plan

Here is where the rubber meets the road. There are going to be adjustments to the plan as you go along. Just hang in there. Do what your coach tells you to do. Understand that everything you do is aimed at accomplishing your goal of stepping on stage. The sore muscles, hunger pains, etc. are all worth it in the end. Be diligent about your execution of the plan. The rewards are worth it. Do you have any comments to share about contest preparation? Put them in the comments section below.

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Saturday Sharing: My Thoughts on Mr. Olympia

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Saturday Sharing:
My Thoughts on Mr. Olympia

 

 

 

Phil Heath was crowned 3 time Mr. Olympia at the end of September. I have heard so much in the way of conspiracy theories and all of them make me laugh.

Mr. Olympia is the Super Bowl of bodybuilding. With that said, the winner has to be the best of the best. The most elite bodybuilder in the world. As I sat and watched the pre-judging I was impressed with several people: Dennis Wolf, Shawn Rhoden, Kai Greene. However, when Phil Heath stepped on stage I knew it was over. He was by far the best physique on the stage.

In my mind the battle was for second place. Phil Heath ran away with the first place spot and the judges clearly agreed with me. They actually had him go back in line when doing the call outs because it was clear to them that nobody else challenged him for the top spot.

I know that lots of Kai Greene fans believe he was robbed, but Kai made a mistake by coming in so big this year. He was much closer last year. Had he come in fully conditioned like last year with some improvements this might have been a different story.

Dennis Wolf looked amazing. He was just a little off when compared to Kai Greene. To me the order of the Top 3 was clear from pre-judging onward.

I am sorry for those of you who think there was a conspiracy. This was classic bodybuilding judging at its finest. I am here to say that Phil Heath deserved his third Sandow.

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5 Steps to a Great Squat

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Squats

Squats (along with deadlifts) are one of the best possible exercises you can do for your body. Where you place them in your workout is a strategic decision. Including them in your workout is a must.

Step One: Improve your hinge technique.

The hinge is a key component to a good squat. If you do not get your butt back you will not be able to get low and then get back up from the hole. The hinge helps you with your hip drive and engages your hamstrings. Failure to master the hinge technique will give you great difficulties when trying to up the weight on your squat. So how do you improve your hinge technique? Practice! Stand with your heels against the wall. Move your hips back until your glutes touch the wall. Now move a few inches away from the wall and repeat the process. At some point you will feel your hamstrings engaging in the motion. Keep moving away from the wall further and further and control your descent with your hinge. Keep working on this technique.

Step Two: Stretch your hamstrings regularly.

One key element to the squat is hamstring flexibility. I know that when I first worked on my squat my hammies were my problem. They were far too tight. By using active stretching techniques you will see a major improvement in your hamstrings. Active stretching will require the help of a friend. Lay down on the ground with one leg bent and one straight. Lift the straight leg all the way up and have the partner lean against the leg pushing it slightly towards your head and torso. As your partner does this you will be pushing back against him/her. That will cause a stretch. Now relax and have your partner push your leg a little further. Repeat this 3 times then switch legs.

Step Three: Back off on the weight.

Ego is one of those things that gets in your way constantly. When it comes to having a great squat you need to check your ego at the door. At one point in time I was routinely hitting 315 lbs for repetitions. Then I learned that I was not squatting deeply enough. That is when I learned to check my ego at the door. I dropped the weight down to 135 lbs. and started working a 5 x 5 program for squats. I squatted 3 times a week and if I managed to complete 5 sets of 5 repetitions I added 5 lbs to the bar the next workout. I focused on getting very deep (below parallell). After working this program for more than 12 weeks I am now at the point where I can routinely squat 405 for good depth. I am now working on increasing that number. You can too!

Step Four: Vary the location of the squat in your workout.

Sometimes I start my leg workout with squats and other times I finish it with squats. Still other times squats are in the middle somewhere. It depends on what I am trying to accomplish that day. Always keep your body guessing. Avoid falling into patterns of behavior when it comes to training. You will be sorry if you start with a pattern.

Step Five: Squat, squat and squat again.

The best way to a great squat is to just do it. Get under the bar and push the weight. Work on getting very deep. Don't accept anything less. Always think “butt back” and “knees out” as you squat. Just practice. It will get better the more you practice.

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