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Muscle gain

A big question I always get from mostly males is how can they put on muscle to their frame. This can be a harder question than you think because there are so many variables when you’re dealing with the individual concerned.

There’s always the lifetime skinny guy who can never put muscle on, no matter what they do or what they eat.

Then there’s the guy who carries lots of body fat, but carries no muscle and the overall shape is less than flattering shall we say.

Then you have the sickening type of guy who picks up a weight and a few short weeks later, starts showing some major progress (it must be said that these genetically gifted people are few and far between).

Before you pigeon-hole yourself into one of those categories, I have some great new for you.

The principles of muscle-gain remain the same no matter where you fit in.

For example, any one of these groups will have to leave 48-72 hours in between working the same muscle group again. Most people don’t realise that when you work a muscle, you are actually breaking it down and it needs to recover, you need to feed it well and let it rest or it won’t grow, simple as that.

Training every day may seem the way to go but more is definitely NOT better in this case.

So if you’re prepared to put all the work into your training, and then not be totally committed to eating every 3-4 hours afterwards, then you’re not going to make gains.

If you can train hard but are not committed enough to hit the sack every or most nights for 8 hours, then you’re not going to make many gains. Your muscles need to rest and if you don’t get it, you will end up being frustrated because you won’t be getting bigger.

This strategy of training smart, eating smart and resting well is also needed for you to get stronger, if you don’t get stronger, your muscles won’t grow so you need to be fresh and full of enthusiasm to push yourself further and further.

If you’re employing all of these strategies, then it should be possible for you to be adding small amounts of weight to your exercises every 2 weeks, and I’m even talking about 1-2 pounds here and there, it DOES add up.

When you first start training, you tend to add weight relatively quickly anyway, but then plateau’s start coming. To smash through these frustrating sticking points, you need to consistent and do the right thing nearly all the time, nobody’s perfect of course but you’d better be ready to give this some massive commitment, or your body’s not going to grow in the way you’d like!

If you start missing meals and snacks, you’re progress will disappear. If you start missing workouts, you will go backwards, if you don’t get enough sleep, you will not feel motivated or have enough energy to get through the kind of workouts you need to do to slap on enough muscle tissue, and that will make a clear difference to the way you may look right now.

We will go into more detail over coming posts, but you need to realise that you have to show a lot of commitment to build a significant amount of muscle, and it doesn’t happen overnight.

If you are willing to do all of this, I look forward to sharing my thoughts with you over the next few days!

Twitt
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Reps nice and slow

If you’re looking for a bit of instant improvement and sign you’re improving, then try this way of training.

For example, if you’re doing a set of press ups, then presently you may being going up and down at a fairly quick rate, this may be fine to get an impressive number of reps out, but trying it another way may well allow you to feel the exercise more, and get far more out of the exercise.

So let’s stick to the press up, try lowering yourself far slower using a 3 second count on the way down, and then pushing up using a 3 second count, 1-2-3 and your rep is completed. When you do this for the first time, you will find you feel every rep and if currently you are capable of doing 20 press ups at a quicker rate, then really slowing it down and doing it this way will bring your overall capacity down to 10 reps max!

You will find you get far more out of your exercise, and therefore far more out of your workout if you apply it to the rest of your exercises. This takes more concentration but this time you’re really thinking about your workout. You will probably find that you will be a little stiff the next day too. This is because your muscles will have been worked far more thoroughly than normal, which is a really good thing by the way!

Working out slower also reduces the chances of injury, you don’t jerk so much on any movement as everything is being done in a very controlled way.

You always see from time to time when you go in different gyms that most people “cheat” when they do most exercises. This is because they are trying to use too much weight because they associate weight with progress, but if you’re not doing the exercise properly, then you’re not going to get as much as you should out of your workout.

There’s an old saying that you should leave your ego by the door when you’re going to train. The approach that you should use as much weight as you can is long outdated, but that attitude is more prevalent than ever around the area now, it looks like some people never learn, and i think most people don’t want to show that much concentration when they train. It’s all about lifting a weight from A to B, and nothing else matters according to most people!

I guarantee if you try the slow method (on the way UP and well as DOWN), then you will discover some fresh progress in your training full stop. The upward movement and downward movement are as IMPORTANT AS EACH OTHER. Give it a go and let me know what you think.

Twitt
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Possible progress

If you are thinking of starting training, thinking of beginning to eat healthy, or wondering if you can get fit and healthy for the first time in your life, then i have news for you.

