Barbells, Dumbbells or Cables?

With the ever growing dilemma of achieving the best workout the exercises you're using are important but more so now the equipment in which you're using to perform these exercises. Now I would always advise people to try and stay away from machines, do they have a place? Yes, but, they're so constrictive on movement, range of motion and more often than not giving you the plasibo effect that you can lift a lot greater weight than one can actually lift. I'd recommend sticking to the Barbell, Dumbbells and cables, here are a few pointers on how to choose which.

The barbell is the most recognisable piece of equipment in any gym when it comes to lifting weight. Usually being 7ft in length and weighing 20kg, with smaller versions in certain gyms if you're lucky enough to target a certain muscle group or perform an exercise. They're easy to set up, just loading plates onto each side, often in 2.5kg intervals with a huge exercise base to use them for. The barbell is often associate with the big compound exercises such as the squat, bench and deadlift where by you're recruiting many muscle groups in one exercise, this is why they're a must in anyone's routine. They allow you to go heavier than most other exercises and due to the fact your lifting all of the weight through one force is often easier to control than say a dumbbell.

There are however some disadvantages to using the barbell that being they can often create strength imbalances amongst the same muscle groups, where by muscles don't get to work independently. Let's take the simple back squat, you load 100kg on the barbell and be performing a squat with perfect form but more so than not you have a dominate side creating a imbalance, sometimes as drastic as 70/30. This in the long run can causes size difference and cause you to plateau. Furthermore it's late on a Friday night, in the gym by yourself and you benching your one rep max and you go for a second rep but just can't lock it out, that weight is coming back down onto you. Barbells can therefore cause serious injuries, there is no way of being able to remove the weight unless you've got a spotter, to many cases seen on the Internet of people not and ending up in serious trouble.

Dumbbells are what more and more people are tending to use when working out due to these sense of ease to change weight and the versatility in which they offer. The one thing I love about DB's is they offer fitness to a wider range of people purely due to the fact they can be used anywhere. From your home, to office it doesn't take up any room to store a few DB's with a heap of exercises which they can be used for, avoiding the hefty gym costs along with no excuses of not being able to fit a workout in.

There are no constraints when training with DB's either, allowing muscles to work independently, targeting and isolating certain muscle groups whilst further recruiting major muscle groups if required. This over time will aid balance and coordination through the independent training. Unlike a barbell the range of motion with a dumbbell can be slightly altered, this can be seen as a positive or a negative but in my eyes a certain positive. Not everyone's built the same, in short not everyone's therefore going to lift the weight from A to B the same, much like a barbell promotes. The DB however allows this, furthermore recruiting more to form a stabilising platform than a barbell. When lifting a dumbbell greater attention is paid to ligaments, tendons and overall agatonist muscles. People neglect these a lot, especially in the shoulder department however lifting with DB's you're somewhat achieving this. The only downfall is it demands a greater deal of control thus meaning you can't go as heavy and will often require a spotter.

Finally cables, people often neglect using when it comes to training anything but arms. The fundamental factor is they can be used for any movement pattern, which is great for sport related exercise or rehabilitation. It allows you to focus on a certain movement, let's take golf. The tee off shot you would never be able to rubricate unless using cables, building the strength, explosiveness and overall power through the increase of weight in order to develop the swing. With all cable machines you can gather many different attachments opening a wider spectrum of exercises and again allowing to rubricate certain functional movement from sport and everyday life.

From your committed gym goers the cables allow for ease when wanting to perform supersets with just a switch between the two cable or things such as drop sets and strip sets by just removing the pin as oppose to stripping the barbell or grabbing more DB's. The most important thing for me with cables is they cause greater muscle stress due to constant tension on the muscle. Unlike the barbell where for example with a barbell row the contraction, pulling the weight towards is a great deal harder than lowering it due to gravity with cables this never changes. It gives you a far superior of motion but further contraction allowing for you to really squeeze the muscle when contracting and stretching at the bottom of the movement. Some may say cables are superior therefore when it comes to isolating the muscle.

Cables do have their drawn backs through the way that the range of motion is so forgiving and any exercise can be performed often leading to horrendous form. They take up a lot of room so out of the question for your garage as well as very few will ever be in your gym.

So you may think which one is best and my answer to that is neither. There is no one I would solely recommend on using to create an all round great workout. They all have positives and negatives but I would create a happy medium using all in your workouts. Barbell for the big lifts, Dumbbells for your more so isolation along with cables for those high rep finishers.

If you're still lost and confused then I am still writing personalised programmes so drop me an email me on jcdpersonaltraining@gmail.com

Happy Training

Jack

How often should I train?

This is the question as a PT I get asked the most, ‘How often should I be training?”. This to me is such a broad question, with there being so many contributing factors to answer the question fully and correctly. What is your goal? How much time can you give to the gym a week? What is your current level of fitness? What does your diet look like?. These are all questions that I’m going to answer, offer you solutions and prompt ideas which in turn should help you in finding how often you should be training. 

