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Saturday Sharing MeMe: #5

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Saturday Sharing

Today I’d like to share with you my 5 questions about leg training from your perspective. Your job is to answer the questions in the comments or on your own blog that relate to the topic this week. If you decide to put the list on your own blog, be sure to leave a comment with a link to your blog. Please note that permission is NOT granted top copy the question to a forum or message board for the purpose of having the readers participate in the answering of the topic.

 

 

Topic for Saturday, June 8, 2013: Leg training.

  1. Do you train your legs on a regular basis?
  2. Do you train legs on a specific day of the week and if so, when?
  3. What is your favorite leg routine?
  4. What is your favorite leg exercise?
  5. How do you insure intensity on leg day?

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How an Old Guy Eats

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velocitydiet

I have tried many different forms of eating. I am gong to present my overall philosophy and my current “rapid fat loss” philosophy in this very same article. It is important to understand my overall philosophy because it is what drives my eating the majority of the time. It is also important to understand what I am doing for just a short period of time so that you can see some of the tools available for your tool belt.

My Overall Philosophy

I am a big believer in the timing of nutrients and eating clean all the time.  I believe that to keep your sanity you should include a cheat meal at a regular scheduled interval. If I am bulking I will add a cheat meal every day or even just every other day. It is just one meal and I do not go overboard. It is merely a great, motivational way to get the calories up. As long as you are eating clean and training hard these cheat meals will not hurt you one bit. Of course, when it comes time to peel down the fat you will eliminate the cheat meals.

If I am not bulking I cycle my carbs, but on a more even high/low cycle. By that I mean I will do 3 days low and 2 days high during off-season. Carb cycling is an amazing way to keep the fat off.

Speaking of carbs, they are not the evil nutrient everyone makes them out to be. For a bodybuilder, carbs are an essential part of your food intake. They help to build muscle. However, this goes back to my initial statement—I believe in the timing of the nutrients. This means I eat my carbs mostly before and immediately after my training. It just makes sense to give the body most of its carbs right around the time it will utilize them the most.

My Current Plan

Right now I have a dual goal–I want to bulk, but I want to stay leaner. I am currently at 15% body fat. That is not great, but it is acceptable for the off-season. However, I do not want to go above that because it is quite a job to peel off the excess fat when the time comes. To hit this goal I am keeping my protein levels high. I am using a modified version of the Velocity Diet. You can read up on the Velocity Diet for the details, but suffice to say that my change involves adding solid foods on a daily basis. By adding the solid foods I will be able to keep the nutrients flowing into my body. This will avoid the problems I had previously with random cramping and stomach issues. The basic layout of my plan is to get in at least 1 gram of protein per pound of lean body mass, which is 204 grams of protein. I am keeping the carbs lower than normal, but I am not eliminating them like the Velocity Diet would have me do. The actual meal plan is as follows:

Meal 1:

Protein shake, oatmeal, fruit

Meal 2:

Eggs, 6 oz. of lean protein source

Meal 3: 

Protein shake, oatmeal, agave syrup

Meal 4:

6 oz. of lean protein source, veggies

Meal 5: 

Protein shake

Meal 6:

Protein shake

Goal for the Velocity Diet Modified

The bottom line goal for the Velocity Diet modified is to peel off as much fat as I can. I would like to be at 10% body fat when the 28 days is up. I will accomplish this by using some intense cardio sessions. I wasn't able to do those the last time I did this program because I did it exactly as outlined. With the addition of solid food I am going to be able to include cardio. I believe that I will be able to drop 5% bodyfat in 4 weeks using this process.

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Monday Madness Workout: Shoulder Shredder

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shoulders-shred

Shoulders can make any physique look that much more impressive. A nice boulder look takes time to develop. You have to train hard and focus on the shoulder muscle very carefully or you will not succeed. You have to consider all the different angles for hitting the shoulders and hit all of them equally hard. This is where most people fail.

The Shoulder Shredder

This workout hits all of the shoulder musculature. It is quite an intense workout and something you will want to include in your split on a regular basis.

