Chest Day!!!!

With Chest Day upon us I thought I would do a quick blog on training chest. I am one that prefers to train chest by itself then giving it the rest of the week off, however sometimes include press ups in my shoulder routine. The chest is used when to push and when wrapping your arms around an object, however you must remember that no muscles push but pull which is why the contraction of the muscle is one of the most vital aspects to training chest.

This leads me onto how when you're training chest, you're training chest not shoulders!!! Ensure when you are completing any pushing movement for chest that you keep your shoulders out of the movement. Pull your shoulder blades together and shrug into your traps without full extension of the arms which takes the tension away from the chest and more onto the triceps.

There are many different ways to train chest through the different training zones. Bench Press is the fundamental to building mass for the chest in strength sets of 5x5, this will help in building strength as well as mass. I am personally a favourite of Joe Donnelly ethos of a lot of volume for training chest. For those of you who don't know who Joe Donnelly is, you should. He is one of the biggest fitness models in the world and former NFL tight end. If you never heard of him you should definitely check him out, his methods are the way forward in the fitness industry. An example workout see below:

1) 5X20 CABLE FLY ACTIVE WARMUP PRE PUMP

2) INCLINE DUMBELL PRESS 8 REPS, SUPERSET FLAT DUMBELL PRESS 8 REPS (5 SETS)

3) INCLINE BENCH 5 REPS, SUPERSET FLAT BENCH 5 REPS (5 COUNT NEGATIVE/ FULL EXPLOSION ON POSITIVE, BOTH EXERCISES) 5 SETS

4) INCLINE DUMBELL POWER BENCH 8 REPS, SUPERSET FLAT BENCH DUMBELL POWER BENCH 8 REPS ( START WITH BOTH DUMBELLS IN UP POSITION, LOWER ONE ARM KEEPING OTHER STRAIT, THEN PRESS BACK TO START POSITION AND BEGIN TO LOWER THE OTHER, ALTERNATING) (5 SETS)

5) HEAVY WEIGHTED CHEST DIPS. 5 REPS TIL FAILURE, DROP WEIGHT, DIPS TIL FAILURE, DROP TO FLOOR CLAP PUSHUPS TIL FAILURE (5 SETS)

6) FLAT DUMBELL FLIES 8 REPS (4 COUNT NEGATIVE, 2 SECOND PAUSE, 3 SECOND POSITIVE), SUPERSET FEET ON BENCH HANDS ON FLOOR, UPPER CHEST PUSHUPS 30 REPS (5 SETS)

7) LOW TO HIGH CABLE FLY 15 REPS, SUPERSET HI TO LOW CABLE FLIES 15 REPS (3 SETS)

TOTAL=51 SETS

As you can see from above the volume is through the roof, 51 SETS!!!!! However the structure of the workout is the most crucial aspect. Beginning with very much power, mass builders finishing with totally fatiguing the muscle forcing growth into the muscle. My only point would be make sure you use the correct weight at the beginning so you don't max out way to early and end up not being to complete the workout.  Furthermore this is very much an advanced workout, so make regressions such as volume and exercises to you as a individual, just use this as a guideline.

Also for all you that want to look in great shape you should also check out his diet, it even includes donuts!!!

http://www.joedonnellyfitness.com

Enjoy

Jack

How can I stay healthy when at home with the parents?

How do I stay healthy even when I am at home?

With it being Father's Day this pass weekend along with a mates birthday and a few days off for me I decided to pop home. Now when you're under your parents roof it's very difficult to retain the same diet you would if you were cooking for yourself. Now I have quite an accommodating mother who will cook the food I want but still eating a certain timings is one of the hardest thing of all. 

My best advice and what I follow is just make sure that when you look at your plate it consists of 40% of a protein source, 30% carbs, 15% fat and then the rest vegetables. This will fall around the levels of macronutrients that you need and would regularly eat. Now some will say but I'm not eating my usual 5 meals a day. The easiest ways to meet this is through snacks in between the 3 main meals you will eat with the family. These need to be transportable, cooked and eaten with as little fuss as possible. Few idea below.

