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Why You Need to Lift Heavy

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Training heavy is something that people ask about all the time. It is sometimes a controversial topic. I personally believe that training heavy is essential at times. I am going to give you 5 reasons why training heavy is so essential in my mind.

#1 – You Will Torch Body Fat

Lifting heavy builds mounds of muscle. That muscle works full time to burn fat from your body. In addition, heavy weights get us breathing hard and that increases our heart rate. These things combined will aid in burning fat.

#2 – You Will Get More Shredded

As #1 says, the body fat will come off and the side effect of that is you will look more shredded. People will be in awe of your leannes. All of this comes from pushing around some seriously heavy weight. Training heavy is going to help you get shredded.

#3 – Your Strength Will Increase Faster

Pushing yourself by training heavy will see a faster increase in your strength levels. You will see that from the start of a heavy lifting cycle until the end, strength will increase dramatically.

#4 – You Will Burn More Calories

Training heavy increases post-workout energy consumption tremendously. You are going to see a burn for much longer when you really are training heavy. Again, this is going to help you burn fat faster.

#5 – You Will Be More Consistent

Training heavy will force you to compete with your previous numbers. This constant competition is going to keep you more consistent. Consistency is the key to positive change.

My Conclusion

My conclusion is that training heavy is something everyone needs to include in their training programs. It doesn't need to be all the time. I personally believe in adding a heavy cycle to my training at least 12 weeks a year. It works. It is simple. It is effective.

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Monday Madness: Back Busting Moves

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Back growth training is sometimes elusive for people. Everyone wants to have a big strong back, but they have no idea how to train with that goal in mind. Today I am going to show you back busting moves that will get your back growth training on target.

A simple warning: this is going to be extremely intense. You are going to have to be willing to give it everything you have. Back growth training as I present it here involves some heavy weights and some short rest periods. Push yourself as hard as you can.

All Angles in the Same Workout

While I have used the two workout split for the back quite successfully (where I train one day for width and one day for thickness), this back growth training plan hits both angles at the same time. It will save you time and allow you to get extrea intense with your training. You should note that this will tire you out. Be sure to eat some carbs before and after your training session or you will run out of gas quickly.

Back Busting Moves for Back Growth Training

The instructions are simple: Do this back growth training workout with immense intensity. Do not hold back. Conquer the mental blocks that will come when you are told to train to failure. We all have those mental blocks so I don't expect anyone to be different. You are going to do 3 to 4 sets of every exercise with 75% of your 1RM. You are to add weight to each set if you were able to complete all the repetitions on the previous set. If not, keep the weight the same. On the final set you are going to go to all out failure. You will rest 60 seconds between sets, but 4 minutes between exercises. This is all about pushing yourself as hard as you can.

Exercise Sets/Reps Rest
Seated Cable Rows 3 x 8
1 x AMAP		 60 seconds
4 minutes
 One Arm DB Row  2 x 10
1 x AMAP		  60 seconds
4 minutes
 Lat Pulldown  3 x 10
1 x AMAP		  60 seconds
4 minutes
 Hammer Pulls 3 x 8
1 x AMAP		  60 seconds
4 minutes
 Bent BB Rows 3 x 4
1 x AMAP		  60 seconds
4 minutes
 Deadlifts  1 x 8
1 x 6
1 x 4
1 x AMAP		  60 seconds
60 seconds
60 seconds
4 minutes
 Lat Pulldown (chin grip)  1 x AMAP

Cardio Training and This Workout

When using this type of workout please keep your cardio session at least 6 hours removed from it. Thus, if you do this in the morning and you finish at 9 am, don't do cardio until 3 pm or later. Just keep 6 hours between the two sessions.

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Bring Up Lagging Body Parts

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This article is a follow-up to my previous article shared during a Saturday Sharing. I am expanding upon the previous article which only touched upon training variables and how changing them up can help with lagging body parts. The following 7 tips will get your lagging body parts growing.

Stress the Eccentric Contraction

As I always say, it is all about the squeeze. Most of the time that squeeze is at the top of the motion, but with lagging body parts you want to also stress the eccentric contraction. Move the weight slowly. I suggest using a 1/2/4/2 tempo. This means explode up (1), then squeeze for 2 seconds (2), then slowly lower the weight for 4 seconds (4) and then squeeze at the bottom for 2 seconds (2).

Train Your Lagging Body Parts 2 Times a Week

A great tip that worked for me during my last contest preparation. Train the lagging body parts 2 times a week. Do one regular workout and then after a rest day in between train the body part again with half the volume.

Train the Lagging Body Parts First

It is very important to hit the lagging body parts when you are mentally and physically fresh. At least once per week train the lagging body part first.

Increase Your Caloric Intake

On the days you train your lagging body parts increase your calories from quality foods. Increase your carb intake by about 25 to 50 grams in your pre-workout and post-workout meals.

