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How to Bring Up Lagging Body Parts

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Bringing up a lagging body part is something most people are concerned with at some point. The answer is all about the way you train. Here are some tips that will help you bring up lagging body parts.

Prioritize the order of your exercises

By putting weaker body parts towards the front of your workout you will be able to hit them harder. Your energy levels will be at their peak and that will enable you to increase the intensity.

Increase the number of times you train the body part

As mentioned in a previous article on the basics of biceps training, if you have a lagging body part try training it twice a week instead of the typical recommendation of once per week. This will enable you to build the muscle faster.

Use compound sets

A compound set is similar to a superset, but instead of using two exercises on two different muscle groups, you use two exercises for the same body part. You do them back to back without any rest. This is a technique for increasing intensity as well.

Use staggered sets

A staggered set is where you throw in an exercise for a lagging body part while you are supposed to be resting. Thus, if it is chest day and you want to increase the size of your biceps, do a biceps exercise in between your chest sets while you are supposed to be resting. This will also help with your conditioning.

Use much heavier weights than normal

Sometimes you just need to hammer the weak body part. Add some weight to the bar and lower the reps to 3 to 4. This will simply shock the hell out of the muscle and spur on growth.

By using these tips to bring up lagging body parts you will be amazed. Your training will start to show massive results as you reach new heights.

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Why I Compete

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Why I Compete

The “why” behind why I compete is a complex one with many different angles. Most of my reasons, however, have to do with achieving goals and continually improving my physique. I want to share with you 3 important reasons why I compete and maybe inspire you to do the same someday.

It Helps to Have a Goal

I am the type of person who will not stop until I achieve a goal. I pull out all the stops and push harder when a goal is on the line. My original reason for competing was to achieve a weight loss goal. Now that the goal is achieved I could sit back and enjoy or I could push forward and continue to compete. I have chosen to continue competing because of how focused it makes me. Eating is easier when I know I am going to have to compete. Training is more focused when I know I am going to have to compete. I just look at life differently.

Honing My Physique is Easier

After competing for the first time I realized that I want to improve much of my body. I want bigger pecs, bigger arms and chiseled abdominals. While I'm sure I could achieve these things without competing, just knowing that I need to step on stage makes me more focused on these goals. I train harder to improve my physique because I want my family to be proud of me when they see me up on stage.

Training is More Intense

Since I focused on competing, I increased the intensity of my training. The weights have become even more important in my life. I love my time in the gym. I look forward to getting in there and getting the job done. It is like my own little sanctuary away from the world. I can escape and focus on my training and how it makes my body feel.

Perhaps Competing is For You?

If you find it hard to focus in the gym and have a hard time sticking to an eating plan, perhaps entering a competition will help you get focused and stick to the plan? The accountability a competition brings to you is a very strong motivator. If you are serious about achieving your goals, give a competition a try. Just be careful. Like me, you may become addicted to competitions.

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Biceps Training Basics

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Basic Biceps Training

The basics of training your biceps are both simple and elusive at the same time. If you take the time to go back to the basics and apply these tips you will see growth in your biceps.

Always Squeeze Hard

As with any muscle group, one of the keys to good biceps training is to squeeze the muscle hard at the top of the movement. You need to move tghe muscle with good form and then squeeze extremely hard at the top. Squeeze hard enough that it hurts and feels like it is about to cramp. That will recruit maximum muscle fibers.

Move the Weight the Way the Muscle Moves

One of the things that surprised me when I learned to pose is how to properly do a double bicep pose. You have to push your shoulders back and twist your wrists back towards your shoulders. It is the same when you train your biceps. If you are doing a dumbbell curl, bring the weight up and at the top, turn your wrists so your pinky is facing upward. That will give your biceps a natural push and will help with the squeeze.

Train them Twice a Week

If your biceps are lagging there is nothing wrong with hitting them more than once a week. I started training mine twice a week about 3 weeks ago and have seen differences already. Make sure there is always at least 1 day between sessions, but it is just fine to train biceps twice a week.