The most important question you need to ask yourself, what really is your goal? I like to personally use a pyramid system with all contributing factors leading to achieving the goal at the top. The foundations being your diet, training in the middle and something very specific to the goal as the icing at the top. I still believe that your diet is the underpinning factor when it comes to training, not fuelling your body correctly will hinder you're training and progression. So before any of this begins you need to ask yourself what is that goal? Do you want to enter a competition, sports specific, look great for your holiday or just generally feel better about yourself? This is where you need to start. Ensure when deciding on this you use SMART goals.

S - Specific 

M - Measurable

A - Attainable

R - Realistic

T - Time Managed. 

This doesn't just have to be just one goal but could be many different, small achievable goals leading towards one long term goal. However you do it ensure that these are achievable, if not this could cause demotivation when you're not quite achieving them but can also pose as the opposite boasting motivation when you do. Once you have you're goal in mind everything else around that should be catered into how you going to achieve that goal the most efficient way possible. 

How much time you can offer to the gym is also crucial because if you can only offer 3 hours religious a week to the the gym than that is the only amount you're going to be training. Firstly you must remember that your training should never be a seen as a chore, you should be wanting to go, this being where the above point comes in with having a goal, motivating you to go and get the job done. With everyones life’s becoming busier there is less free time in your day to go and do things such as the gym and at the end of the day will determine how often you can train, so be strict on yourself on realistically how often you really are going to be able to go to the gym. If this is only 3x1 hour sessions a week that thats all it is, but you must stay committed to this, much like the SMART goals used above it must be realistic. Here are a few pointers to make the most of your time and be in the gym more regularly.

• Make it part of your routine. If you have a 10 mile commute to work each morning, instead of driving to work, cycle to work. Get up an hour earlier and join a gym close to work so you can workout before going to work meaning you can work slightly late or go for a catch up with friends after work. 
• Use HIIT (High Intensity interval training). This is the modern way to train, short, sharp and to the point with a workout rarely over 30 minutes. This can be from a class at your local gym or a quick 20 minute before your morning shower, all quick, simple but most importantly intense. 
• Train with a partner. Research says those who train together, stay together and this is very true. A Sunday morning jog or a quick circuit in the garden will up the volume you're training but also mean you're still getting to spend time with those close to you. They'll be your motivator when you need them the most.  

We’re getting slightly more specific now but in order to know how often you should be training you really should depend it on your current level. You won’t see an professional athlete that trains only twice a week and yet someone who hasn't done any kind of physical activity in 5 years all of a sudden start hitting the gym 5 times a week! You really must judge it upon what level you are at already otherwise, things such as injury could occur when you start training too soon, there must be progression. This therefore means look where you're already at yourself, could you go out and happily run a sub 50 minutes 10k with ease? Than running 4/5 times a week really isn't going to be a problem. Could you last a 30 minute HIIT circuit and still be able to move the next day, then you're at a level where you could train 3 times or more a week, its very much dependent on your already known ability level. Start off with less sessions and slowly increase over time, progression is always the better option to regression. 

Diet I will also refer back to as for me it’s the most crucial element of anyones training programme because without it you're not going to be able to train anywhere near your optimum level, get this in check before you even start considering how often you should be training. You could be training 7 days a week but if you're diet isn’t in order to either fuel or aid recovery after these sessions than you’ll never advance, or meet those goals. Little pointers to help are as follows:

• Always eat breakfast!! This is the most imperative in my opinion, opting for a carb and protein heavy meal will aid you so much in the mornings. Don't eat just a piece of food or these all in one breakfast ready to go drinks, really focus on getting some good nutritious food down you. Low Gi carbs along with some protein. Oats with MyProtein Impact Whey will do the job perfectly.
• You’ll need to eat more than you think. Find out your BMR (Basic Metabolic Rate) using an app or just type it into google. You'll gather a result, a rough estimate of how many calories you're body needs a day. Add or lose 300-500 for gaining to losing weight, simple!!!
• Bulk all meals out with vegetables. Veggies in this scenario are your friends, they make you fill fuller, make you believe there is more food on the plant and lastly are full on micronutrients. Also opt for greens over anything else. Snacking on vegetables is also great, carrot and celery sticks being my favourite. 
• Break your meals up throughout the day. Many people think the only way to lose weight is to eat 6 meals a day and with that they may be right, but not something which you have to stick to. I just believe in spreading them out, attempting to grasp around the same calorific content and marconutrients from each but don't get too hung up on this. Your overall calorie intake for the day is the crucial number, not how many meals you've eaten to achieve this so, divert more attention to your overall consumption. 
• Lastly it is never constrict yourself. This is one of the worse things to do in my eyes. Yes you're diet should be clean but it doesn't have to be this all the time, you can waver once or twice. Obviously this can’t become a regular occurrence but if you're craving say a piece of chocolate, than eat a piece of chocolate. There is always a better nutrition option such as dark chocolate so attempt to always get these where you can, but whatever you do don't treat it as a reward. See it as food and thats it, otherwise you'll than just have the mind set that you need a reward all the time. 