Boiled/scrambled eggs - easy, cheap and very little fuss to make. Great source of protein.

Chocolate Rice cakes - melt dark chocolate on rice cakes, you can make these in large quantities, lasting for a few days. Good fat and carb source. Great with a afternoon green tea. 

Fruit: everyone always neglects fruit, but it is a great source of carbs, just watch the volume you're eating. You can end up eating a lot of empty carbs, which are not always needed. 

Protein bars: it's always a great idea to have a few protein bars spare for a quick hit of protein when your levels are low.

Total 0% Greek Yoghurt: this is my top food to currently eat, I am obsessed with it. Per 100grams you get over 10 grams of protein. It doesn't sit heavy on your stomach and along with a handful of nuts you have a perfect meal, meeting all your macros. 

These are all great little snacks that you could eat at home, when most think it would be difficult to hit the 5 meals that you normally would.

Remember the diet is always crucial!!!!

Jack

Pro10 - CLA

Just thought I would do a quick review and tell you all about one of the supplements I am using to get me that beach body ready for the summer and that is Pro10's CLA. CLA stands for conjugated Linoleic Acid which is proven to combat the storage of fat. This product can be found in eggs, meats or even mushrooms, with the highest levels found in grass-fed animals. CLA is therefore on the decrease in most peoples diets as many now by grain-fed meats where CLA is not present at such high levels. By therefore adding this supplement to your diet it will help in reducing fat and cellulite levels.

CLA was designed to target areas where fat build up is at it's highest, mostly in The stomach area, keeping that six pack hidden away. It has further benefits such as increase energy levels whilst training, help in lowering cholesterol levels and contribute to an increase in antioxidant levels. This therefore makes it a must have!!! I personal love this supplement. I take two before a workout and two after working as a fat burner throughout my workout and it just does wonders. Why it is so good is because it target specific areas, so any of you who are looking to get that six pack out ready for your summer holiday then you need this supplement in your life, especially Pro10's. It's the cheapest on the market by a country mile, but don't think your losing out on quality because of the low price. You aren't one bit, trust me!! Other in the past I have had side effects from, but this I have nothing. Just like taking a multi-vitiamin, and the wonders that it does will surprise you. So give it a go!! Currently on offer at £14.99 on Pro10's website for 200 capsules, which will tie you over ready for the summer. Give it a go and let me know how you get on.

www.pro-10.com/en/cla.html

Just don't forget 30% gym, 70% diet.

Jack

4 tips to see amazing results

With the summer coming approaching us people want to get great results so they can show off their body throughout the summer months. I've got 4 great tips which will help you in reaching those goals.

The best tip in building serious muscle mass is you must slow down your reps. This is because firstly your muscles have more of a solid contraction and secondly more focus can be paid to your form and therefore you perform the exercise correctly. Let's take a bicep curl for example, if your form is awful and your swinging the weight up the muscle is only under tension for a very short period of time, which is the same if you are performing quick reps. The more time the muscle is under tension the greater the muscle has to work, placing more stress on the muscle tissue and therefore stimulating growth. The most important part of the rep is a slow eccentric phrase, eg the lowering of the weight as this creates greater muscle damage leading to growth.

The next tips is training with a partner which is stronger than you. This person may have greater experience than you so can offer you little tips which he has done in the pass to overcome a plateau and make advancements in your workouts. Furthermore if your competitive, like me, you can try and beat him on weight or reps in an workout. Competition will always bring the most out in you if you want it that badly. At the end of the day you may think your giving 100% each time you step into the gym, but what are you basing it on??

The third tip is take all machines out of your workout programme, you might think to yourself 'why, when I lift more weight on these?' Well the simple answer is on a machine you don't have to worry about form or technique, you just sit down and do whatever the machine tells you to do. Therefore with dumbbells or barbells you require more total muscle activation because you need to stabilise yourself, therefore the activation your core. Two workouts in one!!! A machine also restricts your range of movement, so next time you want to jump on a leg press machine, don't!!! Get under that barbell and start squatting, you'll see the rewards straight away!!!