Don't Forget the Triceps

When aiming for an increase in bicep size, the triceps play an important role. When you increase the size of your triceps you also make your biceps look bigger because the triceps go under the biceps. Make sure to train your triceps hard. Follow the principle of squeezing the muscle hard. Make sure you push the weight with your triceps isolated. Don't let other parts of your body assist with that movement.

Use These Basics

By using these basics you will be assured some great gains in your biceps. Push hard and follow the basic training principles I've presented here and you can't help but do well in the gym.

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5 More Evil Habits that Hijack Your Progress

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5 Bad Habits

I just finished reading 8 Evil habits that Hijack Your Progress and Snuff Out Your Motivation by my friend Marc David and it got me thinking. It is an article you definitely want to read, but I realized there are 5 more evil habits that could be included.

  1. Constantly changing their eating habits. It is pretty clear to me that most people fail at the fat loss game because they don't stick it out long enough. They change things up too often because they don't see the results they expect right away. I can tell you that by sticking to the same plan for enough time that it can take effect, you can safely evaluate your progress. Only make changes to nutrition: (a) when it isn't working; or (b) when you are going into contest preparation.
  2. Not working hard enough in the gym. Changes to your body requires you to work harder and harder. Each time you go to the gym you should beat what you did there previously. Most people just take it too easy. They get satisfied with the way things are and don't push themselves hard enough. This type of mistake is costly because not only do you fail to see results, but you cannot get back the time you wasted.
  3. Underestimating the importance of cardio. Like Marc's point about gurus, too many of us underestimate the importance of cardio exercise. We read that we can burn fat in just 10 minutes a session, so naturally we go for the easy path. I can tell you from experience that I only get great results when I do at least an hour of cardio each day. Do not underestimate how important cardio exercise is.
  4. Underestimating the importance of carbs. Somwehere along the way people turned carbs into something that is evil. They work hard to keep carbs low at all times. This could really be stalling their progress. I only saw serious fat loss after increasing my carbs.
  5. Thinking you can make up a workout. Many people find nothing wrong with skipping a workout only to “make it up” later. You can't make up a scheduled workout. Once you miss it, it is gone forever. Make sure you stick to your training schedule.

If you relate to anything above, think about how you will fix the problem. Make the proper change and you will see a change in your results.

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How to Change Your Life by Changing How You Eat

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Change How You Eat

It is possible to change your life by changing how you eat. While the focus of this blog has changed to be more about the bodybuilding lifestyle, I want everyone to be able to get something out of what I write about, so today I want to focus on general fitness and how you can improve that by changing how you eat.

Why Diets Fail

Most diets are doomed to failure before they begin. This is because people make a huge and drastic change to how they eat. It puts them in a position where they cannot possibly maintain the program they put themselves on. Most of us do not have strong enough will power when it comes to food to go cold turkey. Attempting to do so puts us at risk mentally. Instead of making things better it will actually make things worse.

Positive Change That Sticks

Let's assume that since you are reading this  you feel you need to change your eating to change your life. That probably means that more often than not you eat garbage. You eat too much junk food, too much fatty foods and too much at one time. You want to lose the fat and you don't know where to start. You just read above that making a drastic change will set you up for failure. What should you do? Make one small positive change that sticks with you for the long term. Start by eating 5 meals a day, but make them small meals. Allow yourself to eat “bad” one of those meals each day. If you do just that one small thing you will be 80% compliant to a clean meal plan.

Is 80% Enough to Make Changes?

I get asked this question all the time by clients who I make this suggestion to. The answer is simple: yes! By being 80% compliant, you are 80% better off than you were before. That's the part most people miss. There is no need to go crazy and aim for 100% compliance (unless you are looking to compete and that's an entirely different story). Make the small improvements that are going to allow you to see positive changes almost immediately.

Don't Beat Yourself Up for Slipping Up

We all make mistakes, especially when it comes to eating and training. Don't beat yourself up for it. Accept the fact that you are human. Make a vow to do better going forward. It isn't going to kill you if you have one extra cheat meal every so often. Just don't make it a major habit and you will be fine.

If you have any tips for people on how to stay compliant with a change in eating, leave them in the comments below.

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