So I may have gone off subject quite a lot there but it gives you a broader understanding on how all elements work together. Yes the article is titled ‘how often should you train?’ but not one of the points I raised has more precedence than the other. Train hard, set goals, eat right and you're on the way to success. 

Sleeve bursting arms!!

Sleeve bursting Arms

With the summer now well and truly upon us everyone is changing jumpers for t-shirts and all that hard work you've put in over the winter months you really want to show off. The first thing that draws any attention when it's t-shirt weather is your arms!! Here are a few last minute training tips to really get your arms bursting out of your sleeves.


Add more volume to your triceps!!
Triceps are often neglects when it comes to training arms purely as they're never seen but they take up two thirds of your upper arms, it's not all bicep you know!!! These as a muscle I have found can take a lot of volume as they're used in every pushing motion you do so in order to force them into growth you must train them many different ways to shock the muscle. Train them through different rep patterns with a low rep, high set day on your chest day with a high rep, low set day following shoulders. Focus on tempo and contraction of the muscle and then other times just overload the tricep as much as possible. These methods will stun the muscle, forcing it to grow. Mix the exercises up in your routine adding in reverse push downs, reverse bench and cable skull crushers as oppose to the normal exercises you may do. Lastly over work the lateral head of the tricep which runs from your deltoid, the outer part of the tricep. Kick backs and over head extension are great in isolating this head as the others are often used more in the pushing exercises. This will bring greater depth to your arm size thus create that sleeve bursting look.

Tempo and good form when training biceps!!
So many people now see the top guys in the industry curling heavy weight and automatically employ this type of training into their routine with horrendous form and are not stimulating the muscle at all. This is unless they are curling to gain bigger traps and back. Yes use this shock tactic at the beginning of the workout but don't comprise form for it, as soon as you feel your form is going maybe get one or two cheat reps in but then stop. Move on to an isolation exercise such as a preacher, concentration or incline bench curls where form is a great deal harder to cheat on. Drop the weight down slightly and focus on really tempo and squeezing the muscle at the top of the movement, pushing blood into the muscle. You can add a few force reps in when you're fatigued through either help from a partner or if you're performing a single arm curl get the other hand involved, exhausting the bicep and pushing for growth. Much like the tricep train both heads of the muscle, wider than shoulder width for the short head and closer grip for the long head. I like to include rope hammer curls, lying wide  cable curls and reverse dumbbell curls to really hit both heads.

Train your forearms!
Many people when training arms neglect the forearm but they're still part of the arm. With people wanting to more and more lift heavier weight they opt for straps, meaning their grip strength is poor this never really training forearms. Larger forearms automatically give a more atheistic look to the arm and stronger forearms will help assist when you're looking to move more weight as they act more often than not as a fixator, allowing you to squeeze the bar harder, engaging more muscles. Reverse curls and wrist curls are the two I like to use and get rid of those straps!!!!

So there are three easy tips to add into your programme in order to see results and have sleeve bursting arms.

Jack 

Should I lift heavy?

This is a question which is asked by many and is never really answered. When I started training I was one of those people that believed going heavy resulted in bigger muscles, as in a simple sense it's a stronger muscle so surely it’s going to get bigger. Now this is somewhat true but muscle growth can also come from many other different ways and types of training. 

In simple terms strength is about increasing force production. Size, on the other hand, is about getting a pump through the increase of blood flow to the muscle and creating microscopic damage to the muscle, which then causes it to repair and grow larger. This is hypertrophy in a nutshell and now is the most common rep range where most people believe they should be training in order to add size to a given muscle group. 

What is Strength Training?

The general rule when training for strength is that the reps should be low and the resistance load should be high. Low-rep strength work is primarily neuromuscular, this involves teaching your Central Nervous System how to bring more muscle into the movement or in the correct terms increase motor unit recruitment. Strength training takes time, you wont just increase the weight you're lifting each week and where programming becomes the crucial element. The slow increase in weight over time shall force the muscle to grow stronger but, its a steady process and must not be rushed. Always stick to the big compound moves for this and also focus on form over the weight you're lifting. No one around you will care that you're deadlifting 5 plates if you're back is arched over and you're doing more harm than good. 

Hypertrophy?