The fourth and final tip is if your trying to cut body fat or add muscle then stagger your calories for different days. Most people try and eat 6 meals a day as it is said to boast your metabolism, however often they are end up with a calorie deficit as they just aren't eating enough calories. Simply eat more calories when your body needs them on training days and cut them down on non training days. So you might say well surely I'll have a calorie deficit on those days when I'm not training, however as long as you have a baseline calorie intake of each day where you won't be in a calorie deficit just add in the region of 300-400 on training days. This could be an post workout shake.

There you have it, four great tips to get you on your way to building muscle ready for the summer, just don't forget 30% gym, 70% diet.

Jack

German Volume Training

For those of you who are trying to add bulk for the summer, German Volume Training (GVT) is a great way of training for you to do that. Supersets and tri-sets training will help you in adding bulk with the correct intensity, however this type of training stands head and shoulders above the rest. GVT is a method of completing ten sets of ten reps of the same exercise and weight, this is why it is often called the ten set method. It originates from Germany and was the training in which weight lifters would use in their off season to add lean muscle mass, often then moving to a weight class above due to the effectiveness of the training. Why this method works so well is because it targets a particular group of muscles repeatedly in volume, thus meaning the body must adapt and growth occurs. 

In order to complete GVT effectively you must leave your ego at the door by firstly cutting the weight for each exercise to which you would normal perform 20 reps to failure. This weight needs to be less due to the sheer volume but also the change in tempo to which you perform the rep. To see the most benefits I would recommend a tempo of 4010, this therefore focusing on the eccentric phase of the exercise where muscle tissue is built the most and with an explosive concentric phase to the exercise. I would also strongly suggest that you keep the number of exercises per session low. So if your routine is body split, then no more than 3 exercises for that muscle group. These exercises therefore should be compound exercises as these will recruit the most muscle fibres, thus promoting growth. Furthermore due to the intensity of this training recovery should be extended in order to allow the body to grow. 

A Week German Volume Training

Day 1: Legs

- Squats 10x10

-Deadlifts 10x10

- Calve Raises 10x10

Day 2: Chest

- Bench Press 10x10

-Incline Dumbbell Press 10x10

- Chest Flies 10x10

Day 3: Rest

Day 4: Back

-Bent Over Row 10x10

-Pull ups 10x10

- Dumbbell Row 10x10

Day 5: Shoulders&Arms

-Shoulder Press 10x10

-Barbell Curl 10x10 

- Dips 10x10

This is your basic GVT routine, as you can see very simple. However GVT is a very simple way of training but yet you will still see great results which is why I recommend it for beginners. This routine could be performed for 4 weeks and than exercises could be changed. Furthermore make sure you have a calorie surplus of 500 calories to give the muscles enough fuel to grow. This doesn't mean eat loads, but just enough to allow the muscle to recover and grow.

This is a little introduction to German Volume training and I hope it helps anyone who wishes to break a training plateau or put on bulk for the summer. As always don't forget 70% diet, 30% gym

Jack

Should I superset exercises or not???

In my workout routines at the moment I am supersetting every exercise which I perform, to which I have had a few people come up to me and ask why do I use supersets and what are the benefits so I thought I would explain to the fitness blogging community for those of you who don't know.

The first thing you should know is supersets are a great way to cut a long, boring session into a very intense but short session and it is a fact the key to building quality muscle are short sessions. Supersets can be performed in different ways, the first being you can perform antagonist supersets, which is paring up two opposite muscle groups such as biceps and triceps. This is effective, whilst one muscle is contracting the other is loosening, such as the bicep is contracted as the tricep is relaxed. This allows for further weight to be used and/or additional reps to be performed.

The second way is agonist supersetting, which is the parring of two exercises of the same muscle group. You could therefore superset squats with leg extensions, therefore just working the quads. As seen in the example when supersetting the same muscle group it is usually a compound exercises followed by an isolated exercise. This is my preferred way of supersetting as it allows you to go heavy on the compound exercises and then onto an isolated exercise a lot lighter but where you can fatigue that muscle, thus promoting growth.