Drink Glutamine and BCAAs While Training Lagging Body Parts

This one is simple like the one before it. Make a drink by mixing 10 grams of glutamine and 10 grams of BCAAs with water and sip it while training the lagging body parts. I highly recommend Scivation Xtend for this purpose as it covers both items and really reduces the soreness after an intense workout.

Visualize Your Training of Lagging Body Parts

This one will help you with your mind-muscle connection. Visualize what you want your lagging body parts to look like. Visualize what each set looks and feels like. You will trigger growth.

Get a Deep Tissue Massage

Deep tissue massage helps lagging body parts in many ways. It will increase the blood and nutrient flow to the muscle, break up adhesions and open up the fascia. This will improve recovery and increase the muscle's capacity for hypertrophy.

Bonus Tip: Stay Patient

This one would be my top priority. It takes time to bring up lagging body parts. Stay patient. Utilize consistency, hard work, planning and patience and you will see the improvements you are looking for.

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Monday Madness: Full Body Assault

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Full body workouts get maligned all the time as being “not enough” to grow muscle. In my experience this is just plain false. I have gotten some of the greatest gains using the full body approach. I will explain this to you and then show you an amazing full body workout that you can use to pack on muscle and improve strength.

The Logistics of the Full Body Workout

Most bodybuilders use a body part split approach to training. A typical split would be:

Monday – Chest/Triceps
Tuesday – Back/Biceps
Wednesday – Rest
Thursday – Shoulders
Friday – Legs

The idea is that you can work each body part with maximum intensity and give it time to recover so that it can continually be trained with such intensity. In their way of thinking, this is the only good method for building muscle mass. I happen to disagree.

I completely agree that body part splits need to be a part of anyone's training routine, but they should not be the exclusive method of training. I personally use a full body routine for part of each year and I find the results amazing. I happen to use the HIT method for my full body routines. I do one set per exercise and take them to complete failure. I train 3 days per week when I start a full body routine and have been known to actually drop that to 2 days per week when recovery begins to become an issue.

The Full Body Assault

For this workout please make sure you get a good squeeze on every repetition. Use a 3-1-3 cadence (3 seconds up, 1 second squeeze, 3 seconds down) on every repetition. You will do one warm up set per body part and then one working set per exercise taken to complete failure. It is important to note that it is one warm up per BODY PART so if you have 2 chest exercises you only do a warm up on the first chest exercise. Take just 30 seconds rest between sets.

Exercise Repetition Range
 BB Bench Press 6 to 8
 Lat Pull Down 6 to 8
 DB Pullover 10 to 12
 Pec Dec Flyes 6 to 8
 Arnold Press 6 to 8
 Seated Cable Rows 6 to 8
 Leg Extensions 6 to 8
 Standing Calf Raise 6 to 8
Seated Calf Raise 6 to 8
Chin ups 10 to 12
BB Curls 4 to 6
Tricep Pushdown 6 to 8
Back Squats 10 to 12
Deadlift 4 to 6

14 exercises performed with maximum intensity that cover the full body. This workout will have you puking if you do it right. I have put people through this workout who looked at it on paper and laughed. They then got into the gym and by the Seated Cable Rows had to run to the bathroom to throw up. It causes severe metabolic changes in your body. It hits you harder than you expect. Give it a try!

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Squatting for Bigger Quads

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Bigger quads means move intense training. The best way I have found to get bigger quads is to squat often and squat heavy. Let's look at how you can squat for bigger quads

How to Squat

Squatting looks easy, but it requires a lot of technique. You start by setting the bar at a height just below shoulder level. Grip the bar with both hands and squeeze your shoulder blades together. This will create a little ledge upon which you can set the bar. Get under the bar and set it on the little ledge you just created. Lift the weight off the rack and squeeze your abdominal muscles tightly. Keep your  back straight and find a spot in front of you to focus on. While using a hinge motion, slowly lower the weight until your quads are parallel to the ground. Using hip drive, push the weight back up. Repeat this motion until you can no longer rise out of the bottom of the motion.

Why Squat

Bigger quads require great muscle stimulation. The squat provides the best stimulation to the quad muscles enabling bigger quads. Be sure to start out slowly, but add weight as you are able to handle more and more. If you want bigger quads you have to check the ego at the door. It is more important to get continual stress on the muscle and getting injured will stop that from happening.

5×5 Training

If you want bigger quads, if that is your focus, try a 5×5 training program. There are a multitude of them available. Consistently using one of these programs will cause your squat numbers to grow and that will give you bigger quads in the end.  Give one of these programs a try for 12 weeks. Stick to it. You are going to hear people tell you how dumb it is. Don't listen. Just stay consistent and in the end your goal of bigger quads will be achieved.

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