Many people talk about getting in shape but the reality of it is that many never get around to doing anything about it. As i told you before, i get questions about training more or less every day, maybe in the supermarket or in shop i am popping into, or definitely in the gym, definitely with a client and if im out the weekend, i usually get a question then and that could be anywhere. I also get texts or emails through this site from people if they can somehow get in shape again, and is it really possible?!!!

Here’s what you can expect in just one month if you apply yourself, change the way you eat (which is highly important), and get on a well-structured training programme that is based on constant progression, starting off slowly but giving good gains each and every week.

I have to stress that no two people are the same, and everyone will give different degrees of effort into their programme and therefore get different degrees of success.

But on average and from training a lot of individuals over a very long time, here’s what i found.

If you apply yourself, it would not be unusual to lose 2 inches off your waist and 2 inches off your hips.

If you apply yourself it would not unusual to lose around 2% body fat (more than you think trust me).

If you apply yourself, it would not be unusual to bring your resting heart rate down 2-4 beats per minute, meaning your heart will be in better shape and be more ready to react better under stress.

Your blood pressure will improve.

Your circulation will improve substantially.

You will feel 100 times better as long as you train safely and with purpose, and 80% of your eating is healthier. Your energy levels can literally explode as long as you stick by a few simple rules.

 Your attitude to life will improve immensely, and you will be more positive about everything, and even likely to try new things you may not have thought possible.

From this month of progress, you will want more and your standards will go up accordingly. You will reach your initial goals quickly and you will be encouraged to set new ones, which will be more exciting and will introduce fresh energy and drive into your life.

The examples of results i have given you are conservative estimates of what can happen when you change things around in your life, ive seen plenty of people smash those estimates, so don’t wait another month or even another year, lets get down to it and make it happen right now!!

P.S. sad day, stuart cable, ex-drummer of stereophonics who passed away today-RIP

Twitt
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Wales v South Africa

Wales versus south africa today is a strange occasion. Normally a huge game, this perhaps means a little less to most because technically we are out of season and it may be that we have had enough of rugby for this season!!

The season used to be septermber to april if you were lucky, now it seems as if it goes on all year with summer tours etc.

Anyone who plays the game knows though that the game really goes on all year, with training and pre-season going on throughout the summer, with some pre-season’s actually starting now. No player can afford to be off-season anymore, its all about improving your conditioning year in year out and improvement being the operative word.

You should be having the same attitude too, being in shape all year round is tough, but being in generally good health all year should be no problem for you now!! You have all the tools to stay in shape, you have the motivation and you know what to do.

It comes back to the same old saying “there’s heck a lot of difference between knowing what to do and actually doing it”!!

Enjoy the game!

Twitt
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Fundamentals

So how’s the basics/fundamentals in your life going? These never change after all.

When you’re doubting your progress towards your goal, why exactly aren’t you getting there? There is a set path to get to wherever you want, and whilst nobody expects you to be perfect, there are some basics you need to practice on a daily basis if you want to make the kind of transformation you’re looking for.

Someone who never eats breakfast, snacks on crisps, and has a bit of what they fancy every night for evening meal is not really taking their health seriously. A lean athletic body won’t happen when you fuel your body like this, you may get away with it for a couple of years when you’re 18 if you do lots of exercise, but the situation is likely to be highly different in your 30’s and 40’s!

The person who has a good breakfast full of good nutrients, snacking on nuts and fruit, has a lunch full of goodness, and finishes the day off with a variety of healthy food is likely to be looking good as well as FEELING good, which is the name of the game of course.

What about the person who trains now and again, doesn’t train with much intensity and tends to do a bit of what they fancy? They are likely to have mediocre progress at best.

The person who shows some commitment to their training, throws in 3-5 sessions per week, trains with real purpose and tries a variety of different training sessions (resistance work and runs or cycles or swims etc) is very likely to be at the top of their game, and be in this kind of shape year round.

Some people think that its hard to be in good health all year, in fact its not. If you like feeling and looking good, you are likely to continue to do so, that makes sense surely. Okay it means some sacrifice here and there but the benefits are much more rewarding than the 2 minute pleasure of eating rubbish all the time and laying down on the settee all night.

It all comes down to doing the basics and fundamentals, its not rocket science so let’s get your behind off the settee and get out there and do something and achieve something worthwhile this week, no time to waste!

Twitt