The final way which isn't as popular is to superset two completely different muscle groups such as triceps and back. An example being deadlifts followed by skull crushers. Again a compound movement is the primary exercise followed by a isolated exercise. This way is great for those of you who don't have the time to have a five day split but yet still want to build muscle and get a great all over body workout into their routine.

The only advancement of supersets are tri sets. These work on very much the same principles through three exercises being performed usually of the same muscle group in a set, another great addition for time saving. I personally love using supersets as it develops much more of a pump and an intense workout, especially if you cut the rest time in between sets down, so why not give it a try. Great exercises to superset on are as follows:

-Bench Press and Flies
-Pull ups and bent over row
- Squats and leg extension
-Barbell Curl and Hammer Curl
-Clean and Press and Shoulder Press
-Skull Crusher and Kickbacks

Remember 70% diet, 30% gym

Jack

Changing and Developing Workouts

 
Well it has certainly been a hectic couple of weeks but I am finally back from India and can get down to some proper training ready for the summer.

My trip to India lasted just over a week with the band and wow was it a life experience. The Indian version of a taxi, a tuk tuk were just amazing in getting you from once place to another, even if you nearly ended up in a crash after being in it for 10 seconds. A quick trip to the Taj Mahal was a sight to behold and will always being a lasting memory of the trip, but the culture is something which I will never forget. The kindness of the people and generosity is something which I will ever forget. With regards to the fitness, there was a top class gym in the hotel with a spa including a steam room where I spent many hours relaxing and great for recovery. Anyway onto the main reason for the blog, developing and changing a workout.

Firstly everyone needs a change from their workout as if you keep following the same routine this will result in a plateau and gains will be slow or become non existence as the body has adapted to the training routine and no longer needs to adapt or grow. It can further make your workout tedious and boring. Therefore to avoid adaptation, variety is the only way. The easiest way of changing workouts is by outlining your goals for a period of time including short and long term goals. The best way to keep track of these are by writing a daily workout log and will help with future references as to what works best and what doesn’t.

So what should you change? Begin with sets and reps. These alone are vital in preventing adaptation by merely changing your sets from 8 reps into the region of 10-12reps. This will change the volume you are putting on the muscle group, even by changing it every other week will be a shock to the system. You can take this further by super setting, which is when you complete two exercises straight after one another, with no rest, pushing the muscle group past exhaustion. This usually consists of a compound exercise followed by an isolated exercise to really exhaust the muscle. Tri-sets which as given in the title, is three exercise is another option.

Alternating the exercise for a workout is another method to avoid the plateau effect. This can be as simple as changing a bench press to a dumbbell press instead, the same basic movement is taking place however in either different muscles are being recruited with a closer grip or wider grip being used therefore working different parts of the chests, meaning growth will occur. This could be a changed to your chest routine each week by using barbells one week and dumbbells the next.

The frequency of your workouts is another thing which can be changed. This could be through in different phrases or goals such as bulking or cutting you could change how many times you train weights or cardio for a period of time. This brings about change to your training not allowing for your body to know what is coming next, leading onto workout length and intensity. The length of your workout can be changed from an hour to 45 minutes, this therefore meaning your session becomes more intense and if you’re on a cutting phrase then you will burn more calories and also have less energy therefore not being able to train for as long. You can go further with intensity by as seen with sets and reps adding more weight causing less reps and working more on strength or upping the reps for a more endurance and cardiovascular workout, when trying to cut. These three are all very close to one another but can bring about a huge change.

I’m not therefore saying you should change your whole workout routine every 8 weeks, but just change little bits about it such as supersets or even just changing from Bench Press to Dumbbell Press this all keeps the body guessing and adaptation to not occurring causing you to plateau. Another quick one is just merely change the order of exercises in your workout, therefore allowing a muscle which would be exhausted at the end of a session to be pushed further due to it being placed at the beginning.

Still bear in mind, 70% diet, 30% gym, so keep that diet strict.

Jack