Exercise Sets Repetitions
Hammer Shoulder Press 4 8-10
Seated Side Laterals 4 12-15
A1. Seated Front Laterals 3 12-15
A2. Seated Rear Laterals 3 12-15
Incline Side Lifts 3 12-15
Front BB Raise 3 8-10
Arnold Press 2 6-8
Face Pulls 3 12-15

Workout Analysis

We start off this workout with a couple of warm up sets of Hammer Shoulder Presses. We then go into the working sets. 4 sets of moderate weight Hammer Shoulder Presses will get the blood flowing to the shoulders. We then move to seated side laterals. Do high repetitions and 4 sets of these. Your shoulders will be on fire. We then move to a superset of Seated Front Laterals and Seated Rear Laterals. Work though the inevitable burn to force some growth in this area.

The next move in this workout is a killer. It is called Incline Side Lifts. You put an incline bench at a steep angle and then get on it on your side. You use a controlled movement with the dumbbell and raise it up and control it on the way back down. Your thumbs should point towards the floor. This will only require a very light weight so don't get too macho on me.

Now grab a moderately heavy barbell and do front raises with very strict form, shoulders back and chest out. Follow this with some heavy Arnold Presses. You finish off everything with some amazing Face Pulls. Make sure to use a slow and controlled movement. When you get the rope all the way back squeeze your shoulder blades together tightly. Do this on every single repetition.

Progress

You will quickly see changes in your shoulders when you train like this. There is an intensity that needs to be met in order to shock those shoulders into a nice growth pattern. Get to it and you will not be sorry. 

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Saturday Sharing MeMe: #4

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Saturday Sharing

Today I’d like to share with you my 5 questions about cardio training from your perspective. Your job is to answer the questions in the comments or on your own blog that relate to the topic this week. If you decide to put the list on your own blog, be sure to leave a comment with a link to your blog. Please note that permission is NOT granted top copy the question to a forum or message board for the purpose of having the readers participate in the answering of the topic.

 

 

Topic for Saturday, June 1, 2013: Cardio.

  1. Do you believe in cardio training for fat loss or weight training only?
  2. How many days of cardio do you do each week?
  3. How long are your cardio sessions?
  4. Do you ever do multiple cardio sessions in a day?
  5. How do you pass the time for long cardio sessions?

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Are the Evil Things You Heard About Carbs True?

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evilcarbs

We have all seen all the low carb diets and how well they work, but those diets have given carbs a bad name. This just isn't right. Carbs in and of themselves are not evil. Carbs play a huge role in the diet of a bodybuilder as we will see shortly. Thus, we are going to answer the question “Are the evil things you've heard about carbs true?”

What Are Carbs Anyway?

Many of us in the fitness and bodybuilding wold assume that everyone understands what a carb is. Most people really have no clue. A carb is essentially sugars, starch, and/or cellulose. Vegetables are carbs, but I never count them in my count of carbohydrates for the day. In fact, I use vegetables for other purposes in the fat burning process.

Carbs can get converted to fat if not handled correctly. Some carbs are definitely preferred to others. It is all about what you eat and when.

Carbs for the Bodybuilder

A bodybuilder needs good carbs to build muscle. He can eat complex carbs (those that digest slowly like oatmeal, brown rice or sweet potato) or he can eat simple carbs (those that digest quickly like sugar, dextrose, etc.) For the bodybuilder it really is all about the timing. 

There is a new rage that says carbs should be excluded from the post-workout shake some bodybuilders consume. This is completely the wrong idea. Carbs definitely must be in the post-workout shake in order to help build muscle. Simple carbs like dextrose cause a beneficial insulin spike when included in the post-workout shake. This insulin spike helps shuttle the protein into the muscles to aide in recovery.

Timing of Carb Intake

I am now a big believer in nutrient timing. I have read a few books on the topic and it just makes sense. Rather than restrict certain nutrients (like carbs) from your diet, get them when the timing is right. Carbs are perfect before and after a workout. The body is primed to utilize them.

Low Carb Diets vs. Carb Cycling

Low carb diets definitely work to burn off fat. The problem is that they also drain the energy your body needs to train with intensity. This is why carb-cycling was developed. With carb-cycling you would do a certain number of low carb days followed by a certain number of high carb days. There are numerous plans available if you want to read about it. The fact is that carb-cycling is how most bodybuilders get as lean as they do. It keeps the body constantly guessing.

Carbs are Not Evil

As you can see, carbs need to be respected and used at the right time, but they are not evil. They play an important role in your nutrition plan. Be sure to include carbs at the right time and you will see amazing results.

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