Go heavy or go home!!!!

Firstly apologies with the lapse in my regular posts, I've been really busy with work. Anyway back to the more important stuff, training. Over the last few weeks as you may have seen from my Instagram posts I’ve somewhat reduced my usual high volume workouts with a focus more to going heavier, improving strength. 

My workouts have consisted more of a focus on the compound exercises, with a few isolated exercises just to finish off the muscle group. Going heavy doesn't always mean going up to your 1 rep max or 5x5, mix it up. I use both of these however, I also like to use 7x3, 8x2 and 6x6. Give these a try, some may work better for you or work better for each exercises. I prefer using the lower reps based sets for squats and going higher for deadlifts. Whatever you do, make sure to keep mixing it up and you will be less likely hit that wall with these exercises. Record each workout to see improvement, thus motivating you with an attempt to hit your 1 rep max every fifth workout. 

Try with the remainder of the workout through isolation exercises to focus on the tempo of the rep along with contraction. This will aid both strength, endurance and bring size to the muscle. Limit this however to no more then 6 working sets. I like to add a giant set onto the end of the workout as a perfect finisher. 

One more point which I have been asked a lot on social media recently is what is a deload week? Now many people think this is where you reduce your workouts to very little weight, along with high reps, giving the muscle a semi rest week. My opinion on this however is you've taken 3 steps forward, so why take 2 steps back? Keep the weight high so that the muscle is still being hit hard, however just reduce the volume. Cutting the working sets in half is always a good option.

So there you have it, a few tips to keep you going but there shall be a few more tips coming soon.

Jack. 

Fasted Cardio

Fasted Cardio

I'm trying to cut weight for the new year as I'm off to Australia for a few weeks in the new year and I'm going to use this type of cardio. There is a lot of controversy over fasted cardio, but I am personally a supporter of it.

Why people dislike this form of cardio is they are worried about losing muscle gains. Glycogen levels are very low in the morning, causing you to have very little energy, your body starts using muscle as an energy source. To help with this I use MyProteins BCAA mix along with some maltodextrin, protecting against falling into a anabolic state and low energy levels.

Furthermore along with a fasted programme you can use HIIT (high intensity interval training). This can be completed using a variety of cardio, I prefer sprints. HIIT training is short bursts of effort with an elongated period of rest. Most people think cardio means sitting on a bike for hours but a HIIT session can be over in 20 minutes. HIIT is proven to boast your metabolism, which is the one thing which is needed to burn unwanted body fat. Another reason why I do it early, purely because my metabolism is then on fire for the remainder of the day. 

My favourite workout is 

10x60m hill efforts, 1 minute rest. 

You can cater the workout for yourself, making the effort shorter or the rest longer. Also put things such as burpees in after each effort will really get the heart rate and fat burning up. So why not try this instead of long, low intensity fat burning cardio. 

Hope this helps

Jack

How to train effectively?

How to train a effectively?

Recently I was reading in a Q&A section of a magazine and it made for an interesting read. Training effectively can mean a numerous number of things but mainly aimed at are you reaching the goal that you set out to. So the point I'm getting at is set yourself goals in training, here are a few you could set yourself. 

Strength goals - set yourself a goal of a certain exercise you want to lift more weight on, thus building further strength. The big three are always good for this. I like to go with the most reps at BW for bench, 1.5 BW squat and 2xBW deadlift. 

Muscular Endurance - you could set yourself a certain goal through time based or number of reps completed for an exercise or numerous of exercises. A circuit/crossfit WOD is always good for this. Set yourself goals and strive to beat these, this will motivate you to push yourself further and train more effectively.

A competition or event - this is the best way to push yourself further as if you're competitive like me it shall push you more and more to achieve a better result at the event. Setting your sessions round this will always mean you'll train effectively.

Nutrition - this is in my eyes the most important. If you're not eating the right foods, not just pre and post workout but daily you won't train effectively!! As you may have heard many times if a car didn't have the right fuel it wouldn't work the most effectively it could. This is the same with the food you consume. Stick to your slow digesting carbs pre workout so not to feel sluggish, with fast digesting both during and post workout. Eat plenty of fruit and veg, lean protein options with a little diary and you'll be on the right track. 

So there you have it, get training effectively. Follow this points and you won't be going far wrong. Let us know if these points help.