Unlike strength training, the goal of training for size is more physiological than it is neurological. It's about upgrading your body's hardware, like bones, connective tissues, and muscles. Its about pushing the muscle past what it is already capable through the micro tears of the tissue so it will grow stronger and larger. These are four points to focus on:

• Using strict form. Most of the exercises are going to be isolating the muscle so form is the most crucial element, target the muscle you want to actually train!! 

• Using the tempo! This is the biggest thing that is neglected in the gym, people just lifting weights as fast as they can but tempo plays such an important part. You could cut the amount of weight you're lifting and focus on the contraction and eccentric phase of the moment. A count of three seconds each is perfect and will engage the muscle so much more.

• Mentally focusing on the muscles being worked and squeezing those muscles at the peak of contraction. Very much the same as tempo but at the peak of the movement push that little further and squeeze the muscle forcing blood directly into it. 

• Avoiding fully locking out so the muscles are under tension throughout the movement. Many people take the tension when performing an exercise away from the muscle by locking out at the joint and all the weight transferred onto this. Try to avoid this, especially when you're isolating the muscle, if you can’t, reduce the weight. 

For your workout to be the best it can be it needs a rounded rep scheme. Aim for the heavy, compound exercises at the beginning of the routine to really shock the muscle, recruit the most amount of muscles and predominantly build strength in the muscle. Then as the session wears on with the addition of isolated exercises aim for higher reps, focus paid to tempo and form to really break down the muscle further. Supersets, tri-sets and drop sets all added to push that little further but form always takes precedence over anything else.

There you have it, going heavy has it’s time and place but isn’t always essential. The best bit of advice I can give though is a big muscle doesn't always mean its a strong muscle!

Jack 

The big three!!!

How do you get big and retain it? 

This is a question I get asked a lot and my simple reply is remember the big three! These being the the Deadlift,Squat and Bench press. Yes I use other exercises to supplement my training but these three always take the biggest president in my program. My training split is built around these three, beginning my week with the Deadlift, followed by Bench on a Tuesday and Squats on a Wednesday. I put Bench in the middle of the two big lifts in order to take the shift away from my legs and lower back ensuring after heavy deadlifts on Monday all is ready to go Wednesday. Second to that I always rest on Sunday meaning when it comes to heavy Deadlifts on Monday I'm all ready to go and if I'm struggling I have no excuse as I'm rested from the day before. 

Deadlifts in my opinion is an exercise you can never not include in your programme. It's such an all over body exercise recruiting near enough all muscle groups, this is however often what it's been criticised on because why do people want to train legs on a back day, to which I disagree. I just treat it as another leg day in my programme. Be careful however that you don't do too much volume as this will one take up a lot of your gym sessions and second to that will end up causing fatigue for the remainder of the workout. Plenty of warm up sets, no more than 5 reps, just get a feel for the weight. Than 3-4 sets at your top working set weight. Hit it hard and move on. Then isolate the back through further exercises. 

Bench Press more and more people are shying away from including in their programme. Many believe it recruits too much shoulder and especially when going heavier puts a lot of pressure on this area. Now yes a lot of shoulder is going to be included when bench pressing as its an anterior muscle so is a muscle which will be used when pushing but secondly it's a stabilising muscle so will always be engaged in any pushing based movement. People see this as a negative but I see it as a positive. As long as you're doing the exercise correctly then not only are you working your Chest but also the stabilising muscle, ligaments and tendons around those areas. This can only mean one thing, you're going to get stronger. Yes don't always just go heavy and include further isolation exercises into your workout but if your doing the exercises right, with tempo and the correct weight then you will push the muscle to exhaustion and see growth, along with a strength increase. Much like the deadlift not to many working sets, with a strip set on the last set always pushing you that little further. Focus on tempo along with power with further isolation exercises through the workout. 

https://instagram.com/p/BEtvvFpnOCM/

Lastly the Squat, my favourite of all. Your legs are the biggest muscle group so you've got to train them hard. This could be through lots of volume, heavy weight or both all in one. I always begin with heavy back squats, it's the King of leg exercises. Ensure a good warm up, particular attention to the hamstrings. Warm up to your max weight for the reps and sets you're aiming for. I like to use either 10x3 or 7x4 as the programming, all about power. Before weight must come form and confidence to go heavy. The core must always remain tight, straight back, heels planted, below parallel at the knee and power injected through the legs. Once you have this you're ready to add weight through intervals over a prolonged period. No one can just load the bar with 5 plates and expect to be able to squat it, it takes time. Then exhaust the muscle group through high reps front squats and remainder of the exercises. This is another back workout as it will get smashed if you're going heavy, hence the day's rest. Tempo is still included through the actual lowering into the squat should be done under control, then the power comes. This is out of the three where you will see the most improvement and shall boast most certainly you're deadlifting. 

So there you have it. These are the three exercises I do to ensure I retain size and strength. If you keep working on them you may be able to join the likes of Hugh Jackman in the 1000lb Club. 

Jack