How Often Should I Train?

October 3, 2013 By Michael Mahony, ISSA CPT Leave a Comment

How Often Should I Train?

Training frequency and the question of how often I should train are hotly debated topics. I am going to surprise you with my answer. How do I know I will surprise you? Well, I don't think you've heard the answer I am going to give from anyone else because I've only seen it in one place.

The Experiment of One

My good friend and mentor, Carlos DeJesus, coined the phrase “The Experiment of One” and it really applies to every situation you find yourself in. It comes from a statement made by Franco Columbo, “Every man is a rule unto himself.” So many of us are looking towards other people to tell us how to train. We are the very same people who understand that we can pick a suit off the rack but will need it tailored to fit our body. Why are we willing to accept cookie cutter workouts but not cookie cutter clothing?

Carlos wrote this, and it sums up the Experiment of One in a nice way.

“Who are you physically? Where are you physically? What works for you? What do you respond to (at this point in your life?) How often should you exercise?”

That right there is the entire message of the Experiment of One. We have to answer those questions for ourselves because we are trying to work on ourselves. The answers for your best friend are likely not the same for you. This leads us to traning frequency.

Training Frequency – How Often?

The answer to this lies in the answers to the Experiment of One questions. Let's examine it and see how it fits for me. Again, you should be answering these questions for yourself. Mine are just an example for you to follow.

Who are you physically?

I am an intermediate bodybuilder. I have been lifting for 8 years, but consistently for 2 years.

Where are you physically?

Physically I am in growth mode. I am packing on muscle.

What works for you?

Mixing things up often is what works for me. Intensity works for me.

What do you respond to (at this point in your life)?

My body responds differently depending upon things going on at the time and I just have to listen to it for clues as to what I need to be doing.

How often should you exercise?

For me the answer is daily and sometimes 2 times in a day. At the same time I watch my recovery and see how my body feels. I train most body parts 2 times a week.

Getting the Right Answers

The right answers are going to depend upon you and your body. My body recovers quickly even though I am older. You may be different. When I was doing High Intensity Training I would train three days a week. At one point I wasn't recovering so I switched to two days a week and my results skyrocketed. What's right for you is going to change based on where you are in life. Focus on the right answers for you and the rest will come.

Have you had any experiences like I describe above? Share them with me in the comments below.

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Do You Lift Weights?

October 2, 2013 By Michael Mahony, ISSA CPT Leave a Comment

I figured I would have a little fun today and give you some “You know you lift weights when…” comments I found on the web.

You know you lift weights when…

…you drive past Gold's Gym but can't help trying to look in the windows.

…you hear “set” and you immediately wonder “How many reps?”

…you hear the clanging of weight plates in your sleep

…you hear someone call “Jim” and you think “gym”

…you get up at 4 a.m. to do your morning cardio

…you are mesmerized by the smell of chalk

Can you add any? List them in the comments below.

Desk Work – Dangerous to Your Health

October 1, 2013 By Narina 1 Comment

Desk Work = Sore Neck

Who would have thought that office jobs could be hazardous to your health? A person in a job that requires long hours of sitting in just as at risk for health problems as those individuals doing manual labor or heavy lifting in their jobs.

Some of the risks associated with desk jobs are:

chronic low back pain
weak abdominal muscles possibly leading to back problems
repetitive use injury such as carpal tunnel syndrome
weak gluteal muscles leading to low back pain, associated knee pain

Two of the best exercises you can do to help alleviate chronic neck and shoulder pain are listed below. Upper crossed syndrome (tight chest muscles; weak back muscles) accounts for a host of symptoms from neck pain, headaches to shoulder pain and even numbness in hands and fingers. Just by taking a few minutes throughout the day to do these two simple exercises will go a long way to restoring your posture and alleviating chronic symptoms.

Exercise #1 – Scapular Activation

The scapula or shoulder blade is host to a group of muscles that help maintain overall shoulder position and health. Shrugging shoulders and scooped neck positions cause a lot of problems with today's office workers. To perform:

Stand with arms at side; shoulders and head back. Raise arms out in front so just above shoulder height, with hands in a fist position. Bring elbows back keeping hands even with shoulders. Squeeze elbows together. “Stuff elbows into back pocket. Relax and repeat 3 times. Perform every couple of hours through out the day.

Exercise #2 – Cervical Alignment

One problem that arises when sitting at a desk or computer for long periods of time is a forward head posture. The chin moves forward as we look over paper work or the computer screen. This causes problems with cervical vertebrae and will lead to neck stiffness and pain. One way to overcome this is to restore the neck to its proper position by realigning the muscles. To perform:

Start with hands at side. Stand tall. Bring arms out from side to shoulder height. Allowing elbows to bend, bring back of hand to shoulders. Allow arm to drop back to side. Relax and repeat 3 times. Perform every couple of hours throughout the day

Performing these two simple exercises a few times throughout your day will take 1-2 minutes but will alleviate a host of problems either already present or lurking in the background.

Till next time,

Narina

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Monday Madness: Change the Angle for Gains

September 30, 2013 By Michael Mahony, ISSA CPT 1 Comment

Monday Madness:

Change the Angle for Gains

When you are trying to grow changing things up is important. For many people that just means changing exercises or the order of the exercises. I am going to show you how you can change the angle and get major gains. We are going to use a simple biceps workout as the example, but you can apply it to any muscle group and see the same results.

The Workout(s)

Week 1

Exercise	Sets	Repetitions
Standing DB Curls	4	10-12
Standing Hammer Curls	3	10-12
Standing Preacher Curls	3	10-12
Standing Cable Curls	3	10-12

Week 2

Exercise	Sets	Repetitions
Incline DB Curls	4	10-12
Incline Hammer Curls	3	10-12
Seated Preacher Curls	3	10-12
Incline Cable Curls	3	10-12

Week 3

Exercise	Sets	Repetitions
Lying DB Curls	4	10-12
Lying Hammer Curls	3	10-12
One Arm Preacher Curls	3	10-12
Lying Cable Curls	3	10-12

Analysis

This is the same set of exercises, but the angle changes each week. By changing the angles you are going to stress the muscles in very different ways. This is what you need to keep the muscles guessing. By doing the curls from a standing position you get a full stretch and have a longer positive movement. When you move to an incline bench and do the same exercise it instantly becomes more difficult. The intensity increases. Moving the same exercise to a flat bench (perhaps something you never thought of) will stress the muscles in an extremely different way. It is all about hitting the muscle hard and keeping the muscle guessing.

The sport of building your body is all about trying new ways of hitting the muscles. Back in the day of Arnold and Lou they didn't always know how an exercise effected a certain body part, so they would do extremely high repetitions and then see what got sore. Not the most scientific method, but it worked. The same can be said for this workout. You may think it is odd to do curls lying on a flat bench, but it works if you do it correctly. Remember, it is all about the squeeze. Getting that no matter what angle you are at is the key.

If you have a method for fooling the muscles please share it below in the comments.

Why I Love Mr. Olympia Weekends

September 29, 2013 By Michael Mahony, ISSA CPT 1 Comment

Olympia weekend is an amazing time for someone who loves bodybuilding the way I do. It is like the Super Bowl and NFL playoffs all in one weekend! I cannot adequately describe how excited I get when it is Mr. Olympia time. Here are 5 reasons why I love Mr. Olympia Weekends.

There is a constant atmosphere of intense competition. The Mr. Olympia weekend involves Men's and Women's Bodybuilding, Bikini, Men's and Women's Physique, Figure and Fitness. Each category brings with it some fierce competitors. They give me more motivation in 2 days than anything I can get all year long from other sources. Just seeing the hard work they put in gets me to the gym to work hard. It is an amazing event when there are so many divisions involved. Men and women both are competing against the best of the best.
The sacrifice these people make tells me that I can do it as well. Seeing the sacrifices these people make gives me hope. I know that I can do it myself because I have the drive and motivation deep inside of me. It is ingrained into my soul. I know that it can be done and it will be done.
I love seeing the different packages people bring to the stage. Bodybuilding is truly the only sport where you literally compete against yourself. That's one reason I love it. Each competitor is compared and judged, but the fact is that they have brought to the stage a package that they feel is their best package. It is extremely interesting to see what these pros bring. Is Kai Greene going to be huge or is he going to be lean? Will Phil Heath have those full round muscle bellies or will he come up flat? It is all a surprise at the time of the show.
The best of the best are on stage and showing all of us how it is done. All the divisions are showcasing the best of the best. If that division is the one you are interested in you can learn a lot about how to get the job done by looking at what they did. They show us just how to get to our best.
It brings together all of the bodybuilding fans across the world. This is perhaps the best part of the weekend. Bodybuilding fans from around the world coming together to celebrate their sport. I love this aspect of the weekend.

These are my thoughts on why I love Mr. Olympia weekends. What are your thoughts? Share them with me in the comments.